Record Collector's Scores

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For 2,518 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 51% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 44% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.1 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
Highest review score: 100 Queen II [Collector's Edition]
Lowest review score: 20 Relaxer
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,674 out of 2518
  2. Mixed: 838 out of 2518
  3. Negative: 6 out of 2518
2518 music reviews
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    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Shade
    All told, a rebel-rousing cut above today’s sludge.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Heart Speaks in Whispers
    The mellow-vibed Green Aphrodisiac also stands out with its succulent refrain and addictive, jazzy groove. The song’s introspective demeanour reflects the album as a whole, which mostly presents heartfelt meditations on love and life.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Los Niños Sin Miedo
    Above all, Los Niños Sin Miedo is an album made to soundtrack youthful exuberance--knowingly dumb in places, chaotically enthusiastic all over.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Prizefighter
    These are assured, solid songs by very good musicians, albeit lacking a killer punch or any wild, barrier-pushing inspiration. [Feb 2025, p.102]
    • Record Collector
      • Posted Feb 19, 2026
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Doris & the Daggers
    Rarely dipping below engaging, Doris is a welcome return that could all too easily have been dashed off or worse, ended up morbid.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Vengeance Falls
    This is solid, satisfying modern metal for the kids, and maybe even some wizened oldies too.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Disconnected in New York City [Live]
    It would have been good to have a wider selection of their work here. Surely such an enduring and eclectic band deserve more than a single disc for their admirable milestone anniversary.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    California Chrome
    It’s hard to imagine the masses rushing out to buy this, but any curious readers will be in very safe hands if they happen across it on their travels.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Everything So Far
    If Cardinal established Pinegrove as the punchy, poetic point where alt-country, US alterna-rock, beat-style lyricism and Sufjan Stevens-ish banjo meet, Everything maps a scenic route there.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Flying With Angels
    There's delicacy, not least on the softly breathless title track, but sometimes much more... Witch, with thumping drumbeat, turns things up a notch, and by the time we get to Rats we have full-blown rock. [Jun 2025, p.105]
    • Record Collector
      • Posted May 16, 2025
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Power To The People [Box Set]
    Opening track Woman IS The N***** Of The World has been quietly omitted, which will probably enrage Lennon completists, surely the set's biggest buyers. [Dec 2025, p.91]
    • Record Collector
      • Posted Oct 30, 2025
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Future Quiet
    It's the polar opposite of Moby's early hardcore punk and dancefloor output, so go elsewhere if that's your preference. [Mar 2026, p.104]
    • Record Collector
      • Posted Feb 20, 2026
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Boarding House Reach
    Boarding House is schizophrenic in the extreme. Despite being spawned in said room, later work has over-egged the pudding. While certain sections of songs work, they’re quickly thrown back into a maelstrom of hip-hop drums, Oh Sees squawks, fine gospel vocals from The McCrary Sisters and vintage synths.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Bang, Zoom, Crazy... Hello
    Bang Zoom Crazy… Hello, their 17th album and first since 2009, is the latest in a number of stillborn attempts to recapture those glory days.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It's a Holiday Soul Party
    It’s A Holiday Soul Party is both celebratory and socially astute, comprising originals and traditional songs.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Spirit
    On Spirit, Depeche Mode aren’t quite repeating themselves, nor is there real revolution in their sound. But they are nevertheless going forwards, and fans will be happy to join the march.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    25 25
    Their sound is now more stark and metronomic than ever before.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Together At Last
    A thoughtfully compiled career-spanning collection, performed solo on acoustic guitar.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Peanut Butter
    Peanut Butter’s 10 songs fizz by in no time at all. A livid onslaught of pop suss.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Inner Fire
    Despite highly effective stabs at afro-jazz (Kingdom Come), highlife (One Life To Live) and salsa (the fiery Agoya), it’s on the spiritual jazz numbers that the band really come into their own.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Blood//Sugar//Secs//Traffic
    It seems to exist almost in spite of itself, careening energetically down paths it desperately wants to avoid. To that extent, Blood//Sugar// Secs//Traffic is a cacophony of contradiction, but one very much worth investigating.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Feels Like Home
    Everything is despatched with verve and attitude, respectful of country music traditions but filtered through a broader, more urbane worldview.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Shakes
    Herbert is right to want more from music and to deliver his messages accessibly, but the lyrics are sometimes (perhaps disingenuously) generic and devoid of sharp edges.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Thought Rock Fish Scale
    It’s a consistent and intermittently inspired set but while it flows seamlessly throughout, the strident Roll It and intricate, Before Hollywood-esque Don’t Be Right are arguably the keepers here.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    White People & the Damage Done
    Musically, it’s primarily beefy, anthemic business as usual--fine for the most part, even if Road Rage and the glitterati-decimating Hollywood Goof Disease veer perilously close to predictability.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Luneworks
    Luneworks works best when the Rhodes, laptop and ennui work in harmony, seemingly unguided, providing moments of pure blissed-out release.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Spooky Action
    At its best, the record touches on a manic, countrified rock that very early Kings Of Leon might’ve deemed too farmyard to get away with. Occasionally it bleeds over into a blander, stadium sound that seems unbefitting of its creator. But it’s never dull, and in fact often white-knuckle. It’s just a shame it took so long.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Change
    Fusing those 60s influences with rich electronica creates a tableau that’s familiar in parts, but offers a distinctive twist to the predictable.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Phantom Island
    With its strings, horns and woodwind corralled into transformative shapes by Brit orchestrator Chad Kelly, the result leaves behind its predecessor’s heads-down retro-rock for a more expansive, if introspective offering. [Aug 2025, p.104]
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    I Like Fun
    Sonically, it boasts richer textures than recent albums, thanks largely to the pair’s expanded touring line-up playing a greater role in the studio; a more fleshed-out sound than the occasionally irritating minimalism of yore. Arguably, the decision to beef up the instrumentation is designed to bring heft to the lyrics’ serious topics, even though the band are, as ever, likely to be preaching to the choir.
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