For 5,922 reviews, this publication has graded:
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34% higher than the average critic
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4% same as the average critic
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62% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 6.1 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 67
Highest review score: | Magic | |
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Lowest review score: | Know Your Enemy |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 3,637 out of 5922
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Mixed: 2,245 out of 5922
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Negative: 40 out of 5922
5922
music
reviews
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- Critic Score
What the album could use is a few more drink-clinking splashes of summertime fun, but despite the usual army of A-list writers and producers, there isn’t really anything here to rival the sticky, inescapable punch of “Sugar” or “Moves Like Jagger.” A little more escape might’ve been welcome. But whether it’s trying to be light, serious, or somewhere in the middle, Jordi can only get it done in half-measures.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Jun 11, 2021
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- Rolling Stone
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On Album Six they're back with a retro-neo-aggro sound that would've been too intense for modern-rock radio in 1999.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Jun 17, 2014
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The fun comes when he abandons the sequel concept in favor of a New Wave duet with Ke$ha and a decades- tardy anti-disco tune ("Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever") in which Alice tries to rap. Slapstick was always his strong suit.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Sep 12, 2011
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Tracks with Future and 2 Chainz highlight his limitations on the mic, and without the Dr. Luke-assisted buoyancy of 2012's Strange Clouds, the album falls flat--moments of well-meaning ambition not withstanding.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Jan 3, 2014
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Songs like the fluffy synth jam "Champion" make it sound like they spent too much time at Pharrell's beach house.- Rolling Stone
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These collaborations reveal one fatal flaw in the album's formula: All the imported noise makes the X-Men's delicate routines of cutting and juggling seem hopelessly obscure.- Rolling Stone
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Despite smirk-worthy lines, Loso's chest-thumping slickness feels less than fresh.- Rolling Stone
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If you like rock gratuitously big and laced with soggy self-pity, frontman James Allan, and his enabler, superproducer Flood, are here to help.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Apr 12, 2011
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Even a goofy Eminem cameo (the "Allen Iverson of safe sex") can't save "C'mon Let Me Ride" from sounding like an over-the-top hookup plea, and "Final Warning," a domestic-violence drama, feels vaguely like tabloid fodder.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Jul 29, 2013
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There are toe-tapping moments, but the best song is a Roxy Music cover. [Jun 2020, p.71]- Rolling Stone
Posted Jun 3, 2020 -
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Like Dorian Gray with a blowout, nu-metal holdovers Papa Roach have made their latest album sound like an eerie time capsule from the early 2000s.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Jan 27, 2015
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As it lilts and sways, you can't help but wish that McCombs would just snap out of it.- Rolling Stone
- Posted May 12, 2011
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Despite some uproariously bad crooning (in both French and English), this isn't always as terrible as it is crazy.- Rolling Stone
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Unfortunately Imagine Dragons’ actual vision is one that is milquetoast, formulaic, nearly anonymous, free of any real lyrical insight. ... The one place where the Dragons themselves really shine is an outlier in their catalog: “Zero,” made for Ralph Breaks the Internet, is a giddy college rocker that does for the Cure, David Bowie and Jimmy Eat World what Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson did for Prince, Gap Band and Zapp.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Nov 15, 2018
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He's a consummate crowd-pleaser, but he's best when he gets weird.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Jun 27, 2014
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- Rolling Stone
- Posted Aug 28, 2012
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The Bright Lights of America, Anti-Flag's second major-label album and eighth overall, proves for the billionth time that good intentions don't always make good music.- Rolling Stone
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Love & War is sharp and bright, full of limpid melodies, punchy brass arrangements and, in songs like "Change" (with rapping by Wale), beats that gesture to 1974 but feel thoroughly 2010.- Rolling Stone
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Playful spirit is in short supply on a record where club beats, acoustic strumming, and parched guitar lines usually get siphoned into unobtrusively earnest background pop. [Jun 2020, p.71]- Rolling Stone
