New Musical Express (NME)'s Scores

  • Music
For 5,981 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 55% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 41% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.9 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 71
Highest review score: 100 to hell with it [Mixtape]
Lowest review score: 0 Maroon
Score distribution:
5981 music reviews
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Like all the great British pop records of the past five years, Devotion combines the present and the past to make a record that sounds both contemporary and timeless.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A record filled with such emotional scope and range that it's tailor-made to showcase Lanegan's world weary roar. [24 Jul 2004, p.47]
    • New Musical Express (NME)
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    A joyous, celestial celebration of sound.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Journal For Plague Lovers is an outstanding album in its own right and is not "The Holy Bible." But then again, what is?
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Belying its also-ran billing, Darkest Before Dawn... is a minor masterpiece of dark, smart, modern hip-hop.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fittingly, the emotional alchemy that Opeth muster on album number 13 is a sonic brew that could sedate a herd of buffalo.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Ghost Inside’s self-titled, fifth album is a towering statement of positivity, transforming pain into catharsis, determination and hope.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The vocals are as limber as the glitching, swaying soundscapes and the whole album is a mesmerising listen that constantly surprises.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Chemistry Of Common Life finally proves that rather than being a messy gimmick, Fucked Up are a startlingly talented punk rock band.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    A record that, when given the requisite time and attention, offers unfathomable depths to explore.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It's full-on rock carnage. [6 Nov 2004, p.59]
    • New Musical Express (NME)
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A classic of sad pop. [23 Apr 2005, p.51]
    • New Musical Express (NME)
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    As his musical repertoire has expanded from minimalist folk to occasionally playful pop, so has his tolerance for the foibles of the flesh. 'Dongs Of Sevotion', from its silly title to its intermittent flashes of tenderness and humour, is the proof.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The ultimate rare treasure. [24 Sep 2005, p.47]
    • New Musical Express (NME)
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    In every way, ‘Bob Vylan Presents: The Price Of Life’ is a far more eclectic record than anything the duo have released before. Their alt-rock tracks about inequality will speak to a wider audience but the band never soften their edges or pull their punches in a bid for accessibility.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    ‘The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte’ is a reminder that even now, Sparks are completely content with boldly going first, taking their music into ambitious territory no one else has been before, making it easier for other acts to (hopefully) follow suit.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Almost cinematic in feel, much of The Hold Steady's genius lies in Finn's ability to craft songs that tell stories as wise, textured and three-dimensional as the nearest old oak tree. [13 Jan 2007, p.30]
    • New Musical Express (NME)
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    With ‘Topical Dancer’, they have created an album that works just as well as the soundtrack to a killer house party as it does a necessary act of rebellion against the negative forces in our society.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    A powerful piece of work, but one that will leave you with as many questions as it does answers.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ys
    Newsom has managed to lessen the twee factor of her last record... in the process crafting an album as bewitching as it is odd.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Many have tried to recreate the vibrancy and laidback groove of vintage soul-pop, but to absolutely nail it you need to be someone truly cosmic. Amy Winehouse just about managed it, and Matthew E White is one other such person.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It’s a bold move for The Coral to come out with something so intricate at this stage of their career, even taking the time to pen an accompanying book. But immerse yourself in this heavily themed epic and you’ll be rewarded with a nostalgic trip that showcases some of their most adventurous writing to date.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    ‘Please Stay’ is wistful and pretty, but largely forgettable, and the surging indie-rock of ‘First Time’ doesn’t quite hold up against the rest of the record. But for the most part, Dacus proves that looking back at your past might make you cringe, but there is beauty and value in those faltering, gawky days.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    An album of reinfatuation and reaffirmation, ‘Fossora’ is invigorating in its drive, if there’s little of real surprise here; hard as the mushroom-gabber beats are, if you’ve heard Pluto or Mutual Core, you won’t be shocked.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    ‘Multitudes’ was written in part during an experimental and communal set of shows Feist put on through 2021 and 2022 by the same name, and 12 poetic tracks that make up ‘Multitudes’ embody the same inventiveness, intimacy and connection of that limited run of performances in the round.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Rather than try to top their peerless anthems, the band have instead uncovered a new warmth on ‘This Is Why’, and the effect is triumphant indeed.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Virtuosity and accessibility have never been easy bedfellows, but Strange Mercy is one of those rare albums that makes you think and makes you fall in love.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    This is the sound of a musician who has worked to forge an entire world, an empire, around himself--we can peer in, but from afar, guessing at his motives and life behind the velvet rope.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Few bands could explore motherhood and terrorism without making you want to shoot them: Corin Tucker's electric-shock voice and the adrenal guitars make them as essential pop topics as schoolyard crushes and backstreet drugs.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    There’s magic everywhere you look on this triumph of an album.