Exclaim's Scores

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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:
  1. Positive: 4,324 out of 5105
  2. Mixed: 753 out of 5105
  3. Negative: 28 out of 5105
5105 music reviews
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    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Anxiety's Kiss
    It's the discomfort, the restlessness, and inability to settle that makes Anxiety's Kiss hang together, and while it's a hard way to think and live, Coliseum do it exceptionally well.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    California Nights
    The focused California Nights nevertheless cements Best Coast as one of the few bands capable of straddling the line between intimacy and mass appeal.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Born Under Saturn
    Between its laid-back vocals, surf guitar and stomping percussion, Born Under Saturn makes a strong claim to being your ideal beach or road trip companion this summer.
    • 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.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Painted Shut
    The three long years since Get Disowned gifted Hop Along the chance to take their sonic sheet lightning and bottle it, giving Painted Shut a razor-sharp focus and economy that doesn't give an inch.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sprinter
    Although Sprinter is a singular vision, it won't help rid her of the PJ Harvey comparisons, proving Torres to be musician unafraid of comparison, but even less afraid of compromise.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hypnophobia
    Hypnophobia is a beautiful, and sometimes tragic, look into the mind of a talented and tortured artist.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    MCIII
    It's a feat of musical arrangement and of lyricism, sure, but in essence, it's the songwriting on MCIII that really makes it such an achievement.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Trickfinger
    Fans of Frusciante's solo career will love this latest addition to his catalogue; it's one of his strongest releases to date.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Longest River
    The Longest River sounds like it wasn't written to impress anyone, but impress it does. It's an intriguing debut.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Magic Whip
    The results are a pleasant surprise.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    MG
    Though some of MG comes off unfinished and thematically skeletal, Gore does a fine job at utilizing a multitude of sounds on experimental-leaning tracks like "Creeper" and "Trysting."
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Hairball
    Overall, Hairball lacks some of the subtlety found in their previous work, but it's still an engaging listen from start to finish.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Never Were the Way She Was
    Recorded live with no overdubs or loops, Never were the way she was is a perfect blend of Neufeld's violin virtuosity and Stetson's outside-the-box approach to saxophone and clarinet, their styles complementing yet pushing each other to new heights.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Deep in the Iris
    The result is Deep in the Iris, a musical mash-up of acoustic and electronic influences that's both achingly vulnerable and tentatively joyful.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Forest of Arms
    [Percussionist Joshua Van Tassel] and master bassist Bret Higgins give all these songs organic, unfussy rhythms that dig in like the deepest of tree roots and guide this Forest of Arms.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    + -
    Give this one time, and it reveals itself.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Jackrabbit
    His predilection for marrying sublime pop melodies to bombastic arrangements laced with classical avant-garde flourishes has reached a new level of focus, and, resultantly, potency, on Jackrabbit.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Foil Deer
    There was a sense that this record would be Speedy Ortiz's great leap forward. Instead, we get some tentative baby steps in the right direction, as the band settle for just really good instead of truly great.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Instant Gratification
    Instant Gratification is the culmination of the band's growth over the years, and delivers a variety of well-crafted songs.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Early Years [EP]
    The Early Years is a ferocious and borderline terrifying slab of feral noise-rock, but it's only a small indication of what it sounds like Girl Band might be capable of.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Modern Nature
    A fluid release, a chilled-out, soulful take on the Charlatans' psychedelic sound complemented by muted horns and jazzy keys.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Damogen Furies
    Often tawdry and occasionally remarkable, Damogen Furies is a scattershot release, but one that's definitely worth exploring.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Second Hand Heart
    Thirty years later, it's another landmark, his best record in years. Maybe decades.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    N.E.W.
    There's undeniably something missing here.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Untethered Moon
    Untethered Moon is arguably the most enjoyable Built To Spill album since 1999's pivotal Keep It Like A Secret.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Sound & Color
    It's a deliberately weird record, but authentically weird; it's chaotic yet cohesive, full of sound, colour and unshakable vision.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wire
    As Wire albums go, Wire is very accessible and it contains nods to almost every album that has come before it.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Suuns & Jerusalem in My Heart
    It's music with a strong pulse that also whispers its truths close to your ear, like an intimate conversation at the back of a booming dance club.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Cherry Bomb
    Moments of souled-out bliss are only temporary, pushed aside by jarring, more aggressive fare reportedly stemming from his interest in the music of Death Grips.... These louder tracks are done no favours by the process by which they were engineered: compressed and distorted in a fashion that leaves Tyler's vocals largely inaudible.
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