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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    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    C, XOXO
    C,XOXO isn't a bad album, particularly when stacked against the imagined disaster it could've been. The problem is that it sounds like it's been purchased from other talents rather than being curated and homegrown by Cabello and her team. You gotta hand it to her for trying though, even more so for the fact that it nearly, just nearly, works.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Strut of Kings
    Strut of Kings requires more than just a first go-through, as much of the album could have benefitted from moving past the "first thought, best thought" rubric. Although it seems crazy to say, this is an actual Guided by Voices album that could have benefitted from an editor.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Love Heart Cheat Code
    When Love Heart breaks the feedback loop of its own foundational creation is where the record is at its most compelling.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sentir Que No Sabes
    The variety of doors presented in the album's quest for answers, or more questions, present a challenge for those who prefer a more cohesive experience. For the adventurous though, the doors crack open onto a wide variety of styles and time frames.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    CRASH
    The Oakland, CA singer's most sonically eclectic collection to date, the record bounces from club tracks to acoustic ballads and her personal brand of R&B that's been the backbone of their career.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Les Chants de l'Aurore
    Neige's constantly evolving approach to songcraft means that Alcest's music, for better or worse, will never be what it once was. While Le Chants de l'Aurore doesn't reach the same heights as some of their previous works (particularly the intricate Kodama or the aforementioned Écailles de lune), the album is still awe-inspiring.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Stung!
    The record's first two-thirds are very well-paced, from bashfully stoned ballads to instrumental to extended Floydian romp. It makes it all the stranger to see the album fall apart toward the end, where indistinct sanguine ballads are sent to die.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again
    Meloy has his art down to a science, and the Decemberists take their fans through as winding and rewarding a trip as ever, complete with an abundance of twists and turns that suggest that the journey, long as it may be, is the true reward.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Gloss
    Although the band clearly wears its assorted influences proudly on their collective sleeve, this diverse approach can sometimes hinder progress, resulting in some songs that are vibrant, complex and uniquely Cola, while relegating others to the derivative badlands.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Model
    Wallows play it safe on Model, with a lack of distinctive storytelling shackling the album to its mid-tempo pop melodies, its highs too few and far between.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Feu De Garde
    It's one of 2024's must-hear strokes of genius, crossing linguistic borders with its expression of understated, comforting beauty.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Timeless
    While it may be early to qualify his style or sound as timeless, it's managed to stand the test for the past 10 years and he's done nothing but hone his skills.
    • 95 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    BRAT
    A rare and energetic vision of unfiltered creative impulse from a brilliant prophet of pop.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free
    This is a well-travelled band firing on all cylinders. Enjoy it with a terrible house beer and hardworking, sweaty company.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Chaos Angel
    A further expansion of the clean stream of consciousness that is her discography, Chaos Angel proves, at its worst, that Maya has found her groove and ain't nothing's going to break her autumnal stride.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    I Hear You
    Designed for finding communion with others while staying true to oneself, I Hear You touches the timeless with an ethos of openness, striking a vibrant and dynamic balance between familiarity and freshness.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Dream of Delphi
    While it can be embarrassingly earnest at times, impressively, the music never comes across as self-conscious or unsure. As always, Khan is unapologetically herself, and we're welcome to come along for the ride if we'd like. I'm happy I did.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Big Swimmer
    On Big Swimmer, they embrace the uncertainty of it all with refreshing stamina and poise; letting the forces at play wreak some havoc so that they may reach new ground, transformed.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dark Times
    An incredibly concise and cohesive project, Dark Times clocks in at an airtight 35 minutes across its 13 tracks.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dark Superstition
    With Dark Superstition, Gatecreeper have cemented their place as one of modern metal's most visceral, exciting and endlessly-listenable bands, and the album is a more than worthy addition to their already-accomplished catalogue.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Frog in Boiling Water
    The album is certainly dreamy, but its lack of urgency may also cause some listeners to snooze.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Lives Outgrown
    These are decidedly intimate songs approached from remarkably wide angles, woodsy tapestries penetrated with modernist psychedelic touches (whirly tubes, piano strings struck with metal spoons), artfully woven into grand, sprawling arrangements that will reward repeated private listening perhaps even more than Portishead has.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hit Me Hard and Soft
    For 43 minutes straight, she forces the listener to consider every facet of her sound without wasting a second of their time. Her self-assurance in her craft lays the foundation for an album that feels like a signature triumph.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mayday
    Between its instrumental interplay and Gendron's singing and structural vision, it's a deep and gorgeous classic that moves her into the pantheon of our greatest living songwriters.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Poetry
    It's not a stretch to preemptively label Poetry 2024's record of the summer for the alternative crowd. It's fun, fresh and doesn't take itself too seriously.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To
    The album's only real shortcoming is that the Chris Motionless-featuring "Slaughterhouse 2," a sequel to the Garris-featuring original on Motionless in White's latest studio effort, feels slightly underwhelming in the shadow of its predecessor. It's a small misstep in an otherwise robust collection of songs.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Death Jokes
    The segues on Death Jokes prove to be the highlights of McMahon's experimentation. "Joyrider," "Predator" and "Solo Tape" succeed because they are unencumbered by the weight of songwriting expectation. Unlike the fuller compositions, these interstitial tracks lean more on the side of musical vignettes.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Look to the East, Look to the West
    Listening to Look to the East, Look to the West feels at once redemptive and healing; Camera Obscura have found their way through the dark.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Funeral for Justice
    The grandeur is all-enveloping here; a minor epic built from a surfeit of dissident spirit and Van Halen fanaticism. Don't let Mdou Moctar be the close-kept secret of suburban shamans the world over — this is pure Tuareg delight, palatable for all.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Time Is Glass
    On first glance one might mistake it for a kind of "playing the hits" trick that many artists rely on as they revisit their origins. But digging in, Time Is Glass feels more like a progression of ease — 20 years on, Chasny is able to reach the astral plane the way most reach for a light switch.
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