Exclaim's Scores
- Music
For 4,928 reviews, this publication has graded:
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58% higher than the average critic
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4% same as the average critic
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38% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.1 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 75
Highest review score: | The Ascension | |
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Lowest review score: | Excuse My French |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 4,178 out of 4928
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Mixed: 723 out of 4928
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Negative: 27 out of 4928
4928
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Critic Score
Perhaps it's just the associative properties, but it feels like Jenny from Thebes manages to truly distill the manic energy of the Mountain Goats' formative phase into a maturing yet vital shape, giving it a place in the upper reaches of their pantheon.- Exclaim
- Posted Oct 25, 2023
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While the band has always been a rock-first concern, the core of God Games is in its mature, layered and emotive downtempo pop balladry.- Exclaim
- Posted Oct 25, 2023
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Whether or not this search is of genuine desire or some gesture toward a gaudy ecclesiastic aesthetic, Hayter's most recent attempt at salvation manifests in arguably the most afflicted and disconcerting peak into her head and heart yet.- Exclaim
- Posted Oct 20, 2023
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Hackney Diamonds may not go down as an iconic Stones LP, but this late in the game it's basically a triumph by nearly every measure.- Exclaim
- Posted Oct 20, 2023
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On ONE MORE TIME…, blink-182 don't always hit that sweet spot, but when they do, it feels earned.- Exclaim
- Posted Oct 20, 2023
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Javelin finds Stevens at his most vulnerable, yes, but like Carrie & Lowell, he paradoxically hides behind a wall of references and metaphor (many of which I'm sure are biblical in nature, discreetly whizzing past my woefully secular ears). Now posited in plainer language than ever before, he makes its cipher even more challenging to crack. That's what makes these records so healing to their audiences, though: the universality.- Exclaim
- Posted Oct 19, 2023
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More than anything, the pair [James Chapman and Emma Anderson] effectively manage to touch on all the details that fans of Anderson and Lush might hope to hear without pandering or retreading old ground too heavily.- Exclaim
- Posted Oct 19, 2023
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Some of It Was True finds the Menzingers growing up, not too fast and not too slow.- Exclaim
- Posted Oct 16, 2023
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Ghostly, graceful and deceptively deep, Goodnight Summerland establishes Deland's concise power as a songwriter. As her artistry continues to evolve, it's clear that there's more than one way for her to tell her trademark stories of the infinite worlds within our own.- Exclaim
- Posted Oct 16, 2023
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There's rarely a moment on Jonny that feels regressive — for the first time since the Drums' debut 13 years ago, Pierce has mastered a way to bare both his chops and his emotions.- Exclaim
- Posted Oct 13, 2023
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Music about climate disaster usually feels somewhat dogmatic and thematically grandiose. But on Tomorrow's Fire, Ella Williams of Squirrel Flower takes the wide scale of the apocalypse and taps into its most intimate and personal corners.- Exclaim
- Posted Oct 13, 2023
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Paint My Bedroom Black is a shiny and haunted — but unwaveringly hopeful— collection that sees her carve out her own kohl-liner rimmed space in the modern pop pantheon.- Exclaim
- Posted Oct 12, 2023
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At first glance, the record may read as a scattered amalgamation of journalled revelations, but measured by the careful consolidation of its many tiny details, it may be Woods's most intentional, fleshed-out project to date.- Exclaim
- Posted Oct 12, 2023
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In its enhanced and alternate history, complete with more stunning liners by Mehr, this Let it Bleed edition tells the tale as beautifully, clearly, and boldly as fans of the Replacements could ever hope for.- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 29, 2023
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While not as immediate as its predecessor, Void solidifies KEN Mode as one of Canada's most important heavy acts, a band that doesn't just rely on brute force to affect its audience.- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 28, 2023
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Artistic, intelligent (but not overly intellectualized), and executed with a skill and care many of us can only hope to comprehend, The Enduring Spirit is this year's best metal album, and one of the best albums of 2023, period, full stop.- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 28, 2023
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falling or flying may fall a bit short of the expectations set by her debut, but it does fly in the face of what you'd expect of someone on their second outing as a solo artist. It's a solid effort despite some missteps — among the clutter is some of the best material of Smith's young career.- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 28, 2023
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Sit Down for Dinner proves the band is as compelling as ever, circling in and out of each other's vocals and rhythms with ease.- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 27, 2023
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It's always amazing how the two rappers behind Armand Hammer can complement each other so seamlessly while also seeming to tread on two separate planes of existence — We Buy Diabetic Test Strips is alive with this unique balancing act.- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 27, 2023
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As a group that have faced their growing pains together, Slow Pulp strike the perfect balance between soft, thoughtful and loud on Yard. Tangled up in nervousness about being either too selfish or too self-pitying, the band finds a way to wring out the drab fabric of discomfort until a bit of beauty trickles out.- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 27, 2023
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Albums like Feel, Strawberry Jam and Merriweather Post Pavilion are typically considered Animal Collective's best works, yet they all lack the sustained presence of Isn't It Now? Lord only knows if it's the impact of Elevado or simply 20-odd years of musical chemistry coalescing into something new, but however it happened, Animal Collective found the now sound.- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 26, 2023
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They haven't lost the heart of their sound, only shown it in a new light. If last year's Cruel Country was a nod to their country roots, then Cousin is a departure from those origins in favour of new sonic shores.- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 26, 2023
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There's a pastoral feel to the album — the band recorded it all in an epic ten day session at a studio in the Welsh countryside, and you can hear that region's influence in everything here. It sounds wide open and unencumbered, full but never cluttered or dense.- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 21, 2023
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The music — a mix of digital sound with electric and acoustic guitars and live (or at least live sounding) drums — complements their newfound humanist approach to songwriting. 2022's Glitch Princess shattered pop music into a million little pieces. Here Ćmiel has glued things back together, but the cracks are still visible in the way they pair genre tropes.- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 21, 2023
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- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 21, 2023
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It's at the intersection of curiosity and vulnerability where she concocts her best work. Gentle Confrontation learns and preserves artifacts of the mind, appreciating special moments that many leave lost in time.- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 20, 2023
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No Joy sounds far more artful and ambitious than anyone would have expected from this band a few years ago.- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 18, 2023
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If all of the National's albums were placed in a Venn diagram, Laugh Track would sit at the direct centre — neither expanding the sound à la the sweeping expanse of 2019's I Am Easy to Find, nor fully retreating to the straight-up indie rock of 2007's The Boxer. Crucially, it re-establishes them as a group of long-time collaborators in line with one another, none of them standing out from the others.- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 18, 2023
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- Posted Sep 14, 2023
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End constitutes a worthy addition to Explosions in the Sky's discography, even if it doesn't really open a new chapter for them.- Exclaim
- Posted Sep 14, 2023
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