The Quietus' Scores

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For 2,374 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 61% higher than the average critic
  • 8% same as the average critic
  • 31% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3.2 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 76
Highest review score: 100 Promises
Lowest review score: 0 Lulu
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,109 out of 2374
  2. Mixed: 244 out of 2374
  3. Negative: 21 out of 2374
2374 music reviews
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    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Mother
    Mother finds the band tremendous on all fronts, but the rabid, manic excitement of ‘Only Love’ overshadows everything else. There are no other moments on the record like it, nothing as intensely unhinged or exciting. However lovely and affecting the rest of the record is, as it drifts further and further into more serene climes, the spectre of this extraordinary early blast grows in the back of your mind, and you're willing them to let go of their beautiful refinement just one more time.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Endless Now
    On the bright side, at least it isn't as bad as Yuck.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    MGMT
    On its own merits, it's a decent enough record with some interesting tracks on it, even if they sometimes sound like nicely turned B-sides rather than top drawer material.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Hotel Sessions
    It might be better to think of Hotel Sessions as a surviving collection of demos and rarities rather than a planned project. Handled in this way, the album begins to exude at least some charm.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Again into Eyes
    This album falls victim to the more-is-more syndrome. It douses otherwise stronger and more distinctive songs in far more reverb and echo than it needs.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Hexadic
    Ultimately, Hexadic is more compelling as a concept than a piece of music, and few folks are likely to follow Chasny deep into the record's blistering hot core more than a couple times.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Thrice Woven
    The second half of the album lacks the spirit of its first two transcendent tracks. ... But, for those first 19 glorious minutes, Thrice Woven skirts the eye of the storm, flitting between untrammelled power and celestial beauty with a finesse that few can match.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Father, Son, Holy Ghost
    Wahile Girls have returned brimming with confidence and enthusiasm, this record seems to overstretch them.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Wakin on a Pretty Daze
    The lack of immediacy isn't Vile's biggest problem here: it might seem trivial, but Wakin On A Pretty Daze is his first release that doesn't improve upon his last.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Meteorites
    Meteorites is still, on initial blush, like all those other albums from Evergreen onward, "the new album from," a reliable entry but not a jawdropper.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Whorl
    It's SMD's overstated attempt to take the listener on a journey that is the album's drawback. In the end Whorl feels overlong, and the excitement and variation of the first two thirds of the album eventually dissipates into a somnolent slog.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Scacco Matto
    Senni presents not so much a cohesive album here, but rather a series of studies on a form, like Domenico Scarlatti’s sonatas. But not like Scarlatti’s sonatas. More like Marc-André Hamelin’s revisionist Omaggios to Scarlatti. Senni produces music with alternating measures of respect and irreverence. But the results lack emotion. Scacco Matto’s production values are modern and bright. But they don’t move me to move.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Benji
    Benji would have worked better as a series of EPs, playing to Kozelek's strength as a songwriter of certain stylistic preferences.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Distant Satellites
    A crescendo of electronic drums and stirring strings draws Distant Satellites to a close, and leaves you with the impression that, while inconsistent and desperately overwrought on occasion, Anathema deserve to be heard out with the private members' club that is prog rock in 2014.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Pajama Club
    In its loose instrumentation and sometimes confused layers (and some questionable lyrics) it does sound noticeably like a side-project from start to finish, and that it was written and recorded in a hurry. There is magic in that of course, but you do feel that is not the way to coax out Finn's A-grade material.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Regional Surrealism
    On the album's first half, everything sounds correct but lacks any intoxicating, addictive spark.... [Yet] when its mood alters, somewhere around the metal wasteland of 'Lagoon Leisure', and things start getting sinister, then Regional Surrealism becomes (finally) exciting. The record transforms into a deeply disconcerting experience, all eerie shadows and claustrophobic spaces.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The New Classic
    If there's one problem with this pop/rap hybrid it is the skittish way she sometimes departs from the beat, losing her flow in EDM choruses or radio friendly R&B pop hooks. Iggy is strongest when she welds her words to a minimal yet delectable bass boom, spelling out her name with mischievous exaggeration.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    4everevolution
    It may not be his finest hour, but that doesn't mean it's without value. Yes, there are both righteous highs and tedious lows, but the inspired moments are worth cherishing.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Lucifer
    As the title of the soporific, sunbleached skank that is 'LO HI' suggests, 'Lucifer' is more a subdued warm bath of than a plunge into the psyche.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    IGOR
    Tyler's latest album remains ambiguous and uncertain, however.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Bloom
    Bloom is in part brilliant but maddeningly safe and, ultimately, is a decidedly unsatisfying listen.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Bird Is Coming Down to Earth
    There are moments when Soft Hills' sound slight; even middle-of-the-road bland. But there's a beguiling soulfulness and a darkness to this record that will seep into your heart if you give it a chance.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Choreography
    This is yet another chillwave album. An album so typical of the genre that it even has the audacity to use the word "polaroid" in a lyric. What rescues it from mediocrity, however, is the flawlessly melodic melancholy of Edwards' voice.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Trans-Love Energies
    As it stands, Trans-Love Energies is too archival.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    U&I
    While there are undoubtedly a number of interesting tracks here, it is debatable how well they work together. With judicious editing U & I could have made a truly killer E.P
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Devout
    Devout is bold, fascinating and sweet, then, with moments of melodic brilliance and sonic mastery. But taken as a whole, the result is slightly unpalatable. As a good father Mr Mitch undoubtedly knows that too many sweets can upset the stomach. And the same logic applies to Devout: you need some some roughage to balance out the sugary treats.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Grinderman 2 RMX
    Grinderman 2 RMX provides an enjoyable enough distraction but ultimately this is a collection of material that would have worked better as an EP rather than an album.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Profound Mysteries III
    Profound Mysteries III is decidedly weirder and slower, allowing the band to explore the leftfield theatrics and grittiness intrinsic to the best side of their sound. Yet there are plenty of moments where bombastic pomp overshadows this restraint. ... All in all, a mixed bag.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex
    Theoretically there’s enough variety here to take Bolan’s songs in the many and varied directions they deserve. The results, however, are mixed enough to ensure that debates about Bolan’s place in the canon of greatness will continue.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Coexist
    They perfect the formula occasionally - penultimate track 'Swept Away' matches its name, a pillow-soft cascade of plummy bass notes and piano house, across which their voices whisper like wind - but for much of Coexist they sound halting, nervous, afraid to push beyond the boundaries they've created around their sound.
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