> Switch to Advanced Search

New & Current Releases
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

60 31Knots
82 Abe Vigoda
71 The Academy Is...
53 The Airborne Toxic Event
79 Alias
77 Theresa Andersson
78 Annuals
76 Apollo Sunshine
47 The Automatic
79 Azeda Booth
75 Joan Baez
84 Bajofondo
56 David Banner
76 The Baseball Project
77 Beck
77 Black Affair
59 Black Ghosts
74 Black Kids
79 Blitzen Trapper
74 Bodies Of Water
71 Brazilian Girls
72 Brightblack Morning Light
66 The Broken West
50 Buckcherry
79 Lindsey Buckingham
90 The Bug
56 Caesars
78 Calexico
70 Glen Campbell
70 Brendan Canning
74 Castanets
63 Cats In Paris
74 The Chemical Brothers
65 Cold War Kids
69 Alice Cooper
79 Rodney Crowell
63 CSS
67 Miley Cyrus
46 Dandy Warhols
65 Kimya Dawson
73 Dead Confederate
72 Death Vessel
83 Deerhoof
78 Delta Spirit
79 Damien Dempsey
79 Ani DiFranco
58 DJ Khaled
66 The Donkeys
72 Dr. Dog
80 DragonForce
78 The Duhks
77 Dungen
92 Bob Dylan
73 Brian Eno + David Byrne
62 The Faint
67 The Fiery Furnaces
63 Ben Folds
64 iForward, Russia!
72 Friendly Fires
71 Fujiya & Miyagi
65 The Game
74 Inara George With Van Dyke Parks
74 Giant Sand
79 Girl Talk
83 Glasvegas
61 Golden Animals
64 Mike Gordon
68 Gym Class Heroes
77 GZA
66 Neil Halstead
64 Albert Hammond, Jr.
72 Juliana Hatfield
61 Hawthorne Heights
81 High Places
77 High Places
73 Zach Hill
85 The Hold Steady
80 Jolie Holland
83 David Holmes
81 Horse Feathers
68 Howling Hex
58 Jennifer Hudson
71 Human Highway
70 Ice Cube
66 Ida Maria
68 Jack's Mannequin
69 Jaguar Love
73 James
81 Jamey Johnson
70 Jonas Brothers
78 Damien Jurado
83 Kasai Allstars
57 Kerli
89 B.B. King
65 Kings Of Leon
67 Ladyhawke
77 Lambchop
73 Leila
54 Levellers
74 Jenny Lewis
76 Lykke Li
82 Lindstrom
72 Little Jackie
58 The Little Ones
57 LL Cool J
60 Lloyd
60 The Lord Dog Bird
81 Patty Loveless
76 John Mellencamp
71 The Melvins
69 Mercury Rev
78 Metallica
71 Metronomy
74 Mirah
75 Mogwai
64 Motorhead
66 Mugison
78 Nico Muhly
75 Murs
84 The Music Tapes
71 Nas
65 Nelly
79 Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
50 New Kids On The Block
77 The New Year
85 Randy Newman
80 Ne-Yo
57 Nightmares On Wax
65 The Nightwatchman
78 Nine Inch Nails
62 Noah And The Whale
68 Oasis
75 Conor Oberst
78 Okkervil River
77 Old Crow Medicine Show
80 One Day As A Lion
75 Oneida
73 Joan Osborne
75 Oxford Collapse
85 Paavoharju
78 Amanda Palmer
65 Parenthetical Girls
89 Aaron Parks
73 Lee "Scratch" Perry
51 Kellie Pickler
70 Pivot
58 Plain White T's
89 Plush
78 The Pretenders
64 Primal Scream
52 Pussycat Dolls
75 Ra Ra Riot
71 Ratatat
62 Re-Up Gang
62 Rex The Dog
68 Rise Against
76 Roots Manuva
71 Darius Rucker
72 The Rumble Strips
81 Raphael Saadiq
57 Sam Champion
73 Scars On Broadway
81 Pete Seeger
70 Ron Sexsmith
68 The Shaky Hands
39 Shwayze
58 Jessica Simpson
69 Slipknot
80 Patti Smith and Kevin Shields
73 Solange
69 Son, Ambulance
59 Spinto Band
65 Rick Springfield
65 Staind
47 Stereo MC's
72 Stereolab
82 Marnie Stern
71 The Stills
63 The Streets
73 The Subways
83 Sugarland
70 Matthew Sweet
75 T.I.
72 Robin Thicke
71 Thievery Corporation
77 Irma Thomas
79 Tindersticks
71 Tittsworth
90 Shugo Tokumaru
74 Emiliana Torrini
67 James Jackson Toth
72 Randy Travis
70 Tricky
89 TV On The Radio
78 The Uglysuit
92 Underoath
56 UNKLE
61 David Vandervelde
77 Chad VanGaalen
71 The Verve
75 Vivian Girls
78 Volcano!
68 Loudon Wainwright III
81 The Walkmen
66 Ben Weaver
83 The Week That Was
77 Paul Weller
70 Brian Wilson
76 Wire
63 XX Teens
60 Yo Majesty
71 Young Jeezy
55 Yung Berg

