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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    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Three Chords Good
    The result? Another record--and a good one--very much like the records Parker has been making for the past decade.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    World From the Side of the Moon
    Phillips may be an artist of just a few ideas, but he believes in them. And he's not afraid to use them over and over.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Rebel Soul
    Throughout the album, Rock, who clearly understands his vocal limitations, employs some dynamite backup singers who enliven, fill out, and otherwise beautify their surroundings nicely.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Pt. 2 [OST]
    The latest edition stays true to the blueprint, enlisting a broad swath of artists of varying degrees of fame and genre.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Free Reign
    Thanks, in part, to Sudbury native and co-mixer Daniel Lopatin (lately more well known as vibe-conjuring electronic artist Oneohtrix Point Never), the sound of Free Reign is both fantastically new and classic Clinic.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    (III)
    The result is another engaging, club-inspired nightmare. This one, though, doesn't ever jolt you awake.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dos!
    Twenty years on from "Kerplunk," Green Day couldn't possibly replicate its early urgency, but the band can manage to keep its sound nicely unhinged.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Top Ten Hits of the End of the World
    The album is consistent in its Eastern-minded psych-pop, and aside from a few flourishes to distinguish the "bands"--goth synths in "Receive," a song supposedly by a German architect band called Taohaus, for example--it sounds like the effort of a single group.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Music From Another Dimension!
    Aerosmith returning to the sound and fury of its '70s halcyon days is a welcome time warp.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Abbey Road Sessions
    Gone are the club-friendly gloss and beats, replaced by live, mostly acoustic instrumentation (including orchestra) that creates a palpable sense of physical space. A few songs thrive in new settings.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    R.E.D.
    Ultimately, it's the love songs that make the biggest impression on this nicely balanced disc.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Luxury Problems
    Stott doesn't just produce these tracks, he haunts their halls.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Cee Lo's Magic Moment
    Magic Moment easily meets the primary requirement of any Christmas album, which is that it's a worthwhile addition to his fans' collections.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tinsel And Lights
    The Everything But the Girl gal follows up her superb 2010 solo album, "Love and Its Opposite," with this gently lovely seasonal release.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Dreams and Nightmares
    Hip-hop's bountiful fall continues with this taut, often terrific, major label bow from the Philly native.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Blak and Blu
    Blak and Blu pays off; it's not a perfect album, but it is bold and exciting.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
    The Compton MC's long-awaited major label debut is a breakthrough, as he both resurrects and reinvents West Coast hip-hop.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Red
    It's not Bob Dylan, but the songwriting is leagues ahead of where Swift was as recently as two years ago.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Local Business
    The magnificence here comes when a gang of Jersey punks try something big, while acknowledging how small they are.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Jiaolong
    Snaith has made himself at home on the dancefloor, but he's never come more off the grid.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Come Home To Mama
    Having gotten an Édith Piaf tribute (and a baby) out of her system since, she reorients herself admirably with Come Home to Mama.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Two Eleven
    With her producers subtly augmenting her vocals with lush harmonies, Brandy executes these songs with confidence.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran
    Jamey Johnson's sterling tribute to the late, great country music tunesmith Hank Cochran will either provide solace or send you to Costco to buy Kleenex in bulk.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Release Me
    What is evident is the astonishing consistency of Streisand's tone, her sometimes goose-bump-inducing interpretative gifts, and her stunning power over 45 years.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Twins
    In exciting displays of versatility throughout the album, Segall grimes it up then unplugs, freaks out then holds back, wails then moans--all in utter confidence.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Pour Une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone
    A steely take on "Four Women" renders the song virtually unrecognizable. Simone would never have recorded it that way, and that's the point of this illuminating album.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Kaleidoscope Dream
    He's at his best when he slips into his expressive falsetto, but Miguel frequently comes off too remote for a true soul singer.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sing the Delta
    Her patience has rewarded us with a work of rare, unvarnished grace and power.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Sugaring Season
    The warmest songs are the least compelling, but in their way, they strengthen Sugaring Season for varying up the tone.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The 2nd Law
    A concept album based on the second law of thermodynamics would likely be awful if done by Radiohead or Coldplay, but Muse nails it on The 2nd Law, creating a tale about survival within an imploding society.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Uno!
