Paste Magazine's Scores

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For 4,080 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: 3,644 out of 4080
  2. Mixed: 400 out of 4080
  3. Negative: 36 out of 4080
4080 music reviews
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    • 98 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Houses of the Holy [Remastered]
    Albums four and five are stocked mostly with inessential fluff that fans will cue up one time and promptly forget exists.... The true value here rests in the remastering. Page’s production on the original LPs remains unimpeachable, but these reissues give the tracks a subtle sheen.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Emerald City
    Emerald City is vividly imagined yet subtle in tone, with conflicted character sketches unfolding around somber synth melodies, creaky electronic effects, and fuzzy acoustic guitar strums.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Messenger
    It has some great guitar—satisfying our expectations on that front--and doesn’t offend. It’s a great record to throw on when DJing your parents’ Welcome To Spring community mixer.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    To Willie
    Houck's voice knows exactly when to crack, and when the material's as great as this, that's the only embellishment you need.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Graveyard Whistling
    Graveyard might actually be the most country Old 97’s record in years, while maintaining the sticky sweet melodies the band has always nailed.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Bluefinger
    Black Francis' ability to explore familiar themes in a spastic, unfettered manner continues to remind us that uniqueness is not simply skin deep.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Parallel Universe Blues
    Papercuts’ latest breaks little new ground. All the same, it’s an appealing, skillfully constructed collection of songs, and sometimes, that’s enough.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Commune
    In presentation, GOAT makes wild psychedelic rock seem part of ancient human tradition and Commune comes across like an artifact of primal, bygone days.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Storytone
    Certainly, the most innovative thing about Storytone is its presentation, with each of the album’s 10 songs recorded in acoustic and fully orchestrated versions.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Living Things
    A sunny, neo-psychedelic outing. Unfortunately, this translates into overly busy, fussy arrangements that sometimes mar the impact of the songs. [#13, p.119]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Between the Walls
    Between the Walls is an album about process and unless you were there, you’ll never understand or appreciate it like the four principals. But, as is, it’s still an enjoyable listen and an admirable project, and one that will continue to draw curiosity, even without Charles Hayword.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Year Of Meteors
    The record's strengths are mostly atmospheric. [Oct/Nov 2005, p.144]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Nothing Hurts
    The album coasts through 13 songs in just 29 minutes, making for a seemingly perfect setlist of distorted, high-energy punk.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Narrow Stairs
    When Gibbard gets out of his own head, the confrontation between his tuneful optimism and the real world can yield an exhilarating dramatic tension.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Kintsugi
    So maybe Kintsugi isn’t a perfect effort. But like the ceramic art itself, Death Cab’s attempt at repatching was thoughtful, deliberate and, at times, really beautiful.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    These Friends Of Mine
    [It] delivers the gorgeous musical equivalent of exactly what its title implies: a few fleeting moments shared between good friends in the twilight of youth. [Mar 2007, p.63]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Do You Wonder About Me?
    Diet Cig are growing and changing right in front of us—they’re still all the bands they’ve ever been—and proving that their journey is one worth following.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Starwalker
    With their new collaboration, Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Bardi Johannsson have taken casual cool to the next level, sinuous synths and Dunckel’s Gauloises smoke-infused vocals lofting towards the heavens.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes
    Hard Times wears that wisdom almost too well. With explicit nods to the Stones, Hank, and Bakersfield, the album makes clear that Social Distortion's true subject is now rock 'n' roll itself, which serves as Ness' inspiration as well as his salvation.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Entomology
    For enthusiasts of the genre it's an indispensable staple and a welcome rediscovery. [Dec 2006, p.102]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    My Name Is Buddy
    This is not a record meant for parsing, though there are certainly some standout tracks... Instead it's meant to be consumed like you would a favorite book. [May 2007, p.64]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Weather
    For the most part, Cottrell reliably prevents the listener from getting engulfed in the aural haze that has become Hansen’s trademark. That said, with her distinct vocal character, it seems like she could invest her singing with more spiked edges if she chose to—or if the music called for it.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Cripple Crow
