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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    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Father, Son, Holy Ghost
    It's a quietly compelling follow-up to their more adventurous 2009 debut. [23 Sep 2011, p.79]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Oct 6, 2011
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Post Pop Depression
    Underscored by high-octane tunes, Post Pop Depression runs the gamut from quiet introspection to brash rebellion--and stands tall as some of Pop’s most essential work in years.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Year Of The Gentleman
    On his third disc in as many years, the 28-year-old Southerner with the Michael Jackson falsetto not only wears his heart on his sleeve, he lets it bleed down his (no doubt high-thread-count) cuff.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Cripple Crow
    Supplement[s] his prior folky ways with a rash of surprising styles. [16 Sep 2005, p.85]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Backspacer
    The album grows same-y, but tracks like the surfing-as-life-metaphor anthem 'Amongst the Waves' do indeed make something old feel, if not new, good again.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Hip Hop Is Dead
    Hip Hop Is Dead is a lot like Nas himself: impossible not to admire, but hard to love.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    In Ghost Colours
    For every pump-your-fist gem like 'Hearts of Fire,' there's a lifeless cut like the clanky 'Silver Thoughts.' [25 Apr/2 May 2008, p.117]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Rendition Was In)
    It’s a living document and continued legacy of a once-in-a-generation talent.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Last Summer
    Summer could use more hooks, but who else is writing about Owl's Head park? [22 Jul 2011, p.73]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Jul 15, 2011
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Optometry
    Morphs subtly between hip-hop abstraction and unalloyed free-improv exploration. [Listen 2 This supplement, Aug 2002, p.23]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Mary Star of the Sea
    Mary Star of the Sea may be the least ambitious album Corgan's ever made -- and yet his most satisfying since the Pumpkins' heyday.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Killing Joke [2003]
    Only the somewhat sterile production detracts from a fine reunion. [15 Aug 2003, p.76]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Distortion
    The perfect antidote to a season of false cheer and frozen toes.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Now We Can See
    With perky melodies and singsong choruses, angst has rarely sounded so precious.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    The Campfire Headphase
    Somewhere along the way, the moody micro-bleeps and spacey strums have become a wee bit monotonous and predictable. [21 Oct 2005, p.77]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    White Bread Black Beer
    The pristine, synth-heavy result certainly sounds worried over, sometimes to its detriment. [28 Jul 2006, p.67]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Hozier
    He's more than capable of drifting smoothly between bluesy soul, juke-joint R&B, and drinking-song folk on his hearty debut. [6 Oct 2014, p.62]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Oct 9, 2014
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    The Way I See It
    Backed by a galvanizing ensemble of musicians that would make the Funk Brothers proud, Saadiq belts out effervescent love songs with infectious vigor.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    See You Next Tuesday
    Gleeful sprees through reggae, electro, drum lines and zydeco, while MCs Jessibel, Belinda, and Cat giggle, tease and seduce. [13 May 2005, p.88]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Middle Cyclone
    Middle Cyclone is the kind of record it's nearly impossible to hate: a pleasantly swirling strum and twang of guitars, gentle percussion, and That Voice.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    American VI: Ain't No Grave
    There are none of the folk-alt-rock karaoke selections of previous American discs on American VI: Ain't No Grave, just 10 wholly appropriate picks that speak to the gravity of ?Johnny Cash's situation and his joy?in both life and death.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Blessed
    Blessed, the roots-music veteran's latest feels a little sleepy compared with 2008's hard-rocking Little Honey.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Psychedelic Pill
    Psychedelic Pill allows pretty haunted melodies like "She's Always Dancing" to seep into the gaps between the jagged solos. [2 Nov 2012, p.68]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Nov 1, 2012
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Whoa, Nelly!