Posted Jun 3, 2020 -
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Sparks emotes about bad love amid beats that mix snazzy electro with stadium-rock bigness. She also comes off like a scrubbed-up deep feeler who doesn't distinguish herself.- Rolling Stone
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Doesn't do justice to the power and passion of this scorching young band. Go see them live.- Rolling Stone
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She Is Coming is an unkempt little EP that tries to cram her wild oeuvre, from molly to Mark Ronson, into just six songs. That said, you can’t deny Cyrus remains a freak of pop nature.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Jun 7, 2019
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Like a Maroon 5 with some vulnerability beneath the pop sheen. [Jun 2021, p.77]- Rolling Stone
Posted Jun 2, 2021 -
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Mostly, Lamb of God stick to conservative values that metalheads can respect and everyone else can continue to ignore.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Feb 27, 2012
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The album is oddly inert, lacking both the brute force and big choruses that raised Linkin Park to rap-rock godhead status.- Rolling Stone
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Snow Patrol fall back to the blandly inoffensive safe zone--though at least they sound a little brighter.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Jan 10, 2012
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- Rolling Stone
- Posted Jul 16, 2012
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Factor in the music’s kitchen-sink vibe--anchored by a Chamberlin keyboard that triggers tape loops of various instruments--and the album is a lot to take in. But the task can be rewarding.- Rolling Stone
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This soundtrack would be a great bonus disc for the movie's eventual DVD release, but as a stand-alone it falls way short of their vastly superior debut album.- Rolling Stone
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It's refined, minimalist, often quite lovely and even chiller than Trent Reznor's Social Network score.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Mar 20, 2013
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Dirt has more mood pieces than songs, and the lyrics get just plain goofy.- Rolling Stone
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Kittie sound like they want to pursue harder extremes but can't decide whether to snicker or snarl, to play doomsayer or dominatrix.- Rolling Stone
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You're advised to ignore the ridiculous plot particulars and concentrate on the album's modest pleasures: chiefly, Plan B's lovely, Smokey Robinson-style tenor and deft melodic touch.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Apr 14, 2011
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Occasionally they attempt to rise above their signature light Brit-pop sound with slightly heavier tunes like "My Eyes Wide Open," but it comes off as forced.- Rolling Stone
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Unfortunately, the tunes aren't so hot, and Common Existence veers between overbearing and pretty ordinary.- Rolling Stone
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It's perfect mood music for teen girls and the sensitive guys who want to hold their purses.- Rolling Stone
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Cruz's singing lacks personality, and Rokstarr is ultimately a collection of decent, but generic, Eurodisco tracks without a star--"rok" or otherwise--to hold a listener's interest.- Rolling Stone
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Caillat has a fine voice--clear and ringing, with a hint of a rasp--and she can write hooks. (She co-composed every song here.) But the simpering puppy love grows wearying over 12 tracks, especially because Caillat fails to convince as a romantic heroine.- Rolling Stone
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Isn't songful enough to recommend to anyone besides old fans and aspiring art rockers. [6 Apr 2006, p.69]- Rolling Stone
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Bush of Ghosts seems half-baked, putatively cerebral yet underthought, interesting only because somebody famous did it.- Rolling Stone
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With Sting's familiar bass sound driving most tracks, and Shaggy's production partner Sting International (no relation) providing bounce and clarity, 44/876 contains much of the sizzle of classic reggae or dancehall, though a little more substance would've been welcome too.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Apr 20, 2018
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- Rolling Stone
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- Critic Score
Their debut feels equally crowdsourced for maximum popularity, but fractures under its many moods.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Mar 28, 2013
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The vintage-Daft Punk cheese platter "Celebrate" and album-ending Bowie joke "Keep a Watch" are foamy fun, but too often Ice on the Dune just feels like a lobotomy on the dance floor.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Jul 2, 2013
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Ciara sounds a bit incidental on her third disc's dance jams. She fares even worse whenever the tempo drops, thanks to meek vocals and a stale sensibility.- Rolling Stone
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- Rolling Stone
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The album's baffling mono feel weakens the French Kicks' already anemic sound.- Rolling Stone
