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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    • 85 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Revolution
    Revolution is the sound of Miranda Lambert coming into her own.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    brand new eyes
    Paramore is certainly a sharp enough unit that doesn’t lack for energy, and Brand New Eyes features enough interesting ideas to take notice. All it needs is to double the ones it has, and it’ll be a band that’s foolish to ignore.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Love Is The Answer
    At 67, Streisand’s gorgeous tones and powers of interpretation are utterly intact, and also front-and-center thanks to producer Diana Krall’s class-conscious pairing of her own understated quartet with Johnny Mandel’s velvety orchestrations.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Black Gives Way To Blue
    While there are a few lulls, none are glaringly offensive, and the band builds up so much good will with the stronger material that it’s easy to surrender again to these Chains.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    I And Love And You
    With Rick Rubin at the helm, employing his trademark austerity but not overdoing the dryness, the group swings for the fences musically, lyrically, vocally, and emotionally. Its batting average is sterling.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ghostdini: Wizard Of Poetry
    This is essentially an R&B record with Ghostface sounding a bit like Barry White on a bender. Tracks such as 'Let’s Stop Playin’,' featuring a typically lush John Legend, are very good, with Ghost’s lyrical skills as fluid as the track he rhymes over.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Boy Who Knew Too Much
    If you prefer your pop preternaturally gleeful, Mika is your man. The Boy Who Knew Too Much, his second kaleidoscopic pile-up, is chock-full of bright, brash anthems.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Tomorrow
    We’d let the silly lyrics and robotic tempos of Sean Kingston’s sophomore album slide if it were mid-July and we were in the mood for Euro-disco/reggae mash-ups, and straight-up electro-pop. But in autumn we can’t abide clumsily constructed sentiments.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Somedays The Song Writes You
    Clark has penned some classics through the years--'L.A. Freeway' and 'Desperados Waiting for a Train'--but this new album settles for too many dirge tempos and not enough inspiration.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Backspacer
    Backspacer, the band’s ninth studio album [is] one of its most cohesive and satisfying in terms of brevity, crisp production, and a sharp focus.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Man On The Moon: The End Of Day
    It’s spacey, adventurous, and ridiculously intriguing if only because it’s so different.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mi Plan
    The music here is lush or spare when necessary. More singing in this context makes her shine more brightly.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Popular Songs
    Popular Songs, the trio’s 16th album, is another pleasing installment of cleverly assembled songs that unite homage and originality.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Blueprint 3
    The music doesn’t disappoint.... [But] The flaws are obvious. The three Timbaland songs feel out of place. Lyrically, Jay-Z works only as hard as he has to.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Joy
    The songs give off good vibes, even when alluding to the missteps that undid guitarist and main writer Trey Anastasio and ultimately his band. That lack of friction is a problem with Phish.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Heartbeat Radio
    Norwegian songsmith Sondre Lerche has done it again: assembled another batch of perfect pop tunes that manage to be upbeat while wistful, optimistic while nostalgic.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    In Prism
    A couple of the meandering instrumentals fade into the woodwork, but in general In Prism proves a formidable (if long-overdue) return to the studio.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Before the Frost...
    Frost is prime Crowes, a set of songs about dudes who are buzzed, crooked, and haunted, all delivered with bluesy swagger and infused with psychedelic spirit.... The Crowes delve into hippie square-dance jams and bluegrass gospel tunes with an earnest zeal, though style trumps substance on most of the tracks.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    When The Devil's Loose
    Bondy’s supple vocals and the roomy song arrangements let him shake off the world-weary gloom at times for the more peaceful evocations of the piano waltz 'On the Moon.'
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again
    For all that firepower, the follow-up can’t touch the rough, quixotic charms of its predecessor. But it has moments.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Ready
    Songz has really developed as a vocalist since his debut, and he’s more elastic and uses his falsetto judiciously. He’s clearly got a sentimental streak, though.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ellipse
    Mostly, though, Ellipse delivers an inventive yet intimate batch of laptop-pop gems.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    American Classic
    Standards collections from pop artists are de rigueur and Nelson’s trusty touring band has been replaced by a tasteful cocktail-jazz unit. For those reasons, American Classic doesn’t make the indelible mark its predecessor did.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Shaka Rock
    The rest of the album is solid but less immediate.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    No Baggage
    She retains a beautiful voice, but this sophomore solo album is undone by a batch of not-so-great songs. She wallows in more melodrama than might be expected, while trying to be self-consciously profound.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Persona
    For all the pleasures, Latifah sounds too guarded.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Everybody
    While she seems like the twee offspring of Lisa Loeb, she lacks any of Loeb’s quirkiness and charms while retaining the annoying preciousness. Michaelson’s fourth disc, Everybody, puts all her limitations on display.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Keep On Loving You
    It’s a sturdy and at times exuberant country album with big production and McEntire’s even bigger voice leading the charge on low-key ballads (“I Keep on Lovin’ You’’), rocking kiss-offs (“Strange’’), and her signature story songs about ordinary lives (“Maggie Creek Road’’).
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Bachelor
    There’s talent here, but it seems Wolf’s spent so much time devising a plan to smuggle abstraction over the pop barricades that he neglected to pack the payload.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Twang
    There are some great things here, but not likely enough for Strait to win another Grammy for best country album, which he did last year.
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