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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    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    As I Am
    Keys's tunes sing as strongly as she does. Alas, she still relies too often on sloganeering.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Trilla
    There are too many throwaway songs and guests (Nelly?), but Ross can still expose all the thrills of Miami vice.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Slave Ambient
    It's a rock album that mixes 30-year-old influences with the deep, hazy production of indie synth-poppers like M83.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Mantaray
    A few tracks may drag along the way, especially the aptly titled social critique 'Drone Zone,' but they're worth it to reach the final and finest, 'Heaven and Alchemy.'
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Blue Songs
    Hercules & Love Affair mostly skip the postmodern irony here, sounding sincerely dorky enough to have arrived straight from the disco era. That's both good and bad.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Age of Adz
    Casual fans looking to prolong the artful mellow of the gently plucked art-folk and strutting orchestral pop the precious singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens laid down on previous records might be lulled into a false calm as this record opens.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Them Crooked Vultures
    The band’s self-titled debut at times leans too heavily on familiar riff ’n’ roll, but for the most part it’s a groovy cross-generational jam.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Reminder
    "The Reminder" features Feist free from the polished confines of her previous effort. Instead, she opts for a more organic approach punctuated by subtle electronic elements, soulful vocal harmonies, and glam-rock guitar riffs.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Tron: Legacy
    For all of its familiar traces, this soundtrack offers little more than 22 pleasant teasers to distract die-hards until the duo undergo a proper reboot.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Foreverly
    If you’re seeking Everlys hits like “Wake Up Little Susie” and “Bye Bye Love,” this ain’t the place, but if you want to hear a cache of lovingly crafted versions of great story songs by two simpatico friends, “Foreverly” is a fine gateway to the Everlys’ catalog. (Then go find the originals.)
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Run for Cover [EP]
    Their charms are distinctly vintage here, from pop standards to country tearjerkers to 1970s funk.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Weezer (Red Album)
    The songs are consistently vibrant, catchy, and well-built.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Ash Wednesday
    The touchstones (Cohen, Dylan, Morrison, Yorke, Brion, "Hunky Dory"-era Bowie) are obvious as the album progresses, too obvious at times, but Perkins has his own stories to tell, and he often does so in a mesmerizing fashion.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Love Is Everything
    Love Is Everything is not his strongest release of recent years, with a few too many generic midtempo cuts and stately ballads. But Strait is the type of consistent artist and singer whose marginal cuts are often better than some folks’ best and that is true here, too.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Search
    A collection of highly listenable roots-rock tunes that stray little from its longtime formula.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Armchair Apocrypha
    The strength of this album lies in Bird's ability to write challenging, evocative lyrics, and then wed his erudite prose with joyous melodies.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Ms. Kelly
    Rowland offers a solid if somewhat safe set of grooves, but the album never takes full flight to become something special.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Slipstream
    Befitting a blues album, nearly all the songs contain the word "love" and feature simple beats that have you bobbing your head and tapping your toes after just a couple listens.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Remind Me In 3 Days
    The brothers lack the inspired wit of their predecessors (especially OutKast) and could use tauter rhymes, but most of the album packs a punch.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Folila
    This is thrilling, catchy and complex music that satisfies even if you haven't a clue what they're singing about.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Endgame
    While speaking politely by punk standards, Rise Against still brims with a dissident perspective. Ultimately, Endgame keeps pointing toward a hopeful break from the status quo.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Incidental Hum
    Among 12 originals there are a couple of failures (“Winslow” is soft, creamy, and dull), but the vast majority insinuate themselves into your brain with repeat listens. Not much commercial potential, but a job well done.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Light At The End Of The World
    A batch of keyboard-driven dance tunes that could easily have been recorded in the early 1990s -- and for fans, that's good news.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Pocketful of Sunshine
    Bedingfield's second record is slight but filled with hooky, crisply produced songs that sound great on a sunny day.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon)
    The three songs with lyrics are too on-the-nose, but the instrumentals capture glitchy, orchestrated foreboding well.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Way To Normal
    While Folds has antic down to an art, Way to Normal sometimes wilts a bit under the weight of that jittery, borderline venomous energy, spilling into an angry place that may be honest but can be discomfiting.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Emanon
    Shorter seems uninterested in cashing in on his well-earned legacy; he has instead crafted the most ambitious release of his career. Of course, ambition and excellence don’t always track exactly, and that’s the case with some of the music on Emanon, particularly the suite.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Undisputed Truth
    It furthers his reputation as a boldly honest wordsmith dealing with personal conflicts while examining the hypocrisy and contradictions of American culture.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    ARTPOP
    When Gaga drops the performance shtick on “ARTPOP,” the album really finds its footing. It throbs with joy and sex and freedom, none of which Gaga has truly embodied since her debut.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    A Different Kind of Truth
    It isn't perfect, but it's far better than it needed to be to satisfy the requirements of a round of nostalgic cash-grabbing.
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