For 1,600 reviews, this publication has graded:
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62% higher than the average critic
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3% same as the average critic
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35% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 73
| Highest review score: | Chemtrails Over the Country Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest review score: | The New Game |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 1,362 out of 1600
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Mixed: 176 out of 1600
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Negative: 62 out of 1600
1600
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Critic Score
It's also a nice change of pace that the Chiefs avoid the '80s post-punk clichés so much in fashion with their peers, though you have to wonder about the instincts of a band that leads off with its most gimmicky and least involving songs and buries its best toward the end. [10 Apr 2005]- Los Angeles Times
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The biggest advance is that the Kills now wrap their songs, from the enchanting "The Good Ones" to the especially anxious "I Hate the Way You Love," in melodies that are disarmingly sweet and seductive. [6 Mar 2005]- Los Angeles Times
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- Los Angeles Times
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Oddly, the production in most songs allows lots of open sonic space that reinforces the wispiness of her voice, which rarely ventures out of a mid-range comfort zone. Beyoncé she ain't, much less Alicia. [27 Feb 2005]- Los Angeles Times
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Too many of the songs feel more obvious and slight than bold and revealing -- as if Edwards' true muse is really Sheryl Crow. [6 Mar 2005]- Los Angeles Times
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She's been de-emphasizing hysterics for a while now, and here she mostly sings prettily, but still powerfully. [6 Mar 2005]- Los Angeles Times
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There's such a casual, old-timey feel to much of the CD that it's easy to get caught up by the album's charms and forget to focus on Ward's writing, which would be a mistake. [6 Mar 2005]- Los Angeles Times
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At once stern and playful, wildly scattered and yet sharply honed by the artist's sheer will and reach. [6 Feb 2005]- Los Angeles Times
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With this second full album, the singer and songwriter stakes a claim on a unique and fascinating turf, a sort of avant-cabaret musical theater that embraces a David Lynch-like moodiness and experimental-folk mystery, intimate confession and theatrical grandeur. [20 Mar 2005]- Los Angeles Times
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Harvey generally toils in the realm of cathartic release, but Faithfull mingles in her cabaret/chanteuse qualities to create a subdued tension. [23 Jan 2005]- Los Angeles Times
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Even Trail of Dead's slightest moments speak with the purpose and ambition of genuine rock 'n' roll intellect and desire. [6 Feb 2005]- Los Angeles Times
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A bold, essential chapter in this young man's inspired body of work.- Los Angeles Times
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- Los Angeles Times
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An evolution in big beat and sweet dance-pop loyalty as hard-hitting as their mid-'90s works "Exit Planet Dust" or "Dig Your Own Hole." [23 Jan 2005]- Los Angeles Times
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Each shimmering track lights a momentary spark, but the attraction proves fleeting. [6 Feb 2005]- Los Angeles Times
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Not surprisingly, the music is heavy on acoustic guitars and steel drums, light on powerhouse percussion, making for a musical tour as relaxing as a ride in a hammock strung between two palm trees. And about as uneventful. [23 Jan 2005]- Los Angeles Times
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This CD is easy to enjoy because it's a triumph of production and persona over performance. [23 Jan 2005]- Los Angeles Times
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For all her lovesick panting, pleading and purring, Ashanti is never emotionally engaged with the songs, which aren't worth the trouble anyway. [2 Jan 2005]- Los Angeles Times
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Ludacris includes thoughtful rhymes on "Child of the Night" and "Hopeless," but his humor is still his biggest asset and the reason he commands respect. [15 Dec 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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On occasion the band feels as if it's slipping into cruise control, but the musical scenery is so gorgeous you really don't mind going along for the ride. [5 Dec 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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[Bono] explores epic themes, from faith to family, with such indelible grace that the CD stands with "The Joshua Tree" and "Achtung Baby" as one of the Irish quartet's essential works. [21 Nov 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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- Los Angeles Times
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The singers balance resilience with vulnerability, worldly desires with divine aspirations, but the material is simply overblown, puffed up with soap-bubble ideas and endless repetition. [14 Nov 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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Demanding and artful, he just may be this generation's Joni Mitchell. [5 Dec 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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- Los Angeles Times
