New Musical Express (NME)'s Scores

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For 6,302 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 55% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 41% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.6 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 71
Highest review score: 100 Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Lowest review score: 0 Maroon
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4,469 out of 6302
  2. Mixed: 1,680 out of 6302
  3. Negative: 153 out of 6302
6302 music reviews
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    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Miike Snow
    Miike Snow’s debut is a curious affair: clad in icy, inscrutable packaging a la Sigur Ros with american singer Andrew Wyatt carefully enunciating every overwrought word, it’s also jam-packed with the kind of dazzling pop tricks you might expect from three chaps whose day job is churning out radio hits for the likes of and Jordin Sparks.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Take Control
    It was produced by Michael ‘Mike D’ Diamond of the Beastie Boys, though sounds like it’s held together with snot and sawdust, lending the record a sense of spontaneity that runs through all 16 tracks.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    QTY
    Everything pushed to the limit, it becomes abundantly clear they’ve made an album that sounds as at home on the dust-stained subway as it does at the peak of the Empire State Building.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Palaces
    [The] change in pace makes for a welcome modification to the Flume sound, which is elevated by his rich, newfound sonics. Yes, Streten can still soundtrack your night out, but on ‘Palaces’ he’ll also gently bring you back down to Earth when morning comes.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Missionary
    Dre and Snoop forgot the legacy they created for the West Coast with ‘Doggystyle’ and – although there are flashes of fun – the forgettable collection barely scratches the surface of their legendary status.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Phrazes For The Young
    Recorded under the radar with producer Jason Lader and Bright Eyes collaborator Mike Mogis, it’s a strange little album, just eight songs long but deceptively dense with ideas.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    shame
    Though ‘shame’ is no wild departure, its voice feels stronger. Cutting loose clearly suits IDER – this independent follow-up finds them free to pick apart all the complicated facets of shame in a slow-burning, smouldering fashion.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Life Of A DON
    Toliver adds a new flavour to his popular sound here, and while the result is a less cohesive record than ‘Heaven Or Hell’, the result is a similarly cosy sonic comfort blanket.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mother
    What solidifies ‘Mother’ as an excellent debut is Poulter’s openness to embrace a myriad of influences, from UK funky to disco and ’90s house. To produce good dance music means keeping the sensations alive on the dancefloor; ‘Mother’ highlights the multiple ways the club can be enjoyed.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Luminous Night
    A set of sombre fingerpicked fables, Luminous Night’is heavy in spirit. It is cold to the core, as if it’s being played in the long shadow of a tombstone.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Cursing the Sea
    Caoimhe Derwin and Jessie Ward’s guitars have perfected that Jesus And Mary Chain kettle-whistle sound, lending a haunted air to otherwise energetic stomps like ‘Heartbeats’ and ‘Talking.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    I'm Having Fun Now
    Jenny 'Rilo Kiley' Lewis, and Jonathan 'Just Recorded Under His Own Name' Rice's brand of folk-indie-pop--jangly guitars, sweetly shared harmonies, echoes of the Deep South--isn't groundbreaking, but probably wasn't supposed to be.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Yours To Keep
    An intimate, frequently beautiful and consistently surprising record that gets better with every listen.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Heligoland
    Overall, though ‘Heligoland’ is a puzzling and frustrating listen. Some good tracks can’t hide the fact that this is the stuff of an identity crisis. It’s one thing to call on your famous friends to put flesh on your bones. It’s another if you leave the listener wondering if you’ve any spine at all.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Carpenter
    The Avetts are clearly happiest when they're miserable. Which is fine, if you're in that kind of mood.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    EBM
    ‘EBM’, then, goes some way to bringing the seasoned band back to what they do best, all the while pushing things forward.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Stories Don't End
    Stories Don’t End is smoother than a drive down to Malibu with the Eagles chilling in the back seat.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade
    What they have done, though, is find their voice again, and, for the first time in over 20 years, The Libertines feel like a band with a viable future.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Jukebox
    Good, but not "The Greatest."
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Colors
    As a collection of songs, however, Colors is by far Beck’s most upbeat and enjoyable record from front to back since the ’90s. Repeated listens will no doubt be rewarded.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Volcano
    Volcano may rank as more of a technical progression than an artistic one, but it’s no less impressive for that.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
    All of these incredible songs shimmer and vibrate with the riotous majesty of 'Psychocandy' without a trace of the Mary Chain's post-'Honey's Dead' self-parody.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    My Dark Places
    A stunningly original record--harrowing and hilarious in equal amounts. [25 Feb 2006, p.32]
    • New Musical Express (NME)
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Skins
    Happily, it makes a good go of bucking the trend here and there, with singer Bill Janovitz's full-throated delivery investing his words with the kind of gritty undercurrent of self-loathing and inner torment that makes Skins jolt with bursts of fresh energy.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cyclops Reap
    Cyclops Reap keeps the party going.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Where the Heaven Are We
    The ramshackle energy and unpredictability of their live show has been sanded down into something more clinical and precise.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tally All the Things That You Broke [EP]
    A whiff of unoriginality aside, what this EP offers Parquet Courts addicts is fresh meat to chew on, signs of innovation and further evidence that these New Yorkers are one of the world’s most essential new bands.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Diploid Love
    It’s a graceful evolution and one that rocks just as hard as the squalling fury of The Distillers ever did.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Courage Of Others
    If it’s mournful epics you want, then the album’s crammed full of them, from the strummed, outdoorsy sorrow of ‘Winter Dies’ to ‘Rulers, Ruling All Things’, which is peppered with cheeky Spanish guitar and weighty, fin-de-siècle lyrical flair.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Coconut
    Their personality is bold throughout, an excess of top-shelf distortion and a cast-the-crutches-aside sense of euphoria.
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