The Line of Best Fit's Scores

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For 4,495 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 64% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 32% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3.8 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 77
Highest review score: 100 Adore Life
Lowest review score: 20 143
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4,040 out of 4495
  2. Mixed: 438 out of 4495
  3. Negative: 17 out of 4495
4495 music reviews
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    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Tangerine Reef
    I have no doubt that Tangerine Reef will be a remarkable experience when paired with its visual stimuli, but without it, it is an album hard to recommend.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Disgraceland
    It’s an album that displays great faith in the late 70s/early 80s nexus of bar rock, punk, and 50s nostalgia, meaning that its melodies, riffs, and aesthetic choices often charm (to a point), even as its narratives mystify.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Funk Wav Bounces, Vol. 2
    Whilst the orange glow of sunsets and Aperol Spritz’ are in full swing, it’s a record made exclusively for these moments.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    An A.merican D.ream
    This album doesn’t pack enough punches to provoke or demand a rebuttal, and given the length of VietNam’s hibernation after their debut, they may head straight back there if there’s no impetus to keep them in the spotlight.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Magna Carta Holy Grail
    The bizarre juxtaposition of Jay-Z on hit and miss form and a borderline-perfectly produced record makes it a trying listen.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Limits of Desire
    By pushing Josh Kolenik’s vocals further up in the mix, the songs tell more of a narrative of discovery than their hazy, ambiguous earlier material.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Jamaica Plain [EP]
    This EP is more for fans of Robinson than Vile, though those picking it up just for name recognition won’t be disappointed as long as they don’t ask for more than what’s on offer--an absorbing but brief ambient interlude.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Low in High School
    Here we have him boldly stating his desires, aligning himself with our baser nature. Whether this is a sign of a lack of subtlety or a brave forward step is, of course, up for debate but that clash of the brutal and the human, the savage and the sensual is certainly compelling.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    All Wet
    All Wet is an album with its fair share of sturdy pop, but hidden deep alongside are a selection of instrumental, French-spirited house and slouch-shouldered techno that act as pillars to help support and connect them together.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Happy People
    It's the strange mix of disconnection, anxiety and gender trouble that makes this album a record made by Gen Y, for Gen Y.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    In Plain Sight
    The resulting LP is a record that sonically dwarfs its predecessors, boasting a sound bigger and more fearless than ever before. ... In Plain Sight’s greatest weakness is its refusal to abandon the obvious and lean fully into the successful realisation of its more experimental moments.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Uncanney Valley
    Pay no attention to the lyrics (pretend you’re foreign or something), concentrate on the music, and you might just enjoy yourself after all.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Stay Together
    Too much of Stay Together sounds like it could be an ill-conceived Ricky Wilson solo record.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Love to Love You Donna
    Donna deserves more than this--don’t remember her this way.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Beta Love
    Pop-radio metamorphosis hasn’t been fully achieved, and there are plenty of moments where pure beauty shines through.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Exile
    If you’re able to look past the campy facade and accept that this is purely a record of glimmering pop, it’ll be something you’ll cherish.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Make-up Is A Lie
    Flashes of quality make the album all the more frustrating. If the lyrics came anywhere near his halcyon days, the shortcomings might matter less.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Sweet Disarray
    Croll has some great, great tunes but they so often artfully distract from the rest of his approach, which can often be minimal, and lacking in effort.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    European Soul
    To be sure, there are some first-rate potential singles hiding amidst the bombast.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    So Long Forever
    Palace show they have matured-yet-remained faithful, and expanded-yet-honed. So Long Forever is an album from a band who know what they want, and how they want to get there.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Sequel to the Prequel
    Nothing to rival ‘Time For Heroes’, then, but this as accessible, and as listenable, as anyone may have hoped for.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Hit the Waves
    This is an album that, as elegant and refined as it is, will be forgotten about soon enough. That’s not to say it doesn’t deserve to be extolled for the hard work alone.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    With a Little Help from My Fwends
    It's not a perfect album by any means, but it is a worthy cover of a nigh-on perfect album, capturing the joie de vivre of the original and dousing it in some serious lunacy for good measure. And that's no mean feat.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Love Frequency
    Love Frequency isn’t a terrible album, but at times it does feel terribly unimaginative.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Drowners
    It’s the record’s most easy-to-appreciate moment, but whether there’s enough to the rest of it to ensure its makers aren’t soon to be forgotten remains to be seen.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Smile