    Ironically, it's not their youthful flair but their depth of experience that pulls it off.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Babel
    The London quartet's hallmarks--plucky banjo, hard-driving acoustic guitar--are in place, but the songs are bigger and bolder, right down to Marcus Mumford's exuberant wails that now grind with more grit.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Food & Liquor, Vol. 2: the Great American Rap Album, Pt. 1
    A challenging set that refuses to settle for easy rhymes or facile ideas.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    3 Pears
    It's nothing more--or less--than the latest chapter in his extraordinary, funhouse-mirror version of honky-tonk traditionalism.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Shields
    Grizzly Bear has learned not to stress over its craft, and Shields feels all the more fresh as a result.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Truth About Love
    On her sixth album, The Truth About Love, the singer-songwriter born Alecia Moore continues her winning ways.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Theatre Is Evil
    The record is the most unvarnished rock music Palmer's ever created, leaning heavily on '80s goth and the oddball New Wave of folks like Lene Lovich.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Coexist
    There's enough ingenuity on Coexist to remind us why the xx was a game-changer three years ago; with any luck it will end up a blip on a resume of more inspiring releases.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tempest
    His most recent albums, however, have been uniformly excellent, and that includes Tempest.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Away from the World
    Though Matthews occasionally splashes around in shallow lyrics, the band overall cooks, fleshing out these tunes in an integral way.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Salesman and the Shark
    Occasionally, the production overwhelms Rowe with bombast ("Horses"); all the drama he needs is in that resonant voice.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Sun
    Ripe with propulsive tempos, drum machines, and electronic embellishments, the album sounds like nothing else she's ever done.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Centipede Hz
    Those who decried the last album's lack of spontaneity will be satisfied with Centipede Hz, but it hits hardest when the guys lock into something that works.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    North
    Frontman Rob Thomas has not lost his fastball as a craftsman. Listeners will be humming several songs off "North" before the second chorus even begins, whether they like it or not.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Silver Age
    [Silver Age is] an album not just reminiscent of but worthy of comparison to his best '90s material.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Chapter V
    While the 70-minute disc could use editing, it does showcase his versatility and lithe vocals.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Mature Themes
    If there's any cohesion here, it's the realization that it all emerges from the brain of one man who runs his vision through various filters.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Held
    Held is a haunted forest worth getting lost in, but don't expect to be on your own for long.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rebirth
    This is Cliff's first studio album in seven years--and he indeed sounds reborn.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    America
    Baltimore's Dan Deacon has piled all facets of his musical persona together here.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Havoc and Bright Lights
    There are a couple of clunkers, including the finger-wagger "Celebrity," directed at those who seek fame as its own reward, and the droning "Win Win." But for the most part Morissette and producers Guy Sigsworth and Joe Chiccarelli keep the proceedings crisp, tuneful, warm, and sincere.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Election Special
    Cooder is mad as hell, but because he's a virtuoso with a wry sense of humor that balances indignation and despair, the songs stand as songs, not just soapbox speechifying.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    En Yay Sah
    From jaunty opener "Feba" to dense finale "Rotin," the eight songs have distinct identities but share groovy, spacey production and a mystical-futuristic feel.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac
    Few of the covers exceed the charms of the originals and a couple are a little too faithful, including Antony's lovely, heartfelt "Landslide." But the whole endeavor gets points for digging past the surface.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Double Exposure
    Shockingly, it all works--quite well. If you like Pizzarelli, you'll enjoy this immensely. If, however, you find his voice too thin and nasally, then Double Exposure won't win you over.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Way Down Low
    Way Down Low, is one of the greatest vocal albums I've ever heard.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Four MF's Playin Tunes
    A tight set of well-slung tunes that show the elements of a classic quartet outing in nice balance.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Is Your Love Big Enough?
    The pleasures of Is Your Love Big Enough? are unquestionably immediate, but the real excitement is in wondering where her curiosity takes her next.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Researching the Blues
    After 34 years of recording, the brothers think it's their best collection yet. Again breaking the artistic rule, they may be right.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Christian a Tunde Adjuah
    Trumpeter Scott and his quintet simmer and stretch their way through vast emotional terrain.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Bear Creek
    Here she flirts with going full-bore on "Rise Again," but otherwise simply continues her ascendance as contemporary pop's most expressive and astonishing singer this side of Adele.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    God Forgives, I Don't
    While not as electrifying as "Teflon Don," this 70-minute set deftly mixes grandiose gestures and ominous bravado.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Country Funk: 1969-1975
    The sultry singer [Bobbie Gentry], who had a hit with "Ode to Billie Joe," is part of this essential new Light in the Attic compilation that explores a fringe strain of country music.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Silencio
    It's a bright, pretty album, so much so that it may surprise when the lyrics come into focus and reveal Sadier's concerns.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Handwritten
    The tunes are a jumble of fidelity betrayed and fidelity pledged, with tough-sounding, country-tinged, blues-infused gutter rock providing a spine.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Never
    Never is frank, fearless, and restless--a 14-song rattle bag of damaged samples, uneasy hooks, intuitive melody, and dry humor.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Shrines
    Pulling the entire effort back from the precipice of cliché is the immediate charisma of vocalist Megan James, particularly engaging when hurdling over cleverly constructed lines of wordplay.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Life is Good
    Life Is Good, finds him humbled and reflective after his high-profile divorce from Kelis. This doesn't diminish his impact, as these songs mix anger, nostalgia, and insight.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    MTMTMK
    It dabbles in the kind of commercial electropop that's coming up all over the continent--but it costs the band some of its earlier warmth and subtlety.
