Chicago Tribune's Scores

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For 566 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 51% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 46% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.3 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 73
Highest review score: 100 I Like to Keep Myself in Pain
Lowest review score: 25 Graffiti
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 456 out of 566
  2. Mixed: 97 out of 566
  3. Negative: 13 out of 566
566 music reviews
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    • 80 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Snakes For The Divine
    They patented a style and on their fifth studio album, Snakes for the Divine, see no reason to change it.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Odd Blood
    The album aims for pleasure rather than introspection, and most of the time, it hits the mark.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    I'm New Here
    The 28-minute length of this album adds to the impression that this feels more like a demo, a collection of fragments woven by Russell into a cautionary mood piece, rather than a major comeback.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Soldier Of Love
    But mostly “Soldier of Love” presents Sade as a genre unto herself; after 25 years, she remains alluring and subtly rewarding, while still keeping the listener at a safe distance, as if she had even deeper secrets to guard.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    The Courage Of Others
    With "The Courage of Others" (Bella Union), Midlake singer Tim Smith sounds like a refugee from the late ‘60s English-folk scene, with songs delivered in an unaffected, understated voice that could’ve easily complemented Sandy Denny or Anne Briggs, or fit in with Pentangle or Fairport Convention.
    • 37 Metascore
    • 25 Critic Score
    Rebirth
    “Rebirth” doesn’t swing, it staggers, and Wayne’s bullfrog rasp is distorted by Auto-tune, apparently to mask the fact that he can’t sing.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    IRM
    Though the album hits a few sleepy troughs along the way, it gets progressively stranger and more aggressive, with distorted bass (“Trick Pony”), tribal drumming (“Voyage”) and T-Rex-style boogie (“Dandelion”) giving Gainsbourg room to stretch.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    Transference
    Most of the songs lack distinctive melodies, relying instead on shifting textures and trance-like rhythm to hold the listener's interest.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Contra
    The musical detail is impressive, if not quite adding up to as many catchy songs as on the debut. A greater concern is that after two albums, it's pretty apparent that Vampire Weekend doesn't really have a whole lot to say.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Stronger With Each Tear
    Stronger With Each Tear, her ninth studio release, continues a string of releases that play like self-empowerment pep talks garnished by pop assembly-line producers.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Element Of Freedom
    It's her most consistent album and also her most low-key.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 25 Critic Score
    Graffiti
    'Famous Girl' throws the album off balance, and makes every note feel exploitive and self-serving. In trying to restore his reputation, Brown ends up damaging it even more.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Til The Casket Drops
    Malice and Pusha T are at the top of their game on most of the rest; even when they swagger on “Popular Demand (Popeyes),” the wordplay is so thick and weirdly inventive that it’s difficult to deny them.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Untitled
    Strings, guitars and keyboards add color in carefully measured doses. The songs never develop much beyond their initial verse and chorus and rarely bother with contrasting bridge sections, but that’s the point: No jarring changes to throw off the mood.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    For Your Entertainment
    It’s a series of hedged bets. It stuffs Lambert into a box of formulas that keep his musical flamboyance in check.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Rated R
    Nothing else on the album can top 'Russian Roulette,' but they certainly complement it, and make its startling conclusion feel sadly inevitable.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    The Fall
    The Fall is ultimately a mildly more adventurous art-pop take on her piano-based cabaret style.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Them Crooked Vultures
    Nasty riffs and sticky melodies are everywhere, buttered over by the androgynous harmonies that have made Homme a hard-rock anti-hero, but verse-chorus arrangements hold little interest. Instead, there are fascinating digressions, packed with surprises.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Before I Self Destruct
    His rhyme battle with Eminem on 'Psycho' has zero redeeming value, but the two old pros fire away with glee trying to out-psychopath each other. But about halfway through the album, 50 Cent detours from the street to the bedroom.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Phrazes For The Young
    With the Strokes, Casablancas exploits the tension between his behind-the-beat, just-woke-up vocals and the band’s hurtling rhythms. On Phrazes, the slower-moving tempos match the unhurried pace of his distinctive croon, and the melodies and arrangements aren’t strong enough to make up for the loss in urgency.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    World Painted Blood
    Slayer has remained unrelentingly true to its origins. The innovations no longer arrive with each album, but the quartet is playing at a high level, and Greg Fidelman’s production captures that sound with thrilling, their-fist-your-face immediacy.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Strict Joy
    Producer Peter Katis (who has worked with The National and Interpol) ornaments the duo’s foundation--Hansard’s battered acoustic guitar, Irglova’s piano, co-ed harmonies--with nuanced orchestration and a spacious mix that flatters the singers’ interplay.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Twilight Saga: New Moon [OST]
    Much of the rest is mid-level and middle-brow, from respected artists who have done better work elsewhere.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Christmas In The Heart
    Dylan’s craggy voice isn’t really equipped for crooning, so the sometimes middle-brow orchestration and singing--particularly the use of backing choirs--sounds like a misguided attempt to sweeten a dish best served lightly salted.
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