Slant Magazine's Scores

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For 3,119 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 35% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 62% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 7.7 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 65
Highest review score: 100 Who Kill
Lowest review score: 0 Fireflies
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,689 out of 3119
  2. Mixed: 1,319 out of 3119
  3. Negative: 111 out of 3119
3119 music reviews
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    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
    Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! is ultimately a rock record more than it is an ideas record, but on both counts the Seeds bring it like a band half their age.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Third
    There's enough on Third (spaghetti-western guitars, organs, barking effects) to sate those who pine for the late '90s, but gone is the turntable scratching, ostensibly deemed too much of a relic from that decade; in its place are more electronic flourishes, like the cyclic synth-bass loop that softens the second half of "The Rip," a song which is proof positive that Goldfrapp would never exist without Portishead.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Jim
    This is saying something, because every single song on Jim will battle for space in the part of your brain that gets hooked.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Jim Noir
    Jim Noir works brilliantly on an escapist level, even though it rewards more active listening.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Arm's Way
    As a fully realized, bombastically confident artistic statement, Arm's Way is Nick Thorburn's "69 Love Songs." Hereafter we will only seek to understand him according to his own pop- and violence-addled logic, mapped perfectly on this thrilling album.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    That Lucky Old Sun
    In many ways, Wilson updates his style, while still paying tribute to the things he loves.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Sleepless Nights
    Loveless has offered another unqualified masterpiece with Sleepless Nights and reasserted her place as one of the premier artists not just of the country genre but of contemporary popular music.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Caught In The Trees
    The simplicity of Jurado's writing is matched with a tender tone and a lack of condescension.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Chemistry Of Common Life
    Chemistry is a natural and seamless masterpiece that might never have happened but for the band's own need to thumb its nose at expectations.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Microcastle
    In putting the brakes on their revolutionary impulses to instead embrace old tropes and familiar sounds, Deerhunter has hit upon an endearing, awesome universality.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Fordlandia
    In the end, the album is a fascinating musical thesis that can function with or without its brain intact.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Immolate Yourself
    Immolate Yourself does a lot and does it all well, creating an album that adds explicit punctuation to an already shocking loss.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit
    The result is that, in both content and form, The 400 Unit is an unapologetically Southern album, and the lived-in authenticity of its performances, masterful songwriting, and fierce intelligence also make it one of the finest albums of what has already been a strong year for popular music.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Crack The Skye
    Crack the Skye presents a stunningly original fusion of sounds.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Two Suns
    Dark, but never needlessly so, Two Suns offers a rich, distinct world of subterranean lullabies, spacey timbres, and ghostly beauty.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Enemy Mine
    This incessant sense of creative movement makes Enemy Mine one of the best albums of the year, the sound of three great musicians forged into a product bigger than themselves.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Actor
    Her voice seems small and fragile, but it's her most effective instrument, and it affixes a tight lynchpin to the album's broadly creative themes, leaving it glistening with ghostly elegance.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Wavering Radiant
    Whether trading in power chords or atmospheric overlays, the band excels at transforming emotions into thrilling sounds, palpable awe, and tangible dread. This is metal played at its arresting best.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Bachelor
    The Bachelor's overall tone reflects a nihilistic view of both romance and humanity, making for an about-face from the relative sunshine of 2007's "The Magic Position," and this tone is reflected in some of Wolf's most ambitious, baroque compositions to date.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Two Dancers
    Two Dancers is a striking, dynamic album, and will deservedly land on many year-end lists.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    xx
    It's a perfectly executed ending for an album whose understated pleasures will surely amount to one of the year's most treasured releases.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II
    Fundamentally, though, the album is a wistful and occasionally melancholic one that is as consistently captivating in its lyrical content as it is wonderfully dark and eerily melodic in its composition and production.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Revolution
    A dense, challenging record, Revolution once again finds Lambert setting the benchmark for the country genre even as she begins to consider the possibilities beyond its borders.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Molina And Johnson
    This empty feeling contributes to the quiet mood of Molina & Johnson, which feels dark and battered yet still gleaming, a compilation that's as evocative as the best work of either of its namesakes.
    • 93 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Live At Reading
    Reading is a far cry from pop-chart fodder. And while the jarring howl of Cobain's Fender and his gravelly delivery may alienate the more nonchalant corners of their fanbase, these ferocious renditions will be a godsend to the dyed-in-the-wool Nirvana following.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Heartland
    Pallett has crafted an absorbing gem of a record, one that delivers substantial emotional payloads by means of incredibly intricate pop music.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Teen Dream
    Beach House makes it easy on Teen Dream, supplying an intense but transparent sheen of iridescent sound, marking an album whose quality is almost instantly evident. Better than anything in recent memory, the album typifies the difference between sonic interference as an instrumental tool and a blanket to hide beneath.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There is No C)
    Powerful and smart above all else, Enlightenment may just be Hubbard's finest record, and it's certainly the new decade's first essential album.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Crows
    With her songwriting on point (she's always had a weakness for obvious, forced rhymes, but her discovery of slant and blank rhyme leave just a couple such offenders intact) and with her distinctive contralto in exquisite form, Moorer's performance here is arguably a career best.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Golden Archipelago
    Overflowing with talent and ambition, Golden Archipelago is that rare kind of great album: tackling big ideas and attempting chancy things while delivering a product that feels flawlessly and decisively whole.
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