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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    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Harmonicraft
    Harmonicraft is filled with catchy hooks and pop melodies, as well as progressive, atmospheric rhythms.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Rock and Roll Night Club
    The melodies can blur into one another and some tracks don't stand out, but Rock and Roll Night Club is so ephemeral and addictive that you'll want to be making love in this club regularly.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Life Somewhere Else
    It's the driving, rock-based tracks like "Recoil" and "Just Dust" that give Life Somewhere Else its energy, as Kilbey matches Cain's chugging-but-ringing guitars with a lust-for-life delivery.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Lineage
    With its hypnotic loops and acoustic percussion, this great downtempo record, at times, calls to mind a looser, dreamier Teebs, with the melodic sense of early Four Tet.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Electric Cables
    This is a lovely record with enough autumnal tones to ensure that you'll still be listening to it in six months' time.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Shallow Bed
    Shallow Bed is refreshingly free of archaic, "old timey" references; it feels both relevant and familiar.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sweet Heart Sweet Light
    In many ways, Sweet Heart is the most complete Spiritualized album yet.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Cynic's New Year
    Above all, Cynic's New Year sounds incredible; its production quality alone is worth several listens.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dross Glop
    In nearly every case, the remix version does justice to the original while taking the track to a completely different place sonically.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Beware and Be Grateful
    The songs are engaging and incredibly catchy, but lack emotion ― that intangible quality that will take this feel-good record and give it staying power.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Acousmatic Sorcery
    This is a minimalist masterpiece.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    151A
    When it starts, the overt prettiness and ornate, layered arrangements are very reminiscent of Owen Pallett, but very soon it veers of in some lovely tangents, although it inevitably comes back to string-laden, experimental pop.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dead Set on Living
    There's little about Dead Set on Living that isn't an improvement on the band's past efforts, from the thunderous guitar tones to the frenetic energy pouring out of every song, courtesy of live-off-the-floor recording.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Next Logical Progression
    There's a comfortable vibe that the project ease into, content to deliver serviceable lyrics over straightforward beats and nothing more.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ataraxia/Taraxis [EP]
    Each song on Ataraxia/Taraxis is diverse, with moments of melodious prog-rock, powerful riffs and hazy ambience; however, there's also cohesion to the EP that makes it feel expansive and utterly epic.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Slave to the Game
    Like many bands with a "core" attached to their sub-genre, Emmure are adept at making every song into an almost continuous, ferocious breakdown and it's a formula that keeps the album's momentum at its peak at all times.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Stars and Satellites
    An even stronger effort, one that avoids the sometimes-frantic pace that marred that earlier album a little.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rhine Gold
    Rhine Gold does feel a bit frontloaded, with the most compelling tracks happening in the first half, losing a little momentum towards the end, but this is still a superb release.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    King Con
    Alex Winston is capable of writing some excellent indie-pop gems, she just hasn't figured out to do it with consistency.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Host
    This album strikes an intriguing, if slightly schizophrenic, balance between gently meandering almost-psychedelia and the restless rhythmic activity of recent dance styles.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Transistor Rhythm
    The lower your expectations, the better it will seem.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Staring at the X
    Staring At the X is definitely cut from the same cloth as its predecessor, but even more so. Everything has been ramped up, making for an even more satisfying record.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Boys & Girls
    The rawness of the band puts them in a different category than other soul revivalists like Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, but the visceral quality of Boys & Girls gives Alabama Shakes an edge.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Phedre
    While listening to Phèdre, one can do nothing but feel helpless in the face of nearly perfect pop experimentalism.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Iradelphic
    Iradelphic is great stream-of-consciousness art.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    De Vermis Mysteriis
    De Vermis Mysteriis is a bloody, hard-fought triumph.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    De La Soul's Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present...First Serve
    Don't call it a full-fledged De La Soul record--call it an enjoyable diversion until the full crew come back proper.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Torture
    Torture is classic Corpse. No complaints.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Spooky Action at a Distance
    Spooky Action At A Distance is a sprawling pop album beaming with the kind of confidence none of us, likely even Pundt, expected. Some surprises are worth waiting six years for.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Seeds
    Seeds strikes the perfect balance, as Madlib's thickly layered funk and soul samples and cabinet rocking beats pair with Muldrow's gloriously off-kilter vocals and free-form song structures to make this her most satisfying release to date.
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