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: | Humming By The Flowered Vine | |
---|---|---|
Lowest review score: | Fire |
Score distribution:
-
Positive: 654 out of 793
-
Mixed: 119 out of 793
-
Negative: 20 out of 793
793
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
-
- Critic Score
By the time "Our Mutual Friend"'s symphonic percussion and hammering cellos reach their crashing apex, the album begins to feel a little like the fourth consecutive hour at a well-stocked party full of musical theater majors.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Like the Austin Powers films, there's a sense that authenticity has been betrayed in some vague and troubling way.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Sure, they meld muscular riffs with smoky organ meditations, folky landscapes, pompous orchestration and the occasional IDM skitter, but not without losing the transcendent detail that makes each of these genres worth savoring and holding on to.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
As entertainment, Tenacious D succeeds surprisingly well -- for the first few listens.... The only long-term replay value you'll get from this record will come from playing it for friends who haven't heard it.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Harper performs his knock-offs so earnestly you'd think he were resuscitating some forgotten art, rather than aping tunes that are played 24/7 on oldies radio.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
The songs here are resolutely pop, almost bubblegum, and though they're sometimes buoyant, hyperkinetic, even fun, they have almost no depth or resonance to them.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
You'll either find it cloying and saccharine or heartfelt and precise, or maybe a little bit of both.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
I'm used to hearing more layers in this type of music, and the simplicity here is surprising -- not necessarily in a good way.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Although the Cooper Temple Clause pack plenty of celestial firepower and darkwave ambiance into their six-minute movements, by the time they unveil the epic "Written Apology", the sheer compositional weight is too much for a mortal listener to handle.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Like their NYC peers Liars and the Rapture, HHH are adept at fusing dancefloor polemics with angular guitar atmospherics, yet their sound lacks the sweat-soaked sexual ardor that those groups flaunt so remorselessly.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
While there's no denying the hedonistic charm of "Emerge" or "Turn On", it's also obvious that the album slips easily into a beat-happy rut, never quite pulling off the total and complete transfixion it was so obviously designed to achieve.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Anyone searching for a wholly absorbing listening experience should look (and listen) elsewhere.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
While there are plenty of MTV2-ready tunes, the record doesn't bear much repetition.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Taken as a group, Heroes to Zeros' slower songs are the musical equivalent of a month-long sinus infection: heavy on the repetition, sleepy detachment and sensory deprivation.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Plenty of albums split the difference between gems and junk, but the biggest problem with Glass House is that it lacks any discernible anima; the band seems to be phoning in their performance from a comfy armchair somewhere in Milwaukee.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
I so want to hate this album.... If only the album flat-out sucked, I'd be on much firmer ground. Too bad it doesn't.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Unfortunately, it seems that the only thing he really learned was how to write a Pavement tune, and he's having a little trouble trying to figure out what to do with himself now that Pavement is no more.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
For a band that regularly draws comparisons to Beta Band and Pavement, Vehicles & Animals is all too pedestrian.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Their songs routinely beg for a spoken message, to the point where their originals sound like dub versions.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
I wouldn't go so far as to say that White People should never have happened... but Paul and Dan would do well to move on while they're still ahead.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- 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.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Although the group's previous outings routinely got bogged down in forced experimentalism, Broken Ear Record at least keeps the pace sufficiently frantic, which allows us to excuse some (if not all) of its more self-indulgent moments.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
I can respect the need to innovate in hip-hop, but variety here comes at a cost -- there's no coherent or consistent melodic through-line.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
You say you don't give a shit about lyrics? That's good; most of Echoes' lyrics aren't worth giving a shit about.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Mid-tempo rocker follows mid-tempo rocker without any change of pace to keep things interesting.- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Splendid
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
In the end, Tree City's quality makes its carbon-copy nature all the more frustrating.- Splendid
- Read full review