Billboard's Scores

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For 1,720 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 71% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 27% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1 point higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
Highest review score: 100 The Boxing Mirror
Lowest review score: 10 Hefty Fine
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,457 out of 1720
  2. Mixed: 240 out of 1720
  3. Negative: 23 out of 1720
1720 music reviews
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    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Santogold
    Santogold pours all that experience into a bracingly eclectic set full of fuzzy New Wave synths, sticky avant-soul melodies, busted-laptop beats and sing-song vocal chants inherited from the likes of Neneh Cherry and Björk. If you've managed to avoid her until now, you won't be able to for much longer.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ultra Beatdown
    Those in the know can attest DF is merely coming into its own after years on the touring circuit.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rio
    The miracle of Aterciopelados is that it backs up its message songs with beautiful, infectious music. The Colombian duo's latest, Rio, is no exception
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Simply Grand
    The concept behind Simply Grand was to pair Thomas with a different star pianist on each track, and the results are mostly stunning.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Proof of Youth
    Proof draws its energy from dizzyingly tight full-band interaction, indelible melodies and deft arrangements that find fresh inspiration in Ian Parton's favorite sounds
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Genesis
    Remains in the tradition of his previous releases, offering a combination of witty rhymes and unforgettable hooks.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Creatures
    If there was any justice, songs such as "Let the Serpent Sleep," "Three Seeds," and "The Creature" would be blaring from radios across America.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Have You Fed the Fish?
    A treasure trove of musical curios.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having
    [Atmosphere] has never sounded as pointed and focused as it does here on its fifth album. [8 Oct 2005]
    • Billboard
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    22 Dreams
    Paul Weller's all over the place with his ninth solo album--he visits all his touchstones, but there's less nostalgia and more experimentation infused into the tracks than usual. And that's a good thing.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Family Myth
    If Tangiers perfects its poppier maneuvers and smartens up a bit lyrically, something special could be down the road. [10 Dec 2005]
    • Billboard
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Once We Were Trees
    By scaling warm guitar lines, keen melodies, and a valuable sense of history, these Sparks continue to fly.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Brainwashed
    Beautifully fatalistic and unimposingly pedagogical, Brainwashed is quite possibly Harrison's next-to-best album and a sober reminder that his passing is a loss too large to measure.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Scarecrow
    If this is indeed a swan song for Brooks, it's like calling it a career with a championship-winning shot at the buzzer.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Drawn From Life
    Drawn From Life features some of Eno's most tightly structured and accessible music in years.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Dents And Shells
    Although this is not Buckner's masterpiece, it's a beautiful window into the head of someone who writes from the heart.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Big Doe Rehab
    For the fan of fictional party rhymes, there's 'White Linen Affair (Toney Awards),' where Ghost lines up the current roster of hip-hop royalty and takes his place strong in the middle of it.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Object 47
    Object 47 is at once warmly familiar as Wire yet not a "return" to any particular sonic period in the group's convoluted history.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Colour The Small One
    Sia's songs are quiet, intimate and melodic. [21 Jan 2006]
    • Billboard
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Frantic
    A frisky set that rocks with more excitement than Ferry has exhibited in years.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Human The Death Dance
    Much of "Human the Death Dance" goes for something deeper—the sound of an artist afraid of what he almost became. [12 May 2007]
    • Billboard
    • 77 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Punk Rock
    This stellar, adventurous album just may be the best thing they've attempted since 1989's "The Mekons Rock'n'Roll."
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Excuses for Travelers
    A melancholy gem of gorgeous, whispery folk and delicate countrified rock.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    AOI: Bionix
    The trio's most complete effort since 1996's Stakes Is High.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Margerine Eclipse
    While by no means disastrous musically, it's a pale imitation of much better Stereolab albums, and in the end altogether dispensable.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Angels Of Destruction
    Marah manages to convey the manic energy that makes it such a great performer, and the result is its best album yet.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Eraser
    Anyone who found the alien sonic landscapes of "Kid A" a bit overwhelming will feel much more at home with these nine less fussy but primarily electronica-dominated compositions.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    With The Lights Out
    A revelatory, emotional listen from start to finish, "With the Lights Out" crystallizes Cobain's tortured genius.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rhett Miller
    On this fine self-titled set (produced, as was the most recent 97's album, by Dallas-based Salim Nourallah) Miller works his familiar mixture of '60s-pop jangle and alt-country twang, singing about the highs and lows of love like someone who just experienced them for the first time.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Alchemy Index, Vol. III & IV: Air and Earth
    For The Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV: Air & Earth, the material is appropriately lofty to represent the former element but surprisingly sparse for the latter.
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