Paste Magazine's Scores

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For 4,077 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: 3,641 out of 4077
  2. Mixed: 400 out of 4077
  3. Negative: 36 out of 4077
4077 music reviews
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    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Open Season
    Wickedly infectious and eerily nostalgic. [#16, p.129]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Bare Bones
    Predictably, the results are mixed compared to previous efforts--the quality of her performance remains extraordinarily high, but the material is spottier than usual, particularly when Peyroux stretches beyond her comfort zone and into newfound emotional real estate.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Honky Tonk
    This recording feels more like a pleasant diversion rather than a necessity.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Gold Motel
    Overall, Gold Motel stands out as a non-guilty pop pleasure that will leave hip listeners singing, dancing and apologizing, "Sorry, I'm not sorry."
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Love Songs for Robots
    As a satisfying internal logic begins to emerge, it’s clear that Watson has outdone himself on this ambitious and endearingly strange album.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Wonderful, Glorious
    These are lifeless non-revelations married to engrossing tunes.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 82 Critic Score
    Darling Arithmetic
    Darling Arithmetic shows that O’Brien exists in a world unto himself.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Strangelet
    Mesmerizing. [Apr 2007, p.57]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    OH (Ohio)
    Whatever: just?listen to the damn disc.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    21
    On 21, she sounds refreshed and poised to attack.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Compass
    Lidell’s voice easily shifts from soul melisma to a more gruff, linear style, although several amped-up numbers (“You Are Waking,” “Gypsy Blood”) feel inert. Luckily, most of the album sticks to the kind of warped romantic confections and wild, simmering vamps he does best.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 79 Critic Score
    11 Short Stories Of Pain & Glory
    Loss and the possibility of redemption represent the twin themes of pain and glory fueling the Celtic-punk band’s ninth album, a collection of songs by turns bleak and triumphant--and sometimes both at once.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    2019 [EP]
    Pop the bubbly. Buy that heart-shaped box of chocolates. Send that overly earnest card. Dacus has done it again, and that’s reason enough to celebrate.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 77 Critic Score
    Shepherd Head
    The tranquil and atmospheric flow of the album is a perfect canvas for Rossiter, who tends to bellow more than sing. His rich and emotive voice can sound at times like that of a much more timid Jeff Buckley, and with the album’s open feel, it has space to stretch, rather than snarling, like on some of the band’s more tense moments.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Lantern
    Intricate and atmospheric. [Feb/Mar 2006, p.102]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Home, Before and After
    Whether she’s swimming around in theories about space and time, or just riffing on a few scales to make a love song, Spektor’s words and melodies on Home, before and after are a dazzling delight.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Screws Get Loose
    Sonically, Screws spit-shines things just enough to give the songs an almost radio-friendly glimmer without losing their ramshackle mojo, sense of urgency or danger--cleaner, but not too clean for rock 'n' roll.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 59 Critic Score
    Hang
    The band’s latest is a slight improvement, though the self-indulgence and lack of focus are still in evidence.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Ur Fun
    With tunes for dancing, thrashing and falling apart, of Montreal’s latest effort is a fitting start to 2020. The pre-drinks may have been a trip, but UR FUN is one party that you don’t want to miss.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Algiers
    While there are some fine moments on the recording, one is often left wishing that the duo had chosen to delve deeper into the acoustic soundscapes that they excel at rather than exploring the edges of confessional pop music as they do here.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Woke On A Whaleheart
    Mr. Callahan has finally completed his two-decade transformation from malevolent provocateur to aphoristic folk-rocker. [Apr 2007, p.59]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Backwater
    Backwater might just reel in listeners strongly enough that they take deep dives into each and every track individually. And even then, Kllo’s mystery remains intact.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 87 Critic Score
    We Fall
    With We Fall, Josephine Wiggs has built a picturesque bridge between ambient chamber music and pop songwriting. Artists have been peering from one stylistic shore to the other for decades, but Wiggs travels between them with exceptional agility and poise.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    All Fiction
    That’s what makes the sonic pivot on All Fiction feel so special; the band changed because they wanted to, not because they had to.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 86 Critic Score
    Blood Pressures
    Blood Pressures mixes heavy, gainy hard-rocking guitars with a whole lot of making love to the mic.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Escape 2 Mars
    Even with Gab’s phonetic prowess and all that time to prepare for launch, Escape 2 Mars doesn’t reach the transcendent heights of its sublime, lushly orchestrated predecessor, ultimately feeling less like an epic interplanetary voyage and more like space camp.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Move in Spectrums
    While the approach feels more varied, more sonic, more introspective and imaginative, those familiar with Au Revoir Simone’s sound will have no trouble diving in.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Reunion Tour
    This is investigative journalism with a heart of compassion, a steady backbeat and four buzzing power chords.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Everyday Robots
    Ultimately, Everyday Robots just sounds like another great album from one of pop music’s most fearless sonic chameleons.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Heaven Is Whenever
    One might suspect that The Hold Steady's rock repurposing would eventually chafe, but they're achieving the opposite effect, again pulling off with heroic sincerity the idea that heaven is lying on the floor listening to records-even if you're well past 16.
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