The A.V. Club's Scores

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For 4,544 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 64% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 34% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.5 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
Highest review score: 100 The Life Of Pablo
Lowest review score: 0 Graffiti
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,663 out of 4544
  2. Mixed: 771 out of 4544
  3. Negative: 110 out of 4544
4544 music reviews
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    • 81 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    They Want My Soul
    The playing on They Want My Soul still possesses a marked degree of control, but it’s treated with additional textures made possible by Fridmann and Fischel.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Wild Onion
    Though Twin Peaks are positioned next to local garage-rockers The Orwells, the Smith Westerns, and countless other bands with vanilla influences like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, the 20-year-olds have more than enough chops to rise above the rest.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Manipulator
    His most inclusive, expansive album to date, it coaxes textures and touches territories he’s been inching toward for many a moon. And he brings it together in a crowd-pleasing package.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Clearing the Path to Ascend
    All dreams must end--but by extension, so must all nightmares. On Clearing The Path To Ascend, Yob has beautifully, brutally conjured a bit of both.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    In a Dream
    In A Dream is undoubtedly the most confident and comfortable The Juan MacLean has sounded.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Sukierae
    The impressive thing about Sukierae, however, is that the many great songs almost erase the memory of the mediocre ones.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Popular Problems
    As usual, the freshest-sounding songs are those that tread the farthest from Cohen’s gypsy-folk roots, but here that’s most of them, save the plodding thud of “Samson In New Orleans” and the lilting, acoustic “You Got Me Singing.”
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    1989
    Swift’s never going to be as bleak as Del Rey or as sexually frank as Madonna, but, on 1989, she’s figured out how to be an adult once and for all.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Tell 'Em I'm Gone
    It’s Cat Stevens singing rhythm and blues, with a combination of originals and covers that showcase attractive playing (legendary guitarist Richard Thompson helps here) and production (cue Rick Rubin). Best of all, his voice remains intact, providing a familiar and favorable sound.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Pom Pom
    With its vast stylistic terrain, Pom Pom feels at times more like a singles collection than a cohesive album, which isn’t to its detriment.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance
    Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance is the purest expression of the big, bright sounds that have always been within the band, visions of Belle & Sebastian as Naked-era Talking Heads or an ABBA for 2015.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    American Beauty/American Psycho
    With the benefit of hindsight and perspective, the narrators reach something close to emotional enlightenment. Yet American Beauty/American Psycho is no nostalgia trip. If anything, the record also contains the most contemporary-sounding music of the band’s career.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Vulnicura
    The musical moments that capture Björk’s heartbreak are frequently stunning on Vulnicura, but the whole thing is a little shy on hooks and reasons to take the grueling journey with her often. And that’s what keeps it from being her Yeezus: The heartbreak makes it powerful, but also difficult to enjoy.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Tetsuo & Youth
    The Chicago rapper is at his very best when he avoids spoon-feeding all-knowing insights on the human condition. He rediscovers his own voice when he stops trying to be the forced voice of a movement.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Natalie Prass
    What makes it good is her sophisticated ear for pop arrangements. What sets it apart is her gracefully authoritative, hyper-emotive, and at times semi-animal personality brought out through a masterfully controlled and gloriously weird set of pipes.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Individ
    “Goodbyes And Endings,” the album’s strongest song, sits right in the middle, featuring multiple time signatures, all stitched together seamlessly so that one of The Dodos’ most complex songs is also one of the band’s catchiest. Individ finishes with a strong and varied trio.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Shadows in the Night
    Due to the sparse, stripped-down arrangement of the music, there’s fortunately no place for him to hide, and his singing fits these songs much better than you might expect.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Vestiges & Claws
    Assessed independently, Vestiges & Claws’ progressions may be modest, but its adjustments cohere into a record of uncommonly evocative capacity.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    EarthEE
    It’s an album that engages with the history of black culture while challenging the political, cultural, and musical status quos at every turn.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Citizen Zombie
    The band may castigate the apathy endemic to the masses, but it doesn’t wallow. It instead throbs, bristles, and ultimately galvanizes, vividly documenting what’s been lost in our comfortably numb political complacency while brazenly providing a template for what can be done to re-gain it.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Rose Mountain
    It may not be their best--it’ll be hard to top Ugly--but it’s taking steps in a new direction, and positioning the band for even greater things to come.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Policy
    This is a terrific opening volley from a musician seemingly just beginning to tap an overflowing surfeit of songwriting riches.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Goon
    While the narrative is compelling, this is a sound-first record, with each lyric fostering the fundamental ideals Jesso has for his music.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Kintsugi
    It blends the newer sounds of the group’s recent output with the warmth and accessibility of its earlier work, which makes for a fine cocktail.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Strangers to Ourselves
    Like 2007’s We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, it’s a comfortably familiar return to the less-than-comfortable mix of weighty lyrics and jittery, crazy-eyed indie rock that’s sustained Modest Mouse’s illustrious career.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Ark Work
    What keeps The Ark Work from being just another metal album with non-metal influences, and elevates it above a post-modern stunt, is the uncompromising, uncategorizable beast that results from this vision.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    I Don't Like Shit: I Don't Go Outside
    At just under a half hour, it’s even more understated than its predecessor, with fewer guests, almost no outside producers, less variety--less everything, really. That may sound like a downgrade, but it’s not, since here the anti-spectacle becomes a kind of spectacle of its own, as Earl tests how far his music can retreat into itself.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Ivy Tripp
    It’s Crutchfield’s commitment to embracing both sides of herself--and not downplaying either--that makes Ivy Tripp the most accomplished record to bear the Waxahatchee name.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Kindred
    The advantage of Kindred, though, is that Angelakos’ focus on being more versatile requires attention, which results in a greater appreciation for all that he does.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Untethered Moon
    Untethered Moon, the band’s first album in six years, wastes no time in reaffirming what Built To Spill does.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Why Make Sense?
