Spin's Scores

  • Music
For 4,305 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 50% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 47% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.5 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 70
Score distribution:
4305 music reviews
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Even the production on Beyond sounds plucked from the trio's Bug heyday. [May 2007, p.85]
    • Spin
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Quieter and more uniform in sound than the wilfully eclectic Let It Die, the new album emphasizes her sumptuous vocals and ear for a handsome melody. [May 2007, p.85]
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    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Valedictorian frequently collides with bracing beauty, sometimes of the of the conventional sort, but more often like nothing else before it. [May 2007, p.85]
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    • 76 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Skirting the emotional depths that marked his past work, Callahan's new persona feels almost shallow. [May 2007, p.84]
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    • 65 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Patti Smith misplaces her fearless edge. [May 2007, p.90]
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    • 82 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The harder the music hammers, the flatter the lyrics get. The more the band holds back, the stronger the songs become. Consequently, there's half of a great album here. [May 2007, p.83]
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    • 68 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The moody effects and oblique lyrical affectations quickly wear thin. [May 2007, p.88]
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    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Oyamada fuses a bristling spectrum of textures and rhythms. [May 2007, p.84]
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    • 60 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The vibe here is mellow, unremarkable, and a touch contrived. [May 2007, p.85]
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    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    You'll immediately recognize the masterful melodies and rock'n'roll sentiment, for better and worse. [May 2007, p.86]
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    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Best Damn Thing rarely takes itself too seriously. [May 2007, p.89]
    • Spin
    • 59 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    A sweaty, first-take orgy that sometimes suggests Tom Waits fronting the Stones, only clumsier. [May 2007, p.84]
    • Spin
    • 76 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The songs drag in the middle, choruses become interchangeable, and too many tracks end with the same electronic stuttering. [May 2007, p.84]
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    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The hooks are stronger, the production richer, and the scale grander. [May 2007, p.84]
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    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The result is one of Cave's hardest-rocking records, but also one of his funniest. [Apr 2007, p.86]
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    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Oberst's countryish genre studies have deepened with a very adult loneliness. [Apr 2007, p.89]
    • Spin
    • 83 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    23
    Amedeo Pace's wailing, overemotive tenor invites the mess of Blonde Radiohead jokes the band will inevitably receive. [Apr 2007, p.86]
    • Spin
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ant perfectly underscores Ali's gruff cadence, simultaneously self-assured and stressed, with a melodic lope that scrunches soul voclas underneath loops of bluesy guitar. [Apr 2007, p.86]
    • Spin
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    [It] threads seductive, chiming melodies through robotic, New Order-style rhythms. [May 2007, p.90]
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    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Happily, his killer solo debut offers more of the same. [Apr 2007, p.87]
    • Spin
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    It's like an alt-rock adaptation of a John Cheever anthology. [Apr 2007, p.87]
    • Spin
    • 79 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    This LP sounds too close to unfocused jamming. [Apr 2007, p.95]
    • Spin
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    [They] downplay the hip-hop boom-bap... in favor of busy pop jams that mirror the overstimulation of 21st-century life. [Apr 2007, p.93]
    • Spin
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Twilight Sad walk a fine line between drippy sentimentality and rough-edged realism. [May 2007, p.91]
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    • 65 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    There are awkward attempts at the strutting pomp rock of Queen, the pop reggae of the Police, and the wardrobe of the Strokes. [Apr 2007, p.86]
    • Spin
    • 67 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    There are no real highlights among these soggy minimalist jams. [Apr 2007, p.87]
    • Spin
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    With such sharp detail, Kaiser Chiefs have elevated themselves from a singles band to a group that's capable of both having a laugh and making a focused statement about life's less gleeful side. [Apr 2007, p.92]
    • Spin
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The gripping Strangelet strives for a tricky balance of darkness of light... and mostly succeeds, thanks to the raw charisma of Phillips' hangover vocals. [Apr 2007, p.94]
    • Spin
    • 45 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    There are a few clunky dance tracks... but it's Madden's search for love in the L.A. wasteland that gives Revival a certain charm. [Mar 2007, p.86]
    • Spin
    • 55 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Sometimes he veers too close to his source material and surrenders to sap... but mostly this U.K.-chart-topping magpie makes good with bountiful tunes and Broadway vocal dazzle that could slay even the High School Musical crowd. [May 2007, p.88]
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