Splendid's Scores

  • Music
For 793 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 65% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 33% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.8 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 75
Highest review score: 100 Humming By The Flowered Vine
Lowest review score: 10 Fire
Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 20 out of 793
793 music reviews
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Instead of embracing the angularity of the self-conscious Britpop and New Wave scenes of yore, Field Music embrace the sugary pop-rock that defined the first British Invasion.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    By returning to the drawing board they used to create Ego War, Dinsdale and Franks have created a bigger, better version of their all-inclusive dance-pop/hip-hop.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Though A Colores is rather uneven, it's a compelling-- and more than competent-- effort.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Bell Orchestre don't always make good on their ambitions, but the results are often excellent, despite (and usually because of) their sloppiness.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Father Divine is that rare album that's conscious of its diversity without being pretentious about it
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    It is completely different from either Akron/Family's or Angels of Light's work from earlier this year, and in Akron's case, represents a startling pace of artistic development.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    As you've come to expect, a small amount of the material sounds utterly fantastic and there's a solid chunk that's barely audible, but whether it's delivered with a coating of fuzz or a liberal gloss of studio sheen, Pollard's gumdrop melodies and fantastical lyrical phrasing keep us coming back for more.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    There are very few artists who could pick up where they left off after ten years, or even five. To do this after half a lifetime is extraordinary.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    While the Big Chorus and post-hardcore theatricality are hardly disparate stylistic traits, it's odd that Rogue Wave would embrace them after establishing themselves as a nuanced pop outfit.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    This is a wonderful album -- and a significant advance over the excellent Sung Tongs.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    There are no breathers in Hypermagic Mountain. There are only a series of knuckle sandwiches in the form of throbbing, distorting, gesticulating low-end ear bleeders.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tanglewood Numbers' hummable songs and often-arresting lyrics are impressive, but Berman would be nowhere without a little help from his many friends.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    If you like it fast and rough and dirty, this one's for you
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Clientele have crafted another lovely batch of tunes, perfect for autumnal introspection and wintry solitude -- but somehow it doesn't seem like enough.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The most remarkable thing about Tournament of Hearts is that technically, it is the Constantines' slowest, jazziest, most countrified release to date, but it doesn't give an inch of intensity when it's compared to their self-titled debut or the landmark Shine a Light.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Rather than detract from the funkified weirdness, the guest spots from the Adult Swim crew actually add to the craziness.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It's everything we've come to expect from Forrest in one gloriously hack 'n' sawed package, meticulously pieced together from his wide-ranging record collection.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Julia and Lena's voices are nothing special, and their lyrics are still derivative -- suitable fodder for Charmed or a Rachel Leigh Cook movie, but not the sort of thing that makes a lasting impression.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Gimmie Trouble reminds us that Adult. don't sound like anyone else... Not even themselves.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Through smart songcraft, a powerful command of pop vocabulary, and skillful track sequencing, Dios Malos deliver an album that expands and grows more complicated with every listen.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    This is one of those rare albums where every single track is a keeper and killer hooks abound.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Here, finally, is a goth album for people who hate goth, an electronic album for people who hate electronica, and a pop album for everyone else.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Z
    The first My Morning Jacket whose songs reach the heights to which James's voice aspires.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Slug hasn't grown a whole lot.... Still, his lyricism and delivery are generally smart and entertaining, and Ant's production goes even further toward making You Can't Imagine... a thoroughly enjoyable record.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Metric take rock 'n' roll to a smarter, more sophisticated place than do most of today's American bands.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    You'd think there wasn't much left to do with the roots-oriented rock formula, but Albatross proves that there's plenty of life and passion and intelligence left in the genre.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    This isn't really one of those cases where bands like Wire or Mission of Burma or Vashti Bunyan come back years later with stuff that ranks among their best, but it isn't bad, either -- not bad at all.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    After a while, the songs begin to sound the same, and while Martey's vocals are consistently strong, the fact that she almost always sings in the same range robs them of much of their effect.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Apologies to the Queen Mary is almost an hour long, and there are certainly portions of it that aren't essential... but it's difficult to see where any fat could have been cut, as each track has its own fractured beauty.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The album sounds mature, weathered, tired and occasionally almost weary, but is far to dynamic to ever seem truly lethargic.