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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    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    News from Nowhere
    On News from Nowhere, Darkstar have completed their transformation from playing in an overexposed genre to being in an irresolute one.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    We the Common
    This is Nguyen's strongest work yet, with the aforementioned songwriting taking a leap forward, while gradually perfecting her melting pot sound of country, folk and pop.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Electric
    Unlike most of his peers, Thompson is defying the march of time, continuing to write and perform at an exceptional level. Electric easily deserves a place alongside his best solo releases.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Goldenheart
    Goldenheart functions as a hypnotic aural distraction, but little more.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Somewhere Else
    A deceptively lush record full of moments of striking beauty.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    General Dome
    The pair are making strummable instruments sound new again, and it sounds like redemption. Proceed frantically and without caution.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    My God Is Blue
    There's a subtle audaciousness to My God is Blue that pulls the listener in; it's almost like Sébastien Tellier is channelling a gloomy saviour.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Candela
    Though things work best when Pierce allows enough space amidst the music for the actual songs to flourish, even the jostling of the overcrowded bits is wonderful and energetic.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Out of View
    Whether you came of age in the '90s or were just born then, the History of Apple Pie have what you need.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Heartthrob
    Sure, the LP falters when it casts its net too wide, particularly on the Roxette-indebted "Love They Say" and Twin Shadow outtake "Shock to Your System," but those moments are few.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hummingbird
    This isn't the boldest step forward, but it looks like Local Natives are on a steady ascent and Hummingbird is sure to solidify them as one of the best indie-rock bands out there today.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Flower Lane
    If you've got a unquenchable thirst for reverb-y guitar pop, The Flower Lane is a pleasant album worth a listen, but those looking for something more should probably look elsewhere.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Vertikal
    The rub is that Cult of Luna do the 13-minute-song thing so well on their sixth album (which is about four hours long) it's scary.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Target Earth
    If there were any doubts among the faithful about legendary Quebec prog-metal dudes Voivod being able to recapture the magic of their classic era in the absence of deceased guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, they're shattered within moments of the title track.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Fabriclive 67: Ben UFO
    Garage, house and techno are twisted into strange new forms over the 70-odd minutes that UFO holds us enthralled for.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Oak Island
    Oak Island has a deftness that makes it hard to resist, but some songs disappear under the weight of everything that's transpiring.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Coming Out of the Fog
    It's a leaner, grittier iteration of Arbouretum that slowly lopes out of the starting blocks on this fifth full-length.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Wash the Sins Not Only the Face
    The relentless gothic signifiers too often leave you in the cold, wondering why you didn't spend the last 45 minutes enhancing or deepening your more sinister feelings, rather than drowning beneath them.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Anything In Return
    Anything in Return functions as an all-in-one summary of Bundick's talents, giving the impression of a maturing songwriter who has found his wheelhouse.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Brokeback and the Black Rock
    Black Rock is still filled with McCombs' spacious, isolating tracks ("Tonight at Ten," "Gold!"), which are best for lonely winter evenings.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Centralia
    While the album is a drone-based record, Mountains never stagnate, unafraid of abrasive movement, and their sometimes intense palette never feels out of place or unpleasant.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    FIDLAR
    Fidlar is easily one of the most energetic and fun-filled records in a while.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Beta Love
    The band's decision to eschew their trademark orchestration in favour of a more synth-driven sound was, sadly, a mistake.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    True North
    True North (their 16th LP) lacks the visceral power and focused sense of purpose their trio of post-Epitaph return albums had, the band nevertheless sound unwilling to go gently into that good night.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Academy Songs, Vol. 1
    Orth starts off with a very promising narrative, but soon loses the listener, and himself, in the world he's created.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Light Up Gold
    A little more variety certainly would flesh out the band's releases, but as it stands these 15 songs fit together nicely, giving the impression of one deliriously long writing session.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Elements of Light
    Weber's creative theoretical and instrumental approach is unique, but the abrasive and connotative tonal qualities of the carillon often overshadow the colourful subtleties of the finer details of his delicate arrangements.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Lysandre
    As a solo debut, Lysandre is a self-indulgent effort that succeeds in spite of itself; it also signals an artist shaking off the shackles of the past and embracing a wider range of sounds and ideas.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Long.Live.A$AP
    You'll love this album, but you won't learn much from it.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Fade
    The band's 14th record finds Yo La Tengo settling into a late career renaissance that revisits the timbre of some of their best records (especially the quiet grace of And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out) without rehashing them, providing a welcome counterpoint to their slightly louder and more bombastic later efforts.
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