Exclaim's Scores

  • Music
For 5,105 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:
5105 music reviews
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Unlike those of many of their contemporaries, this album isn't offering much faux hard-won wisdom, and there's no late-night barstool proselytizing to speak of. Instead, Start Here channels the naïve wonder, genuine openness, and hopeful abandon of post-adolescence.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Production and keys aside, Turkey isn't much of a departure for Krol, but it may finally get him the recognition he deserves on the higher-profile Merge Records.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Pickpocket's Locket stands as some of Mercer's most urgent and terse work to date.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Anyone who doesn't fall for Depression Cherry's hypnotic splendour probably just isn't a Beach House fan, or didn't live with the album long enough. But those who do will recognize this album as the sweeping, grand gesture they've been working up to giving us for the last nine years.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Collaboration clearly suits Destroyer well: after ten albums in close to two decades, the band still sound as vital and inventive as ever, and they're operating at the top of their game on Poison Season.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    A mysterious, sprawling listen that will baffle the masses, but reward patient listeners longing for an LP that is immersive, quirky and gently haunting.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The tracks are of such quality, though, that their position as part of something larger is mostly irrelevant.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    M
    Produced by Garm of Ulver, the textures of M are even more finely hewn and interwoven than its predecessor, resulting in a record that is at once profoundly tactile and deeply sensual.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ghost isn't for everyone; they are deliberately, deliciously over the top and unapologetically dramatic, but if you dig their smoke and mirrors, then Meliora is just the indulgence you've been craving.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Deradoorian's songwriting pulls together colliding ideas and sounds, and it works on the eccentric and restless The Exploding Flower Planet.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wave[s] is a clear indication that Jenkins is expanding his sound and stepping away from expectation as he prepares his debut album, The Healing Component. But in the meantime, he's established himself as an artist with even more to offer than many predicted
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Easy on the ears, heavy on the heart and definitely worth the wait, High will leave you feeling as such.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    E·MO·TION demonstrates how little improvement could be made on her sharp, consistent songwriting abilities. These are perfect pop songs; a few more rare glimpses of their rougher edges would make them all the more spectacular.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The band have played it relatively safe, changing little from the upbeat pop-punk formula established on 2014's Wishful Thinking, but have still managed to cram some undeniably catchy moments into this new set.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Skeleton Closet is an album of songs that are thoughtful, catchy, carefully hopeful.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Everybody's Coming Down feels both focused and purposeful, something not all albums can lay claim to after a band's nearly decade-long absence.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Unfortunately, the lack of quality choruses leaves something to be desired.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Recorded in just ten days, Morning World stands as Teen Daze's most effortless work to date, coming off thoughtful and patient without ever succumbing to the burden of "style."
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    While Detox seemed poised to erode Dre's sonic reputation, Compton, reputedly his last record, instead solidifies Dre's already ironclad claims to all-time status. Not only does Compton make you forget about Detox, it also makes sure you won't ever forget about Dre.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Every song manages to fit very well together without sounding too similar.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    At its best (the haunting "Ashes," the provocative "I Ain't The Girl," the killer cover of "To Love Somebody" and the title track), Faded Gloryville is a tour de force. Too bad the two weakest songs ("Run A Muck" and "Rundown Neighborhood") appear back-to-back, temporarily breaking the spell at the midway point.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Between her typically deft hooks, the thematic cohesion and the efficiency of it all (five songs, 20 minutes), Love is Free marks another gem in Robyn's recent, diamond-studded catalogue.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    While I Declare Nothing wastes no time solidifying a ruthless groove and builds on its own breathtaking walls of sound, it's album closer "Friendlies" on which Parks and Newcombe shine brightest, a four-and-a-half-minute bliss-out that could soundtrack a pro-hallucinogen PSA.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Overall, Ashes And Dust is undeniable proof of Warren Haynes' growth as a songwriter and an affirmation of his continuing successful eclecticism.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Though some fans will no doubt be put off by the band's new direction, anything more than a cursory listen reveals that HEALTH haven't made some great leap into the pop void. Rather, they've more fully embraced something that was always inherent to their music in the first place.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Written, performed, and produced solely by the artist, Barnes' debut is a percussive gem saturated with guttural synths. It's a distinct piece of electro-pop that deserves close listening.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Whipple's previous PAN release, the Scythians EP, hinted at the greatness to come from this Janus club night co-founder, yet was a little too short to really demonstrate his true power. It took a full-length release to truly suss out the immensity of M.E.S.H.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The vocal harmonies on Weirdo Shrine are eerily perfect, fading in and out of the driving instrumentals.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    This gloriously woozy record is era-ambiguous and the sonic equivalent of a contact high.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Its sparseness allows the listener to reflect, in the time and space, on the moments of staggering beauty in the poems.