The Wire's Scores

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For 2,879 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 51% higher than the average critic
  • 7% same as the average critic
  • 42% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.8 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
Highest review score: 100 SMiLE
Lowest review score: 10 Amazing Grace
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,404 out of 2879
  2. Mixed: 455 out of 2879
  3. Negative: 20 out of 2879
2879 music reviews
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per page
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    True North
    These aren’t stoical songs; nor are they blandly defiant. They speak a deep truth about ageing, and one that spikes several more humdrum cliches: age isn’t just how you feel, but an ineluctable fact; it isn’t just a matter of numbers, but very much a felt experience, and Chapman has delivered a beautiful continuum of musical experience since he emerged in 1969 with Rainmaker and Fully Qualified Survivor. [Mar 2019, p.48]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Mar 7, 2019
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Time Off
    This is resolutely a group effort, and freer and more fluid than, say, the proto-Americana of The Grateful Dead's American Beauty. [Sep 2013, p.52]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Dec 10, 2013
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    My Days Of 58
    Accompanied by the group that toured with him for his 2022 YTIJA38 album, together with contributions from a select group of musicians. Their combined improvisational skills give Callahan the room he needs to expand upon how he throws his words out in songs - at times he comes across like a resurrected Lou Reed or a Van Morrison in full Astral Weeks flow. [May 2026, p.60]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Apr 14, 2026
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    XE
    Wow, does it reward your attention. [Feb 2015, p.54]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Feb 4, 2015
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Piteous Gate
    A range of compositional strategies are succinctly worked through, pivots in structural dynamics executed with an often startling sharpness. [Aug 2015, p.52]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Aug 5, 2015
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Separation of Being
    Surprisingly, it works and doesn’t come apart, punctuating a conceptually striking, musically flawed, but altogether enjoyable record. [May 2020, p.53]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Apr 28, 2020
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Vade Mecum
    It is a gorgeous piece of work. [Jul 2022, p.48]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Sep 12, 2022
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    SickElixir
    His whispery delivery on "Sonkind" over buzzsaw synths evokes Nine Inch Nails, and Monstera Black's sweetly resigned vocals on "Rabbit Hole" hit like a lullaby in an abattoir simulator. "During Elevation" is punctuated by the throat-catch of tears but somehow, it's all still squelchy, pounding good fun. [Nov 2023, p.63]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Oct 9, 2025
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Third Law
    These eight tracks feel like a consolidation of his practices, interspersing sombre classical suites with footwork-indebted rhythms that flicker like distant pulsars. [Jan 2016, p.69]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Mar 8, 2016
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Pattern + Grid World
    This EP chases Cosmogramma into the same territory, but seems to favor consistent, looping palettes and original electronics over the latter's ad hoc sampling. [Oct 2010, p.66]
    • The Wire
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Epic Jammers and Fortunate Little Ditties
    There is an alchemy at work here. [Apr 2016, p.57]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Mar 22, 2016
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Lost Futures
    The beginning of the record is slow – “News About Heaven” feels aimless, while the repeating melody of “Pray For Rain” gets tedious after its third or fourth time through – but with “Something Will Come”, the album’s ominous depth comes to light, ushering in a nostalgia that permeates through the final tracks and illuminates the depth of the duo’s sound. [Oct 2021, p.55]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Dec 20, 2021
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    For the Ghosts Within
    [Wyatt's voice} is not the most technically 'correct' voice, but in the setting of Ros Stephen's arrangements for string quartet, with Gilad Atzmon adding alto saxophone, it is as though that uncertain crack, that flaw floating in the clear quaver of his voice is a precise match for the happysad ambiguities that haunt so many jazz standards. [Oct 2010, p.62]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Dec 22, 2010
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Quaranta
    This worthy sequel to XXX is the first release since 2011 to offer a convincing portrait of Brown as a wholly realistic character. [Jan/Feb 2024, p.81]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Dec 6, 2023
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Kid
    It may look wildly out of control but closer inspection reveals the symmetry and order that supported the garden’s historical design. [Nov 2017, p.53]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Dec 6, 2017
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Grassed Inn
    Grassed Inn is both beautifully stupid, and much, much smarter than you think. [Jan 2014, p.63]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Jan 29, 2014
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Point
    In isolation, no individual song is particularly memorable but together they add up to a musical vision you just can't ignore. [#215, p.52]
    • The Wire
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Sunshine Rock
    Bob Mould is not pulling up stylistic roots on Sunshine Rock, but it’s still breezier than his average, thanks in part to the use of an 18-piece string section on much of the album. [Mar 2019, p.62]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Mar 7, 2019
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nijimusi
    OOIOO retain and reconfigure the most appealing elements of rock music while reimagining the familiar band-as-gang dynamic to suit their own personalities. Charismatic and cool like few contemporary rock bands are, their sense of fun always feels inclusive of the listener. [Feb 2020, p.52]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Feb 5, 2020
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Final Transmission
    The end result is the closest Cave In have ever come to revisiting the stellar stream of 2000’s Jupiter – the space rock monolith that boosted them into the wider consciousness. [Jun 2019, p.52]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Jun 6, 2019
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Where You Go I Go Too
    I can attest that despite initial misgivings, this does grow on you. [Sep 2008, p.64]
    • The Wire
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Black Focus
    It’s a gorgeous sounding album, with a fat, woody drum sound and well-defined bass frequencies that are headphone umami. [Dec 2016, p.57]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Dec 21, 2016
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises in Group Form
    Their latest concoction is a study in maximalism that weaves ideas from a multitude of artists into a succinct stylistic language. [Sep 2020, p.56]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Nov 6, 2020
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Funeral Mariachi
    The whole album feels like a coda, a soundtrack to the closing credits of a career that has taken them far beyond the exploratory punk of their roots. [Nov 2010, p.53]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Mar 1, 2011
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Cut the World [Live]
    Hegarty's eco-femism finds a much better ambassador in his songs. [Oct 2012, p.58]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Dec 14, 2012
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    II Trill
    The beats are tighter, the rhymes sharper and the subject matter more relevant. [July 2008, p.66]
    • The Wire
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    La Foret
    The mood is always unsettled and unsettling, either furious or fragile. [#258, p.67]
    • The Wire
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Love Is Overtaking Me
    Once you make the adjustment and accept these songs for what they are, ther are moments of loveliness. But for the most part, one can onlyy wonder what attracted Russell to indulge in this sort of stuff given his more renowned output. [Nov 2008, p.68]
    • The Wire
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Da Mind of Traxman, Vol. 2
    Da Mind of Traxman Vol 2's density feels cryptic, a series of questions posed to listeners and the floor. [Jun 2014, p.57]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Jul 14, 2014
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke
    With mute on, Smith can project a tender fragility through a single lingering note, reminiscent of Miles at his most thoughtful and noirish circa Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud. Smith's more strident statements convey an emotional rawness. [Apr 2016, p.65]
    • The Wire
      • Posted Mar 29, 2016
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