    There are no outright misfires, but some songs... remain mood pieces that never build up enough sense of occasion to find structure within Banhart’s listless wistfulness.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Confessions On A Dance Floor
    A delightful concoction. [Feb/Mar 2006, p.98]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Long Trip Alone
    A play-it-safe consolidation move. [Nov 2006, p.78]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Islands
    It wouldn’t hurt Bear’s Den to frolic among the monsters and get a little wild.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Tides of a Teardrop
    The songs on Tides of A Teardrop are slow-tempoed and even-tempered, but in a way that feels emotionally powerful. That calm nearly becomes monotony as the record edges to a close.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Non-Believers
    It sounds like a Mac McCaughan record, which is a well-established concept even if this is technically the first Mac McCaughan record.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Devils & Dust
    Devils & Dust is remarkably self-contained and perfectly linear: here is the aftermath of The Rising, when the plains go quiet, the windows shut and we pray, pause, and plot our next move.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Back Room
    [They] possess a knack for tempering melodrama with minor keys and predictable beats. [Apr/May 2006, p.102]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    2
    Petty fans will be pleased, given that 2 is an adequate stopgap measure, at least until Petty and company come up with something new of their own.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Lights Out
    While Lights Out is by no means flawless, its success lies in its ability to not only capture that sentiment but to make it so natural and accessible. Strife has never looked brighter.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Range of Light
    Over nine songs, Carey crafts a number of bright, warm, sweeping moments that fit with the album’s theme of the American West, land of exploration and possibility.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Cost
    While The Cost has as many majestic peaks as the Himalayas, the cumulative effect is exhaustingly monolithic. [Mar 2007, p.67]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Suck My Shirt
    After the band’s album-by-album leaps in musical ability and acumen, it’s no surprise finding this much talent behind the band’s jokey exterior, but when they employ it in fresh ways, The Coathangers can sound like an entirely different band.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Avalanche: Outtakes & Extras From The Illinois Album
    A shadow version of its decorated predecessor. [Aug 2006, p.91]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Cool Planet
    For a band that’s essentially a nostalgia act, Cool Planet proves yet again that Guided by Voices can still matter today.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Life Among the Savages
    The fortunate result for the listener is an album that gives back what you put in, with the melodies all holding firm and digging in their claws over time.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Death In The Garden, Blood On The Flowers
    An admitted throwback, but cool regardless. [Jun/Jul 2006, p.131]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Volume Two
    She plays the dewy-eyed ingénue a bit too faithfully at times, but there is no denying her legitimacy as a tunesmith, divvying her set between bouncy piano-pop, folk-flavored sing-alongs and orchestral anthems.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Desert Of Shallow Effects
    The Desert of Shallow Effects is Kurosky’s first solo effort since dissolving Beulah five years ago, and, happily, his singular gift for melody-rich pop hasn’t deserted him.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Lemonheads
    A welcome return to the fuzzed-out guitars, slacker sensibilities and indelible pop hooks for which the band is known. [Dec 2006, p.89]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Black Ice
    Black Ice is, in many respects, just a consolidation of all AC/DC’s strengths and/or perceived weaknesses in one easily-digested package. Yes, there is filler among the killers, but in large measure what you have here is grade-A, late-vintage rawk with no frills and most of the thrills intact.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Third Hand
    The record loses momentum when its latter half settles into decompressed electronica, but RJD2's daring innovation and unconventional melodies are enough to cement his reputation as hip-hop's most adventurous musical astronaut. [Mar 2007, p.63]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Last Young Renegade
    Renegade’s biggest success is its brevity: At 10 songs and 37 minutes, it’s the shortest record the band has ever made; it’s in and out before you have a chance to tire of this new sound.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Ray Ray
    Ranging from funk, R&B and soul to gospel and hip-hop overtones, Ray Ray delivers the goods.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Lonely Runs Both Ways
    Lonely Runs Both Ways is spit-polished to a high, Nashville sheen, airbrushed into perfection and loaded down with layer upon layer of gooey gloss. Ultimately, all that shine holds Krauss back.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Myth Takes
    Myth Takes doesn't confuse whiny indie solipsism with aerobic ass-jiggling. Ditching the former leads to the salacious fun of the latter. [Mar 2007, p.68]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Kindred
    While Kindred remains meticulously and impressively crafted, it just doesn’t carry the same emotional weight.
