No Ripcord's Scores
- Music
For 2,725 reviews, this publication has graded:
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43% higher than the average critic
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3% same as the average critic
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54% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.8 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 70
Score distribution:
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Positive: 1,898 out of 2725
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Mixed: 751 out of 2725
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Negative: 76 out of 2725
2725
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Critic Score
It's a heavy theme to handle, but thankfully (or perhaps to its chagrin), most of these topics go unnoticed if you submit to its simple guitar-pop pleasures.- No Ripcord
- Posted Feb 18, 2020
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Centered around their view of how we all connect, there's a familiarity in how the trio naturally links themes of nature and spirituality around the human condition—but it's the first time in quite some time where it feels like they're genuinely reaching beyond their loyal fanbase.- No Ripcord
- Posted Feb 18, 2020
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Their latest, the duo remain steadfast to that commitment with creamy, dancefloor-ready techno (Happy People, Will-o-the-wisp)—joyously documenting the anticipation before a night out.- No Ripcord
- Posted Feb 18, 2020
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The lyrics, like the trio's over-familiar vintage keyboards and melodic guitars, feel mailed in. On the other hand, the middle of Thin Mind hits a refreshing apex, starting with the fourth track, Out of Control.- No Ripcord
- Posted Feb 18, 2020
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Certain songs try to recapture their old glory, while others feel like an embarrassing pop ploy—but the most consistent feeling is pure disappointment. Even when Green Day is supposedly having fun here, they sound tired and overworked at best.- No Ripcord
- Posted Feb 18, 2020
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Even if Perdida does have a good amount of hammy lyrics and dull, strummy adult-pop, it's still the best music they've written since 2001's Shangri-La Dee Da. And, in many ways, is proof of why they deserve a fair shot at keeping the Stone Temple Pilots name active.- No Ripcord
- Posted Feb 10, 2020
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From overblown cheese (Questions) to overly pretty (Bluebird), some of these songs seem indistinguishable from each other. By the time reverb-soaked bongos show up here, you wish Nightfall sounded just a bit uglier.- No Ripcord
- Posted Feb 7, 2020
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The real problem is that the best ideas are outvoted by frustrating ones, leaving us with little touches like the short, yelping-like sound in the second verse of More or the distorted vocals that end killing boys. There are some good moments here, but even the best of them can’t help Halsey get out of her own way.- No Ripcord
- Posted Feb 4, 2020
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The Unraveling finds Hood and Cooley as fiery as they’ve ever been. If American Band proved that the Drive-By Truckers still had plenty left to say, The Unraveling shows that they can allow themselves a bit of fun in the studio while getting their message across.- No Ripcord
- Posted Feb 3, 2020
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Mind Hive is middling. Some tracks are engaging and perk up your ears, while others are flat-out dull and uninspired.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jan 30, 2020
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Even at his most open, there's still this sense that his character-driven songs wouldn't exist without revealing the backstory of his Canadian roots. His sentiments are more palpable and poignant, but his approach is as casual as always.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jan 27, 2020
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- No Ripcord
- Posted Jan 23, 2020
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Everything Else Has Gone Wrong is about getting through troubling times with grand gestures, projecting those emotions in the most outward way possible. And, coming back from that absence, demonstrating their steady growth as musicians with a joyful disposition that is contagious.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jan 21, 2020
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There Is No Year is one of the most disappointing follow-ups in recent memory. Knowing the group is capable of much more gives hope for a re-energized effort in their future.- No Ripcord
- Posted Jan 16, 2020
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It's a moving, eclectic return that longtime fans will admire—and find themselves surprised to discover them for the first time.- No Ripcord
- Posted Dec 13, 2019
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- Critic Score
If you hear ten seconds of any given song then you've heard its entirety, yet you haven't experienced the song. It's that sort of an album.- No Ripcord
- Posted Dec 9, 2019
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I can’t say enough nice things about Tunes 2011-2019; there’s too much to love about this damn thing. I especially recommend it to those who aren’t very familiar with Burial and are looking for something other than Untrue to sink their teeth into. It’s a monumental snapshot of the “second act” of his career, and should be on all electronic music connoisseurs' Christmas wish lists. Prepare to get lost.- No Ripcord
- Posted Dec 9, 2019
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A group of veteran musicians who are committed to their craft, carrying themselves with stylish grace one crushing ballad at a time.- No Ripcord
- Posted Dec 6, 2019
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- Critic Score
She heads into more accessible waters —on tracks like Down on Me and Confessions, Davis softens her pop-meets-classical mishmash with a mellifluous inflection that gives clarity to her self-empowering message. And like a memoir of sorts, she goes through stories that range from her birth to the present day.- No Ripcord
- Posted Dec 6, 2019
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Cotillions does have its fair share of bloat, though—at 17 tracks and clocking in over an hour, its instrumental parallels can often feel redundant once it concludes. Nevertheless, his recent "unplugged" projects suggest he’s found fulfillment carving his own path rather than overthinking how to capture the spirit of our times.- No Ripcord
- Posted Dec 6, 2019
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It’s still hard to truly get Leonard Cohen right, and Thanks for the Dance sadly sounds like an easy approximation of his sound.- No Ripcord
- Posted Dec 2, 2019
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Everyday Life may not be able to reach the peaks of Coldplay’s work in the 2000s or have the discipline of the mostly-minimalist Ghost Stories, but it shows a level of creativity, imagination and sheer enjoyment in making music that felt like it had been lost.- No Ripcord
- Posted Dec 2, 2019
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Invigorated and with more purpose, Oldham feels the wholeness of family and unity. Whereas past projects lived in a state of flux, Oldham now feels settled and at ease. It does sound like he's found the "lightness," after all.- No Ripcord
- Posted Nov 18, 2019
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Ffollowers of the band will notice how they sometimes hold onto their older tendencies (see: Microscopie, the title track). Nevertheless, the strides they take show how they're an asset to their new label—and not the other way around.- No Ripcord
- Posted Nov 12, 2019
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With each album in Cronin's catalog, he seems to grow in confidence and song-writing ability—and Seeker is no exception.- No Ripcord
- Posted Nov 12, 2019
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The result is an album that acts as an interesting diversion in Lindstrøm's catalog, and perhaps even a needed downshift, yet arguably doesn't live up to the epic achievements of his past records.- No Ripcord
- Posted Nov 12, 2019
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The only saving grace, pun possibly intended, is God Is, where West's voice genuinely cracks as he calls the Lord over a soulful sample. As you might imagine, the production overall is expectedly top-notch. But that's the slight upside to an otherwise tepid attempt at finding commonality with his devout followers—except that we never wanted West to come across as ordinary as the rest of us.- No Ripcord
- Posted Nov 12, 2019
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Our children’s children may not remember baseball umpires and humans that sang their own songs, but Bodega’s Shiny New Model makes for the perfect soundtrack to worry yourself silly about such things.- No Ripcord
- Posted Nov 12, 2019
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Best listened to sad and lonely in your bedroom, Pang is the perfect dance album for smart and sensitive boys and girls after their day’s journaling are done.- No Ripcord
- Posted Nov 12, 2019
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It’s beautiful, inventive, catchy, heartbreaking, addictive, and bursting at the seams with ideas. It captures a performer truly at the top of their game, throwing everything into a project so that not one second is wasted. It’s a record that makes you fall in love with music again, a record you feel privileged to experience and a record that imparts fundamental human truths.- No Ripcord
- Posted Nov 12, 2019
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