Chicago Tribune's Scores

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For 280 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 1.4 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 70
Highest review score:
I Like to Keep Myself in Pain
Critic Score 100
Lowest review score:
Rebirth
Critic Score 25
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 215 out of 280
  2. Mixed: 53 out of 280
  3. Negative: 12 out of 280
280 music reviews
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    • Metascore: 47
    • Critic Score 37
    The Beginning
    The vocals are slathered in Auto-Tune (didn't Jay Z proclaim Auto Tune dead once already?). The rhymes are simplistic ("You're the gas in my car, you're my petrol/You and I go way back, retro") or silly ("This is the original, this has no identical"–-really?). And the music's reliance on rhythmic and lyrical repetition (as opposed to progression and surprise) becomes wearying.
    • Metascore: 59
    • Critic Score 37
    Endlessly
    Duffy's pinched voice warbles into Lulu land pretty frequently, and that squeakiness isn't helped much by the music: five ballads swathed in strings and heartache, five uptempo tracks with a bit more bounce but not much attitude.
    • Metascore: 67
    • Critic Score 37
    Dancing Backward in High Heels
    It's the end of something, alright, and Johansen and Sylvain – as great as they once were as the backbone of the Dolls -- should get the message and move on.
    • Metascore: 54
    • Critic Score 37
    Music From Another Dimension!
    It's hardly ground-breaking, but when Tyler brays, Perry blooze-ifies on guitar, the cow-bells ring and the back-up singers wail, Aerosmith approximates a cartoony version of its glory days. But the album's second half nosedives.
    • Metascore: 39
    • Critic Score 25
    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.
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    • Metascore: 37
    • Critic Score 25
    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.
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    • Metascore: 56
    • Critic Score 25
    Bionic
    It would've been fascinating to see how far a full-blown collaboration might've taken her, but Aguilera spreads out the songwriting and production credits in search of more hits, most of which come off as flimsy gimmicks.
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    • Metascore: 52
    • Critic Score 25
    Teenage Dream
    With music as rigidly formulaic as this, no wonder the teens in her songs want to party until they blank out.
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    • Metascore: 45
    • Critic Score 25
    Lulu
    LuLu is a work that invites derision, an album that wallows in a tarpit of ugliness.
    • Metascore: 65
    • Critic Score 25
    Lioness: Hidden Treasures
    A cash-in thin on new songs that confirms Winehouse was still a long way from finishing up the five-years-in-the-making follow-up to "Back to Black."
    • Metascore: 64
    • Critic Score 25
    Dr. Dee
    The soundtrack strives for a quirky, melancholy resonance befitting its tragic subject, but too often it comes off as gimmicky and ponderous.
    • Metascore: 74
    • Critic Score 25
    The Jazz Age
    Ferry’s best songs bubble with double-edged nuances and pastiche-style textures, drawing on influences from many eras. The Jazz Age diminishes that complexity, turning many of these brilliant tunes into period caricatures.