    • 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
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Free The Bees
    Their sheer retro enthusiasm compensates for the music's derivativeness--for some of the tracks at least. [Aug/Sep 2005, p.111]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Lindsey Buckingham
    Throughout the press cycle for Lindsey Buckingham, he’s made clear that this record was made in his home studio without anyone else playing on it. At times, this adds to the album’s tightness and limited scale, but it occasionally begs for more inventive playing.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Broken Bells
    Despite the scrappy rhythm guitar of album closer "The Mall & Misery," this project rarely resembles a rock band. It does, however, really feel like a group.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Let's Get Out Of This Country
    The band's finest yeat, with 10 succinct tunes that artfully blend the musical signifiers of the '60s with clever songwriting. [Aug 2006, p.87]
    • Paste Magazine
    • 76 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    No Mythologies to Follow
    While “Never Wanna Know” might divide, other moments are harder to dismiss.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Collapse into Now
    Collapse shuffles through all of R.E.M.'s past lives; it's a greatest hits without a hit, a career retrospective with all new material.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Pom Pom
    Pom pom is probably the most accessible, easy-on-the-ear and enjoyable music of his career, without any asterisks.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    B-Sides and Rarities
    The slight disappointment of B-Sides and Rarities is that it won’t upend or startle anyone’s perceptions of Beach House. There is nothing remotely bad on here, but there is also nothing that finds the duo lightening up or straying too far from the warm glow of their trademark sound.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Michael
    Killer Mike feels these songs deeply and it shows, but different approaches here from producers, including No I.D., Cool & Dre and others, means the hooks aren’t always strong enough to keep listeners coming back.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Mr. Wonderful
    It’s unclear what Ronson is doing on this project, and his appearances just add to an often-disjointed flow of the record. But some of the finer production on the record merits praise.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    The Both
    The Both’s self-titled release is the sound of a first date that wasn’t exactly a drag but won’t be leading to a second meet-up.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    House of Spirits
    Not all the songs on House of Spirits have as much personality, or so defined a sense of place.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Petra Goes to the Movies
    For the most part, she chooses her films wisely, picking songs that not only give her a lot to do vocally but also create sonic rhymes across the album.... Compositions with lyrics give her a bit more trouble.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Dear
    It’s psychedelic in a chthonic way and sounds as though it was recorded live in an underground cavern. It’s easily their most minimalist recording, a carefully monochrome study in sludgy drones.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Why Me? Why Not.
    Why Me? Why Not. largely succeeds when Gallagher allows himself to dig deep into his past and get a bit personal.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Tripper
    It's all very familiar and nice, nothing too radical, and the kind of stuff that gets lapped up and lambasted in equal measure, depending on who's dispensing the feedback. But really, what did you expect?
    • 64 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Minnesota
    There are moments where Jennings deviates thematically and sonically from the boy-becomes-a-man-and-uses-all-the-pianos thru-line-some succeed, like the loose and likeable "Well Of Love," and others, not so much, like the synthy fairytale nightmare mess of "Witches Dream."
    • 73 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Wake UP!
    After demonstrating intimacy and charm on her earlier material, English shows with Wake UP! that she’s capable of making a bright, big-sounding album. Once she gets around to combining those sensibilities, well, look out.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    The 1975
    If lyrics like, “If you wanna find love / then you know where the city is,” still satisfy some unrequited teenage dreams, then The 1975 should fulfill that naïveté.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Funs Cool
    The duo definitely hit the nail on the head when it comes to injecting their youth into the tracks.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Lex Hives
    Much like the band's catalog, this record apes everyone from AC/DC to The Stooges with exuberant aplomb.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Baba Yaga
    Without a doubt Baba Yaga is a lovely, delicately crafted album. That being said, the band’s predilection towards mid-tempo rhythm leads to several stretches where songs blur together or stretch on for so long (the album’s songs average about five minutes) that the momentum is all but shot.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    925
    925’s most hedonistic narratives might be cause for condemnation, but let’s not cancel Sorry yet—the album’s more grounded poems suggest that the band are perceptive enough to render their loftiest tales with scorn.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Hawk
    While their first two collaborative efforts were largely slow, quiet affairs, their new album Hawk is more dynamic, featuring both whispered ballads and dusty, boot-stomping rockers, and not always for the best.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Tetsuo & Youth
    On the whole, Tetsuo and Youth is a shaky album by a newly energized Lupe Fiasco who is newly energized. This energy isn’t always wielded coherently or even interestingly, but he seems to have found comfort in his murals and dots and lines.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Travellers In Space And Time
    The songs don't exactly span the musical solar system, maintaining the same general tempo and flow throughout the fifty-minute ride, but despite its rather static, predictable quality, Travellers managers to take listeners on a journey out of this world, but just barely.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Barragán
    Even with Barragán’s sleepiness and sparseness, the malleability of a band like Blonde Redhead--especially one that continues to make music for the art of creation--is the same strength that has kept them relevant for so long.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Water on Mars
    For all its polish, Water on Mars retains a sense of spontaneity, with a handful of soft, folky tunes.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Food
    Food may not make her the star she deserves to be, but this slightly overcooked album is proof that she can cook.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Monsters Of Folk
    Rather than make a staid, serious statement album, the foursome keeps things loose and low-key, content to sound like postmillennial Traveling Wilburys but generally just being themselves.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Hairdresser Blues
    Bogart takes his listener on a jangled journey that doesn't always make sense.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    From Capelton Hill
    Throughout the album’s twists and turns, Millan and Campbell build off each other’s energies the way they always have, asking and answering each other with grace and sensitivity.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    How Do You Love?
