Hot Press' Scores

  • Music
For 497 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 54% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 44% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 6 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 67
Highest review score: 100 The Archives Vol. 1 1963-1972
Lowest review score: 10 Uncle Dysfunktional
Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 24 out of 497
497 music reviews
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    You don’t have to be a fan of the country, blues or folk genres to appreciate the heartbreaking brilliance of this inspired collaboration.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Chase This Light is not a genre-defying album for the history books–-it just gives the impression that Jimmy Eat World are still capable of producing one.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Overpowered is a silvery mirrorball of a record that perfectly illuminates the neon heart of Saturday night.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    First impressions are pretty damn good. It’s dreamy, eerie, epic, soaring, soothing, very occasionally manic... and more.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Widow City is wordy, nerdy, and throws in everything but the hurdy-gurdy.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    After thirty years, Souxise's still twice as interesting as three people half her age.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Lennox’s glossy white-soul template does sound a bit dated but she's still impressive when she gets it right.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fogerty sets high standards for himself and thankfully, he has delivered an album that matches his early solo work.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    His take on crunk (which is so generic it feels generous to even call it a “take”) feels flimsy and devoid of hooks, although the lightly Carribean production touches do show a smidgeon of promise.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Beautiful, arcane, unsettling--and that's only the cover. White Chalk isn't so much a record, as a great effort at dragging you into another world.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Foo Fighters’ sixth studio album is a transitional rather than definitive piece of work, but one that sees them growing older with 'patience and grace'.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Intimate, literate and wonderfully executed, Iron & Wine seem to have made one of the albums of the year. Don’t let it pass you by.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    With big choruses, pristine production values, sing-alongs, and much lovelorn balladry could it be that Devendra Banhart is about to cross over?
    • 48 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Athlete's third effort Beyond The Neighbourhood goes some way to restoring their initial well-deserved kudos.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Washington Square Serenade is another substantial chapter in what looks like becoming an epic songbook.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    To paraphrase Jarvis, you’ve got to wonder what exactly Hard-Fi are going to do for an encore--cos this is hardcore.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Trees Outside The Academy is a masterclass of prog drugginess, brimming with sweet melodies and lullaby choruses.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    In truth, Into The Wild doesn’t sound like a first solo album. It radiates a confidence and maturity that Pearl Jam have lacked on their recent albums.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    West crosses genres with wilful and speedy abandon, taking the listener on an epic quest where the journey is just as enjoyable and unpredictable as the destination.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Maybe I've become too familiar with what they’re trying to achieve--but right now there’s nothing here to make me instantly love this record.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Bluefinger is probably the sprightliest solo collection of songs Frank Black has recorded to date.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Chao is at best when merging his Latin/salsa influences with squealing, screeching garage-rock.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Too cool for school? Maybe. But if Liars aren’t anybody’s idea of easy listening, by gum, they’re never dull, and for that, we salute them.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    They’re a zesty bunch are Architecture In Helsinki, and never more so than on Places Like This.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Kala is an intoxicating junk-culture travelogue, a genre-humping mash-up of Bollywood rumbles, shrieking guitars and machine-gun rhymes.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Ahead of their Electric Picnic date, the LA rockers ditch their mainstream sheen on their fourth album.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Kweli's collaborative work has set the bar so high that his solo efforts routinely fail to meet these exalted expectations.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Melody takes precedence on Roots And Echoes, and this makes it stronger and tighter than The Coral’s previous releases.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Bat For Lashes' debut, Fur And Gold, is an album that delivers the listener from any form of humdrum existence into a deeper realm of dream and dementia.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    If there’s a central problem with War Stories, it’s that at times it strays too close to rock orthodoxy and loses the offbeat stylistic flourishes that made Unkle such an exciting proposition to begin with.