Pitchfork's Scores

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For 12,729 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 41% higher than the average critic
  • 6% same as the average critic
  • 53% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.8 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 70
Highest review score: 100 Sign O' the Times [Deluxe Edition]
Lowest review score: 0 nyc ghosts & flowers
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10,465 out of 12729
  2. Mixed: 1,950 out of 12729
  3. Negative: 314 out of 12729
12729 music reviews
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    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Innocence
    These slower songs aren't just mellow, they're mundane, and their inclusion leaves Innocence feeling lopsided, a oft-killer rock record with nasty balladry habit.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 74 Critic Score
    Realistic IX
    The album sometimes sounds slightly undercooked, like a set of production sketches awaiting further embellishment. And the debt it owes to its influences dilutes any shock of the new. But it takes skill and a degree of daring to riff on an album as monumental as Loveless
    • 73 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Simple Math
    His belief in his own profundity is kind of endearing as Manchester Orchestra's driving force. It's hard to imagine something like the title track, which uses infidelity as a jumping-off point to question the entire basis of human existence, even standing a chance without it.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 48 Critic Score
    Fishing for Fishies
    It’s a shame to see a band with such clear skill and experimental prowess release an album as doltish as Fishing for Fishies, especially considering that, not so long ago, they managed to release five good albums in a single year. There is very little joy involved in listening to these nine songs.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Butterfly House
    That the results are as modest as Butterfly House is a disappointment, though all the skillful pieces remain in place.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    Magic
    If Magic revisits the subject matter of previous career crests, it unfortunately recalls "The Rising" in its sound: Brendan O'Brien returns to the producer's seat, once again shuffling most of the E Street Band to the music's margins and focusing his attention squarely on the Boss.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    St. Catherine
    This is Ducktails’ most discriminating and tasteful album, but the project is at its best when there's a certain amount of exploration even within its narrow parameters.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 73 Critic Score
    Hollow
    The songs on Hollow are modest--there's no closing epic, and the choruses are catchy but don't aim to be anthems--but the band seems to have found its true strength here in a sound that's pretty far removed from the implied violence of its name.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Body Complex
    Fortunately, Body Complex never gets bogged down by ambient music's wallpaper associations. This isn't music for living rooms; it's music for living in.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 73 Critic Score
    Love in a Time of Madness
    The core strength of Love in a Time of Madness is its range of dance-pop appreciation.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Dead Start Program
    Although the record has a number of aesthetically appealing moments, Dead Start Program never quite coalesces.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    Somewhere
    Sun June are interested in daydreams as both playground and prison, and about observing what happens when you collide with the borders of your own interiority. But even in this cloudy, circumscribed world of echoing instruments, where faking and fiction are not only indulged, but necessary, Sun June’s sincerity shines through.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 74 Critic Score
    Everything's Beautiful
    A trio of cuts toward the middle of Everything’s Beautiful suffers from feeling less robustly reimagined than the rest of the set--placing a slight drag on momentum.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 71 Critic Score
    Mettavolution
    Mettavolution reassures that for as long as they’re around, Rodrigo y Gabriela will be echoing their influences as only they can.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 59 Critic Score
    Trial Of The Century
    Essentially, Trial is just one semi-interesting idea (retro-tinged, Smiths-influenced, synth-friendly rock) repeated 11 times-- and no matter how able or committed the French Kicks may be to that lone notion, their conviction alone can't make their sophomore record feel any less tedious.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    Weather Diaries
    Weather Diaries is no Tarantula-sized affront to Ride’s legacy, but neither is it a Going Blank Again-style triumph of reinvention and focus. Weather-wise, it is an overcast day with a hint of sun: promising but never quite satisfying.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Rain On Lens
    Much of Rain on Lens sounds remarkably detached, and the end result is an album that, while musically excellent, lacks the impact of the pre-parentheses days.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 61 Critic Score
    Rainy Day Music
    The group envelops the different elements of music available to them-- from folk, to rock, to Gram Parsons-influenced pop-- in such a way that is alternately enjoyable and excessively off-putting.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons
    Blonde Redhead's biggest detractors focus on the group's uncanny resemblance to Sonic Youth. But while Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons won't exactly silence such suggestions, it does seem to move conscientiously away from the influences that have marred the group's previous work.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Holes In The Wall
    It's surprising to see how well Holes in the Wall holds up under the weight of its own hype.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 59 Critic Score
    Alive To Every Smile
    A lot of bands venture close to soft-rock territory and come out unscathed. Trembling Blue Stars aren't so lucky.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Tour de France Soundtracks
    Their latest LP may not pack the same fortune-telling punch of their classic records, but it is nevertheless a distinctly engaging, sophisticated experience.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Hidden Vagenda
    Hidden Vagenda is elegantly constructed and outwardly naive, but it lacks a consistent underlying honesty.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    The Sun Came Out
    The Sun Came Out, whether intentionally or not, is an album for singers, but often it's the music that elevates the songs and prevents even the slickest moments from falling into the AOR mire.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Write Me Back
    Kelly seems to have breezed through the writing and recording process here, and there's a fine line between breezy and half-assed.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 74 Critic Score
    Burnt Up on Re-Entry
    It's despairing and unfriendly, but it opens up an entire new world for Sweet to explore, and is richest and most surprising Boduf release yet.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    I'm Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams
    The most satisfying songs on I'm Rich are the ones that adapt a bit to the fact that all six members, logistically speaking, cannot be present to scream every note in your face as you listen.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 64 Critic Score
    Wot
    It's a well-crafted record that's lyrically dwarfed by the old emoting masters.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 76 Critic Score
    Days of Being Wild
    The switch from acoustic to electric has a lovely lamplit effect on the songs.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Closer Apart
    On paper, the decision to mix the raw invention their early work with the melodic catharsis of jazz and gospel sounds fascinating, while Closer Apart’s weirdly gorgeous companion video makes a case for Okzharp & Manthe Ribane as an enthralling visual act. But the album itself feels frustratingly limp, making you wish Okzharp & Ribane had stayed true to the kinetic force that lit up their EPs.
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