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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    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Revival
    This album is not just a revival, but a complete rejuvenation for John Fogerty. It's easily his best solo record, and what makes it so special is that he embraces his swamp-rocking Creedence Clearwater Revival days.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    100 Days, 100 Nights
    The crowning achievement, though, comes with a fantastic slice of raw Southern soul, 'Humble Me,' that sounds like it came straight out of Muscle Shoals circa 1969.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    White Chalk
    The music is positively spectral, as if she's set up her sound board in the spaces where her absent lover, unborn child, and grandmother used to be.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
    Dave Grohl and company have assembled a strong assortment of the band's familiar, well-built tuneage, from muscular rockers and sinuous ballads to good-natured power-pop and riff-heavy radio anthems.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
    This trippy collection spans Brazilian Tropicalia, '60s psychedelia, classic rock, blissed-out pop, gospel, and a new genre that might be called Hebrew doo-wop--a ridiculous range of styles, but one that works under Banhart's expansive, expressive umbrella
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Washington Square Serenade
    It's still a decent album, but it's also an opportunity lost.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Songs About Girls
    Mostly, this rubbery, hit-laden set follows the blueprint of his recent production work and the BEP's music. He has become a supreme craftsman of pop-funk fluff with little on its mind beyond keeping the party going.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    In Our Bedroom After The War
    But as pretty as all of the proceedings are--right down to the elegant bound packaging--the overall feel is of Sunday brunch music that goes down easy but rarely quickens the pulse.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    In Our Nature
    Despite the fuller arrangements the whole package remains haunting: pristine on the surface with an uneasy core.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Just Like You
    Keyshia Cole's street edge sets her apart from her polished R&B peers, but the Oakland, Calif., songstress could have used a good editor on her second album, which is bogged down by too many ballads and overly lush production.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams
    It's untamed, topsy-turvy, elliptical - and one of the most exciting albums I've heard all year.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Shine
    While the music always beckons, the words sometimes repel.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Reunion Tour
    Few can match the Weakerthans's lyrical ingenuity without succumbing to earnest excess, and the result is an at times wry, at times touching exploration of life's overlooked corners.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Last Light
    With each new release, its sound becomes more polished, and Last Light finds a groove between a radio-ready opus and an experimental jumble.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Scene Of The Crime
    An album as lean, mean, and gritty as the cover image of someone behind a steering wheel, peering into the rearview mirror with windshield wipers in motion.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Awakening
    It's been a trying but triumphant past few years for Melissa Etheridge. Her celebratory new album reflects those times with some of her most compelling songwriting in years (particularly 'Map of the Stars') cast in her usual power-rock framework.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Shocking Pinks
    Throughout, Harte infuses much of the record with the chopped-up high-hat propulsion of DFA-style dance-floor abandon that makes studying your history a lot of fun.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Real Thing: Words And Sounds Vol. 3
    The 15 tracks on The Real Thing feature a slew of styles and producers--among them Scott Storch (DMX, 50 Cent), Adam Blackstone (the Roots), Om'Mas Keith (Jay-Z), and Shafiq Husayn (Jurassic 5)--all gathered in pursuit of a mission outlined on the album's gorgeous, abstract opener, a meditation on open-mindedness.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Drastic Fantastic
    Tunstall's third album is far less gritty than her first album.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    All The Lost Souls
    Blunt has turned his attention away from his sound hole and his sensitive soul, refocusing his energies on the '70s and unearthing a measure of depth and ingenuity.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ultimate Victory
    He's made a better disc as he shows growth and depth. In a surprisingly obscenity-free set, Chamillionaire pays increased attention to the world and its contradictions while setting aim at those who have crossed him.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Meanest Of Times
    Meanest is everything you want in a Murphys record and a great inauguration for the band's newly minted indie label, Born & Bred Records.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Trees Outside The Academy
    The CD, recorded last spring, is a collection of tunes that sound more groovy than gritty.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Proof of Youth
    On Proof of Youth, the samples are made-to-order--Chuck D chips in on 'Flashlight Fight,' and Brazilian artist Marina Vello shows up on the riotous 'Titanic Vandalism.' Precious else has changed.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hope & Glory
    Wilson's voice has aged; once-effortless high notes stay out of reach. But like a hard-living blues diva who subs soul for sweetness, Wilson makes those whiskey tones work.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates
    The sincere, average-Joe appeal of Just Who I Am--the whole to which Chesney's various personas add up--will likely resonate with fans in the back row of the stadiums he favors, long after all of the records slide down the charts.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Good Bad Not Evil
    The best songs on this album, including 'Vini Vidi Vici,' subvert the band's bravado without erasing it altogether.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    I Created Disco
    The bulk of the record follows suit, with straightforward club songs, none too obtuse.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    None Shall Pass
    Aesop's verbose mike heroics take center stage here, but there's ample creativity to be found in the tasteful and striking accompaniment as well.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Bring on the Comets
    These are high-flying songs in search of a place to land, and the warmth and seeming innocence of Pfunder's voice combined with all the familiar electro-disco trappings make this a record worth hearing for anyone not ready to let the past go without a fight.
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