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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    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Animal
    That said, there are plenty of catchy moments. Beat-wise, Boots & Boys--a song about what brings her joy--is incredibly well constructed. If only the insipid lyrics were left off completely.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Mail On Sunday
    His subjects are the standard sex/money/hustler/romance/gangster fantasies, and all the new-millennium fast life references you expect.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Blacc Hollywood
    Wiz has never shied away from top-40-baiting tunes many rappers eschew, and he’s crafted a few more on Blacc Hollywood with varying degrees of success.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Bitchin'
    Only real problem is that the foursome tend to write the same songs over and over again, this time thinly veiled in arena- and hair-metal swagger, but still too similar structurally to sound like they've challenged themselves.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Planta
    Sitek lends the band some nice slow-burning electronic atmosphere, but the songs lack hooks and sometimes shift into cringey faux-reggae.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Christopher
    Light, breezy and somewhat snoozy, Christopher has some pleasant moments, but it's not the strongest work in McPhun's discography.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Going Back
    He sticks so closely to the original arrangements that his shortcomings as a vocalist are painfully evident. Had he tried to reinterpret the classics even a little bit, we wouldn't be so quick to compare his singing to the originals.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Reincarnated
    Like Snoop’s documentary of the same name, Reincarnated has its moments but needs an editor.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Rudebox
    After 16 songs ranging from electro-country to the parody-heavy We're The Pet Shop Boys and various quasi-conversational raps à la the Streets' Mike Skinner about losing his virginity, I felt the man should rope things in.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    All The Lost Souls
    The songs are ridiculously catchy, albeit predictable and overly comfortable in that 70s folk rock vibe he loves so much.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Animal Ambition: An Untamed Desire to Win
    An album that’s bogged down by a rapper--and production--stuck in the middle of the last decade.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Universal Mind Control
    So there’s no shortage of sick beats, but Common’s decision to dumb down his rhymes to a rude and rudimentary level comes off horribly crass at best and at worst downright embarrassing.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    A Man's Thoughts
    Ginuwine sounds more than comfortable throughout, and succeeds in making fundamental R&B with a good deal of replayability.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Taking Chances
    The album is also comfortably ignorant of the times. With its feathery production and common pop arrangements, it could have come out in 1996.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Keys To The World
    His voice is bland and has little variety.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Sounds from Nowheresville
    Doing lame imitations of other things that are popular seems to be the mission statement for Sounds From Nowhere.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Brave
    The songs are formulaic but catchy, and the production is meticulous.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    New Glow
    Their fifth album, which is all hyperactive synth melodies and shrill sing-shouting in classic Matt and Kim style, sounds like it was smothered in thick syrup, drowned in glitter and then levelled out with soul-sucking effects for good measure.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    20 Y.O.
    There's a little too much consistency across the album -- too few moments stand out, and too many of the hooks just blend together.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The Declaration
    Ashanti’s still got a decent voice, but she’s badly in need of a better songwriting and production team.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace
    Sounding closer to their more earnest Smash days, the songs are snappy to-the-point SoCal punk, albeit with a more polished sheen.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    In My Mind
    If you were expecting some next-level shit from Pharrell Williams on his self-produced solo debut, you're in for a huge disappointment.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    City Beach
    If I didn't know better, I'd swear Jill Cunniff had crawled under a rock and refused to listen to any music since her old band, Luscious Jackson, split in 99.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    F.A.M.E.
    If you already didn't like Brown – he would classify you as a "hater" – this album's combination of lewd (Wet The Bed, No Bullshit) and saccharine (Next 2 You, Should've Kissed You) content, delivered in that gross, oozing cadence of his, will only aggravate you further.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Teenage Dream
    Those two qualities [Perry's sex appeal and goofy, self-effacing charm] are out of balance for most of the album, resulting in awkward jams like E.T. (Futuristic Lover) and Peacock.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Break Up
    There’s a mopey, self-pitying quality to the lyrics, and the duo never once connect with or transmit the sultry passion that existed between those 60s icons [Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot].
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The Pick Of Destiny OST
    That comedy gap between concept and finished product appears to be par for the course with Black's ventures.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Underground Luxury
    His subpar wordplay is easily out-rapped and out-sung by guests like Future and 2 Chainz.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Block
    Surprisingly, it’s a light and catchy bunch of convincing hip-hop- and R&B-influenced Timberlake-esque club pop.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Rebelution
    The highlight is the laid-back Across The World with B.o.B, where Pitbull gets introspective for a minute. “Mr. 305” is at his best when tying together different styles, but the mindless, misogynistic filler on tracks like Full Of Shit and Girls sours the album as a whole.
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