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The rest of Rudolf's self-produced debut is a middling rock record dressed up in sleek digital clothes.- Rolling Stone
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At its best, King’s Disease is a slick Illmatic redux, a fresh portrait of Nas’ now-mythical hustler years that expands his Queensbridge universe with new characters and anecdotes and finds him in vintage form as a rapper and storyteller. At its worst, it is a misguided attempt to paper over abuse allegations and a stark showcase of his increasingly questionable politics when it comes to women. 26 years after Illmatic, Nas still has room to grow.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Aug 27, 2020
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FaltyDL's signature clanky percussion and eerie vibe save tracks like "In the Shit" from becoming easy-listening, but it's not quite enough.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Aug 12, 2014
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- Rolling Stone
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None of the actors have the vocal character of the late Dave Van Ronk, whose biography inspired the film and whose bluesy "Green, Green Rocky Road" caps this set, or of another folk singer--the young Bob Dylan--whose rarity "Farewell" signals a new era dawning in the film and on this collection.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Nov 14, 2013
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Vultures is a serviceable record. The production, in typical post-My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy fashion, is sparse. While it won’t be confused for a masterpiece, it shows that West is still good at being a producer. He puts Ty Dolla Sign in position to sound as bubbly as he’s been since the Obama era.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Feb 13, 2024
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Together they highlight his strengths (ace horn arrangements) and, especially, shortcomings.- Rolling Stone
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Star Matthew Morrison couldn't rap his way out of a 98° rehearsal. But Amber "Mercedes" Riley crushes Jazmine Sullivan's 'Bust Your Windows,' and the Gleeks' 'Don't Stop Believin'' is a triumphal moment against which resistance is futile.- Rolling Stone
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His obligatory jet-setter brags about high-dollar shopping sprees and b-words he's f-worded strain for credibility, not fooling anybody.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Dec 13, 2011
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There are a few surprises, like when the sappy "Friday Afternoon" busts a left into Black Sabbath, but for the most part it's formulaic all the way.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Mar 26, 2014
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The band plods more than pushes, and while the riffs stick, the songs generally don't.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Sep 27, 2011
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- Rolling Stone
Posted Apr 9, 2020 -
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His rants get boring over track after track of bland Nineties G-funk (a promised collaboration with his estranged N.W.A homey Dr. Dre never came through).- Rolling Stone
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Beyond Cook's own uncannily elegiac "Beautiful," the songs are only as good as the concept, which wears thin fast.- Rolling Stone
- Posted May 18, 2015
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Underwood's voice is as powerful as ever, but Blown Away tries too hard, ratcheting up melodrama with strings and effects.- Rolling Stone
- Posted May 8, 2012
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Nelson's voice is perfectly preserved, but an overstuffed band of Nashville pros provides stiff arrangements, and Willie has already released better versions of several tracks here.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Feb 7, 2012
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Maybe subtlety's not his thing, but Turner's got a goofy kind of grandeur.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Aug 7, 2015
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Bryan just can't match, say, Kenny Chesney's knack for lonely contemplation. Given the drinking songs he's best at, he'd be better off pretending spring break lasts all year long.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Aug 15, 2013
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The sound on Baptized somehow links U2 to Rascal Flatts, adding Springsteen stances in "Wild Heart." More unexpectedly, there's also a banjo shuffle.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Nov 19, 2013
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- Rolling Stone
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Splitting the difference between hooky modern tunecraft and old-school hush, "Un-Break" is a high point, a track fans of Pink and her papa might all get behind.- Rolling Stone
- Posted May 15, 2012
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- Rolling Stone
- Posted Sep 22, 2014
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Standouts [are] "Where the Sky Hangs" and "My Brother Taught Me How to Swim." But much of the rest of Kindred is so relentlessly up, it starts to feel suffocating.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Apr 21, 2015
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For all of its melancholy, Such Pretty Forks feels personal but never profound. [May 2020, p.89]- Rolling Stone
- Posted Jul 29, 2020