    Smile feels like it’s just kind of there. It just sits at the table surrounded by Perry’s past, which has some of the aforementioned biggest tracks of the ‘00s, and a couple of toe-dips into new territory which were at least commendable, but Smile just walks the line of enjoyable.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Theme Park
    This is a hugely charismatic debut that, above everything else, is just very good fun.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Supermodel
    The album is lacklustre, and suffers for a lack of purpose and intent.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Live: Uurop VIII-XII/Places in Sun & Winter, Son
    Fantastically frantic and multilayered, Uurop VIII-XII Places in Sun & Winter, Son appropriately captures a live Fall experience in 2014, and reiterates just how durable the current line up is.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Cave Rave
    They’ve poured so much time and effort into Cave Rave--but you may never get a chance to appreciate that aspect of the album, because for all their intrinsic talent and informed attention to detail, their passion for pure pop is overpowering.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Embrace
    Despite the curveballs and their extended break from the biz, the band’s phasers remain set to festival-primed, punch-the-air anthemic bravado, a formula as solid today as it was in their early feted period.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Panorama
    Panorama proves that Kiyoko isn’t limited to any 2018 zeitgeist. There are nods to her older sound, sure, but the matured production and continued experiments show that she’s not out to recreate Expectations – she’s growing from it.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Be Here Now [Deluxe Edition - Remastered]
    We get the usual fan service on discs two and three of this new version. The second CD is a largely charmless collection of odds and ends.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    7 [EP]
    In terms of catchy beats and somewhat meaningful lyrics, each song has one or the other, and Lil Nas X just needs a little more time to get them to match up.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    High Anxiety
    High Anxiety could have been reduced to its 12 most essential tracks and been a bit better suited for more invested listening, but perhaps Green's goal was to give himself as much room as possible to experiment, and he certainly does so here.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Uncanny Valley
    Uncanny Valley is unfortunately too insignificant to escape the looming shadows all around.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Helium
    Homeshake widen their scope for their fourth record, Helium: a statement of identity. Homeshake’s sound on Helium captures the mood of our ears. hinting at zeitgeisty bedroon pop.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Spreading Rumours
    Spreading Rumours has enough charm to keep you busy, but not enough (bar ‘Ways To Go’) to keep you mesmerised in the long-term.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    At Home
    Several of the tracks are too short, as if in an eagerness for the songs to sit within a four minute pop structure, instead of discarding some of their ideas, they cram them all in and cut down the song length.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    It's the End of the World, But It's a Beautiful Day
    The sounds present could all be attributed to any other artist and would sit fine but given they wrote a purported 200 songs for this new era, there should at least be some sonic substance to this outing. Thankfully, this new electronic palette they’re toting isn’t wholly lost. They carry it at times with at least some semblance of aplomb.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Cloud Nine
    He’s still figuring out the transition out of his remix artist phase, but enough works on his debut to show that there’s hope for the future.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Peace Trail
    All too often, though, Peace Trail sounds like another case of Young chucking half-formed ideas at the wall to see if anything might stick before moving on to yet another project. That said, there are genuinely powerful moments here that promise of better things to come.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Loud Like Love
    Equally far from disappointment or ascendency, it tacks about its ashen existence, perfectly fine and perfectly listenable and perfectly suffering for it.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Montage Of Heck: The Home Recordings
    The Home Recordings largely serve as a further step back along the creative path, to a point where we either see songs at their most infantile stage or at a crossroads where Cobain, the tireless perfectionist, probably realised he could take them no further.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 35 Critic Score
    Sacred Hearts Club
    Sacred Hearts Club is record of frustration on the listener’s part--we know they’re capable, but Foster the People have again failed to recapture the brand of youthfulness established in their hype-fuelled industry breakthrough. Equally, they fail to mature into an alternative sound with adequate craft to entice attention.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The New Classic
    There’s no rap entitlement on display, and even brand-dropping doesn’t feel disingenuous or superficial, somehow--and, furthermore, she’s a grounded everyman rap icon. It’s endearing to no end.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Bouquet
    Bouquet is fine as a first country album – there’s a relaxed sheen over the whole thing, and she sounds great as ever – it’s just disappointing for what we know Stefani to be capable of.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    I Declare Nothing
    They've crafted a debut album together that proves both emotive and enchanting.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Red Earth & Pouring Rain
    There are a lot of underwhelming moments that come in tracks that don’t quite find the perfect marriage between conflicting styles. But Red Earth and Pouring Fire is an admirably ambitious album and presents Bear’s Den as a far more diverse, capable band that many would have previously thought.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Operator
    Ultimately, their third record doesn't show MSTRKRFT to be master craftsmen.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Music of the Spheres
