Entertainment Weekly's Scores

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For 3,519 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 81% higher than the average critic
  • 1% same as the average critic
  • 18% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 5 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 78
Highest review score: 100 The Idler Wheel Is Wiser than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More than Ropes Will Ever Do
Lowest review score: 0 Playing With Fire
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,085 out of 3519
  2. Mixed: 407 out of 3519
  3. Negative: 27 out of 3519
3519 music reviews
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    • 83 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Star Wars
    At its weirdest and fuzziest moments, Star Wars retains an infectious joie de vivre--it’s the sound of dudes who love tapping into one another’s talent and humanity.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Blood
    Most of the album mines a similar sonic terrain, but La Havas excels when she takes bigger risks.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Water for Your Soul
    Water mixes sweet Caribbean soul, Spanish guitars, and other worldly sounds with Stone’s intoxicating pipes. But over 14 tracks, all that jetsetting becomes too much of a good thing.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Magnifique
    While the midtempo tracks veer into the noodle-sphere, the lush Magnifique proves they’re not a dance-floor novelty.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Currents
    There’s a new kind of richness to frontman Kevin Parker’s lonely-astronaut experiments.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Something More Than Free
    His latest sounds happier, and it’s still steeped in the Southern mythology that’s his forte.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Wildheart
    Miguel recognizes both the romance and the risk embedded in the City of Angels, a clear-eyed balance that makes Wildheart as bracing as a plunge into the Pacific.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    At.Long.Last.A$AP
    It never sounds disjointed, thanks to the powerful adhesive that is Rocky's dangerous charm. [12 Jun 2015, p.74]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Jun 8, 2015
    • 63 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Beneath the Skin
    Where their debut album shimmered, this set has a darker edge--and it's better for it. [12 Jun 2015, p.74]
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Drones
    There are snatches of salvation, but every time Drones aims for dystopian profundity, it hits Styx-level goofiness. [12 Jun 2015, p.74]
    • 68 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Peace Is the Mission
    Diplo’s electro-dancehall project scored a Top 40 hit in 2015 with the buoyant “Lean On.” Those good vibes continue on Peace.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
    How Big is Welch’s most accomplished album yet, primarily because she doesn’t rely solely on operatics to make herself heard. Welch may have gone slightly smaller with her sound, but her emotional depth and capacity for wonder remain gigantic.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Southern Style
    There are a few surprises here, but Style is the work of an artist who knows his whiskey-baritoned sweet spot.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    The Desired Effect
    It’s Flowers’ unique presence--equal parts Wild West underdog and glitzy glam messiah--that really transforms Effect’s Reagan-era throwbacks into forward-thinking Instagram-age rock.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Bush
    [Snoop Dogg] deftly absorbs Pharell's energy, expanding his own cult of personality to the point that he eclipses almost everyone else along for the ride, including Stevie Wonder and Gwen Stefani. [15 May 2015, p.56]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted May 11, 2015
    • 55 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Jekyll + Hyde
    The album certainly proves that ZBB have range. But at some point, experimentation swerves into self-indulgence, and Brown mnever gets around to solving Jekyll's identity crisis. [1 May 2015, p.59]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Apr 27, 2015
    • 90 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Carrie & Lowell
    With its quiet meditations on mental illness, God, and death, Carrie is a hauntingly beautiful bummer.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    No Pier Pressure
    There’s a fundamental corniness running through Pressure, from its glossy soft-rock sheen to its borderline-anodyne lyrics about seaside love. But Wilson sells it pretty well, aided by his legendary knack for effervescent melodies and the presence of dynamic young guests.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Kintsugi
    Outside of the runaway-goth jam "The Ghosts of Beverly Drive," their latest rarely rises above inertly pleasant. [3 Apr 2015, p.61]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Mar 30, 2015
    • 77 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Mr. Wonderful
    These radio-ready tunes announce one of the funniest, most joyously profane MCs working. [3 Apr 2015, p.61]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Mar 30, 2015
    • 96 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    To Pimp A Butterfly
    Lamar’s earnestness and charisma never waver; as much as he owes to his predecessor, the clearest antecedent for Butterfly isn’t Pac but rather peak Prince. Lamar operates in the same boldly visionary idiom as the Purple One, expanding the boundaries of the hip-hop empire and daring other aspirants to the throne.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Froot
    The change highlights her brightest facet--that limber voice, which swings from voluptuous alto to fluttering soprano in one swoop. But there’s good fun in Froot, too.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Strangers to Ourselves
    The album’s real heart, though, is in the spots where Brock lets his eccentricities run wild. “Pistol (A. Cunanan, Miami, FL. 1996)” is named for the man who murdered Gianni Versace, and is as deeply creepy as its subject matter. It’s as strange as “Lampshades” is accessible, a tricky move pulled off expertly, and proof that the band’s found a vital second wind.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Eclipse
    It’s rarely subtle sonically--synths come in bursts, bass lines thump like they’re reaching for the strobe lights--but Lewis’ seductive voice provides an irresistible tether.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1
    The Fox hit’s first outing is at its best when it eschews goofy gangsta-isms like “Drip Drop” in favor of chest-thumping ballads (“Conqueror”) or stirring hip-hop soul revivals (“What Is Love”).
    • 68 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Rebel Heart
    This is Madonna’s best outing since 2000’s Music. [Kyle Anderson's review]
    • 72 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Dark Sky Paradise
    A spirited combination of grown-man statement-making and round-the-way bull.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    First Kiss
    It’s no stylistic revolution, but the ambling melodies and smirky hooks of “Johnny Cash” and “Drinking Beer With Dad” make an undeniably solid soundtrack for domestic-beer hoisting.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    What Happens Next
    When left to his own devices, leader Andy Gill tends to get bogged down in political moaning, but the guests keep Next mostly spry. [27 Feb 2015, p.64]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Feb 20, 2015
    • 78 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    If You're Reading This It's Too Late [Mixtape]
    Late is hardly a throwaway. In fact, it might be his most consistently rewarding full-length yet.
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