American Songwriter's Scores
- Music
For 1,814 reviews, this publication has graded:
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50% higher than the average critic
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5% same as the average critic
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45% 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: | Rockstar | |
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Lowest review score: | Dancing Backward in High Heels |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 1,458 out of 1814
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Mixed: 352 out of 1814
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Negative: 4 out of 1814
1814
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- American Songwriter
- Posted Jul 12, 2011
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Sure sounds a bit like a certain New Jersey rocker who was born to run and also tackled the topic of the workingman's plight, both before and after he made it big. Take that example to heart, Sam Roberts Band. Tycoon and rebel? If you do it right, you can be both.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jul 12, 2011
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This Loud Morning offers an irresistible balance of pop and rock to satisfy existing fans and entice new ones to Cook's musical camp, especially those oblivious to Cook's season seven Idol win.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jul 12, 2011
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Yet, as familiar as some of his phrases sound, lines like "the watertower has more names" are still striking in their simple evocation of what revisiting the past can be like.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jul 12, 2011
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Those who liked One Quiet Night, especially those familiar with the pop material Metheny is recalling, should enjoy this record. But many non-jazz listeners will find this CD dreary and sleepy, and jazz purists probably won't like it a lot either.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jul 8, 2011
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Red River Blue, alongside recent efforts by Blake's summer tour-mate Brad Paisley and wife Miranda Lambert, pretty much defines mainstream country these days – high-quality songs, great singing and musicianship, big production, and the same time-honored, predictable six or seven themes that we've all heard before.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jul 8, 2011
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On Eleven Eleven, Dave Alvin continues his transformation from journeyman musician to becoming one of the people he always idolized: the one of a kind bluesmen and storytellers, rock and rollers and poets, folk singers and road warriors whose influences he's absorbed since he was a kid growing up fast in Downey, California.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jul 6, 2011
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Dawes's second album succeeds on its own terms, and will appeal to fans of solid roots-rock songwriting.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jul 5, 2011
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A Treasure is full of little disclosures like that, deeply personal without being confessional, engaging without trying to be, and revelatory because of his small observations and his uncommon insight into ordinary detail.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jul 5, 2011
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The words are as woodsy and quaint as ever. Pecknold seems to take his inspiration from classic British poetry, and rarely refers to objects, characters, or events that would place him in the 21st century, relying instead on imagery like old stone fountains, seeds, keys, sand, and the night sky.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jun 30, 2011
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The original songs here are, perhaps surprisingly, stronger than the parodies, and Yankovich shines brightest when he is just being funny without a direct target.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jun 28, 2011
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It's a rich portrait, full of unexpected imagery and odd turns of phrase, which means that even though Welch has sung about drunks and prodigals so many times in the past, the songs on The Harrow & The Harvest sound both pleasingly familiar and starkly new, as if her unique vision of Americana contains an inexhaustible cast of eccentrics and an unending narrative from which she can harvest the most harrowing arcs.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jun 28, 2011
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She's spellbinding when she's on--aided by her penetrating and often-literary lyrics. But when her singing meanders too long without focus, you forget she's there--her energy dissipates and she blurs into background, leaving her dependent songs with nothing to do but await her return.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jun 28, 2011
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Finally, it seems, she's found her sweet spot in burnished southern folk-pop.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jun 21, 2011
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- American Songwriter
- Posted Jun 20, 2011
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Ronnie Dunn is an admirable solo effort and is as rock-solid as any Brooks & Dunn album, which should appease old and new fans alike.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jun 15, 2011
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No fear on this album, none. It's an all-out emotional outpour, from the ballads to the rockers, a focus that makes sense in its own way.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jun 14, 2011
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Vetiver's latest record, The Errant Charm, is certainly more folk than freak.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jun 14, 2011
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The music is charismatic and chaotic, full of shouts, clanging and bright guitars--listen to it with your eyes closed and you'll see everything short of sparkling blue stars.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jun 14, 2011
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It's a Corporate World is a refreshing full-length debut that would serve well on any summer playlist.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jun 7, 2011
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Although the songs on Speed Of Darkness have a heavy theme, this fifth album by the band is anything but sorrowful.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jun 7, 2011
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All in all, the album feels like the slightest bit bloodless, the older, wiser Lerche a little less than the yearning teenager we once knew.- American Songwriter
- Posted Jun 7, 2011
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Ukulele Songs is lovely as it breezes by, but it doesn't promise a very long shelf-life.- American Songwriter
- Posted May 31, 2011
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None of these cropped and re-imagined takes are drastic enough to add huge insights into Bush's output as they do her finicky outlook on her own work. Work that is, generally, great in any context.- American Songwriter
- Posted May 31, 2011
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Circuital sounds like a reaction to the extravagances of its predecessor. My Morning Jacket tamper their more evil urges and settle back into being a solid rock band.- American Songwriter
- Posted May 27, 2011
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Like John Henry, Strange Negotiations is workman-like. It's a grind from start to finish, but an enjoyable one at that.- American Songwriter
- Posted May 24, 2011
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- American Songwriter
- Posted May 23, 2011
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His charmingly loony and unpredictable qualities are plenty evident over the course of these five hours of music and often unhinged patter. Sound quality varies of course, with the dodgiest not surprisingly on the late 70s tracks, but when you're dealing with this type of raw power, pristine audio is almost a detriment.- American Songwriter
- Posted May 20, 2011
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With the release of a beautiful new record Follow Me Down, it's time to proceed past the astonishment of Jarosz's remarkable age and acknowledge her place among the prestigious group of musicians currently pursuing acoustic music to exciting and progressive new heights.- American Songwriter
- Posted May 19, 2011
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Underneath slicker production and diminished guitar usage, are the same melodies and introspective, angsty songwriting, only this time the band may come off as occasionally happy.- American Songwriter
- Posted May 17, 2011
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