American Songwriter's Scores

  • Music
For 1,812 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 50% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 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: 100 Rockstar
Lowest review score: 20 Dancing Backward in High Heels
Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 4 out of 1812
1812 music reviews
    • 84 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The fact that all the songs segue seamlessly together adds to the intrigue, while at the same time reducing the entire album to a series of hazy soundscapes that mostly come across as a bit of a blur.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    There is really not much to separate this from the late-period, post-millennial albums that Cohen started churning out to ease financial issues, and those records maintained an imposingly high standard.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Plant continues down his remarkably innovative path on the combustible Carry Fire, further expanding an already eclectic, forward-thinking solo career and creating an artistic, often edgy persona largely removed from past glories many younger fans may not even be familiar with.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Seven Psalms is certainly an intriguing album, but not necessarily one that will reflect the faith of his followers.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Her most diverse work yet, careening from the stark acoustic with sparse drums and bass opening “Grace” to the crashing, grinding grunge guitars of “Wheelbarrow,” the latter an electrifying performance closer to Nirvana than anything in the Americana genre Chambers calls home.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    With For Free, David Crosby soars on his own satisfaction.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Roots folk doesn't get more organic than this.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The ten tracks, heavy on ballads that comprise a third of the selections, seemed if not languid, then at least lacking the band’s dangerous edge. A few of Soup’s tracks have become classics. ... “Scarlet” with Jimmy Page sitting in for Keith whips up a funky enough froth, “All the Rage” doesn’t generate a boil, and “Criss Cross” sounds like an adequate Stones cover band. The rest of the extras are hardly remarkable different mixes, demos and instrumental tracks, generally of interest to collectors.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It’s the start of a somewhat short but compelling 10-track, 41-minute ride that rocks hard while remaining firmly in country/roots territory.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The fact that there isn’t much variety in the approach is somewhat forgivable at the shorter EP length. boygenius may be a one-off, but there is great potential there for more should they abide, what with their top-notch songwriting and three voices that coexist much more smoothly than the couples depicted in their songs.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It’s time to start thinking of Vampire Weekend not as upstarts but as one of the world’s best bands, because they’ve delivered a trio of great albums in an era when diminished expectations leave most listeners grateful for one.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It's meat-and-potatoes blues-rock topped with something sweeter, and it's the most consistent thing these guys have ever cooked up.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    In its strongest moments--though there are no real weak moments to speak of--Dream River presents a compelling, gorgeous sonic world in which to get blissfully lost.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    LaVette is clearly in her element throughout, delivering Bramblett’s words with as much emotion as anyone could squeeze out of them. Producer Jordan supports her with a band of pros that never upstages the star. Call it a win-win for the writer and singer, spotlighting the talents of both, with this thrilling, often electrifying work.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    One of the most searing, potent and passionate albums you’ll hear this year.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    This is more than just a stroll down memory lane since the emotions and lost love laments remain timeless, as does the sound of a man who understands his musical strengths and plays to them with class, authority and soul searching intensity.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Suffice it to say that unless you simply need to own everything Janis touched, this package is of negligible value. Newcomers will be better served by the 2005 edition with its powerful concert material showing how Joplin and the scrappy Full Tilt reinterpreted her earlier work.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    There seems to be a slightly less edgy approach to these ten tracks, some of which could have used a dose of the hyper-caffeinated style TDM3 whip up in front of an audience.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    His calm, ageless voice is perfect for this material and it’s clear he’s in his element on 13 songs that capture and condense the essence of his Americana blues, soul and country influences.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    With Leave No Bridge Unburned, they successfully magnify an already impressively established sound and create one of the best and most exciting Americana albums of the year.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Clearly this is a heartfelt, meticulously crafted package for a cult artist who deserves far more acclaim and respect from a wider audience. As a single disc, non-boxed set re-release, it’s everything this classic deserves and a beautifully realized example of how reissues should be done.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    He beefs things and takes a full-band approach on Big Bad Luv, which contains almost as many hooks as it does Moreland’s hard-earned kernels of truth.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    While this may appear preachy, Mule’s tough, riff-driven attack along with Haynes’ raw, flinty vocals and the synergistic nature of the quartet, which functions as a well-lubed outfit honed through years of live work, keep you focused on the music.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cray has been criticized--rightfully at times--for repeating his distinctive if somewhat staid style for many of his almost 20 studio albums. But this one pushes outside those boundaries. It plays to Cray’s established vocal and guitar strengths while injecting just enough grit and grease to spur him to new heights.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The music’s not raw enough to be considered outlaw but it’s melodic, sharply arranged and driven by passion. That balance makes the Turnpike Troubadours both one of Americana’s preeminent purveyors and this album arguably their most accomplished set to date.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Their music is unique and instantly identifiable, high praise indeed for brothers that have seemingly become tighter and more focused as their professional liaison has matured.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Overall this is, perhaps not surprisingly, a mixed bag with enough impressive, even stirring moments to make it a moderately recommended listen, albeit one that too seldom validates its intent of bringing homespun country grit to the John/Taupin songbook.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Shemekia Copeland might have been born into the blues, but the riveting America’s Child shows her continuing to push those boundaries, creating music reflecting a larger, wider-ranging tract of Americana.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    This is another tasteful and tasty JJ Cale set, one that comfortably slots in with the rest of his similarly styled catalog. It’s like he never left.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It’s an album that both looks backward and forward, reprising the dusky feel of the music that first inspired the Dickinson brothers to start their band while pushing it into electric boogie and even psychedelic directions its founders might not have imagined.