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The album has a familiar shortcoming: Once again, Eminem is guilty of not knowing when to stop in the studio. [8 Nov 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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The arrangements are sometimes overblown, but the sentiments, many of them gently philosophical looks at the passage of time, radiate with the captivating warmth and universality that is at the heart of John and Taupin's most memorable works. [14 Nov 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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It's all very fun and creative, but, ironically, the duo fall into the common hip-hop traps of being short on actual hooks and not knowing when to edit themselves. [15 Dec 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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At times there's an almost U2-like expansiveness in lushly atmospheric settings ("Night Drive"), while "Pain" and the closing "23" have a classic power-ballad feel, without pandering to mainstream tastes. [31 Oct 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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Freed from the more formal sound and circumstances of his previous work, Smith indulged without being indulgent, and the revelation here is the exuberant, instinctive, playful and daring sonic pilot who was hidden inside the meticulous craftsman of such albums as "XO" and "Figure 8." [10 Oct 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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At a time when newer acts, from fringe to mainstream, are moving the band's old ideas forward, Duran Duran needs to do more than just mix in the blips and bleeps of contemporary dance music to prove it has something to contribute. [31 Oct 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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A noncommittal aura undermines Michael Stipe's most personal, poetic and moving set of lyrics in years. [3 Oct 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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As this standout collection of songs shows, with its astounding lyrical acumen and stellar beats, De La Soul surely ranks among the best rap groups of all time. [24 Oct 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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The band never quite escapes its proven pop formula or simple tales of angst. [10 Oct 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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- Los Angeles Times
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"Smile" emerges as a beautiful and cohesive work, at times deeply moving, at others oddly whimsical, at still others eerily disturbing but celebratory. [27 Sep 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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- Los Angeles Times
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Each collection somewhat sticks to its goal, but each has songs that could have easily fit on either release. [26 Sep 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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It's like a series of beats in search of a firestarter. [3 Oct 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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In these moments of reflection, Nelly emerges as a serious songwriter who moves the mind as effectively as he does the body. [26 Sep 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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The subject matter eventually becomes a bit emotionally monochromatic, despite the broader sonic palette and the duo's fresh approach to mining such ancient territory. [3 Oct 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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Even when the emotions don't run especially deep, Jackson always sounds as though he means every word and gives those words his utmost respect. [5 Sep 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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It's largely a tour de force that speaks of love and life with an honesty and clarity recalling the optimism of Curtis Mayfield and the occasional dismay of Marvin Gaye. [5 Sep 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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The luminosity of her performance counters the album's tendency toward dry formalism. [5 Sep 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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Charming, unpretentious and effortless, the singer presides over a party whose pace never flags and whose soul is fun-loving and wholesome. [22 Aug 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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A couple of songs (including the goofy "Condi, Condi") seem out of place, but the heart of "The Revolution" carries the stamp of an artist and a patriot. [22 Aug 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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McGraw's album leans heavily on the soap opera-ish tales that have brought him his biggest successes. [5 Sep 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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- Los Angeles Times
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- Los Angeles Times
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While the energy never fails, the themes and melodies feel commonplace at times. [18 Jul 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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The album is a bit daunting and demanding. But it's also compelling and rewarding. [22 Aug 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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This may not make new converts, but Spree fans will find much cause to rejoice. [11 Jul 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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The Roots have always been more about the music than the lyrics, but "Tipping Point" excels at neither. [11 Jul 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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By sticking to a single subject, "Stone Love" lacks the range and ambition of her splendid "Mahogany Soul" album in 2001, but it is still a joy. [11 Jul 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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The lyric invention of past Cure albums is missing, but the pop transcendence emerges in fits.- Los Angeles Times
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Though not one of the songs on the album stands out in terms of head-popping new production -- there's not a hit that will transcend the hip-hop hard-core -- each cut is utterly bulletproof, and Banks' lyrics provide a few new twists. [18 Jul 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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Brandy has always tended toward blandness and is either unequipped or too restrained to unleash the soulful vocal flights that give R&B its distinctive stamp. [11 Jul 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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The songs are structured firmly in the classic tradition, evoking Dylan, the Band, Hendrix and Beatles. They're enriched by a bottomless well of melodic invention and find an emotional core in Tweedy's shy, plaintive vocals. [20 Jun 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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Too many lyrics are more serviceable than insightful or inventive. [20 Jun 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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These songs are accented by the X-ecutioners' deft scratching and energetic beats, resulting in a regularly exciting and inventive album.- Los Angeles Times
