AllMusic's Scores

  • Music
Select another publication »
For 18,280 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:
  1. Positive: 15,329 out of 18280
  2. Mixed: 2,925 out of 18280
  3. Negative: 26 out of 18280
18280 music reviews
view
per page
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Antidotes
    The two guitars pick out cascading notes--never chords--against one another, the bass borrows from both Interpol and Gang of Four, and Philippakis' voice cries out in repetition wonderfully, but it's these occasional horn bursts, the electronic chops and blips, that truly complete the songs, making "Antidotes" not merely a lesson in post-new wave noodling, but evidence of the power and excitement of the genre and music itself.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Walk It Off
    Walk It Off is hardly a disaster, but it is a strange, lopsided album--despite its focus, it just doesn't play to Tapes 'n Tapes strengths as much as it should have.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Do It!
    Do It! finds Clinic getting curiouser and curiouser, but that's the direction that suits them best.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rabbit Habits
    It's still not exactly accessible, but it's their easiest listen to date, and a damn amazing and amusing one, if you're feeling creative.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Colin Meloy Sings Live!
    Sings Live! is not a landmark album, nor even a superb "live" album, but the sound quality is decent enough (though the "acoustic guitar through the board" is a bit disappointing), and Meloy is a jovial host with his adoring fans, who ultimately this collection of songs was released for.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Jim Noir
    The only problem with the record is that there are no stand-out tracks.... That could be a fatal flaw except that the overall quality of the record is so high and the sound is so perfect, you don't feel like there is something so terribly important missing.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    In Ghost Colours
    To be sure, In Ghost Colours is a triumph of craftsmanship rather than vision--a synthesis and refinement of existing sounds rather than anything dramatically new and original--but it is an unalloyed triumph nonetheless, and one of the finest albums of its kind.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Boo!
    Mixing and matching funk, rock, and soul with a little jazz and blues, and enhanced on occasion by some seamlessly incorporated electronics, Boo! delivers robust party material with plenty of straight-faced, sidesplitting/head-scratching humor...precisely what you'd expect from them, then.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Neptune
    For every tempest like "Lassoo" or "Neptune's Call," there's an unabashedly pretty moment like the almost serene "Wooden Heart" or "Sovereign," either of which would have been completely out of place on Cuts Across the Land — but it's the depth, power, and flair of moves like these that make Neptune the real introduction to the Duke Spirit.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    X
    The majority of X is exactly what it's meant to be: a collection of songs by a pop artist who is aware of her past achievements and doubly aware of her need to stay relevant in the face of unwanted diversion.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Hold On Now, Youngster
    Recommending this album seems too light a course of action; requiring it may be more apt. Consider Hold on Now, Youngster...highly required, then.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Last Night
    On Last Night, Moby is as blissfully out of touch with modern club music as he is current.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Attack & Release
    To be sure, it's an accomplishment and one that showcases the Black Keys' deepening skills but at times it's hard not to miss how the duo used to grab a listener by the neck and not let go.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Accelerate
    As comebacks go, that's relatively modest, but the very modesty of Accelerate is what makes it such a successful rebirth as R.E.M. no longer denies what they were or what they are, and, in doing so, they offer a glimpse of what they could be once again.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Keep It Simple
    There are no surprises, but when you do something this well, there doesn't need to be.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Gods Of The Earth
    The riffs are huge, the rhythms are sneaky and brutal, and the "guitarmonies" are effortless, due with little doubt to the band's epic touring schedule. In fact, everything's been turned up, except the vocals.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    April
    Kozelek is simply continuing on his way here, but that said, to stand apart from all the superlatives and just get lost in his creation here, he has made the best record of his career.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Electronic Projects for Musicians
    They are all solid examples of the band's unique blend of indie sweetness, psychedelic experimentation, and solid songcraft.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Life With You
    The trademark Proclaimers sound was still there, including the finger-snapping opening title track, the staccato guitar that introduces "In Recognition," and the thoughtful lyrics, discussing religion on 'New Religion' and 'If There's a God.'
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Shine A Light
    To a large extent, the music on Shine a Light confirms this to be true, proving that the band retains a remarkable alchemy that has deepened over the years.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Funplex
    Nothing here is as gripping or as perfect as "Rock Lobster," "Private Idaho," or "Love Shack," and the songs that are borderline filler get pushed into one big forgettable lump towards the end of the album.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Pretty.Odd.
    This is a deliriously jumbled, left-field delight.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings
    Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings is a rock record in the grandest and most polished sense of the word: it wears its lineage proudly, and imparts emotions directly and brazenly honestly no matter how pretty or shiny the picture is.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Consolers Of The Lonely
    "Broken Boy Soldiers" lacked tunes like these, tunes with considerable weight, and these songs turn Consolers of the Lonely into a lop-sided, bottom-loaded album that's better and richer than their debut.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Good Life
    The simple arrangements and hands-off production add to the gentle but decisive impact of The Good Life, and the result is a fine calling card for a young singer/songwriter who may not have worked out every last detail of his sound but clearly knows where he's going, and it happens to be a place worth visiting.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Parc Avenue
    The record has a sizeable amount of drama or gravitas as well.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    In A Cave
    While Elf Power haven't started to turn into Steely Dan on us, after a dozen years Elf Power has a lineup that can lay down a solid groove, add tasty guitar and keyboard accents and generally sound like a for-real band rather than a music fan's goof.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
    Silver Mount Zion were already way ahead of many of their contemporaries, but 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons sees them blazing past even further, up and away, to some unexplored, perhaps dangerous, but tremendously exciting new horizons of artistic expression.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Great Vengeance And Furious Fire
    Great Vengeance and Furious Fire is too uneven to be great, but its handful of fantastic singles makes for an extremely promising debut.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Red
    Red is at its best when it mines the new wave/Europop of Level 42 and Ultravox, especially on the infectious 'Clarion,' but those moments are few and far between.
Page: