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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    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Plumb
    15 seamless songs that consistently keep interest high and ideas varied.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Barchords
    This time around, though, female backing vocals add interest and drama to what is essentially a rich batch of breakup songs that somehow leave you feeling good.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Themes For an Imaginary Film
    The musical motifs get a bit redundant, but its stylish minimalism brims with drama.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Something
    On slick, feckless romance ballads like I Belong In Your Arms, that rooted-in-the-past sound can seem like empty nostalgia, but it blooms with freshness when used as a springboard for experimentation.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Born to Die
    Much of her music aims to capture elusive emotions, yet she ends up spelling them out with literal refrains, banal narratives and sexed-up histrionics that leave little to the imagination.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Making Mirrors
    At his best he reminds you of everything that makes Miike Snow's self-titled debut such an addictive listen, but at his worst he comes across like an electronic music dilettante.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Tramp
    Sometimes the lack of definition and the deluge of words grow tedious, but in these songs, all lushly arranged, as is the entire album, the effect is nothing short of riveting.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Wonderland
    Aoki relies heavily on guests to pad out Wonderland, with mixed results.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Future This
    The result is an album with chart-worthy songs that are uncomfortably familiar at times and a touch low on risk.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Old Ideas
    Old Ideas feels like you're hearing Cohen performing live at a small club with a top-notch band of veteran players, and this new level of intimacy suits him perfectly.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Be Strong
    Although the first half relies on straight-up classic house beats and lyric imperatives to be stronger, work harder and get higher, they upend the formula with an oddball-pop sensibility, beautifully crafted melodies and general silliness.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy
    Strong melodies make the tunes better than middle-of-the-road, but aside from a bit more distortion, the New York trio show little desire to venture outside their breezy alt-pop comfort zone.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    MU.ZZ.LE
    MU.ZZ.LE finds the idiosyncratic artist more focused than ever.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Resolution
    While the five-piece continue to write virtually the same song over and over again (hell, practically in the same key), there are new proggier and acoustic bits (Ghost Walking) on display.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Provincial
    Still on offer are his immaculately crafted lyrics and preoccupation with place.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Reverie
    An hour long, Reverie's an unusual mix of gentle, drifting and jarring.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Fallen Empires
    In the first few songs they stretch themselves creatively and come up with promising results, but halfway through it's back to overwrought ballads and middle-of-the-road mid-tempo rock songs.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Attack On Memory
    All the trademarks are here, filtered through frontman's Dylan Baldi's snappy power pop talents.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Bangarang [EP]
    It's not a tasteful formula, but that doesn't mean it's not valid.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cyrk
    Le Bon's pop sensibilities are much more pronounced, yet they don't dilute any of her wonderful weirdness.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    America Give Up
    This is an endearing and eminently likeable listen.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Let's Go Eat the Factory
    While it fails to match their previous hit quotient, it's still a decent listen.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Voyageur
    The arrangements, though, are far more expansive, all gorgeously produced and delivered with subtlety.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Echoes of Silence
    The mood is still dark, druggy and claustrophobic, but this time Tesfaye is channelling a pain that's less about cold emptiness than it is about more traditional heartbreak and longing.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Purple Naked Ladies
    Syd the Kyd mostly drifts through the music, and is more compelling when getting into trouble--as on Cocaine and Fastlane--rather than lamenting love lost.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Dreamer/The Believer
    Compared to his earlier work, it's just decent.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Live Love A$AP
    More about lyrical swagger than emotional substance, LiveLoveA$AP is a solid intro to someone who could be an enduring figure in the years ahead.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sepalcure
    Songs, though distinct, spill into each other, with heady euphoria tying it all together.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Parallax
    There are shades of classic 50s-style crooning in Cox's vocals, but his voice has a sublime spectral quality that adds a lingering disquiet.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Path of Totality
    The combination of chugging half-time beats, machine gun riffing and techno's sonic extremism is way more pleasing than it should be, the weakest point being Jonathan Davis's earnest adolescent vocals, which we assume actual Korn fans will enjoy.
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