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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    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Capacity
    Capacity is both a logical successor to Masterpiece as well as a great leap forward for Big Thief. The chemistry that Lenker and her band have established on album number two is extraordinarily strong, but no matter how good they get, her songwriting seems as though it will forever be raw to the core.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Modern Pressure
    Modern Pressure feels vibrant and impassioned, adding a freshness to the otherwise vintage sound.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sugar at the Gate
    TOPS like to keep listeners on their toes. Their music is undeniably beautiful and, for all its subtleties, often immediately rewarding.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Gone Now
    Those who got on board with Strange Desire should have no problem connecting with the deep feels and big pop choruses that propel Gone Now.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    My Love Divine Degree
    My Love Divine Degree adds modern flair to soul and speaks to ChesnuTT's captivating songwriting skills.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cascades [EP]
    Blais' playing suits very well the pristine and glossy production Silver employed for those recordings, injecting it with a real sense of purpose here.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Somersault
    They've always had an ear for melody, and here, the shimmering soundscapes put that gift on full display. The result is a compelling, immersive addition to the Beach Fossils catalogue, an effort that chronicles a band truly freeing themselves and expanding outward.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone
    I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone skilfully expresses complex and murky emotions with clear and concise lyrics.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Waiting on a Song
    The final product is dynamic, with a warm, analog sound that brings out the best in Auerbach's writing.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Is This the Life We Really Want?
    Producer Nigel Godrich, no stranger to helping soundtrack world-weary malaise, keeps Waters in comfortable territory with pianos, string arrangements and acoustic guitars, along with a few unmistakably Floyd-ian arrangements.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Nektyr
    The record is strikingly patient and meditative, even to the point of being hypnotic.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Teenage Emotions
    At over an hour in length, Teenage Emotions is more quantity than quality.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Play What They Want
    For Play What They Want, Colpitts and Brooklyn-based ensemble TIGUE Percussion partner with some legendary guests, and the result is an expansive, writhing body of busy, ego-less playing delivered with a beating, beaming heart.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Following Mountain
    While some of this album's material might seem pretentious or esoteric, Amidon's strengths--his musicianship, rustic voice and taste for innovative arrangements--still shine through.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Kids In The Street
    Thankfully, he quickly debunks any clichés about artists needing to be tortured on Kids, which marks the grown-up Earle's glorious return to form.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The King & I
    Evans tries to preserve authenticity by enlisting producers like Chucky Thompson, Stevie J and DJ Premier (who all worked with Biggie in life). It's an understandable move, but the album's production is simply too dated to resonate.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Move Upstairs
    You don't have to be a churchgoer to recognize the positive, life-affirming role music this powerful can play. Given the state of things in the American South (not to mention various hotspots around the world), music this soulful is clearly timeless.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Big Walnuts Yonder
    It's the second half of the album where Reinhart takes over the vocals to sing a string delightfully warped groove pop songs with math punk flourishes that the band feel the most cohesive.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    She-Devils
    Jukka's production style and Boucher's lyrics and singing are strong on their own, but together, their chemistry has led to one of the year's strongest debuts.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Black Origami
    To say Black Origami is an album that grows on you with each listen is correct, but undermines the energy you feel upon the album's first listen. It's earthy and futuristic, complex and linear, dance-y and a total mind-fuck.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Shake the Shudder
    The songs are short and punchy, and nod to the anything-goes attitude that pervaded the jams sessions from which they were born.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Spin
    Here they are with the emotionally eloquent Spin, rejuvenated and sounding just as good as a duo as they ever did as a quintet.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Stubborn Persistent Illusions
    They have a warmth and earnestness that permeates their complex emotional movements. Their soundscapes seamlessly blend the organic and rustic infrastructures of urban life.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Rocket
    Rocket is a true tour de force that cements (Sandy) Alex G snugly in the company of indie rock's great auteurs.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    You're Welcome
    Besides one failed experiment of a song, You're Welcome's 11 other tracks are not only some of the best songs Williams has ever penned, but some of the freshest, most inventive tunes the genre has heard in years.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Goths
    The LP is both amusing and poignant, full of strange imagery and punch lines that are characteristic of Mountain Goats.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Life After Youth
    With Life After Youth, Powell has gifted us a beautiful treatise on how to think about life, relationships and what's important.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Paradise
    Grant's versatility makes Paradise an alluring locale that listeners will eagerly, and frequently, revisit.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Harry Styles
    There's a handful of above-average tunes here, and an earnestness that suggests Harry Styles will have a fruitful solo career.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    All the Beauty in This Whole Life
    All the Beauty in This Whole Life is a welcome work by an artist who's put it all on the table over the past six albums; his seventh was well worth the wait.
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