Rock Sound's Scores

  • Music
For 497 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 2.4 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 75
Highest review score: 100 That's the Spirit
Lowest review score: 20 Bright Black Heaven
Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 2 out of 497
497 music reviews
    • 47 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    They're no longer a phenomenon; instead, Sum 41 have continued to mature into a rather good band.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Above all, Vices & Virtues is a complete package that secures Panic! At The Disco as one of the most forward thinking pop-rock acts around.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Helioscope represents another intriguing release from a band who remain a hugely promising proposition.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Crowbar were always more reflective. And that's kind of what Sever The Wicked Hand is all about, corpulent down-tuned riffs and a sense of grizzled resignation articulated through Windstein's taut songwriting and sorrowful croon.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Overall, whatever you think of their craft, they've mastered it; this writer's mentioned almost every track on the album to hold up this review--and that's got to be a good sign.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Being such an influential rock drummer, it's hard not to approach this expecting more of a crossover sound, but treat Travis Barker's debut like an eclectic hip-hop record and it won't disappoint.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Front-loaded with jagged riffs and the squalls of Matt Shultz, this is storming.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Famously chaotic musical magpies Dana Janssen, Seth Olinsky and Miles Seaton have outdone themselves here in concocting an album almost as enigmatic as its title.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    In fact, with its consistently gorgeous delivery, Pulse is actually most reminiscent of French electronica pioneers Air. Go figure.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Ferocious and beautiful--Funeral For A Friend sound more like themselves than they have done in years.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ultimately Immersion adds nothing new to the Pendulum experience, but still sees the band doing what they do best. Go immerse yourselves.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The result is a beautifully fragile acoustic record that positions him as the missing link between Kurt Cobain and Johnny Cash.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The melodies are huge, the hoarse vocals are fairly infrequent – but this is probably one of the most punk rawk albums Rise Against have recorded.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ruthlessly combining technical brutality and pure fucking class, DevilDriver have finally come of age.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Their fizzy keyboards and Bob Mould-y vocals remain intact, but essentially this is conventional indie-rock.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A stunning opener to the album, its dynamic range, gleaming melody and driving anthemic nature exemplify what this band was always all about.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Human Romance is how metalcore should be: layered, dynamic, passionate. Easily the best Darkest Hour have been since "Undoing Ruin."
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Suffice to say, the once-beloved Kansas City quintet are not Radiohead, and whilst they may have left their pioneering, emo-infused pop-punk behind over a decade ago, nothing quite prepares the listener for the insipid snooze-a-thon they've concocted here.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It's a brilliant, timeless debut and a must-listen.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    While certainly an accomplished progression from 09's "Union" in terms of tempo, it's still a bit too midlevel and the band might stand out from their contemporaries if they were a bit more rough around the edges.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    It might lack the narrative arc of 09's An Imaginary Country, but it's hard to imagine that 2011 will see many finer releases, of any genre.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Lerner's pop sensibility is still there, but now buried beneath distortion and throbbing bass, making this an intriguing, if not entirely welcoming, listen
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The results are shufflingly majestic, loaded with blissful truths and, it must be said, startlingly close to perfect.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Those of thinkers Catherine Keller and Gaston Bachelard--are more complex than you might at first imagine, making Asleep On The Floodplain an album whose surface you can lazily drift upon or one into which you can dive as deep as your lungs will allow.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It's challenging (but not a challenging listen), pushing boundaries and smashing down your very notions of what metal--or metalcore--is.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Earth's continued trudge into beatific wilderness sees Dylan Carlson return to territory traversed by the desolate windswept tundras.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The frantic, high-pitched vocals of old are still present and correct, but they're also tempered by frequent downbeat melodic refrains, echoing the likes of Nirvana more than, say, The Blood Brothers. Musically too, the band display a staggering diversity.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The eagerly anticipated album from London based indie-rock three-piece The Joy Formidable far exceeds all expectation.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    While several tracks would sit comfortably on a Best Of ...Trail Of Dead playlist Tao Of The Dead certainly feels like their most consistent collection in years.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Merging brittle, jittery riffing, fraught tremolo-picked flutters with mesmeric drum patterns and tense, semi-spoken vocals the result is as resounding a success as ever and a reassuring testament to the ongoing fertility of the Louisville underground.