Billboard.com's Scores

  • Music
For 825 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 81% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 16% 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: 100 The Complete Matrix Tapes [Box Set]
Lowest review score: 40 Jackie
Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 0 out of 825
825 music reviews
    • 76 Metascore
    • 72 Critic Score
    The band's current six-member lineup, together five years and responsible for 2007's stunning "Sky Blue Sky," is its strongest to date--and Wilco (The Album) is as well-rounded an effort as the group has released.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Full of attractive instrumentation and unfalteringly charming lyricism, Bonham's collection brings a sophisticated quirkiness to the femme alt-pop table unseen for quite some time.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    The chaos is nothing new for Say Anything, but the band's newest release is tightly executed and gives fans a deeper look into Bemis' clever mind.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 71 Critic Score
    Toby Keith has been writing and playing country music long enough to know every one of its conventions-and how to twist them around.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    An album that required a painstaking process to complete but sounds infinitely effortless in its pop arrangements and flicked-off soul ruminations.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    With 1989, she expertly sets up the next chapter of what is now even more likely to be a very long career.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Even as his piecework band stretches the sound in unexpected directions, Lidell--like a peculiar cross of Prince and Otis Redding--remains confidently true to his soul vision, creating a tense musical discourse that wrings raw emotion from each eclectic track.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 87 Critic Score
    Bluesier and less electronic than its predecessor, "Blood Pressures" is by far the Kills' most accomplished and diverse set yet.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 77 Critic Score
    The departure earlier this year of keyboardist Franz Nicolay means less Springsteen-like keyboard embellishments, but the group's Everyman quality remains intact thanks to vocalist/guitarist Craig Finn's straightforward lyricism and lead guitarist Tad Kubler's signature swells.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 76 Critic Score
    This rock supergroup delivers by drawing upon each member's talents and creating a sound that's refreshingly singular and remarkably fun.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    Taking a page from the George Strait playbook, country music newcomer Easton Corbin displays excellent song sense while offering an easygoing vocal style on his finely crafted self-titled debut album.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The journey of its latest change has been bumpy, but by blending its storied past with the musical present, Queensrÿche's members prove the band as a whole is indeed greater than any one person.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    25
    And yet: that voice. On 25, the material is occasionally inspired, sometimes dull, but always serviceable--and with Adele, that’s enough.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The album builds on the pair's impressive collaborative EP with Robyn, Do It Again, reinforcing that project's themes of legacy, repetition and dedication.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 82 Critic Score
    Arctic Monkeys have captivated the post-Britpop scene since their 2006 debut, but Humbug finds the group justifying the hype by shifting its best qualities into different, equally dazzling shapes.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Unbreakable is the mature album, free of commercial ambition, her all-too-breakable brother never made.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 79 Critic Score
    Although the set's complex instumentation finds BLK JKS occasionally losing their footing, their confidence in their craft largely covers up any glaring errors.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Toronto MC Drake has said that he wants fans to feel the different layers of his debut, Thank Me Later. From the sounds of it, he's held little back, sharing with listeners his deepest thoughts on family, women, and fame.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 77 Critic Score
    Save Rock and Roll contains some head-scratching collaborations, including link-ups with Big Sean and Courtney Love, but even those that fall relatively flat are still positive indicators that Fall Out Boy are back to having fun, stretching their legs and taking risks.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 76 Critic Score
    The broad spectrum of genres Merchant explores also prevents the set from feeling overlong. She has returned with a painstakingly constructed record that feels light and nimble, a credit to her still-impressive talent as a songwriter.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Perhaps more than any other young hitmaker, Charli has a sound that is distinctively her own, despite the murderers' row of producer-songwriters onboard.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    For its third album, Expo 86, the band tempers the musical diversity of its predecessors and focuses more on standard rock fare.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 73 Critic Score
    It took the Black Crowes seven years to release last year's "Warpaint," but now that the Robinson brothers are back in the studio album business, they're making up for lost time.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Its new studio album, Tornado, seems designed to demonstrate that stardom hasn't separated the band from the backwoods roots it famously celebrated in the song "Boondocks."
    • 75 Metascore
    • 74 Critic Score
    The Toronto-based collective goes all out on its third album, Latin, which features lead members Brian Borcherdt and Graham Walsh's spacey keyboards and effects supplemented by the powerful live drums and bass of their touring personnel.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Through it all, Finn's durable songcraft never fails to enthrall.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Documentary 2, succeeds by reminding you what made the original so memorable.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 79 Critic Score
    Crazy Love is another step in Buble's creation of his own kind of songbook, and there's nothing necessarily crazy about that
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Throughout Stronger With Each Tear, Blige solidly reinforces why she endures as a fan favorite.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 71 Critic Score
    Long.Live.A$AP may not change the game like "good kid, m.A.A.d city," but A$AP Rocky's absorbing debut is more physical in its pleasure--as in, you'll be knocking your head to some of these songs for months.