AllMusic's Scores

  • Music
For 18,345 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 63% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 32% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.5 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
Highest review score: 100 The Marshall Mathers LP
Lowest review score: 20 Graffiti
Score distribution:
18345 music reviews
    • 97 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    So much of Russell's work contained a playful curiosity, but that sweet character never felt so apparent as it did with the delicate intensity of World of Echo. Picture of Bunny Rabbit's continuance of that pure spirit is a gift to anyone with a special place in their heart for Russell, and even more evidence of just how peerless he was an artist.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Black Duck's sprawling improv and cosmic Americana is the product of three experienced musicians deeply in tune with one another, eager to travel anywhere the spirit takes them.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Stinson's rumpled charm and casual touch make Wronger sound tossed off in the best sense: it's light and intimate, the kind of record two old friends make when they just want to relax and enjoy each other's company.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Anyone who enjoyed The Dirty South as it appeared in 2004 will find The Complete Dirty South rewarding, and those who haven't heard it owe it to themselves to hear it in uncompromised form.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Yay! is not actually retro, nor less lyrically provocative or musically adventurous. It is, simply, the latest necessary creative gambit from these sonic psychonauts.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    All Her Plans isn't an album for folks looking for a playful, pop-punk experience, but it's a brave, powerful record that's a reminder of how much punk rock can communicate with so few moving parts.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    I Only See the Moon's more diversified approach is an engaging one that, frankly, evades the potential slog of some of the Kids' prior LPs without surrendering heartache, nostalgia, or slow tempos and grace in the process.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    On Pain is overall both an exciting artistic achievement and a record that should fit the bill for anyone looking for a very cold and sad synth pop update.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Though Melodies on Hiatus' experiments sacrifice some of the single-minded purpose of Hammond's previous albums, it delivers a bumper crop of songs that embrace the complexities of life and music with a sense of adventure.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mellencamp's blend of sinewy rhythms and burnished acoustics is recognizably his, yet it draws upon a sound that's now part of a shared past. It's a sound that's aged well, and Mellencamp has aged within it.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Eight is energetic, inspired, and hits with one melodic hook after another, capturing the sound of a band overjoyed to be back and having the time of their lives.
    • 95 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The pair has assembled this durable catalog almost without interruption, reliably delivering singles, albums, remixes, and EPs almost annually since their debut. Work ethic and quality don't always go hand in hand, but Pet Shop Boys have both in spades.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    One of Metheny's aesthetic signatures is an often euphoric character in his composing and playing. While that's absent here, emotion, vulnerability, and poignancy aren't.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Avenged Sevenfold go further down the rabbit hole with an innovative set of progressive metal epics rooted in existential crisis.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Bright New Disease has some jarring sonic clashes, but both bands seem to be on the same wavelength in terms of their modes of cathartic expression and their disregard for stylistic boundaries.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    A definite improvement over leaving meaning, The Beggar is a riskier yet more successful effort that feels like a step in a more fulfilling direction.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A record that's as catchy as it is emotionally overpowering.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Peace...Like a River is a labyrinthine trek through original songs that nod at the band's classic rock influences, creating an album that sounds like it was written and recorded during the 1970s.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    At once more serious and more playful than Mr. Dynamite, Yawning Abyss homes in on what Creep Show do best, and the ways they skewer corruption and indifference are a treat for fans of any of the artists involved and for anyone else who enjoys eloquent, darkly humorous electronic pop.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Taken together, the album is an engaging and rousing affair with more than enough down-to-earth awareness and poignancy to keep it grounded.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Ticket to Fame's balancing act between jumbled weirdness, edgy pop, and occasional respites of synthy atmospheres is a fantastic introduction to Decisive Pink's insular and contorted but often magical take on pop.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    While the thick, churning grind may feel familiar, it never seems staid, not when QOTSA rely on clouds of vocal harmonies to push them onto a psychedelic astral plane, a shift that can amount to the subtle colorings of "Time & Place" or be as startling as the chorus of "Emotion Sickness."
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The stricter members of the metal community might see King Gizzard as interlopers with no real metal cred, but after Rats Nest and now this thrillingly massive album, there's no reason the band shouldn't be considered one of the best practitioners of the genre around.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Guy
    Its structure of pop songs threaded together with interview clips makes it feel a bit more essay-ish than the debut, which was named after a phrase Jayda often used in her final thesis. That said, Jayda does a magnificent job connecting deeply personal stories with accessible music.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Even though it was created by enough people to fill a starship, including the HawtPlates, a vocal group heard throughout and granted the spotlight on a moving a cappella piece, this is as intimate as any of Ndegeocello's previous albums. It's almost as varied as any of them in sound.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Rarely does a double album (or a quadruple EP?) sound so revitalizing, but Django Django somehow pull it off on their best release in years.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Social Lubrication is the work of a band that believes music can actually make a difference, and in Dream Wife's hands, it's a feeling that's contagious.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    By and large, Heaven Is a Junkyard finds Powers in pastoral mode. Even in its most orchestrated moments, the album feels primarily reflective and still, like Powers is gazing out on a silent field of wheat and offering us a look into his brain as the thoughts, memories, and scattered hopes all float by.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    He continues to process trauma, grief, and guilt, with tracks like "Pelle Coat" and the J. Cole-featuring "All My Life" being some of his more emotional material to date.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Tracks like "Wishing You the Best," "Pointless," and the unexpectedly clubby "Forget Me" are soundtrack-ready anthems that nicely showcase Capaldi's throaty croon.