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

The Black Album
by Jay-Z


8.8

based on 19 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 58 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

MUSIC:

Danger Mouse: The Grey Album

The hugely successful Brooklyn rapper worked with an A-list of producers (including Just Blaze, Kanye West, Aqua, Eminem, Rick Rubin and The Neptunes) on what he has stated will be the final release of his career. (Sure it will.)

LABEL:	Def Jam
RELEASE DATE:	14 November 2003
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rap

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Mojo

A magnificent record. [Jan 2004, p.104]

Dot Music

It easily stands comparison not just to the stars Jay-Z has been forced to compete with since 1996, but to the all-time greats of hip hop history.

Vibe

It's monumental because it's a culmination of Jigga's natural thoughtfulness delivered with transcendent skill. [Jan 2004, p.120]

Launch.com

There are better storytellers, there are better battle rappers, there are undoubtedly rhymers with more on their minds. But there isn't a better MC around, if you're talking about the art of sheer mic domination.

Austin Chronicle

The Black Album stands up alongside Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint as Z's most ambitious work.

ShakingThrough.net

Carter's sulky obsession with proving himself against a field that has all but laid down and acknowledged him as its master detracts from the hard-won grandeur wrought by this nostalgic magnum opus of self-regard (to say nothing of the engaging beats and typically nimble rhymes).

E! Online

A streamlined effort that's stylish, cool and has a sense of finality.

Entertainment Weekly

The Black Album's bling-bang reportage mostly rings redundant. [28 Nov 2003, p.121]

All Music Guide

Impresses on the same level as the best of his career.

PopMatters

The Black Album turns out to be... a surprisingly meticulously constructed coda to Jay-Z's extensive and prosperous career.

Amazon.com

While it probably won't be remembered as his best album, The Black Album is his most personal to date and features some of his most compelling writing.

Blender

This is Jay-Z's suicide note and his glowing eulogy rolled into one. [Jan 2004, p.106]

Pitchfork

Even in falling short of Jay's classics, Reasonable Doubt and 2001's The Blueprint, it manages to eclipse 1999's brilliant Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter as his third-best album-- which in itself still makes it one of the year's best.

Q Magazine

Excellent, although not quite the epoch-defining triumph its hype suggested it might be. [Jan 2004, p.108]

Neumu.net

The Black Album is a spectacular farewell if that's what it turns out to be.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

It's essentially The Blueprint 3.0.

Rolling Stone

Given one last chance to make an impact, Jay-Z has come up with one of the better albums of his career, though perhaps a shade lesser than his very best, Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint.

Stylus Magazine

Review 1: The Black Album’s failings fall upon Jay-Z’s shoulders as much as his producers. [Score=64] Review 2: The majority of the beats here are mediocre. [Score=38]

The Guardian

For all the dark wordplay, the album is an aural equivalent of that old American favourite, the schmaltzy biopic.

The average user rating for this album is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 58 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Rodrigo R. gave it a10:
Jay-Z's best album, one of the best albums ever made, it's real hip-hop, it's black music! 99 problems, dirt off your shoulder best songs from album!

Lucky gave it a10:
This album is hot shit!

Dan A gave it a9:
A wonderful coup de grace for Jay'z "retirement." It really is a shame he went and made Kingdom Come. This would've finished the legacy off fine.

Gill gave it a9:
Not his best album but still pretty damn amazing. Considering where he is in his career.

Brannon M gave it an8:
High Quality shit

Robert C gave it a9:
He goes through his whole career perfect send off

[Anonymous] gave it a7:
Overall it was a good album, but I was expecting so much more for the Jigga's "last album". It was still a great album, just a little disappointing.

The Black Album by Jay-Z

The Black Album
by Jay-Z