Sputnikmusic's Scores

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For 2,596 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 53% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 45% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.2 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 72
Highest review score: 100 Exit
Lowest review score: 10 The Path of Totality
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,936 out of 2596
  2. Mixed: 572 out of 2596
  3. Negative: 88 out of 2596
2596 music reviews
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    • 74 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Krzysztof Penderecki: Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima; Polymorphia; Jonny Greenwood: Popcorn Superhet Receiver; 48 Responses to Polymorphia
    Greenwood has pretty much stacked the chips up against himself by deciding to get involved in this album in the first place. There's no need for him to be seen as a competitor to any canonical composer at this point in his career, but by putting his works side-by-side with Penderecki's, he inadvertently puts himself in that light, and it leaves us with an album that tells us very little about his work that isn't obvious to anybody who knows how long he's been composing (young composer still learning his trade--gasp!), and nothing about Penderecki that we haven't already known for over forty years.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Untitled
    Untitled is far from terrible, but it's still a deflating, disappointing, infuriating listen.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Resurgam
    Coupled with the fact that his synergy of indie, singer-songwriter, pop, and trip hop is never quite realized, renders Resurgam a few steps below the 2008 hip hop releases that have already proven themselves to be superb.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Light We Made
    A few rays of light cut through the murky and mediocre experience, but when all is said and done, Light We Made is like that dream you struggle to remember in the morning: forgotten.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Angel Face
    Angel Face deserves some credit for possessing a small handful of excellent singles, but outside of those, this album falters almost uniformly. I can see what Stephen Sanchez was going for conceptually and aesthetically – and admittedly, I even fell for it based off the strength of the singles. However, the additional eight songs add no value at best and more often than not kill whatever buzz that was generated by the likes of "Only Girl", "Evangeline", "Be More", and "Until I Found You".
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Jason Castro
    The magic of the live performance is watered down and he only momentarily looks to test his voice. One can’t help but get the feeling that the potential is there with Castro, but one must wonder if his laid-back disposition could not only be a strength, but also the weakness which limits his capabilities.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    in•ter a•li•a
    There is no time to make sense of preceding chaos, probably because there is nothing worth making sense of.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Courage Of Others
    The music takes a decidedly darker, slower note, further delving into the folk rock of The Trials of Van Occupanther and losing the powerful orchestration that made Van Occupanther so special.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Together Through Life
    It's a shame that the album fails to hit, and in some ways, it's also a shame that it's not terrible, either.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Something to Die For
    The problem with Something To Die For is that it's an album built to succeed on the strength of its hooks and not its songwriting.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Places Like This
    To their credit, the album is fun in small doses. Still, the musicianship is never great, sometimes dreadful. The "fun" of the album sometimes feels forced, trying to capitalize on the success of "In Case We Die."
    • 56 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Why You So Crazy
    The disappointingly flat production was applied to a set of tracks that more often present themselves as sketches rather than fully fleshed songs. Moreover, this LP just gently passes you by, revealing itself to be devoid of any truly memorable songs.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Dreamer/The Believer
    Common's latest shows him with his head in the clouds and addressing the same tired crowd with the same speech he's been writing for years.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Surfing the Void
    In defence of Surfing the Void, it's certainly not an album I'd describe as 'bad' per se--it's just a massive disappointment.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    At War with Reality
    The speed at which the songs are played sounds not only like they are stuck in the mud, but that the weight tethered to them is also dragging them backwards. The final result is an anemic, lackluster 52 minutes.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    My Everything
    Tying everything back to the idea of the album as a showcase for Grande’s newfound maturity, My Everything ends up ringing hollow.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Not Without A Fight
    Not Without a Fight lacks the kind of hooks, fun riffs, and sing-along choruses that made the band famous and it also lacks the solid song writing that helped their last album not become a horrible failure.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Easter is Cancelled
    It’s not a bad album, but it is hindered with a lack of understanding on what made the band so great to begin with. So, prepare to experience as many rough moments as there is smooth ones.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    A Hundred Million Suns
    There is just about enough top quality pop music on offer to ensure Snow Patrol’s star continues to grow on the world stage but, worryingly, A Hundred Million Suns is another middling affair from a by-now-mature pop act, and now might be the time to ask why.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Hats Off To The Buskers
    For the most part Hats Off To The Buskers is second-tier British post-punk.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Beyond The Neighbourhood
    It sounds like the work of a band who are simply trying to get their feelings off their chest, rather than one trying to sell records.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Fasciinatiion
    It has great ideas brewing, but there are tons of bells and whistles in the production that upstage the songwriting, which admittedly is weaker than usual for The Faint.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Beacons Of Ancestorship
    Unfortunately, Beacons Of Ancestorship may leave listeners concussed; as there are only a handful of memorable musical fragments.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Glasvegas
    Musically, this is a very good record, one that might have been worth as much as a 4.5 with a different vocalist.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Hysterical
    For a band that once never failed to make an impression, be it positive or nauseating, the fact that the best Hysterical can muster is indifference is simply disappointing.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Red Carpet Massacre
    Red Carpet Massacre feels almost like a weird sort of jam session between band and producers, and the quality is about as patchy and uneven as that description implies.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Lex Hives
    Rumors of punk's demise may be exaggerated, but perhaps someone should tell Almqvist and company that it's long over for them.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Duck
    As expected, Duck wants to please everybody and this is the reason it fails to take off. ... They prefer the safety of the comfort zone, although they fare much better when they show some grit.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    . [PERIOD]
    Period is an album of lukewarm nostalgic bops, where the few moments of truly interesting artistry are left to languish alone in their respective corners. It’s by no means a poor record if you’re just in it for some lighthearted background party jams.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Pale Communion
    Meandering, extremely derivative 2000's metal.
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