    One of the year's most consistently pleasurable debuts.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Youth & Young Manhood
    Their lyrics... roil with the randiness and violence of Delta classics. [22/29 Aug 2003, p.132]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Man-Made
    Feels like Teenage Fanclub's winter CD, owing a debt more to the mopey introspection and sparse arrangements of Nick Drake. [17 June 2005, p.83]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Nothing Was the Same
    This lush, un-hurried album reveals a surer character, rebuking other rappers who talk smack "just to get a reaction" and even relatives diminished by easy money and proximity to fame.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    No, You C'Mon
    A downtrodden and droopy-eyed batch of heartsick tales. [combined review of both discs; 27 Feb 2004, p.99]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Audience's Listening
    Cut Chemist makes frisky, gleeful funk that touches on Brazilian samba, surf rock, and even polka, without losing the beat. [21 Jul 2006, p.70]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Drum's Not Dead
    There's a subtle beauty amid the madness. [24 Mar 2006, p.70]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Oh You're So Silent Jens
    [He] peppers his dour dedications with a deadpan, Morrissey-esque wit. [9 Dec 2005, p.89]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Show Your Bones
    Show Your Bones picks up where "Maps" left off, with the trio finding a middle ground between self-conscious primitivism and refined pop. [31 Mar 2006, p.60]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    National Ransom
    A worthy sequel to last year's similarly Americana-leaning Secret, Profane & Sugarcane. [Nov. 5, 2010, p. 71]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Nov 1, 2010
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Prisoner
    Prisoner doesn’t differ enough from its recent predecessors to stand out as a singular mid-career achievement for the ever-prolific songwriter, but it’s one of Adams’ most fully-realized, sturdy collections to date, and quite possibly his finest record of the past decade.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    The Satanic Satanist
    Combining Motown falsettos and the best of late-'60s groove rock with spacey loops and hipster-art-collective ?sing-alongs, they deliver a sound that's friendly and familiar without being derivative; it's a sort of retrofitted make-out van on a club crawl.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    The Alternative To Love
    The heightened production values... sacrifice a bit of Benson's scrappy charm, but they also yield several sparkling should-be hits. [25 Mar 2005, p.71]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Lungs
    The debut from Britain's much-fussed-over Florence + the Machine finally hits the States, and Lungs proves they're worth the adoration.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Warning
    The quintet's refined funk tweaks the genre-busting dance rock of classic Prince and New Order with a modern, synth-happy sheen. [16 Jun 2006, p.77]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Strict Joy
    Occasionally, all that lamenting gets nap-inducing. Luckily, Hansard saves some rage for 'Feeling the Pull,' which suggests the best love songs come from those who don't believe in them anymore.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Losing Sleep
    A charmingly ramshackle disc of giddy garage-pop nuggets. [25 Mar 2011, p.79]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Mar 18, 2011
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    This Is Not A Test!
    It's true that Timbaland's signature style... doesn't seem quite as amazing as it did five years ago. Still, it gets the job done. [28 Nov 2003, p.124]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    About A Boy [Soundtrack]
    A mix of songs and themes balancing obsessive craft with flippant style. [3 May 2002, p.89]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Logic Will Break Your Heart
    The Stills succeed at distilling their influences into an inviting update. [24 Oct 2003, p.105]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Good Mourning
    Spews enough speed, hooks, and sick puns to sate the most ADD-afflicted appetite for distraction. [20 Jun 2003, p.73]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    13
    Orbit's masterfully sludgy production adds a layer of grime to even the poppiest songs, and his cut-and-paste edits and swooshing studio flourishes create a sense of dizzy late-night anguish throughout.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    The Reminder
    Another multifaceted gem.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    City Sun Eater in the River of Light
    City Sun Eater in the River of Light is another accomplished album that’s just strong enough to differentiate itself from the pack.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Trials Of Van Occupanther
    Midlake excel at lush, harmony-laden ballads like "Bandits" and the heart-tugging goodbye song "You Never Arrived." [4 Aug 2006, p.68]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Tribal
    At times, the doctor and his new band sound oddly akin to Steely Dan in a mellow mood, with lyrics only a tad less literary than that group's.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Heroes & Thieves