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Even if some tracks unfold more like political manifestos than songs, Bad Religion has succeeded in expressing its outrage more eloquently while sustaining its musical muscle over the years. [6 Jun 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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It's a near-perfect piece of art, a level of accomplishment Harvey achieves with amazing consistency.- Los Angeles Times
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Frenetic, wondrous and all over the map, the album sometimes demonstrates an excessive fondness for vocal distortion. But as a whole, "The Printz" is aural collage at its finest.- Los Angeles Times
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She's sounding as genre-bound in her way as the synthetic singers she was supposed to be a relief from.- Los Angeles Times
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She isn't exploring new emotional ground, but her personal delivery and self-deprecating tone still go a long way.- Los Angeles Times
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There's a sense of urgency when he is inspired by the production backing him, but when the beats coast along without much flair, Method Man does the same.- Los Angeles Times
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The production is as dry as old wallpaper. But as a kind of Art Brut storytelling, it is magnificent.- Los Angeles Times
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A little heavy on the lugubrious ballads, but it's all Morrissey all the time. [16 May 2004, p.E40]- Los Angeles Times
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Such guests hardly bring commercial cachet. What they add is a depth and dynamism that transcend genres, generations and language, transforming Los Lobos' trademark sound without throwing the band off its foundation.- Los Angeles Times
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Trampin'... is not a flashy album, and sometimes what's meant to be stately is sluggish instead. But though the revolutionary jolt of her early work is in abeyance, her fire still burns.- Los Angeles Times
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It's Em's show, for sure, and being surrounded by a talented, fast-talking crew has made him even more engaging than he is on his own.- Los Angeles Times
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With deft, powerful strokes, the singer-songwriter chisels emotions, impressions, yearnings and regrets, giving these 13 songs exactly as much room as they need and no more.- Los Angeles Times
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All this heavy construction is undertaken in the service of one of pop's thinnest, wispiest voices, and although Jackson's lack of vocal presence leaves a void at the heart of "Damita Jo," she's enough of a personality to create a few serviceable personas.- Los Angeles Times
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At 60 minutes, however, the album runs at least three songs too long, spoiling the tension and spirit with material that is plain gushy and, still, lame.- Los Angeles Times
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- Los Angeles Times
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- Los Angeles Times
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In a few tracks, you sense this band is still at the mercy of influences as it searches for its identity, but the best moments are wonderfully promising.- Los Angeles Times
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At times, Cee-Lo does show the value of holding on to some of his rap. But he is more distinctive and effective as a singer, which makes part of this long, 65-minute CD feel like wasted time.- Los Angeles Times
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Ultimately, all his genre-grazing makes him seem slippery rather than adventurous.- Los Angeles Times
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This is no more a perfect album than "Come Away With Me," but its highlights again carry the stamp of a singer whose talent is strong and whose vision is true.- Los Angeles Times
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Filled with just the kind of unpredictable twists and turns that you'd expect from someone who lists Doris Day as one of her idols and hopes someday to be compared to Bob Dylan. [29 Feb 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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In contrast to the raw, subdued intimacy of Hole's "Live Though This," the sound here is all dressed up and accessorized, hard and aggressive but tuneful and hook-laden.- Los Angeles Times
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West does tend to overextend his songs.... But it's a forgiveable sin for a man whose music and message is so powerful. [12 Feb 2004, p.E16]- Los Angeles Times
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"Crow" is a striking redefinition, an album that roars and twitches with the raw, aggressive, fury of urgent rock activism.- Los Angeles Times
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Chesney doesn't go in much for lyrical subtlety or artfulness but sticks to a heart-on-sleeve directness that makes his a characteristically American voice.- Los Angeles Times
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There are exceptions, but most of "Talkie Walkie" is static and not fleshed out, like a perfectly produced series of unfinished demos.- Los Angeles Times
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Here she returns to the stark, acoustic feel of earlier recordings, and the sense of isolation in such numbers as "Swim" is reinforced by her creative approach. [18 Jan 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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A dance syncretism made of menacing beats skittering from dark dancehall to mashed-up jungle, super-warped bass frequencies, stark anti-hooks, and a voice that is the most authentic to emerge in years. [18 Jan 2004]- Los Angeles Times
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To Jordan and Kirkland's credit, they let their guest stars shine without sacrificing the Crystal Method sound. [18 Jan 2004]- Los Angeles Times