The Wire's Scores
- Music
For 2,880 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: | SMiLE | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest review score: | Amazing Grace |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 2,405 out of 2880
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Mixed: 455 out of 2880
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Negative: 20 out of 2880
2880
music
reviews
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- Critic Score
Much of the music here is a return to past form, and a move away from the more polished recent albums. [Dec 2013, p.58]- The Wire
Posted Dec 13, 2013 -
- Critic Score
Electric Trim is Lee Ranaldo’s 12th solo album but it sounds remarkably fresh. [Oct 2017, p.59]- The Wire
Posted Oct 11, 2017 -
- The Wire
Posted Oct 21, 2016 -
- Critic Score
There's a much larger keyboard profile on this new album.... Whether this is a positive or negative shift depends on where you're sitting. [Apr 2013, p.48]- The Wire
Posted Apr 24, 2013 -
- Critic Score
A return visit for these two tourists would be welcome. [Nov 2012, p.60]- The Wire
Posted Dec 5, 2012 -
- The Wire
Posted Jun 5, 2015 -
- Critic Score
Guardian Alien's music, which, driven by Greg Fox's questing, cyclical drumming, creates wide and wondrous vistas. [Feb 2014, p.54]- The Wire
Posted Jan 30, 2014 -
- Critic Score
Gorgeous string arrangements, sax and synths give Birthmarks a palpable sense of encroaching mist. [Apr 2020]- The Wire
Posted Mar 12, 2020 -
- Critic Score
It's a bit California slacker, a bit New York dive, a bit Delta blues, and so firs in well enough alongside Woodist alumni like Kurt Vile, Real Estate and Woods. [Jan 2016, p.71]- The Wire
Posted Feb 18, 2016 -
- Critic Score
There's little to set the sombre half-tones of the Cave and Seed world alight with suspicous glimmers. [#228, p.59]- The Wire
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- Critic Score
In its favour, the album is immaculately realised, with a chromium production sheen that Lustmord imitators can only dream of. On the minus side: the fact that the album's polish makes it sound safe and predictable. [Jul 2013, p.69]- The Wire
Posted Jul 26, 2013 -
- Critic Score
“Dreamfear” sticks to the artist’s more conventional penchant for collage-style dance music. .... “Boy Sent From Above” is less convincing, clumsily layering Auto-Tuned vocals over the kind of schmaltzy synth one might hear in pop outfits like Yazoo. [Mar 2024, p.54]- The Wire
Posted Mar 13, 2024 -
- Critic Score
Black Bubblegum is Copeland's most surprising release for a long time; it's also perhaps the most obviously approachable record he has ever been involved with. [Aug 2016, p.48]- The Wire
Posted Aug 19, 2016 -
- The Wire
Posted Aug 12, 2011 -
- Critic Score
Rather than confessional catharsis, Highway Songs has the diaristic, sketchbook feel of the compulsively creative. [Dec 2016, p.64]- The Wire
Posted Dec 21, 2016 -
- Critic Score
Strange Passion's careful curation and lavish sleeve notes give a belated but generous and welcome salute to an overlooked epoch in musical history and the passions it provoked. [Aug 2012, p.52]- The Wire
Posted Aug 23, 2012 -
- Critic Score
It scores over its predecessor with a refreshing spontaneity and an illustrious guest cast. [Jan 2015, p.65]- The Wire
Posted Dec 16, 2014 -
- The Wire
Posted Oct 9, 2018 -
- Critic Score
Each piece is sturdily constructed, but a loose leaf informality allows the 18 tracks to hang without necessarily hanging together. [Apr 2020, p.53]- The Wire
Posted Mar 17, 2020 -
- Critic Score
This is Byrne at his best, as he calmly describes the impact of the object upon the victim’s history, feelings and anatomy that are being destroyed as a result of its violent intrusion. [May 2018, p.60]- The Wire
Posted Jul 12, 2018 -
- The Wire
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- Critic Score
Negotiate Steve Osborne's rather dated stadium Techno-rock production, and there's plenty to stimulate here... [#211, p.70]- The Wire
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- Critic Score
A scattering of influences have been streamlined into tightly focused songs, with a keen sense of melody and an impressive grasp of agitated, Gang Of Four-style rhythms. [#247, p.70]- The Wire
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- Critic Score
Congo Natty always brings confrontational or cultural elements to set the context of the tracks. [Jun 2013, p.48]- The Wire
Posted Jul 24, 2013 -
- Critic Score
It's elegant and pristine, a febrile flutter of rhythms, glinting sequences and pale, shimmering backdrops. [Jul 2014, p.51]- The Wire
Posted Jul 21, 2014 -
- Critic Score
The results may not be especially unpredictable but they sure are fun, the trio milking the testosterone-fueled power-trio/supergroup set-up for all it's worth. [Nov 2014, p.72]- The Wire
Posted Dec 15, 2014 -
- Critic Score
The mish-mash of styles wouldn't be an issue if it sounded like Pateras and Patton were surrendering to something other than themselves, but what comes across instead is a desire to demonstrate mastery. [Jan 2015, p.70]- The Wire
Posted Dec 16, 2014 -
- Critic Score
While as bracing as ever, this sound is less striking now, and the album sees Psutka creating solid but less remarkable grooves. [Feb 2015, p.56]- The Wire
Posted Mar 4, 2015 -
- Critic Score
The lyrics are delivered just above speaking pace to empathise with the listener, with similes and wordplay that vivify and even try to explain the vagaries of love. [Nov 2016, p.58]- The Wire
Posted Nov 30, 2016 -
- Critic Score
There are some satisfying rushes of buzzing sawtooth waves, and luminous passages that hail back to the Workshop’s glory days. But the most successful tracks let their beautiful and odd electronic timbres breathe on their own, rather than adding them as a dressing or a side dish for the piano melodies, or other attempts at constructing a more conventional pop backbone. [Jun 2017, p.65]- The Wire
Posted Aug 8, 2017