New Musical Express (NME)'s Scores

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For 6,017 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:
  1. Positive: 4,237 out of 6017
  2. Mixed: 1,627 out of 6017
  3. Negative: 153 out of 6017
6017 music reviews
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    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    One More Time...
    The issue is, however, that it’s perhaps lacking in variety. Although the rocket-fueled, lightning-paced ‘More Than You Know’ and the gently atmospheric closer ‘Childhood’ do offer changes in pace, there’s only really subtle things differentiating many of these songs from each other. Sometimes, the hooks aren’t as strong as they could be.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    If You're Reading This It's Too Late [Mixtape]
    For all the music's cagey intelligence, Drake sounds like the kind of guy who comes sauntering out the traps in a 100m race and immediately breaks out into a victory lap, pausing only to remonstrate with hecklers.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Heaven :x: Hell
    Viewed in isolation, ‘Heaven’ is a pretty sublime pop-punk record. Its little brother, ‘Hell’, yields more mixed results, continuing the metal-infused sound Sum 41 have veered towards in recent years.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Trip at Knight
    ‘Trip At Knight’, like many of the rapper’s other projects, is an uneven affair that suggests a lack of quality control.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Electric Light
    It’s all accomplished and well-produced--as an introduction to these sounds, it’s absolutely on the money--but perhaps too scattershot to really gel.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Maybe We Could
    Fans of their debut won’t be surprised by anything on here, but Kllo’s dexterous variations on a theme should win them over regardless.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Without You
    The result disturbs something of the original's gauzy ambience, but there are some fine refigurings.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    I Love You, Dude
    Yet cringingly vibed-up first words aside – where we're also leaving the Eurovision cheese of 2 Hearts--the follow-up to 2007's debut, Idealism, is not all bad.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Tourist
    The problem for Athlete is that Coldplay are returning in a matter of weeks to show how it's really done. [29 Jan 2005, p.59]
    • New Musical Express (NME)
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Graduation
    Despite its five or six great tracks, Graduation feels more and more like the work of a follower, not a leader.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Harvest Festival
    he may toy with everything from Detroit techno to dubstep, but Harvest Festival hangs cohesive.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    !
    This experimental concoction Redd delivered is a hit-or-miss.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Hunting Party
    It might not kill the Mumford and Butler clones, but The Hunting Party is an energetic effort at least.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Songs for You
    Tinashe flips so aggressively between genres that the record becomes unfocused and sporadic. Of course there’s nothing wrong with Tinashe showing emotional duality, but in transitioning so sharply from R&B to rap to stadium pop to EDM, ‘Songs For You’ makes you feel a little dizzy.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    As If
    It’s a shame the editing isn’t as tight all the way through, but these grooves sure are deep.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Emergency
    Individual tracks can feel forced rather than organically nurtured. It all means that by the time they hit ‘Making Up Numbers’ and ‘Everybody Wants Me’, there are no longer enough new tricks in their bag to hold our attention, and ‘Emergency’ bleeds away without a climax.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Watersports
    Taking cues from ’60s free jazz, dub and disco and combining it with the punk-rock sensibilities of their former outfit, Watersports is a delirious fever-dream of an album.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Head in the Dirt
    For the most part, his rasping punk is a sexy but grotty treat.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Scorpion
    The star’s hubris is no more apparent than in its sheer breadth and lack of quality control. At 25 tracks in total, Scorpion is way too long--even by Drake’s own standards--and simply doesn’t need to be.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Revolution Starts Now
    It's relentless, occasionally breathless but always absorbing. [4 Sep 2004, p.73]
    • New Musical Express (NME)
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Reprise
    Overall, ‘Reprise’ is full of dignified reworkings that don’t offer too many surprises.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Speak Your Mind
    At its best, the album is a selection of polished and inoffensive pop songs, but at its worst, it’s forgettable.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Everybody's Dying To Meet You
    At its most cute, on the sublime ‘Intrusive Thoughts’, it’s a gauzy roll in summer hay, but when the guitars start to scowl it quickly turns from fey to feral.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Off-Season
    Non-conforming, ‘The Off-Season’ is a little bit off in places and its steadiness can be one-note, but it’s still a strong piece technically. You might not play this album every day, but it would still be a strong record for J. Cole to end on.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Apparitions
    Their careers adviser-flouting debut is in the mould of the greats rather than carving a new sound.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Dead Son Rising
    A collection of offcuts revamped in the industrial style that has characterised his recent work--isn't [a latter-day masterpiece that will spread his appeal beyond his hyper-devoted fanbase].
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Delta Kream
    While this record is unlikely to bring the band or the cultural touchstones they cover back to the top, it’s a soul-searching move that satisfies their own fandom while showing they’ll never compromise.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Battle For The Sun
    It’s true that in parts Battle For The Sun, Placebo’s [sixth] studio album, will give the open-minded/easily-fooled aspartame butterflies in the stomach, methadone iris dilation and nicotine-patch heart tremors.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Grateful
    Aside from hollering his name or catchphrases--“Another one!”, “Bless up!”, “We The Best Music!”--there’s no doubt Khaled’s formidable connections were the driving force behind Grateful. But, even with a dream team like this assembled, Khaled hasn’t located the ‘major key’ to the masterpiece he desired.
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