    However precious her poetry can be, Carlton always pins it to melodies that morph and expand evocatively.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Teflon Don
    Ross' ear for lush, expansive beats has become keener and his industry Rolodex deeper, 
allowing him to make every track but the intro feel like an epic, costarring major talents like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Erykah Badu, and Drake.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Fijacion Oral Vol. 1
    Shakira's finest work to date. [17 June 2005, p.79]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Blackout! 2
    Hip-hop's own Cheech and Chong boast chemistry that's as powerful as ever on Blackout! 2, this belated follow-up.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    The Black Parade
    This album is not just the band's most adventurous but also its best.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Supernature
    Her lyrics bring a hint of sadness to the space-dusted disco tunes. [10 Mar 2006, p.68]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Coming Back To You
    Doolittle channels Tina Turner and Aretha Franklin over live-band arrangements that feel fresh-faced and old-school at the same time.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Traveling Alone
    Tift Merritt strips things down on her raw fifth album, letting her aching vocals and bewitching twang do all the convincing. [5 Oct 2012, p.77]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Oct 2, 2012
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Soldier Of Love
    On songs like the space-folky ''Long Hard Road'' and the reggae-scented ''Babyfather,'' Sade exhales peerlessly while the boys behind her fluff one heck of a sonic pillow. Weary bones, rest here.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
    From the arrangements to the inevitable crashing-wave crescendos, echoes of "I Will Follow" and "New Year's Day" rumble through the songs. [26 Nov 2004, p.115]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Birds Make Good Neighbors
    Wondrously echoes the somber strains of Yo La Tengo and the more timid tendencies of the Arcade Fire. [23 Sep 2005, p.91]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Cinder
    This time around, you can sulk and tap your toes. [14 Oct 2005, p.155]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Music For Imaginary Films
    The overall tone remains knowing and playful.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    D-D-Don't Don't Stop the Beat
    If you think songs get into trouble past the three-minute mark and words are nothing more than things that fall out of your mouth, D-D-Don't Don't Stop The Beat is the record for you. [8 Aug 2003, p.71]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Beaucoup Fish
    Wipe away its dusting of frost and you'll encounter mystery, beauty, and alluring rhapsodies, with the warm, pulsating beats serving as the music's heart.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Get Away From Me
    Sophisticated stuff even for a music vet; truly stunning considering McKay is only 19.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Wooden Leather
    Represents an enlightened South, where relfections on politics mix with odes to corn bread, where fingerpicked guitars blend with glitchy synths. [5 Sep 2003, p.76]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Uh Huh Her
    ''Uh Huh Her'' reasserts that Harvey, now the grande dame of this genre, remains unrivaled.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    The Eternal
    The Eternal offers a sort of survey course in SY history, careering from their early art-school atonality to the more melodically sophisticated compositions of later years. The problem is, none of it looks forward; in spelunking through the past, the band seems to have forgotten to unearth anything new.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Six Demon Bag
    [They cram] boozy Brecht-flavored shout-alongs into shaggy waltz and oompah rhythms, with plenty of jazzy, engaging instrumental colors and occasionally annoying vocal tics. [24 Feb 2006, p.65]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Time Being
    Time is not quite his best album, but it offers lots of the usual low-key beauty. [19 Jan 2007, p.81]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Illuminations
    If you can get past lyrics bloated with dark nights and winter moons, Illuminations might be Groban's handsomest effort yet.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Dancing Queen
    Dancing Queen is not a staid history lesson. Instead, it’s a curious experiment that ultimately reveals the endurance of two musical institutions whose artistry has always been rather inimitable.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    In Defense Of The Genre
    Unexpected as they are, Defense's sonic twists almost always work, justifying the album's 89-minute run time.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
    The Historical Conquests of..., a sprawling diorama of down-home rhythms and thoughtful lyrics, isn't immediately striking. But there's a joy in unfurling the half-submerged melodies and wry, tender sentiments.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Wincing The Night Away
    When he's on, Mercer is a great songwriter, crafting classic pop-rock melodies that leap across octaves and twist in unexpected directions.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Red Gone Wild: Thee Album