    Despite a few musical shortcomings, How Do You Love is an ambitious project for 18-year-old Night, and one she largely succeeds on. It’s a surprisingly deep understanding of the complexities and contradictions of relationships without ever falling into the clichés of depicting a young romance while those feelings are still extremely present.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Erotic Reruns
    What the album lacks in fine-tuning it makes up for in sheer experiential pleasure. It’s a half hour bop for the American experiment’s gradual decay.
    • 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.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Age Against the Machine
    Age Against the Machine isn’t a seamless reunion--it’s too messy, too bloated (18 tracks, not a single necessary interlude), too Green-centric to feel like a pure collaboration. But in a way, those Perfect Imperfections come with the territory. Even at its worst, it’s a Machine built with fascinating craftsmanship.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Free Dimensional
    The general focus and fulfillment of personal goals on the album is admirable, and the pop landscape is now a little stronger because of it.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    A Productive Cough
    Despite occasional attempts at restraint and the fact it’s only seven songs long, A Productive Cough provides Titus Andronicus with another bold manifesto. They might have varied the volume, but they’re still railing with their customary resolve.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    The Don of Diamond Dreams
    Diamond Dreams is immersive and solidifies Shabazz Palaces’ stature as one of the few hip-hop projects to emerge in the 2010s and create a wholly distinctive genre unto itself. Its intergalactic textures don’t resemble earth, but that’s a welcome escape at a historic moment when earth doesn’t feel particularly inhabitable for humans.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Traditional Techniques
    Fans of folk and Malkmus alike will find something to love here, even if Traditional Techniques doesn’t quite make the grade.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Future This
    It demands attention, and it has just enough glitch and grime to remind you that it's not 30 years old.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Everything Else Has Gone Wrong
    It’s no surprise that their return doesn’t feel as triumphant as it should have. Instead, this record feels like more of a means to an end, an excuse to get back out on the road and play their biggest hits once again.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    All of Me
    A consistent-not-masterful album like All of Me would still do you some good to hear.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    LP.8
    Even though LP.8 is a triumph in tone, it’s disappointing to listen to a record that feels as though Owens was self-conscious knowing the accessibility of the releases that came before it. ... But on the other hand, it would be foolish not to chase the muse, and this album is definitely born from the bleak times in which it was created.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Dream Is U
    Francis Lung’s debut is catchy as hell, the kind of sunny indie rock that could easily soundtrack a backyard BBQ or road trip. It doesn’t do much to distinguish itself from the bevy of other bands that will inevitably come up next on Spotify following the record’s final song, but it’s still a pretty collection, one that makes for a worthwhile listen.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Ufabulum
    Ufabulum abandons Squarepusher's usual 1 : 1 ratio of electronic : jazz in favor of 1 : 1, electronic : space adventure.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Infinity Overhead
    So many of its melodies tend to bleed into the background, and it takes time to pick apart what's worthwhile.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    The Gus
    What The Gus really has going for it is that it can serve as an entry to Mulcahy as easily as it can be enjoyed by longtime fans: a solid, if unspectacular entry to his lengthy back catalogue. It doesn’t deviate from his trademark formula, a style that’s worked for him throughout his career, but it never betrays it either.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Julia with Blue Jeans On
    Moonface is essentially making Krug more admirable and less enjoyable. Depending on what you look for, that is the measure of its success.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Encore
    It’s danceable, sure, but there’s a sinister edge, and the album spans more than just your classic ska and reggae beats. It’s easy to listen to, easy to get lost in. Music to fight the power by.
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