NOW Magazine's Scores

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For 2,812 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 43% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 55% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 6.9 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 66
Highest review score: 100 Miss Anthropocene
Lowest review score: 20 Testify
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,287 out of 2812
  2. Mixed: 1,452 out of 2812
  3. Negative: 73 out of 2812
2812 music reviews
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    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Science & Magic
    Bub's knack for whimsical, 8-bit bleep-bloop electronic is apparent, and in addition to a few purrs or meows here and there, her magic shines in the arrangements.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Velocifero
    Both are on point throughout, making Velocifero a solid album, maybe too solid. I wish they’d crack the mould a little.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Ego Trippin'
    Somewhere along the way he must have forgotten about that--there are a handful of collaborators--but the overall theme of gleeful self-indulgence remains.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Seeker Lover Keeper
    It's perfect mellow background music, with just enough going on that it's still interesting when you pay attention.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    A Moon Shaped Pool
    There are moments where the restraint feels almost too determined, as though the abundance of care and attention to subtle detail also places a cap on the kind of impulsive energy essential to a rock-oriented band.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Fated
    You might only remember the songs with words, but the rest of the album puts those moments in context.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Desperation
    It’s a nice record, just not a great one, though it seems like the kind of thing that’ll age gracefully.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    4
    On 4, she's still missing a real sense of vulnerability but steps out from behind the club jams with beautifully nuanced mid-tempo production.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    A Weekend In The City
    Too often Bloc Party aim for an overly expansive epic Coldplay quality that compromises the focus of their songwriting.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Out Of The Woods
    Producer Ewan Pearson occasionally falters in connecting her vocals with the arrangements; there's a nice engagement on the slower, non-beat-driven tracks that you wish he'd mastered on the clubbier cuts.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Transfer of Energy (Feelings of Power)
    Only brief, melancholy melodies give relief from the oppressive darkness.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Page One
    The album is stylistically restless, jumping from power pop to 60s-inspired ballads, with dashes of disco, 80s dance music and klezmer squeezed in.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    H.F.M. 2 (The Hunger for More 2)
    Artists who put out album sequels are often criticized for trying to capitalize on a classic work. No one will accuse G-Unit lieutenant Lloyd Banks of that with the second instalment of his uneven debut.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Kathryn Calder
    Fun, easy listen? Not so much. But Calder's vocals are too cheerfully bright and the sounds too pleasant for things ever to become a downer.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Fire Within
    The few folksier, guitar-plucked numbers, however, are a touch formulaic and over-familiar.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Glitter In The Gutter
    In his old glamcore days, Malin's affected voice might've been easier to overlook, but in this context, it can grow grating.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors
    The disparate guest list means the record lacks some cohesion, but Big Boi--ambitious, effusive and still a remarkably lithe rapper--holds it all together.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Funplex
    So instead of rehashing Cosmic Thing for an ill-fated comeback banking on nostalgia, guitarist Keith Strickland learned Pro Tools, bought some electro records and voila: the B-52’s have a contemporary dance-rock record. Startlingly, this works.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Ride
    This is unabashedly a pop album, full of big melodies and simple metaphors, that adds just a bit of analog fuzz to her usually pristine sound.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Country Club
    The Sadies have proved themselves master instrumentalists at country and twang, and a fluid backup band able to execute any genre. Doe, who co-fronted seminal L.A. punks X, on the other hand, has a voice you could charitably call serviceable. Whether this collaboration needed to happen is debatable.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Road From Memphis
    Throughout, the material is simultaneously current and nostalgic, recalling the optimism and discovery of the 60s and 70s, especially on Progress, sung by Jim James of My Morning Jacket.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Shields
    Shields is not going to grab you, but it rewards patience.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Lunatico
    Dreamy and hypnotic, alternating between sparse and lush, these tunes' tempos tend to stay down, and things can get pretty stagnant, but there's a great sense of ambience and mood.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Black on Blonde
    His strength has always been his versatility: he combines old-school rap with a solid singing voice and an ability to play guitar and drums. Separating these elements is a curious strategy, though his verbal and instrumental talents still show up on both sides.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Celebration Rock
    Each song spills over with a breathless, unhinged vigour that impresses... But taken all together, the band's refusal ever to let up on volume, bombast, group-shouted vocals, fast-strummed chords or smashing drums makes Celebration Rock an exhausting sonic assault in need of variety.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Monuments to an Elegy
    While some songs veer too far into slick pop territory, most are balanced.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Supreme Balloon
    Much of their bubbly futuristic synth music goes no deeper than what you’d hear in old TV Ontario science shows. Cute but disposable.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Chasing Yesterday
    Chasing Yesterday breaks no new ground but does show more range than we normally expect from Noel Gallagher, possibly a result of his taking on production duties this time.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Here Comes the Cowboy
    There’s nothing inherently wrong with sticking to a formula that works, and in Cowboy’s case, it’s pretty acoustic songs and (mostly) mellow vocals. But for a songwriter like DeMarco, who on previous albums has triumphed when trying something new, perhaps change is worth pursuing.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Wild
    The only misfires include Brother, an old-tyme shanty à la the Decemberists whose Back On The Chain Gang-style background chants are an uncharacteristically tacky production choice. Still, The Wild is full of serviceable songs and outstanding playing, with Banwatt once again proving he’s one of the best drummers in the biz.
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