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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    • 71 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
    Echoes has some characteristic Foo Fighters rockers, but even they sound quieter: Producer Gil Norton keeps the guitars, along with everything else, subdued. And without the usual standout hits (though 'Long Road To Ruin' is solid), Echoes will probably leave fans wanting.
    • 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.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Raditude
    Hooks only go so far, and outside of 'Put Me Back Together' and 'I Don’t Want To Let You Go,' Cuomo doesn’t appear interested in propping them up with human emotions.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Dream
    A little mystery of the sort is desirable, even necessary, but The Dream has a habit of dashing the murky, dreamy Orb world in ways that aren't ideal.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Elements of Light
    Elements Of Light is missing momentum and velocity--two things needed to sustain an all-instrumental symphony. Unfortunately, this means the album ends up as pleasant background noise-and not much more.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Portamento
    The group's sophomore effort, Portamento, finds the band maturing but not yet mature, as it pumps out two-note New Order guitar riffs and whiny screeds against parents, religion, and its members' empty wallets.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Biophilia
    As minimally executed as it is maximally conceived, Biophilia doesn't sculpt emptiness; it swims in it.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Born Free
    On Born Free, Kid Rock has become Grown Man Rock, setting aside the bombastic mélange of hip-hop, metal, country, and bad taste that made his name a permanent fixture on the asses of strippers across this great land.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Making It
    Too many songs here--such as the sour break-up anthem "Curse" and the "is all art autobiographical?" meditation "Pretend"--come off as overworked lyrically and underdeveloped musically.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Me Moan
    On Me Moan, he stretches too far. It’s a shame, because his beautiful voice is one made for quiet crooning, not bold wailing.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Disconnect from Desire
    The lyrics never step beyond New Agey, four-elements platitudes, and the arrangements, even when ostensibly dark, never cut against the vocals' immaculateness.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Seeds
    Seeds reflects a band unconcerned with challenging its listeners this time and more interested in delivering a complete collection of competent, mark-bearing songs for the sake of proudly stating the existence of TV On The Radio in 2014.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    My Dear Melancholy, [EP]
    On Melancholy, the Starboy wallows in heartbreak. It can be a bit tedious, at least until French producer/DJ Gesaffelstein shows up for “Never There” and “Hurt You,” which plays like a two-part song.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Bruiser
    As it is, Bruiser is an album with some promise, but not much.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    No Line On The Horizon
    U2 might try to pass Horizon off as atmospheric, but it's really just a grab bag of underdeveloped ideas that never seemed to command the band's full attention.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Live Music
    The absence of sonic violence and impenetrable murk has made the Strange Boys sound unexpectedly emaciated and bloodless.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Roses
    The group has successfully channeled its signature sound after a decade of silence, but the lack of growth makes Roses feel stuck in the past.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    OST
    With better production and more focus, 8 Mile could have been a hip-hop version of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Instead, it's a frustrating collection that bogs down two of the best songs of Eminem's career with a lot of interchangeable filler.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Defend Yourself
    The sound remains the same, but the songs aren’t always there.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Everything Goes Wrong
    Most of their songs sound the same--warbled three-part harmonies over three-chord strumming--and the slick production only highlights that lack of breadth.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Futuristically Speaking...Never Be Afraid
    The music supplied by producers Hardfeelings UK, Basement Jaxx, and others is serviceable at worst and at times pretty great, but much of the subject matter that gets lost among flailing arms and flapping breasts during live shows is exposed as boring, cliché, and/or lame over the course of the album's 55 minutes.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Putrifiers II
    His [John Dwyer's] experiments seem less about evolution and progress, and more about exploring every permutation of his influences that are mathematically available to him. While that still makes for some decent songs, it's not nearly as exhilarating now that Thee Oh Sees' mix 'n' match methodology is so plainly evident to all but the most casual listeners.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    L.A.X.
    The Game has always borrowed from the greats. Here, he cannibalizes his own tired shtick so extensively, he lapses even further into self-parody.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Piece by Piece
    Piece By Piece sounds energized during these looser moments; it’s hard to shake the feeling the album would’ve been far better had it taken a few more risks.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Amanda Leigh
    Every subsequent song on Amanda Leigh, no matter the tempo or mood, offers a similar mishmash of pop sheen and anodyne country rock, with little to suggest a distinct artistic vision.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Terrorbird
    Imagination and ambition pop up all over Terrorbird. Unfortunately, it's tunefulness that's lacking.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    1000 Forms of Fear
    1000 Forms Of Fear certainly has the songs and contemporary sheen to make Sia a star in her own right, but it’s at the expense of both her emotional intimacy and her offbeat personality.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Northern Aggression
    Those who hoped Wynn would bring that inventive spirit and boldness back to his band for its third album will be disappointed: Northern Aggression is almost surprising in its straightforwardness.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Universal High
    At points, Universal High finds a hook and rides it somewhere new, but for the most part it’s content to time-travel to safe harbors, layering clean, jazzy guitar over simple grooves or dabbling in yacht rock.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Barking
    Despite its title, Barking is, in some ways, the most tuneful Underworld album yet, which isn't saying a lot.
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