American Songwriter's Scores

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For 1,819 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 50% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 45% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.7 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
Highest review score: 100 Rockstar
Lowest review score: 20 Dancing Backward in High Heels
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,462 out of 1819
  2. Mixed: 353 out of 1819
  3. Negative: 4 out of 1819
1819 music reviews
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    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    RökFlöte
    The arrangements are both agile and emphatic, by turns jaunty, gyrating, and exuberant.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Red River Blue
    Red River Blue, alongside recent efforts by Blake's summer tour-mate Brad Paisley and wife Miranda Lambert, pretty much defines mainstream country these days – high-quality songs, great singing and musicianship, big production, and the same time-honored, predictable six or seven themes that we've all heard before.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Get Hurt
    The verbal intensity and reaching for the back rows attitude seldom pauses long enough for the listener to catch their breath.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Kisses on the Bottom
    It's warmly, immaculately recorded, featuring a wealth of tasty cocktail pop atmosphere perfect for sipping wine on the couch late at night or reclining with a book in a bay window on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It's fine, it's dandy, and it's completely inessential.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    What Lasts
    These United States' lead singer Jesse Elliot has a scratchy, affected voice--maybe a super-strung-out Ryan Adams, if you're looking for a point of reference--which makes for a varied listening experience: Sometimes you want it to lead you to the Promised Land ("Just This"), sometimes you just want to make it stop ("Ever Make You Mine").
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Vices & Virtues
    Vices & Virtues combines the best and most memorable elements of Panic! at the Disco's previous two full-length releases, and the end result is their catchiest and most accessible effort to date.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Lowe Country: The Songs of Nick Lowe
    Because of a noticeable lack of recognizable names contributing Lowe covers, the scope of this 14 track set is considerably more modest, but no less enjoyable.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Sugar
    The problem is that the band seems to want to go mainstream as it stood in 1995. As a result, they've lost a lot of what made them unique.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    From the Top of Willamette Mountain
    James has crafted an envelope of sound to bolster his unique, almost choirboy styled vocals, that's easy to tumble into.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Quiero Creedence
    Typical of these compilations, some interpretations work better than others.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    ...And Star Power
    As it stands though, Foxygen bit off more than they can chew, leaving ...And Star Power as an occasionally interesting failed experiment.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Emotional Traffic
    Bursting with enough potential singles to suggest that the most-played male artist of the last decade will continue to dominate country radio.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Foundling
    The songs are pretty, well-written and well-constructed, but the album as a whole lacks the vitality that would give it necessary variety.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Here
    It's hard to say whether Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros has hit their stride with Here, their second album--but it's safe to say that it brings forth just as much energy as the band's 2009 debut, Up From Below.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Babel
    It's not perfect, but it's perfectly Mumford & Sons.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Indie Cindy
    On Indie Cindy, there’s not a lot of danger, or passion--or excitement for that matter.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Live
    Casual listeners will probably wish Folds had used his obviously impressive improvising skills a bit more. But as the audience reaction here indicates and die hard fans will undoubtedly concur with, anything that floats their boat out to Folds island is a good trip.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cyr
    By turns arched, ambitious, intriguing and expressive this sprawling 20 song set recalls the band’s earlier epics with melodies that boast the same elevated intensity that’s driven their signature sound from early on.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Goldberg Sisters
    It shows his restless ambition as an artist, but not his ability to make a great, lasting musical statement.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Like It Never Happened
    While this is surely not for everyone, those whose tastes aren’t constrained by traditional notions and are willing to go with Ziman’s somewhat oblique, even aloof flow, will find plenty of reasons to spend the requisite time getting comfortable with her unique style and genre expanding approach.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Jude
    Jude is Lennon’s singular statement, his purposeful pronouncement, his pivotal turn as far as coming into his own with music that bears a grander scope.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Ghost Stories
    While there are moments in which Coldplay take some interesting steps forward on Ghost Stories, there are a few moments when the band rests a little too heavily on easy listening or pop music clichés.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Sound of the Life of the Mind
    Unfortunately, The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind loses a little steam after that outstanding opening trifecta, either when Folds leans too heavily on his flashy lyricism or downplays his band's instrumental strengths.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Break the Spell
    Regrettably, Break The Spell never fulfills its mission of delivering an unabashed rock effort and genuine nuggets of musical magic are few and far between.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Four Foot Shack
    It’s a whiz-bang romp perfect for the Claypool faithful to devour, and may even attract some of the more roots oriented not already onboard his distorted fun-house mirror music crazy train.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Big Mess
    The agitated, anxious emotions that explode over Big Mess create a difficult, even grating 73 minutes, which is clearly what Elfman was aiming for. It’s a bumpy, challenging, often exhilarating, sometimes scary experience. Strap in and hang on.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Starcatcher
    They’re still unabashedly clicked into late ’60s-early ‘70s bygone rock, and Starcatcher is, indeed, classic Greta Van Fleet.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Monsanto Years
    As it stands, it’s another entry in Young’s bulging catalog that, like Storytone, Greendale, Le Noise and others, you might play once or twice to see what he’s up to, then return to far more listenable classics like Rust Never Sleeps.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Augustana
    Although Augustana may not be the year's most cutting-edged release, it is full of strong, if not extraordinary material, which is sure to leave an indelible impression on admirers of pop/rock.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Mad Lad: A Live Tribute to Chuck Berry
    he talk-sings his way through the material, getting by on gusto more than singing talent. ... All that said, it’s an awful lot of fun. Wood and band are clearly enjoying themselves, pianist Waters — featured in two large photos in the booklet — shines throughout and the party vibe is contagious enough to make this a success not just as a tribute to Berry, but as a showcase for Wood, one of his most celebrated fans.
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