Paste Magazine's Scores

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For 4,085 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 67% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 30% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 76
Highest review score: 100 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [50th Anniversary Edition Deluxe Version]
Lowest review score: 10 Songs From Black Mountain
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,649 out of 4085
  2. Mixed: 400 out of 4085
  3. Negative: 36 out of 4085
4085 music reviews
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    • 75 Metascore
    • 66 Critic Score
    Brand New Abyss
    Even the more listenable songs on Brand New Abyss, such as “So There” and “The Woman You Want,” sound more like a successful regurgitation of past sounds and ideas than anything new. And while that’s not a bad thing, it’s not enough of a reason to spend time listening to the new album.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    As You Were
    The biggest and most welcome surprise is that As You Were is not only a cohesive, fluid record, but shows that at age 45, “our kid” isn’t ready to go away just yet.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 56 Critic Score
    Fatherland
    It’s just a shame that what lies behind dozens of layers of metaphorical shrouds, isn’t a bit more poetic and interesting.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Rule 62
    What’s particularly striking here is how Rose matches credence with confidence. Her voice, a gentle and unassuming croon, gives her material a quiet caress, making them effortlessly engaging each time out.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Three Futures
    She’s still a sprinter on Three Futures. But she looks back at what’s been lost with accrued wisdom and a literary eye for sensual detail, resulting in one of the year’s most thoughtful left turns.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 87 Critic Score
    Sorry Is Gone
    The band emphasizes Mayfield’s heroic message, fueling their instruments with triumphant riffs and raw, stopping-for-no-one licks.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Sky Trails
    Caught between preserving his sound and experimenting with new ones, David Crosby lacks a firm musical identity on this new album. Hopefully, he finds a way to incorporate modern elements into his songs more effectively.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 84 Critic Score
    Harmony of Difference [EP]
    On Harmony of Difference, Washington’s work remains as substantial and compelling as ever, and with any luck this EP is setting the scene for another, longer release from him soon.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 86 Critic Score
    Hallelujah Anyhow
    On Hallelujah Anyhow, he sounds more comfortable than ever before, and that’s saying something. Taylor’s songs are warm and well-worn. His band moves as a single organism. ... Musically, Hallelujah Anyhow is a beautiful patchwork of styles.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 76 Critic Score
    Multi-Task
    Multi-task hits its high marks when the band is doing as much as it can, or, if you will, multi-tasking.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Everybody Knows
    Unfortunately, Everybody Knows is the sound of two classic artists playing the 18th hole of their intertwined and decorated careers.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 73 Critic Score
    Wonderful Wonderful
    The beauty of The Killers is that you can start at any point. Each album is as good as the last and those that came after it. To that end, Wonderful Wonderful works as a perfect introduction or a delightful continuation.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    A Sentimental Education
    The performances here stick too closely to the source material to offer anything truly exciting or gripping.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 73 Critic Score
    Concrete and Gold
    Grohl and company could have continued to make mundane arena rock. That they’ve managed to hunker down and create a collection that proves that they aren’t ready crawl fade away just yet.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Strange Peace
    It’s refreshing to know there are bands like METZ putting out such quality rage like the 11 songs on this most exceptionally enthralling hello for today’s youth to thrash along to with the same sense of reckless abandon their parents were able to extol as members of the Sub Pop Singles Club.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Plum
    Wand’s many talents are given full plumage on Plum. It will be interesting to see in what directions the band surveys in future albums. For now, this is about as interesting a new rock record you could hope to listen to.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 76 Critic Score
    The Laughing Apple
    Yusuf’s vocals are a bit more gruff than in days gone by, but his whimsical tone maintains the fanciful and philosophical lilt once so essential to that early, engaging style.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Saturn Over Sunset
    After traveling through 13 tracks, unaware of how much time has passed or all the strange places in your mind you’ve traveled to, arriving at “Their Eyes” does have a very similar feeling to stepping out into the sunlight after the dark cocoon of the movie theatre--a little unsure of what you’ve just seen.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 84 Critic Score
    New Magic
    Rootsier than his self-titled debut and all the stronger for it, Livingston’s latest dials back the busy modern rock production and psych-blues noise to reveal songwriting that is more classic yet less predictable, and enchanting in its spare intimacy.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Mareridt
    If Myrkur is a black metal artist, “Crown” is the sound of her pushing and pulling hard on the genre’s boundaries. The strongest stretch of Mareridt, however, is three songs on its back end. First up is “Funeral,” a swirl of blackened sludge that moves at the pace of, well, a funeral procession.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Hanged Man
    The Hanged Man, despite some of its thinness and unevenness, is still a great record.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 82 Critic Score
    Okovi
    Danilova’s vocal fluidity is what drives the record most. She’s dramatic (without being overly so), deeply powerful and passionate, whether she’s expressing anger, desperation or love.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 74 Critic Score
    Try Not To Freak Out
    Try Not To Freak Out is a solid rock record throughout.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    Hippopotamus
    It may rank as one of their best outings yet, as its multifaceted compositional creativity, coupled with its consistently fetching melodies and words, makes it a thoroughly impressive and engaging listen. As always, Sparks shows its stylistic siblings how it’s truly done.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 74 Critic Score
    Half-Light
    Longing and heartbreak are universal themes, but what Rostam does is make them accessible, thought-provoking in an artful manner that will serve him well in as he navigates his solo career.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Light Information
    VanGaalen is very good at making eccentric, homespun indie-rock records, and with Light Information he has made yet another.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Shade
    This 13 track set sees the band tapping back into that essential ingredients of their core sound.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 71 Critic Score
    Native Invader
    Native Invader is not one of Tori’s sexier albums, nor is it as playful as she’s demonstrated herself capable of being. But it’s strong and unwavering in its commitment to being muse-driven and unafraid.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Hitchhiker
    If we could go back to a time where we had never heard these songs before, Hitchhiker would more than stand on its own as a brilliant piece of performance art. Stripped of the subsequent mythology or knowledge of what these songs would eventually become, each performance remains beautiful in its own right.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 77 Critic Score
    Sleep Well Beast
    Sleep Well Beast is anything but complacent and it doesn’t skew from the high-caliber rock and roll the band has been producing since day one.
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