Amazon.com's Scores
- Music
For 468 reviews, this publication has graded:
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73% higher than the average critic
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4% same as the average critic
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23% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3.5 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 76
Highest review score: | Black Mountain | |
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Lowest review score: | Siberia |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 419 out of 468
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Mixed: 48 out of 468
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Negative: 1 out of 468
468
music
reviews
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- Critic Score
Merritt's lyrics remain as sharp and funny ("We belong together/Like sex and violence," he croons on "Heather Heather"), but it's the ever-inventive arrangements--like the offbeat blend of ukulele and harmonium on "One April Day"--that make these gems especially memorable.- Amazon.com
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Gil Norton's production has taken the band to new heights, allowing the music to have as much grit, substance, and dynamics as the lyrics.- Amazon.com
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Tambourine may not quite live up to the Dusty in Memphis comparisons, but it may very well wind up the album of Tift Merritt's career.- Amazon.com
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If the tasteful, lissome country-folk backing of steel guitar, fiddle, piano, drums, and harmony vocals from Cindy Wasserman is a tad shy of adventurous, the sound suits the ripe, romantic, and dreamy mood of Phillips's songs.- Amazon.com
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His first recording of his own material in four years reminds that he has few peers among contemporary singer-songwriters.- Amazon.com
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The Outsider may be a cut below its predecessor, the artistic, critical, and commercial breakthrough that was Fate's Right Hand--perhaps the element of surprise is gone, perhaps the songs aren't quite as sharp, perhaps it's just not possible to catch lightning in a bottle twice in a row--but that was a tough act to follow, and this one's none too shabby.- Amazon.com
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Mitchell's songwriting shines brightest at such singularly poignant moments where specificity of images meets the vagaries of the instrumental arrangements, and, in the end, these and other highlights ('Bad Dreams,' 'Night of the Iguana') definitively carry the torch.- Amazon.com
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Jesse Sykes is hard to pin down--and that's a good thing indeed.- Amazon.com
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It's pretty dour stuff on the whole, but delivered with playfully melodic wit and a certain poetic resignation usually found only in the hearts of forgotten souls and madmen (and maybe Tom Waits).- Amazon.com
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Happiness in Magazines is riddled with glorious pop songs, and in a sane world would yield several hit singles. [Amazon UK]- Amazon.com
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Smith adds subtle layers of piano to the formidable 'Wild West Love Song' and the bluesy, Zeppelin-like 'Jesus in the Temple.' But even more newsworthy, her jazzy stylings have rubbed off on the Bielankos.- Amazon.com
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Blige, never far from the thoughts of the lovelorn, didn't need a breakthrough, but anybody with an ear for artful confession will be glad she's given us The Breakthrough anyway.- Amazon.com
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Watershed has an intimate feel and a sophisticated sound that highlights the warmth in Lang’s voice, the maturity of her songwriting and the simple beauty of her arrangements.- Amazon.com
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The album serves as both an ambitious travelogue and as a graceful rejoinder to the bitterness and frustration that inspired it, with Amos wading through swells of sadness ("I Can't See New York"), anger ("Don't Make Me Come to Vegas"), and insecurity ("Your Cloud") with velvety grace.- Amazon.com
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[It] has more powerful and propulsive arrangements than is often the case with the artist.- Amazon.com
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Trash's capriciousness and experimental willingness are what gave Malkmus an audience in the first place--and what promise to keep it coming back for more.- Amazon.com
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Lead single 'Rainin in Paradize' alone should propel Chao (née Oscar Tramor) into the kind of stateside fame he's long enjoyed in Europe and South America.- Amazon.com
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What we have here is easily Mr. Young's finest work in years, one that erases the memory of his well-intentioned but anemic 2006 protest album, "Living with War."- Amazon.com
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District Line, Mould's seventh solo album, is a swell follow-up to his bracing 2005 return-to-rockishness record "Body of Song."- Amazon.com
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The first studio release by the Sadies in three years represents a big sonic advance.- Amazon.com
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It's not Blur, the Clash, Fela, the Verve, or Gorillaz. It's more than just names on albums.- Amazon.com
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If her album is musically uneven at times, her artistry and strength continue to shine as undimmed beacons.- Amazon.com
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An impressive, mature effort that expands a predictable Brit-pop sound into something with varied textures, shades and nuance.- Amazon.com
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Grand National's main skill lies in their ability to twin their fine songs to tight electronic productions, striking the perfect midpoint between live organics and cool digital sequencing.- Amazon.com
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While the material seems to document the end of a relationship and the hope for romantic renewal, there's a freewheeling playfulness to the arrangements.- Amazon.com
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Coyne is a shrewd observer of human nature, and an even shrewder songwriter and this album stands as his greatest and most varied work yet.- Amazon.com
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