AllMusic's Scores

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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
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    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Will To Death
    There's almost nothing in the way of guitar heroics and it's far from groundbreaking, but fans of darkly personal skewed pop should enjoy Will to Death.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    a ghost is born
    A Ghost Is Born hardly sound[s] like a retread of YHF, but the languid, ghostly song structures, the periodic forays into dissonance and the pained, hesitant vocals from Jeff Tweedy that were so much a part of that album also take center stage here.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    In A Safe Place
    LaValle retains his heavily textural, impressionist flair, but has begun to repeat himself heavily, with none of the freshness or vigor of previous material.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Chilltown New York
    Chilltown won't be thought of as a classic down the line, but it hardly weakens the MC/producer's reputation.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Creature Comforts
    Ultimately Creature Comforts is another starry refraction in the cosmic music that Black Dice have claimed, one that hasn't failed yet in dazzling.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Waves Are Universal
    The record is rather safe, lacking an adventurousness that is only touched upon and possibly kept under wraps for the sake of not seeming like too much of a departure.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Kiss Of Death
    No matter the number of bright moments, you can't help but feel that Jadakiss has his best days ahead of him.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Not So Much To Be Loved As To Love
    An engaging and passionate collection of songs from a man who has never failed to sing directly from his heart.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Houses of the Molé
    With Molé, Jourgensen has mobilized the fatalism and fury that always rumbled through industrial and thrash music, and left everything else in the staging area.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Gettin' In Over My Head
    Although the musicians here understand how to convey complex emotions in a pop song, Wilson and his co-songwriters obviously don't, and it's with them that the blame for this record lies.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Ta Det Lugnt
    The best tracks on this album stand up well against the likes of the Move and the Creation, or at the very least, the Green Pajamas and the Apples in Stereo.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    To The 5 Boroughs
    If there are no classics here, there's no duds, either, and given that the Beasties' pop culture aesthetic once seemed to be the territory of young men, it's rather impressive that they're maturing gracefully, turning into expert craftsmen that can deliver a satisfying listen like this.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Undermind
    And while the album is still more focused and a much-needed improvement over 2002's Round Room and their finest since Billy Breathes, Undermind is essentially the sound of four musicians growing tired of the limits they've imposed on one another after decades of albums and touring.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    23rd Street Lullaby
    23rd Street Lullaby is a wise, grown-up record, yet it is guided by an untamed, wily heart.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Real New Fall L.P. (Formerly Country On The Click)
    Making up for some momentum lost last time out, The Real New Fall L.P. gives the faithful another reason to believe.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    This Is For Real
    Even if it's not quite as strong a debut album as Pink Grease's prior work suggested it might be, This Is for Real really does have a lot of hedonistic, cleverly mindless kicks to offer.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Hot Fuss
    It's hard to deny the sparkle and fade of Depeche Mode beats and the sensual allure of Duran Duran. After 25 years, those sounds still hold up; by 2004, however, it's an incredible task to pull this kind of thing off without selling yourself to the tastes of the masses.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sonic Nurse
    All told, this album is probably the band's best balance of pop melodies and avant-leaning structures since Washing Machine; even if it doesn't rank among their most ambitious work, Sonic Nurse sounds like the kind of album Sonic Youth should be making at this point in their career.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    One Soul Now
    Longtime fans, wondering what the Cowboy Junkies have been up to for the last three years, will probably find several songs to like on One Soul Now. Newcomers will be much happier by picking up Open.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Revolutions
    The just fair pop tracks keep it from being classic, but this is the best the talented team has sounded on record yet.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Winds Take No Shape
    It would have been nice to lift the haze with an uptempo track or two, but at only ten songs and 37 minutes, the album never drags. It is a rare reinvention that comes across as well as this.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Happenstance
    It is an unabashedly lush, deeply textured pop record that makes no apologies for its radio-friendliness or its adornments.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Little Heart's Ease
    Little Heart's Ease does deliver more of the dark but oddly jaunty songwriting that made Royal City's previous album noteworthy.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Stone, Steel & Bright Lights
    Stone, Steel & Bright Lights manages to capture Jay Farrar at his apex as a solo artist, while at the same time reminding fans of why his solo work continues to be so frustrating.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Drill A Hole In That Substrate And Tell Me What You See
    The thick veil of gloss that co-producers Joe Henry and Tucker Martine use to coat each of the 11 hypnotic tracks is entirely transparent, resulting in a glass-bottom boat ride that's both cathartic and uncomfortably voyeuristic.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Empire Strikes First
    The Empire Strikes First isn't a return to Bad Religion at its most vitriolic and unstoppable -- whether that could ever really happen is unclear, and probably unnecessary.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Slow Wonder
    Carl Newman deserves every last bit of praise thrown his way. In a better world, he would be our Elton, our Todd, our McCartney, and Slow Wonder would be on everyone's iPod, rotating on M2 hourly, and his name would be on the lips of everyone from aged Royalty to teen-aged girls.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Uh Huh Her
    Perhaps the most nuanced album in PJ Harvey's body of work, Uh Huh Her balances her bold and vulnerable moments, but remains vital.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Borrowed Heaven
    Borrowed Heaven's lyric sheet is filled with high school diary hackneyed favorites but if you like your pop - unadulterated pop - presented and played extremely well you're cheating yourself if you don't check it.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Brother Is To Son
    Despite the weighty subject matter and kinetic mayhem, the Danielson Famile are just an indie pop band, and listeners already familiar with Smith's distinctive shrieking and intricate arrangements will find much to love on Brother Is to Son, while the untested will either submit or run screaming to their mommies.
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