NOW Magazine's Scores

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For 2,812 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 43% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 55% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 6.9 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 66
Highest review score: 100 The Life Of Pablo
Lowest review score: 20 Testify
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,287 out of 2812
  2. Mixed: 1,452 out of 2812
  3. Negative: 73 out of 2812
2812 music reviews
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    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fading Frontier
    In terms of brightness and accessibility, the album feels like an extension of their breakout record, 2008's Microcastle. Yet it's clear the band has matured in the intervening years--and they're better for it.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sore
    The hype has reached a dangerous level. Which makes it oh so sweet that Sore delivers.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hallucinogen [EP]
    This is music to lose yourself in.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Servant of Love
    The most poignant moments involve simple memories.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Gone by the Dawn
    Shannon Shaw's heart-in-throat vocals and the Clams' joyous abandon take hold right away and rip breezily but dramatically through 13 lovely new songs.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Allas Sak
    Things mostly stay low-key and subtle, with Ejstes's guitar growing righteously wild just once, on En Dag På Sjön, one of several instrumentals.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Agent Intellect
    The Agent Intellect is a multi-layered, emotive powerhouse of a record.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Unbreakable
    It's the ballads--a side of her repertoire that had taken a back seat to forgettable chart-chasers--that show Jackson's at her vocal and songwriting best.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    If He Dies, If If If If If If
    A contemplative but intense listen.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ruff
    RUFF is Born Ruffians’ strongest album to date. With gritty atmospherics that closely resemble their magnetic live show, the album is less polished and slick than 2013’s Birthmarks.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Grey Tickles, Black Pressure
    The production’s grittier qualities suggest heavy emotions lie beneath his sardonic facade, but the sense that Grant feels liberated in middle age is what comes across most strongly.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Innocence & Decadence
    It’s exceptionally diverse, especially for hard rock.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Every Open Eye
    This means there are fewer musical surprises, though one comes when Martin Doherty takes over lead vocals for a song, seemingly out of nowhere. It makes Mayberry’s return to the mic even sweeter.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Rub
    Some might prefer she stick with her usual skewering of gender roles, but that genuine anger lends a new seriousness and realness to even her silliest verses.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Half Free
    Occasionally Half Free can sound dense to the point of being vexing, but its vivid imagery and striking melodies keep Remy’s more self-indulgent tendencies grounded in a classic pop sensibility.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Have You in My Wilderness
    Holter confidently and impressively takes her music wherever she wants.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    23 Live Sex Acts [Live]
    The album makes every effort to showcase the band's deep back catalogue, and represents their second coming--it speaks to the new generation of fans they've gained. There are worse ways to be remembered.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sun Coming Down
    The way Ought confront modern bleakness is understandably disaffected but ultimately moving and celebratory, in the idealistic tradition of punk.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ones and Sixes
    Despite its relatively minimal instrumentation, virtually every song here crackles and hums with distorted, altered familiarity.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Turkey
    Turkey is erratic, disjointed and full of loose garage swagger--in other words, classic Krol.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Stuff Like That There
    Stuff might not be a true follow-up to 2013's Fade, but it's an excellent follow-up to Fakebook 15 years later.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Night Creeper
    The record’s second half loses some immediacy, partly due to the hazy nine-minute epic Slow Death, but not enough to diminish the overall power.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    M3LL155X [EP]
    Here twigs sounds even more poised and self-assured.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Depression Cherry
    It's a downtempo album, especially its sleepier last third, but unlike its title suggests, it's not even a little depressing.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Noctunes
    There's little sonic variation, but that approach puts the focus where it should be: on the raw emotion of his singing.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Poison Season
    While there's still mystery and misdirection on his new album, Poison Season is nakedly ambitious and utterly satisfying.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Morning World
    Without a doubt, this is his poppiest album--but he still holds on to his penchant for a good vocal-less groove.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Love Is Free [EP]
    With Love Is Free, Robyn once again shows she can bring together discerning dance snobs and accessible-pop fans.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Compton
    Compton is easily his most introspective album.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Faded Gloryville
    It has some of the year’s best country songs, plus a groove-heavy take on the Bee Gees’ classic To Love Somebody.
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