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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    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Underneath
    Even though Underneath is a little too polished and Pro Tool-ed, that pop sensibility still rings loud and clear throughout the album, and track for track, it's likely their strongest album, even if it lacks glistening highlights along the lines of "Mmm-Bop."
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ratatat
    The band's sound is both fresh and nostalgic, and so pretty that it seems overly harsh to criticize them too much at this point. It's just that Ratatat is good enough to suggest that, with a little more diversity, the group could do even better things.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Inches
    Inches is an ambitious concept, but the band's success with it is another example of Les Savy Fav's mix of intellect and volatility.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Pretty Toney Album
    It's partly a party album like 2001's Bulletproof Wallets, but freer, more inspired, and tempered with pure street tracks that were missing last time round.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Almost Killed Me
    With rugged guitar riffs and solos and Finn's half-sung, scratchy voice, the Hold Steady mostly succeed, easily recalling the classic rock of early Bruce Springsteen or the sincerity of latter-day Hüsker Dü.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Faking The Books
    Electronic elements balance out the harsh guitars with regularity, resulting in a handful of full-blown zingers.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Automato
    While not a terrific album, the good often outweighs the occasional filler.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Runaway Found
    The Runaway Found is an incredibly focused first album, giving evidence of how serious the Veils are about composing a stylish, quality sound.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Duel
    Moorer, besides being good at penning lyrics, is smart enough to write catchy hooks.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Walking With The Beggar Boys
    After a few listens Walking With the Beggar Boys reveals itself as a near perfect little pop record.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Schoozzzmmii
    It's this prolific, homegrown vibe paired with a knack for downright catchy pop that makes Lone Pigeon Scotland's answer to Ween.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Lay Of The Land
    At times, the intense-yet-underdeveloped feel of Lay of the Land makes it a claustrophobic experience, but its quieter moments, such as "No Questions" and the angular finale "Fog," still throw off sparks while allowing a little more breathing room.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    It's All Around You
    It's All Around You soon becomes just another Tortoise record, so close to previous records in composition and execution that it's virtually deja vu for any listeners who know the band well.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Curse Of Blondie
    That isn't to say that The Curse of Blondie is a classic Blondie disc, but it's the first good one since at least Autoamerican, and features one of their best-ever singles in "Good Boys."
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Again
    Amounts to little more than the sum of its inspirations and coy references.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    On! Air! Library!
    Imagine Bauhaus' "Terror Couple Kill Colonel" massaged by classic 4AD discord and you have the mysterious blend of On! Air! Library!
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Neighborhood Watch
    Most of the blame for Neighborhood Watch has to go to the previously invincible Alchemist, whose productions are front-loaded on the record. Unfortunately, his beats aren't rugged or hooky, just astonishingly weak.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    On My Way
    Despite some slightly draggy moments, On My Way is still another solid effort.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Good News For People Who Love Bad News
    Even though this album isn't as immediately or showily brilliant as The Moon & Antarctica, Good News for People Who Love Bad News reveals itself as just as strong a statement.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Retriever
    If you know Sexsmith's work, then you already have a good idea of how good this album is, and if you don't, this is a fine place to get acquainted.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Satanic Panic In The Attic
    Of Montreal's most focused and powerful sounding record yet.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Final Straw
    Final Straw is another strong slab of emotion and invigorating energy from a solid band that mixes its influences into an always heady sonic libation.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Honkin' On Bobo
    Aerosmith sound reinvigorated, even liberated from the need to have a hit power ballad, and they tear through these 12 songs with an energy they seemed to lose sometime after Pump.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Me & Mr Johnson
    A heartfelt tribute that's among Clapton's most purely enjoyable albums.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Damita Jo
    Without strong rhythmic or melodic hooks, the album's slow grooves blend together and Jackson disappears into the productions.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Absolution
    Muse continue to make unrelenting hardcore art rock; Absolution is a tad cheesy, a bit too grandiose in its ambitions, bursting at the seams with too many ideas, and thus exactly what any Muse fan craves.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Trading Snake Oil For Wolftickets
    Gracious and redemptive, it is a rapt, quiescent masterwork.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Panic Movement
    Alternately too predictable and too quirky, Panic Movement reveals the Hiss as an ambitious band that can't always deliver on its goals.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Bee Hives
    Captures different shades and moods of the band's thus-far five-year career quite nicely.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Volunteers
    Onelinedrawing, in general, may be a bit too saccharine for some listeners, and it lacks the classic power pop levity of a Brendan Benson or Weakerthans, but The Volunteers is a wildly inventive record that can stand tall beside earnest peers like Saves the Day's In Reverie.
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