Exclaim's Scores

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For 5,096 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 57% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 38% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 75
Highest review score: 100 Vol.II
Lowest review score: 10 California Son
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4,315 out of 5096
  2. Mixed: 753 out of 5096
  3. Negative: 28 out of 5096
5096 music reviews
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    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Zipper Down
    After 11 tracks of lewd, enlivened and indulgent riffage, it appears time hasn't rusted the swivel and swagger of Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme; Zipper Down finds the Eagles of Death Metal as greased up and ready to rock as ever.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    In Waves
    Nearly a decade on, Jamie xx proves he still has the X factor. It was worth the wait.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cosmic Troubles
    Cosmic Troubles is not only stunning, but unexpectedly so--it's not often we get musical reinventions as sudden or dramatic as this that work so well.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Heavy Heavy
    Heavy Heavy may be a little too sweet for long-time listeners, but its massive choruses, strong hooks and ecstatic sound too timely and too powerful to deny.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rugby Thompson
    It is a skilfully wrought glimpse into that dream.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Every Open Eye
    With Mayberry's recent participation in the discussion of misogyny on social media and in music, it's easy to view these songs through the lens of feminism, but it's just one of the many compelling facets of Every Open Eye's overall scope.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Front Row Seat to Earth
    Front Row Seat to Earth might not be the most immediate record released this year, but it never turns its back on you. Accessible without ever being simple, it's one worth getting into, even if the way is labyrinthine.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    That! Feels Good!
    That! Feels Good! is unapologetic in its pop sensibilities, full of hooks that lightly tease and lyrics that keep themselves around. Ware's airy yet soulful delivery of these words, coos and moans is part of what makes her so captivating, and acts as a direct line to how much fun she's having.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ritual in Repeat
    Ritual in Repeat is an elegantly constructed and crafted piece of pop music art borne from rigorous, exacting songwriting.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Thanks for the Dance
    Thanks for the Dance is a fitting goodbye to a figure who, whether they've been in your life for one day, one year or a lifetime, made a tremendous impact on their craft. A beautiful reprise to a song of love or hate. The pleasure was all ours, Leonard.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Bubba
    While 99% provided the initial space for Kaytranada to make his mark, BUBBA is where it matures.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    PLAY ME
    The album's blipping between hip-hop, footwork and a clutch of other electronic styles does carry a prêt-à-porter element, but one that hangs well on Gordon's frame with every new fit.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Seduction of Kansas
    As a listening experience, it's a dense one, but never weighty.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    July
    Ethereal strings, guitar and softly humming bass arise in delicate arrangements around them.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Desolation Sounds
    With this album, Gallows have fine-tuned their previously established sound, creating a cohesive and powerful set of songs.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Waterfall
    The Waterfall changes that trend. If you like your rock records weird, funny, epic, sad and hazily spiritual, this is one you won't want to miss.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Infest the Rats' Nest
    As one should expect from King Gizz, Infest the Rats' Nest never repeats itself, flying through idea after idea like a heart-stopping drop into the rock'n'roll depths of "Hell," the final track.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Live Forever
    As intriguing as Strange's music already is, Live Forever demonstrates that there's still tremendous potential left to unlock.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Discreet Desires
    As the whole, though, Discreet Desires is more introverted than Hauff's previous material. She's attempted to present a unified piece with this album, rather than a selection of similar tracks, and it's a gambit that's paid off in spades.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Running out of Love
    Even though it's rammed full like a powder keg of discontentment, the opinions expressed on Running Out of Love don't stop it from being the elusive indie pop band's most unified record to date.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    POST-
    This album melds its many ideas into some larger parts, with just nine songs clocking in at roughly 40 minutes. But true to form, POST- is still all sorts of bonkers in mostly the right ways.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    All Melody
    It's an impressive compilation of provocatively disparate ideas, but taken in in its intended order, there's a mesmerizing continuity to it all.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sauna
    This hodgepodge of ideas, irregular pacing and abrupt transitions are oddly compelling; though it can be tough to make it to the end of the hour-long work, Elverum makes it worth it.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Do Not Engage
    Sure, they sound more focused and professional on Do Not Engage, but they have done that on every album they've released.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Lights from the Chemical Plant
    It's an elusive and subjective notion, but it's impossible to listen to this rich, remarkable album and not be left thinking that this is the sound of Ellis coming into his own.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Bahdeni Nami
    This seven-track effort switches things up ever so slightly; subtle twists of pace, cadence and lyrical content reveal a more introspective endeavour.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Don't Shy Away
    Don't Shy Away is ultimately as gratifying as it is ambitious. Brian Eno was right: Loma are the real deal.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    There Is No Elsewhere
    Fresh, detailed and packed with surprises, every element of There Is No Elsewhere is carefully mixed. Their work--playfully branded "baroque-pop folktronica neo-classical something-or-other"--surprises and delights in equal measure.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky
    Porridge Radio delight in these universal growing pains that ultimately reveal a greater vulnerability, born of not having it all figured out yet. As such, WDBLTTS is a natural next step on the road to nowhere.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Isn't It Now?
    Albums like Feel, Strawberry Jam and Merriweather Post Pavilion are typically considered Animal Collective's best works, yet they all lack the sustained presence of Isn't It Now? Lord only knows if it's the impact of Elevado or simply 20-odd years of musical chemistry coalescing into something new, but however it happened, Animal Collective found the now sound.
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