Billboard's Scores

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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:
  1. Positive: 1,457 out of 1720
  2. Mixed: 240 out of 1720
  3. Negative: 23 out of 1720
1720 music reviews
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    • 63 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Devil You Know
    With Tony Iommi on guitar, Geezer Butler on bass and Vinny Appice on drums, the lyrically macabre and demonically alluring music sounds more like a band backing Ronnie James Dio than it does an act trying to distinguish itself as an entity apart from Sabbath's and Dio's solo endeavors. Yet The Devil You Know has a great sound in its own right.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    My One And Only Thrill
    Her hushed, velvet-smooth vocals evoke a noir yearning and forlornness, her slow-burn delivery enraptures with a torch sentimentality, and her support team shines.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Summer Of Hate
    Parts of this remarkable debut make for decidedly uneasy listening: The drugged-out, claustrophobic glam slam that's 'Flash of Light' may be the year's most terrifying moment.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tinted Windows
    Although the roster of the newly formed act Tinted Windows is a bit of a head-scratcher--middle Hanson brother Taylor Hanson, Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger, former Smashing Pumpkin James Iha and Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos--it all seems to make sense after one listen to the supergroup's self-titled debut.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sounds Of The Universe
    After nearly 30 years, the trio--now comprising Gore, Dave Gahan and Andrew Fletcher--still imbue every aspect of its 12th studio album, Sounds of the Universe, with imagery and sonic flourishes that make its music fresh and familiar.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Art Brut vs. Satan
    Francis' production has noticeably tightened the band's sound, as Freddy Feedback's bass bounces crisply alongside dueling riffs. Art Brut may never shed its screwball charisma, but Satan is a successful step in a mature direction.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Potato Hole
    the guests' reverence for Booker T. is clear--the Truckers, as they did when they recently backed Bettye LaVette, know when to muscle up (on 'Pound It Out') and how to hang back (on moving, B3-powered track 'She Breaks,' a sweet, shimmering number filled with references to Booker T.'s awesome past).
    • 56 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Asleep In The Bread Aisle
    After being the first white guy to grace the cover of a Gangsta Grillz underground mixtape ("The Greenhouse Affect" with Don Cannon & DJ Drama), this buzzed-about MC proves that suburban rap has finally arrived.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    My Maudlin Career
    The result is a flawless blend of sunny pop, Motown, blues and jazz with the cleanest production in Camera Obscura's catalog.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Bright Mississippi
    The inspiring combination lifts the album far beyond tribute material into sonic territory all its own.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Deeper Than Rap
    The Miami-bred MC Rick Ross has faced a number of career obstacles in recent months--from damaged street credibility to a multi-episodic beef--so it's all the more impressive that on his third album, Deeper Than Rap, he presents his most cohesive work yet.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cage The Elephant
    The group's self-titled debut shows that it has more than one flashy single to offer.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Fantasies
    The Canadian quartet continues to polish its spacey, new wave-colored sound that's heavy with buzzing synths and echoed vocals.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Honey Moon
    Though answers don't come easily, the process of getting to know them is fascinating nonetheless.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Jigsaw
    The repetitive opener 'Let's Be Mates' gets the album off to a rocky start, but Lady Sov quickly redeems herself with 'So Human.'
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Fork In The Road
    Like so many Young albums, there are the tracks that rise to another level (the 'Ragged Glory'-like 'Just Singing a Song' included) and there are those destined to be forgotten. True to himself, though, Young is inspired throughout.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Now We Can See
    This much more polished follow-up goes down smoother but still packs plenty of fire.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Stranger Here
    Elliott brings a seen-it-all authenticity to this repertoire while Joe Henry's sympathetic production (aided by guest appearances by Los Lobos' David Hidalgo and Van Dyke Parks) is pitch perfect.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Unstoppable
    The 11-track set is unlikely to slow the group's momentum, since it's as polished as a diner countertop.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Last Laugh
    Populating that lyrical forest are knights, goblins, talking animals and ticking (shades of Peter Pan crocodiles), Costas spinning her offbeat tales like a young Suzanne Vega setting Brothers Grimm fables to music. It's all melodically accessible.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Telekinesis!
    In its entirety the album is a great debut, toe-tapping and catchy with just the right blend of familiarity and individuality, and it should send a message to new bands: Simplicity is key.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Positive Rage
    The Hold Steady's first live disc (and documentary DVD), recorded in 2008 at Chicago's Metro, is a raucous 17-track scorcher that finds Finn's speedily spat monologues working surprisingly well onstage.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Woman, A Man, Walked By
    Such a musical mind-meld, so expressive of both artists' perspective, is rare.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Living Thing
    From the hipster head-bobber 'Nothing to Worry About' to the melancholy closer 'Last Night,' the trio takes a minimalist approach to creating beats and accompaniments, making its simple voices more affecting and the subtle production all the more charming.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A New Tide
    Gomez ups the musical ante with A New Tide, a brilliant 11-song collection of lyrical jewels embellished by colorful and unusual textural arrangements that a dynamics-loving jazz band could admire.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Defying Gravity
    Urban hardly rests on his laurels on Defying Gravity, trying some interesting new directions.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    R.O.O.T.S
    As he did on last year's "Mail on Sunday," Flo Rida spends most of these 13 pop-rap confections pondering the finer points of his growing bank account and his incomparable way with women. The best cuts are those that mirror the MC's usual themes with even more familiar sounds.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Live In London
    Between tunes Cohen recites lyrics from the next song to be performed, and these 26 tunes, delivered in his steady rumbling baritone, may have never sounded better, certainly not in one place on one special night.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hills And Valleys
    The threesome is best when trading verses and flaunting its ample talent on strummy singalongs like 'Just About Time.'
    • 61 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    LotusFlow3r
    Lotusflow3r has Prince channeling his Hendrix spirit guide on a cover of 'Crimson & Clover' shot through with riffs from 'Wild Thing;' on 'Wall of Berlin' and 'Dreamer,' he squeezes the Jimi out of his guitar until you can almost see the hologram.
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