Billboard's Scores

  • Music
For 1,720 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 71% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 27% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1 point higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
Highest review score: 100 The Boxing Mirror
Lowest review score: 10 Hefty Fine
Score distribution:
1720 music reviews
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Soulful and organic, with roots in jazz and funk, Kamaal the Abstract finds Q-Tip not only rhyming in his trademark nasal cadence, but also singing--and surprisingly well to boot.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The prolific singer/songwriter has reacted to the licensing feast surrounding "Speak for Yourself" ("The OC," "So You Think You Can Dance," Verizon advertisements) with a stronger focus on song structure and melody on Ellipse.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    After 28 years, you'd think it would be tough coming up with new twists to captivate audiences. But apparently not for King George, whose latest album, Twang, is among the finest collections of songs he's released.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Power ballad 'What If' reveals that Tisdale can deliver the radio-ready goods, and 'Tell Me Lies' is convincingly spunky. But the rest of the material, as racy as it sometimes is, doesn't give the singer room to comfortably let loose.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Lyrical themes get a bit murkier on her appropriately titled sophomore effort, Battlefield.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The new album's lyrical plotlines feel more organized than on past efforts, and musical twists are easier to follow, with Matthew's piano grounding the recording.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Backed by a fine team of multi-instrumentalists, Molina delivers a harrowing set of songs with short running times and minimalist arrangements.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    while the first single, 'All You Did Was Save My Life,' provides some much-needed bite, "Burn Burn" is ultimately ballad-heavy and one-dimensional.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Satanic Satanist constructs an exquisite medium between indie music and hard rock.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Overall, Sugar Ray sticks to what it does best: helping audiences realize that there's no better alternative to a California fun-in-the sun day at the beach.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The propulsive 11-track Horehound finds the White Stripes and Raconteurs frontman every bit as able on the drums as he is on guitar.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Daughtry and his band return with similar aggression on their sophomore album, Leave This Town. Daughtry's ferocious growl is still the centerpiece of the new songs, but the band has also taken a few creative risks.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    "Monkey House" was the band's experiment in '80s synth-rock, and with Elavedo's touch, the razor-sharp, reflective edges of the album's space-age cogs are smoothed and rounded, with the bright-hot electro-pop brought closer to loungey funk.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Son Volt may be playing it too safe on American Central Dust, but the songs are still woven together with a feeling of comfort and familiarity.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    BLACKsummer'snight is a testament that Maxwell hasn't lost a beat.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Fish Outta Water may lack the demographic-tripping vibe that even a Jurassic 5 in turmoil could whip up, but it's a mostly winning debut that makes up in vocal prowess for what it lacks in hooks.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    DJ/rappers Redfoo and Sky Blu (the son and grandson, respectively, of Motown founder Berry Gordy) fulfill all the lyrical requirements for a summer anthem--sunny locale, sexual tension and a liquor-assisted nonstop party.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    It's driven by Helm's warm, amazingly rich moonshine vocals and decorated with bluesy guitar sprinkles, angelic violins and lovely harmonies by his daughter Amy of the folk-rock outfit Ollabelle.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    This is Moby without his usual bag of tricks; the material rings truer than any of his previous work.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Thomas returns with a soaring collection of infectious pop songs that are destined for heavy rotation in 2009 and beyond.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Paisley hits all the right notes, literally and figuratively, weighing in on skinny dippin', beer, fishing, technology, children and women, among other all-American topics.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Aside from a few unique moments ("The Return," "Take Me Away"), there's not much new to report here.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    'Social Development Dance' is an accurate representative of Back and Fourth as a whole--an introspective, guitar-driven effort that's worthy of praise, despite some minor missteps.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The appearance of Hood's dad, legendary session man David, gives parts of Murdering Oscar--even within the Southern-rock storm and Hood's charcoal vocals--a sweet, possibly unprecedented sense of tranquility.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Nonsensical lyrics about butterflies and name-changing lovers on tracks like 'You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)' and 'Apollo And The Buffalo And Anna Anna Anna Oh!,' could serve as a distraction, but the songs are saved by beautifully frantic instrumentals.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The musical doesn't begin production until 2010. The time lapse is confusing for listeners of the narrative, which focuses on a young woman named Eve. But Murdoch, who lends his vocals to two of the album's 14 tracks, plays his strengths as the man behind the music.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Though a floundering economy, bombed-out GOP and a season or two of corporate bailouts have provided them with a fat barrel of fish to shoot, this rap-rock hybrid simmers instead of seethes, never quite mustering the blood-boiling rage of its principals' previous material.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    While it's commendable for the trio to try to break out of its teen dream box, it's on songs like 'Before the Storm'--featuring Miley Cyrus--where the brothers prove they're still among the best at putting the fizz in pop culture.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Holly Williams, the daughter of Hank Williams Jr. and granddaughter of Hank Williams, follows her own musical path to deliver one of the best singer/songwriter albums to come out of Nashville in the last year.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hitting a second stride with "Murray Street" in 2002, the band maintains its leadership position among melodic noise-makers with The Eternal, which is so chock-full of hummable pop hooks you'd think a hit doctor lent a hand.