    • 92 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Channel Orange
    Channel Orange stands strong on its own merits.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Oshin
    As in most dreams, it seems to make perfect sense when you're hearing it.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Confess
    It's rare to find a musical package this self-consciously stylized that isn't designed to cover up for a lack of substance.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Skelethon
    His first solo production, the brooding music on Skelethon is often as intoxicating as the stentorian rhymes.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Uncaged
    The diverse moods may be authentic, but occasionally, hitting this many targets feels a bit engineered.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Harakiri
    There's never a ponderous or self-righteous feel to Tankian's tunes.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rooster Rag
    It's a versatile tour de force with Feat's four singers tackling mostly picaresque themes that would make Helm proud.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Wild Ones
    He has numerous potential chart-toppers here thanks to a well-tested formula.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Write Me Back
    He delivers deceptively subtle music that retains all of the singer's seductive charms and inimitable style.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Time as We Know It: The Songs of Jerry Jeff Walker
    It's intensely devotional, but intensely satisfying.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Cherry Thing
    For all of the scorching discordance (Gustafsson's ambitious "Sudden Movement"), there are also passages of divine lyricism ("Golden Heart," "What Reason"). A welcome return.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Oceania
    Corgan rebuilt the band with new members and finally marshals them through a solid hour of grandiose guitar rock.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Welcome to the Fishbowl
    As consistent and meticulously constructed as ever, Welcome to the Fishbowl is die-cast Chesney.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Idler Wheel Is Wiser than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More than Ropes Will Ever Do
    Apple has been here before, but it makes her new album no less arresting.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Triple F Life: Friends, Fans and Family
    Where the debut flaunted relentless production and Waka's defiant word associations, this has more spacious and savvier tracks.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Synthetica
    Synthetica affirms what fans have loved about Metric: If the formula isn't broken, don't fix it.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    In Our Heads
    Fifth album In Our Heads features its share of cerebral hip-shakers but the group has enough other moves to keep things varied.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Falling Off the Sky
    Falling evokes the band's best work without sounding dated.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Dreamer
    [The Dreamer's] sad pedal steel and simple tropes might sound formulaic were Miller not so advanced at his craft, with wryness and spryness enlivening even the acoustic guitar and corny extended metaphor of "Marina."
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Our Version of Events
    Rarely does a pop debut come as fully realized as this one.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Americana
    Young reignites melodies and lyrics sadly frozen through years of rote recitation.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Banga
    [Banga] is a classic Patti Smith album in that it mixes pop panache with punk sensibilities and poetic ruminations.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Words & Music by Saint Etienne
    The dizzying succession of beats per minute paired with thoughtful lyrics about music's role in shaping memories gives Saint Etienne a chance to create a rare entity: Dance music for the thinking person.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Choice of Weapon
    The Cult reunites with two former collaborators--producers Bob Rock and Chris Goss--with satisfyingly brawny results.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Magic Hour
    Even with such hitmaking producers as Calvin Harris and Diplo on board, Magic Hour is refreshingly out of step with current tastes in pop music.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nashville, Vol. 1: Tear the Woodpile Down
    Cue up any of the songs on Nashville and you hear the sound of Stuart's mission being fulfilled.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Born and Raised
    It's an honest, and oftentimes compelling, statement on his road to redemption.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Cancer4Cure
    A set of 12 songs overflowing with bile and sonic invention.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Bloom
    The album is solid and consistent, just not as bold as it could have and should have been.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Not Your Kind of People
    When all of it works in perfect synch, the record hits a sweet spot that is both nostalgic and completely contemporary, illuminating how forward-looking the cross-continental collaborators were at their peak.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Unpatterns
    SMD sounds like it's found a handle on its sound.
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