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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    • 78 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Nobody's Smiling
    A collection of mostly forgettable tracks that tries far too hard and has little to show for it.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Lost in Alphaville
    Without a fresh set of tunes tailored for the task of revisiting the past, Lost In Alphaville fails at sounding satisfyingly new or old.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    My Everything
    My Everything is so well-constructed and designed to succeed, it rarely loosens up enough to let any depth of character (or real surprises) surface.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Barragán
    For all its low points, Barragán still floats on the strength of Makino’s alluring voice and the band’s deft ear for lovely atmospherics.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Crush Songs
    Crush Songs is sad and pretty and likely to be playing at an American Apparel somewhere near you, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But it’s hardly the best work Karen O can do.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    V
    Every song clocks right in that radio sweet spot between three and four minutes, and nearly all of them go down like candy, but collectively the final product is an album with all the surprise and individuality of a Now That’s What I Call Music compilation.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Ryan Adams
    Ryan Adams is, for better or for worse, just another Ryan Adams record--but neither Adams nor his fans seem to have a problem with that.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Classics
    Losing something in translation is the potential downside of interpreting beloved standards, and while She & Him are lovingly faithful performers, Classics ends up as just pleasant background music.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    36 Seasons
    Even at its best, however, 36 Seasons lacks the maniacal forward drive that propels Ghostface’s most electrifying works.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Cherry Bomb
    For all their blown-out abrasion, though, Tyler’s harder tracks never dazzle the way West’s industrial experiments did. They merely cloy.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Mobile Orchestra
    Nothing on Mobile Orchestra indicates he’s found his new muse, but it reveals a well of passion for that discovery.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Morning World
    The album skates from tumbling tracks like “Pink” and “Morning World”—which are reminiscent of the slightly math indie-rock sound of the solid Polyvinyl band Aloha—to a jam like “It Starts At The Water,” which features static washes floating in and out of the atmosphere while an underground buzz burrows beneath a simple, chugging beat.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Adore Life
    It’s a shame that so much of the Savages album feels like a songwriting rut, because the record’s lone moment of transcendence, “Adore,” also stamps out a repeating coda at its end.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Don't You
    The music rarely has room to breathe underneath all the echo, reverb, doubling of vocals, instruments, and synth-heavy swirls of sound. It doesn’t help matters that the lyrics often succumb to the temptation of pop-song cliché.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    This Unruly Mess I've Made
    It’s hard to think of a more apt title for this album than This Unruly Mess I’ve Made. Listeners can find everything that made Macklemore popular in the first place, mixed with everything that lead to the intense backlash against him two years ago.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Music For Listening To Music To
    While the record is undoubtedly pretty, it also feels defanged.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Are You Serious
    Unfortunately, the highlights here are exceptions rather than the rule.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Kidsticks
    In the end, Kidsticks’ raw material is sound, and Orton’s attention to detail is impressive. But this adventurous approach could use a bit more structure and cohesion next time around.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Ash & Ice
    Ash & Ice is an incremental creative step in the right direction for The Kills. But the uneven execution demonstrates once again that the band’s undeniable live chemistry and charisma doesn’t always translate perfectly to its studio work.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    The Getaway
    The tame, disco-fried band they’ve become is the only group you’ll hear on the second half of the album, and the instrumental moments that provide redemption wear thin as Kiedis dampens their purpose.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    One Day All of This Won't Matter Any More
    The album as a whole leaves a blurry impression, not a crisp memory.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Endless
    For the most part, the musicality--much sparser than the maximalist sonic feasts of his earlier work--still holds the same synesthetic power of the past, even for those who don’t claim to have the ability to see sounds.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Hamburg Demonstrations
    There is the sense here that he’s trying to get away from himself, to grasp at problems that loom larger than those in his personal life. It feels necessary, if not particularly memorable.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Echolocation
    Unfortunately, about half of the album’s 12 tracks could be described as comfortable, safe songwriting without the exploration that makes the band shine.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Hot Thoughts
    Spoon is a master of hooky songwriting, but Hot Thoughts seems so bent on undermining it that the band undersells itself. Maybe Hot Thoughts is an apt title after all--it’s got great ideas, but the execution is lacking.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Yours Conditionally
    Even with some outstanding singles, the album as a whole finds the group somewhere between its comfort zone and a confident next step, with many of the songs bleeding forgettably into one another.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    I'm Only Dreaming
    It’s a pleasant record, but an awfully safe and unchallenging one.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Silver Eye
    Too much of Silver Eye keeps something back. But if “Zodiac Black” signals the next step in the evolution of Goldfrapp, maybe that reluctance will eventually prove to be worth it.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Silver/Lead
    On these songs [“Playing Harp For The Fishes,” “Short Elevated Period,” and “Diamonds In Cups”], Silver/Lead strikes the perfect balance of moody intrigue and saw-toothed aggression. Unfortunately, the rest of the album isn’t calibrated quite as precisely, which makes for an uneven listening experience.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Whiteout Conditions
    In the immediate, Whiteout Conditions might leave you a little cold.
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