    Six albums in, Hot Chip doesn’t really have much to offer in the way of surprises, but with such strong songwriting and a languidly sexy mood tying it all together, it doesn’t need to.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Choose Your Weapon
    The complex, angular song structures beckon only to evade, bolting in unexpected directions just as they seem to settle into a groove.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Sol Invictus
    It’s the rare, rare reunion album that’s shoulder to shoulder with what came before it, standing on the band’s solid catalog instead of trying and failing to start the climb anew.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Traveler
    Although The Traveler is a Miller solo vehicle, the chemistry he has with Black Prairie is what makes the album such a rousing success.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The L-Shaped Man
    The L-Shaped Man adds context to Zoo’s post-punk/hardcore hybrid, showing it for the transitional step that it was all along. On The L-Shaped Man, there’s no question of Ceremony’s intent or authenticity.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    FFS
    It’s an uncommonly smart record full of unexpected, delightful detours.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Black Age Blues
    While a few songs on Black Age Blues could’ve been cut, it’s still a Goatsnake album, which is to say that it’s badass.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Pageant Material
    Some tracks, like “Fine” and “Somebody To Love,” drag a bit, bringing the already slightly slow record down a notch. Still, tracks like the aforementioned “Biscuits” and weed-infused opener “High Time” more than make up the difference, making Pageant Material a must listen for anyone who’s a little bit country, a little bit rock ’n’ roll, and just a little bit crazy.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    City Of Quartz
    In capturing both Diamonds’ lingering malaise and a regained sense of carefree abandon, the album melds the sophisticated melancholy compositions of his recent career with whimsical experimentation.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Currents
    Currents isn’t quite that [masterpiece] album, but it’s an enthralling listen nonetheless.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Ghost Notes
    It’s a celebration of the two of them--Post and Gordon, back together, joyous and rocking out, the past behind them.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Magnifique
    Though the new Magnifique--the band’s first album in five years--doesn’t reinvent the Ratatat wheel, it revisits the status-quo thrill of those first two albums, while sprinkling in the hammock-swaying, breezy tropical vibe of both LP3 and LP4.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    No Life For Me
    No Life For Me offers a vital reminder of how sharp these two sound even when they’re stripped of those resources.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Star Wars
    Star Wars is absolutely that journey to challenging parts unknown, and, thankfully, it’s a trip worth taking.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Most Lamentable Tragedy
    You can hear, see, feel Titus Andronicus trying their damnedest, and when the band’s talented musicians aren’t interrupted for the sake of concept, that enthusiasm and the resulting excellent songs pass infectiously to the listener.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Positive Songs for Negative People
    Playing live together save vocals and minor overdubs. The result pushes Turner and his band back into more energetic territory after the careful, pristine sound of his previous effort.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Weirdo Shrine
    The real highlight of Weirdo Shrine comes from Cleveland’s guitar playing. Nearly every song on the record features either a solo or a break for the singer to take over and shine with her instrument.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Compton
    Compton successfully crams the magnitude of his origin story into ambitious, densely packed sonics.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    E-MO-TION
    One of 2015’s most interesting, effervescent records.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Pagans in Vegas
    Pagans In Vegas has a strong and consistent tone, more uplifting than most of the previous work, but retaining both the lyrical skepticism and dark musicality of so much of Metric’s catalog.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    All a Man Should Do
    This is a record that takes its time, relying a lot on Rick Steff’s piano and organ to color in between the music’s straight lines. That’s not to say that Nichols avoids hooks, or that the songs don’t still stick in the head.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Ad Infinitum
    Ad Infinitum isn’t a palette cleanser or a holdover to the next conventional Telekinesis album--it’s a deeply affecting piece of work at a visceral level, suggesting that Lerner is an artist with crashing ambitions who’s willing to risk alienating his audience.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    V
    From “Heavy Metal Detox” on down Williams keeps V’s tracks compact and tight (none exceed three-and-a-half minutes in length). His wiggling, breezy guitar effects and vintage-pop woo-hoos coast beneath chugging rhythms from bassist Stevie Pope and drummer Brian Hill with such nonchalance that hooks occasionally scoot right by before you even realize your tapping your foot along with them.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Agent Intellect
    The Agent Intellect is an impressive addition to the band’s small discography, and it hints that bigger, bolder work may lay ahead.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    If I Should Go Before You