    The album is delivered as a mishmash of ideas that misfire from the get-go, missing out on the potential it built in the lead-up to its release.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Mount Ninji and Da Nice Time Kid
    Though Mount Ninji and Da Nice Time Kid is a far from perfect record, it proves that Die Antwoord have still got life in them yet, despite the recent hyperbole.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Brink
    There is nothing special about this--dualities of form and content are as old as art itself.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Hymns
    This is a stepping stone towards a new direction, and although it’s stunning in places, it’s not a triumphant renaissance.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Weight of Your Love
    The band’s audible aspiration towards greatness on this album is the most welcome aspect about it. You can hear the effort that was put into making it as galactic and sprawling as it is.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Déjà-Vu
    Expecting Moroder to reach the heights of "I Feel Love" is, of course, futile, and yes, after a few repeated plays you may find the odd track or two that stand out from the rest, but there’s little you’ll love to love here.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Prophets of Rage
    These tracks aren't revolutionary classics on the same level as “Killing in the Name” or “Fight the Power” just yet, but nevertheless, they raise a fist to all those who continue to fight ignorance, hypocrisy, brutality and the elite.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    EP2
    With the good comes the average and with it the great.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Planta
    They’ve used the time to come to terms with the loss of Cintra and create a sonic identity beyond his input, and it turns out that they didn’t really need him, and, just maybe, he was stalling their progress.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Christopher
    While the album is pleasant enough listening, and certainly doesn’t make you want to block up your ears, it is just too plastic-sounding to yield any lasting substance.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Jesus Is King
    People will say it's better than its predecessor, but at least that album had the good sense to be as gross as it was unlistenable. JESUS IS KING isn’t even as hilariously shit or infuriatingly offensive as Ye – it's one great tune and a bunch of other ideas, and it isn’t entertaining in the slightest.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Witness
    While it's certainly missing any form of coherency, Witness does feel like you're growing with Perry - going on this journey that's helped her find new ground and a reinvigorated appreciation for all walks of the pop music spectrum.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Faith
    Unlike the majority of [posthumous releases], Faith speaks to Pop Smoke’s perpetuity in hip-hop’s current context, serving as less of a lament of what could have been and more as a memorial for what was and still is.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    For All The Dogs
    Some tracks feel like throwaways, then there’s the TikTok and radio cuts like “IDGAF” with Yeat and ear-shattering production from BYNX (who has been killing it btw) and “Rich Baby Daddy” that aren’t particularly rap-savvy but benefit from extremely catchy tracks with a large number of producers.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Battle Lines
    Their latest album Battle Lines is a potent reminder of the power of the combination of hard rhythm, electronic experimentation, and hard-hitting lyrics.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    SALVATION
    The record is certainly sparkly, but its hollowness is glaring. SALVATION is so desperate for someone to call it iconic that it neglects what makes an icon anyway – personality.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    These People
    Richard Ashcroft’s fifth solo effort ultimately feels like an unruly mess--there are lots of ideas here, but none that feel truly developed.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    The Messier Objects
    If nothing else, Messier Objects is a proper reminder of the beneath-the-surface merits of The Notwist's compositional talents.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Donda 2
    Donda 2 is a complex of lacklustre ambling beats twinned with sluggish energy, only occasionally piquing (“We Did It”, “Too Easy”, "Pablo"). In fact, rarely does Ye find any stride. [review is for V2.22.22 Miami version]
    • 46 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Chapter 1: Snake Oil
    By failing to commit fully to straight pop craftsmanship or to genre-bending experimentation, the project feels lyrically bland and sonically uninspired.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    EP-1
    Three out of the four songs are at least enjoyable.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Maximum Entropy
    What makes this album stand out from other synth pop albums is how they can switch from being overtly synthetic.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The World We Left Behind
    It’s probably their most listenable, and that alone makes it highly recommended.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Based On A True Story
    It’s not a hilarious disaster, it’s not a tabloid tell-all or, you know, actually good. It’s Smith’s late career in a nutshell, just about getting over the line thanks to his star wattage, and all the weirder for its smoothed-out polish.
    • 37 Metascore
    • 20 Critic Score
    143
    Nothing sparks on 143. It’s all about easy endings and uncomplicated emotions, thus targeted for basically anyone, but what she doesn’t know is that the majority aren’t as tasteless now. The comeback singles are met with brutal reception in every direction. “Wonder” is the only one with replay value, which features her child’s voice and perhaps hints at their undetermined gender identity, leaving it up for them to decide whenever ready (“Beautiful girl”, “Beautiful boy”). The truth is – and she must know even if it hurts her – everything else signals a career nosedive from which her reputation might not survive. On the bright side, though, 143 adds more shade to a colourful year of pop music.
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