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Sadly, the cuts that reveal Nas' depth and drive get lost in a jumble of sloppy filler.- Rolling Stone
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They’ve never been content to merely be another sedate balladeer act: an inclination that, as heard on The Avett Brothers, their eleventh studio record, can still reward them as much as it can trip them up.- Rolling Stone
- Posted May 16, 2024
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Their third album continues in this mild fashion, and though always pleasant, it's often unmemorable.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Oct 21, 2014
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Zac Brown is laboring strenuously to ensure everyone that he still drinks cold beer on a Friday night, apologizing for a musical adventurousness that he'd be better off simply embracing.- Rolling Stone
- Posted May 11, 2017
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The LP's gospel-flavored synth-pop is invitingly adventurous, but Williams can't hold the space like her touchstones here.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Jun 30, 2015
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But interesting the material is not: The tunes feel same-y and undercooked, and without a band to push him along, Cuomo's sad-dude act gets old fast.- Rolling Stone
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Kiss too often defaults to mediocre dance pop like the Owl City collaboration "Good Time" – heavy on Disney-fied thump, light on memorable hooks that might highlight her unassuming adorableness.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Sep 18, 2012
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The Lavigne heard at the beginning of the record is almost an entirely different person by the end; the hard part is figuring out which part you like more.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Feb 15, 2019
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- Rolling Stone
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- Rolling Stone
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The album's latter half contains some welcome pop moments--'Nothingtown' and 'Let's Hear It for Rock Bottom' make going nowhere in life sound like hot fun--but the standout melodies often take a back seat to the diatribes, and Holland doesn't back up his disaffection with many good reasons to rally behind him.- Rolling Stone
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For the Star Wars generation, it can be hard to get beyond timid fanboy reverence.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Mar 7, 2016
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Adler's no beat master, and the tracks on Shwayze all sound like variations on thumb-strummed Jack Johnson tunes, topped with Sugar Ray-style rhymes about weed and women.- Rolling Stone
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The album's overassertive, radio-baiting steez is epitomized by its lead single, "Play," an imitative slice of soft-is-the-new-loud hip-hop. [22 Sep 2005, p.107]- Rolling Stone
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He does it [copying Prince and Roger Troutman] well, at times, but he usually makes you want to YouTube up the originals.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Feb 25, 2013
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The songwriting remains basic, as always, and vocalist Sam Martin blandly belts "Lovers on the Sun" and the club hit "Dangerous." But the album sounds consistently great.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Jan 5, 2015
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- Rolling Stone
- Posted Feb 25, 2014
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The Miami MC's seventh LP explodes with none of the ambition or scope of March's Mastermind--playing it safe, like a knockoff version of Jay Z's back-to-basics speed bump American Gangster, from 2007.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Jan 5, 2015
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What Black lacks are great tunes and a sense of can't-look-away drama.- Rolling Stone
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Most of the time, though, the band sticks to its comfort zone, with songs that proceed through a sequence of genre clichés as Lewis howls out woe-is-me's and lists of grievances.- Rolling Stone
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[Shape Shifter] has moments of s**t-hot playing (see the smeared runs on "Metatron"). But the arrangements, oversweetened with too many synthesizers, lean toward lite jazz.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Jun 4, 2012
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- Rolling Stone
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Bless ‘em for their ambition, and too bad it didn’t yield more than this muddled set.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Mar 8, 2019
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- Rolling Stone
- Posted Apr 22, 2013
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"Drunk Americans" is a charmingly awkward red-blue-state bear hug; the button-pushing title track rues godless youth who need a good whuppin'. Per usual, highlights put hard-earned truths before identity politics.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Oct 9, 2015
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Next to guests Jay-Z, Snoop and Slim Thug, Pharrell's playa-playa croon gets tiresome.- Rolling Stone
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With a lineup this eclectic and a songbook as undervalued as Harrison's, a little more adventurousness would have gone a long way.- Rolling Stone
- Posted Mar 18, 2016
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