    These are only relatively fresh spins on familiar concepts, but presented via an enjoyable framework that proves Green’s still loaded with stimulating ideas.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Divers
    The sheer array of sounds on this record is amazing--not just in the variety of instruments employed, but also in the ways they are utilized.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Thank Your Lucky Stars
    It would have been a shame for Thank Your Lucky Stars to have been misspent or glossed over; as is, the full sonic and emotional weight is tremendous.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Magnetic Bodies/Maps of Bones
    The rest of Magnetic Bodies doesn’t quite live up to its early potential, but it comes impressively close.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Montage Of Heck: The Home Recordings
    Nearly everything here feels unfinished, and, for those seeking undiscovered gems from one of the greats, that might be a deal-breaker. The Home Recordings is not an easy listen. To appreciate The Home Recordings is to give yourself over to Cobain’s process, because it’s his freewheeling desire for discovery that propels these tracks.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Waiting Room
    Though Tindersticks is no longer angling for the pure dramatic sweep of its ambitious ’90s records, it remains a unique band, maintaining a sense of creativity (and making beautiful music) while working within limited themes.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Jet Plane And Oxbow
    The album doesn’t always fulfill its ambitions, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially with results as muscular as this one.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    This Is Acting
    A record that overwhelmingly delivers big beats and shout-along choruses straight to the brain’s pleasure center.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Anti
    In the end, Anti’s tracks combine to create a picture of Rihanna at her most relatable and enthralling.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    How to Dance
    The songs on How To Dance--while immediately ingratiating--reveal more depth with each spin, opening up entire universes within the backwoods. The lyrics allude to mythology and folktales, and as McEntire sings them, it’s easy to imagine her with her eyes closed, receiving the words from some netherworld.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Painkillers
    The secret to Painkillers is that Fallon doesn’t overcomplicate things or second-guess himself, which must be liberating considering the daunting amount of pressure he’s under with Gaslight. And pairing Fallon’s vocals with piano (“Honey Magnolia”) and harmonious backing vocals (“Open All Night”) illustrates how versatile his voice is when he doesn’t need to scream over an overdriven amp.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    United Crushers
    If United Crushers isn’t exactly optimistic, its vitality suggests that feeling friendless (“Fish On The Griddle”), cast aside (“Lose You”), or trapped on your sucky street corner (“Melting Block”) need not ruin your weekend.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Visions of Us on the Land
    Though the collab with Swift has resulted in easily Jurado’s most fascinating records as a songwriter, the wide-open road might be a little too inviting at times--because occasionally you need to consult a map for fear of driving off the end of the Earth.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future
    By the time the triumphant final expansive push to the end arrives, it’s become one of Underworld’s most powerful musical statements--and the memorable grace note to a strong return to form.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Patch the Sky
    It’s fair to wonder how many more runs through the alternative-rock mill one guy will get, but if Patch The Sky is any indication, Mould’s still a long way away from being on the clock.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Hella Personal Film Festival
    Props go to Open Mike Eagle for finding the right delivery and attitude suitable for each new endeavor. But stronger accolades go to White for crafting such a challenging and engrossing set of beats in the first place.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Amen & Goodbye
    What they share--and what almost the whole album offers--is a beautifully crafted, fearless balance of sweet and dark.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Eric Bachmann
    Eric Bachmann is the most lyric-centered record of Bachmann’s career; it’s not as immediate as Archers Of Loaf or Crooked Fingers, but it isn’t built to be. The lasting impression is a deeply personal one.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Wilderness
    Explosions In The Sky have crafted an updated version of themselves that’s ready for 2016 ears without sacrificing the band’s identity. The record might divide some longtime fans, but it’s a necessary risk to take to ensure the band’s continued relevance.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Lost Time
    The songs are simple and instantly catchy, fuller in sound than their previous work and fueled by prominent percussion that’s been moved to the forefront.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Love Letter for Fire
    The result is Beam’s best release since In The Reins, with a far more dynamic batch of songs, and a wider introduction to Hoop’s compelling and naturally chameleonic songwriting style.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Please Be Honest
    While Please Be Honest can’t quite rank with the best of Guided By Voice’s output, it’s a solid, rewarding record that more than lives up to the band’s namesake.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Always Strive and Prosper
