Boston Globe's Scores

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For 2,093 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 66% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 31% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.6 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 72
Highest review score: 100 City of Refuge
Lowest review score: 10 Lulu
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,670 out of 2093
  2. Mixed: 412 out of 2093
  3. Negative: 11 out of 2093
2093 music reviews
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    • 82 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    City of Refuge
    It probably wasn't her intention, but Washburn ended up making a modern classic, a folk album for people who claim they don't like a such thing.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Masseduction
    It’s a jittering, coruscating sucker punch of an album--and St. Vincent’s first bona fide masterpiece.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Endless
    Time might have pushed along, but it was obvious how much Ocean’s rich, detailed, and urgent storytelling had been missed once it was here again.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Home, Like Noplace Is There
    The highs wouldn’t feel so high without the lows here, which is a regular trope of the genre; but as with all tropes, execution trumps invention, and the Hotelier executes exceptionally.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Something More Than Free
    Quieter but equally captivating.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive
    Steve Earle's stellar new album, produced by T Bone Burnett, takes its name from the final Hank Williams single (as does the multitalented Earle's debut novel, out next month).
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Smoke Ring for My Halo
    The result is Vile's best record to date, an idiosyncratic amalgam of intimate performance and communal expression - and one that continues to reveal new layers upon repeated listens.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Way Out
    If there's a lesson to be learned from The Way Out, it's that we need little more than the sounds of each other's voices to find comfort--or in the Books' case, to crank out yet another masterwork.
    • 98 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Fetch the Bolt Cutters
    It’s an ideal album for this decisively odd moment, its homemade feel (much of it was recorded in her house, with percussion partially supplied by objects around her home) and sense of awe giving it a defiant energy. ... A thrill ride.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    IV
    The band’s masterwork to date, IV delivers a listening experience as thrill-packed and invigorating as the loftiest comparisons you can throw at it.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Northern Aggression
    Northern Aggression rocks as ferociously as anything Wynn has ever done.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Everything in Between
    Everything in Between is a triumphant leap forward from an already solid foundation, and one that cements the duo as one of this era's incontestably exceptional indie-rock acts.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Halcyon Digest
    Halcyon Digest is as comforting in its familiar feel as it is startling for its sonic variety.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships
    The 1975’s frequently dazzling exploration of life in the iOS era, frontman Matty Healy turns the mic over to--who else?--Siri. Narrating a strangely touching fable about a man in love with the Internet, the bot contributes one of a great many moments on the album.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Bon Iver
    "Emma" was gorgeous in its austerity, but its follow-up is staggering for its vision. Bon Iver's self-titled sophomore release will go down as one of this year's most arresting albums, drunk on its own impressionistic charms and oblivious to anyone's expectations but Vernon's.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Drums And Guns
    Magnificent.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Heligoland
    The result is a record that alternates between fuzzy and crisp; those who like to get lost in their headphones should approve.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Locked Down
    His latest is the closest he has come to making a masterpiece in a very long time.
    • 95 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Smithsonian Folkways Collection [Box Set]
    For all of the gussy rhythms--which can stop just this side of overly cute--and legit power, there’s real subtlety at work, too, and in unlikely spots.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Livin' on a High Note
    The album feels stunningly fresh and cutting edge; expect to see it on some Top Ten lists later this year.
    • 95 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Black Messiah
    Backed by his new band the Vanguard, to whom the album is jointly credited, his sprawling funk grooves and pointed (if characteristically indecipherable) lyrics are still strikingly timely.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Boarding House Reach
    White does pretty much everything except what fans have learned to expect from him. It’s an ambitious, dizzying, and sometimes challenging listen, but overall makes for one of the most maniacally creative albums of the year.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Dream River
    With eight songs that unfurl to 40 minutes, it’s impeccably crafted and plays off a mercurial tension between Callahan’s voice--a parched yet resonant baritone--and the lush arrangements that envelop it.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Sun And The Moon
    This easily ranks among the top rock records of the year.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Hard Way
    On one of this year's smoothest and best discs, Hunter makes The Hard Way go down so easy.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 14
    Inevitably, there’s some repetition--no fewer than 12 different attempts at “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go,” for example. What’s exhilarating is the chance to eavesdrop on the evolution of the songs as Dylan grasps, bit by bit, for the emotional center of each one.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Astral Weeks Live At The Hollywood Bowl
    This is a stroke of genius.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Four Stars
    It is an exceedingly agreeable collection of ultra-catchy garage-pop complete with slash-and-burn guitars, wheedling psychedelic organs, gauzy ballads, dollops of Motown stomp, and loads of love laments both despairing and fidgety.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    You're Dead!
    Less glitchy and bass-led than FlyLo’s previous work, it enters him in the canon of mystics and psychedelic journeyers who’ve sought to crack the doors of perception.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Bad Magic
    While drummer Mikkey Dee shines on an unexpected cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil.” That efficient if unspectacular borrowing aside, this potent record ranks among the year’s best.
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