    He's in fine form, spitting a string of mishievously witty quotables over grimy old-school samples. [30 Mar 2007, p.71]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    @#%&*! Smilers
    Her yarns prove just as lovely as they are doeful. [13 June 2008]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The List
    The List is a testament to both Cash Jr.'s vocal talents and Cash Sr.'s catholic taste.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Gloss Drop
    Gloss Drop, with its syncopated beats and chiming new-wave keyboards, dials up the warmth from their math-y, angular debut and injects far more humanity than most dance records allow.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Years Of Refusal
    It's a surprisingly muscular set of punked-up Britpop, spiked with the singer's still-dripping scorn.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Tales From Turnpike House
    SE are as champagne-fizzy as ever. [10 Feb 2006, p.137]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Graduation
    West's vocal mediocrity wouldn't be so glaring if the production were more of a diversion. There are no truly tragic compositions on Graduation--though the droning ''Drunk and Hot Girls'' could have been half as irritating at twice the speed--but most of the music just seems uninspired.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Electric Blue Watermelon
    It's sort of like the Allman Brothers Band jamming with the P-Funk All Stars, with LL Cool J guesting. [9 Sep 2005, p.141]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Full Of Light And Full Of Fire
    As always, this longtime indie band shines brightest when mopey-voiced Shannon McArdle steers the music away from conventional alt-country. [25 Nov 2005, p.103]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams
    Fans like Jack White, Levon Helm, and Vince Gill provide original melodies, some too wan for the strength of the lyrics, which range from the deeply romantic to the 
corrosively aggressive.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Get Up!
    [Musselwhite's] team-up with Haprer vibrantly showcases his pasionate, fluid style.... [Harper] mostly stays out of the way, perhaps to a fault. [8 Feb 2013, p.75]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Feb 1, 2013
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    In The Future
    It's heavy and appealingly dopey in equal measure. [25 Jan 2008, p.69]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    American Idiot
    As often happens with concept albums, the disc tends to rely on lyrics over music, so some of the songs are forgettable. [24 Sep 2004, p.105]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Loneliest Time
    The Loneliest Time, Jepsen's sixth album (and the outcome of her being in pandemic lockdown), retains the ardor of her pop-cognoscenti-beloved albums Dedicated and Emotion, but it flaunts a new self-reflective streak that both energizes its highlights and opens the door for Jepsen to play with — and expand — her sound.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    i
    Sometimes his lyrics are better than his melodies... and too often even his happy songs sound dreary. [7 May 2004, p.84]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Walking With Thee
    A major step forward, with complete songs built around a rhythmic pulse that owes nothing to modern dance-music conventions but would still sound spectacular in a sweaty club.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Sound of a Million Dreams
    He finds plenty of driving choruses to show off [his voice]. [18 Nov 2011, p.103]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Nov 15, 2011
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Lover
    Lover is the latest proof that keeping tabs on her journey still yields its own fascinating rewards.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Pure Heroine
    10 songs here, and not one loser in the bunch. [11 Oct 2013, p.72]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Oct 7, 2013
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Below The Branches
    Retro lo-fi pop-rock, dressed in pounded parlor-room piano chords and psych-folk filigree. [10 Feb 2006, p.134]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Trials & Errors
    MEC bombard the listener with wondrous guitar sprawls to match Molina's soulful drawl. [15 Jan 2005, p.86]
    • Entertainment Weekly
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Mudcrutch
    Mostly, Mudcrutch works for everyone: fans, the members who were left behind fame-wise, and Petty himself, who gets to look like a good guy for giving them a taste of what they missed.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Proud to Be Here
    Proud to Be Here furthers Adkins' transformation from mischievous lout into upstanding family man.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Because Of The Times
    If less accessible on first hearing than its predecessors, the result is an epic wide-screen movie of a CD and the band's best to date.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Little Bird
    Her buttery twang drives jams like "Devil On Your Back" off into gloriously hooky sunsets. [22 Jul 2011, p.73]
    • Entertainment Weekly
      • Posted Jul 15, 2011
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