    Without succumbing to false sentimentality or restricting himself with the overly linear narrative structure of many of rap’s recent prestige albums, Ferg has crafted a tender tribute to the people he loves most. It’s not often that albums that bang this hard are this moving.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Paradise
    What sets Paradise apart, though, is an even finer polish than its predecessor Deep Fantasy, the first album to benefit from a Domino-bequeathed luster. So much of that subtle maturation is due to William’s expansive and inventive playing.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Hopelessness
    Compared with the morose, string-laden music Anohni is known for, this is an Ariana Grande album, but it remains experimental and emotional enough to feel natural. Anohni is broadening her audience--not courting a broad audience.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Impossible Kid
    Whereas Rock’s last solo album, Skelethon, showcases his unparalleled knack for abstract imagery and reflection, The Impossible Kid combines hallucinatory wordplay with disarmingly forthright autobiography--a combination that enhances the impact of each mode.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Fallen Angels
    For whippersnappers, Fallen Angels is a reminder that great poetry and complex emotions existed in American song well before 1962.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Nattesferd
    Kvelertak has explored its more tuneful side in the past, but here, it pushes things further--and more seamlessly.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Wild Pendulum
    Pendulum is lovingly crafted, with layers in all the right places.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Dream Is Over
    In many ways, The Dream Is Over is a record that perfectly captures the moment between bottoming out and rising above. Not many would be able to find this much strength when on the brink of collapse, but PUP’s never seemed all that interested in doing things the easy way.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Love You To Death
    Love You To Death is an apt title for an album so full of effortlessly addicting pop that nonetheless exhausts a sole musical formula in every permutation.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Glowing Man
    Gira feeds on the drawn-out, high-tension passages of accelerating cymbal crashes and swelling guitar dissonance, many of which exist on the 25-minute “Cloud Of Unknowing.” But while the axis on which that track rotates features deconstructed, incohesive drum rolls and a kind of radiant summoning from Gira--one that bleeds and pools into negative space you didn’t know existed--the plodding, sinister rhythm that precedes it proves more hypnotic.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Mountain Will Fall
    Not everything works--“California” succumbs to a kind of spare, thudding aimlessness, as though the track wasn’t sure what to include and what to lose--but overall, this is DJ Shadow’s best work since his early-aughts heyday.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Johannesburg [EP]
    Johannesburg’s thrills develop as the band participates in and gently incorporates something unfamiliar--without claiming ownership of it.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Wildflower
    Wildflower may not inspire the same years of obsessive unpacking as its predecessor, but the joyful feelings it leaves behind linger just the same.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Command Your Weather
    Command Your Weather may signal the start of a new era for Big Business, but paradigm shift it ain’t.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    32 Levels
    It’s in the back half of 32 Levels, where Volpe drops rap entirely to pair off with singers, that he pushes himself in less familiar directions—to outcomes both revelatory and slightly banal.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The King of Whys
    Songs rarely adhere to one form, instead taking bits and pieces of Kinsella’s career and making them all sound fresh. It’s the kind of record that will appease Owen fans, but it’s lush enough--and inspired enough--to suggest that Owen is perhaps the best it’s ever been.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Innocence Reaches
    It’s when the consistency falters (as with the record’s end, when the unfocused “Trashed Exes” and “Chap Pilot” close out the album) that Barnes seems to be losing balance. Still, the highs are dizzying.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Fishing Blues
    Overall, this is undeniable rap therapy. Like the rest of us, Slug and Ant are just trying to get by, and for the most part, they’re succeeding.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Blonde
    As Blonde gets closer to the finish line, the same themes get explored again and again with a more collagelike musicality.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Stay Gold
    The album is most compelling when Walker attempts to figure out how the shoulda-beens or close calls haunting his life fit into the present day.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    False Readings On
    False Readings On leaves you with as much unease as it does catharsis. But these steps forward make sense for the composer as he forges on.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Return to Love
    It’s the band’s most accomplished work to date.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    22, A Million
    22, A Million can stand confidently as the only album to bridge Hornsby’s The Way It Is with Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Ruminations
    It works because Oberst keeps the music moving and doesn’t let his voice over-quiver with rage or sadness. He’s rather calm, and his songwriting is strong as ever.
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