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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    • 69 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Low Kick And Hard Bop
    She mixes sloppy beat work with awkward singing that makes her songs feel like tossed-off indie pop.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Wonderland
    The few moments on Wonderland that make sense in the context of the band's history are overshadowed by a musical reach that exceeds its grasp.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Weird Revolution
    Weird Revolution sounds dated and quaint, both in its "Pepper" rehashes ("Dracula From Houston," "The Shame Of Life") and in its halfhearted attempts at caustic shock ("Shit Like That") and misfit mission statements ("The Weird Revolution").
    • 68 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Iowa
    Those who've moved beyond efforts to scare mom and dad will do well to steer clear, though they've probably made that choice already.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    10,000 Hz Legend
    By trying to offer something for everyone, the mostly dull 10,000 Hz Legend has little to offer anyone.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Open
    While the continued drive to mix up its sound remains admirable, the weak spots are downright deadly, making Open feel sort of like a between-albums goof, an experiment strictly for the fan club.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 20 Critic Score
    Lions
    With Lions, the band has dropped its biggest dud, a moribund disaster with no more than a tiny handful of salvageable songs.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 20 Critic Score
    Survivor
    Even lineup changes and inter-group squabbling couldn't stop the trio's commercial winning streak, but a massive shot of independence just might. Brilliantly crafted songs from some of pop music's top songwriting ringers have played a key role in Destiny's Child's success, but Survivor finds frontwoman Beyoncé Knowles taking over the reins, co-writing and co-producing nearly every track.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Rock Action
    Even [producer Dave] Fridmann's ever-clever studio work can't make Rock Action interesting.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Discovery
    While Discovery embraces the cheesiness of the lamest of lame music, the strategy frequently comes across as gimmickry. The album isn't so much fun as it is silly, and while Daft Punk's members may just be musical smart-alecks, funk hasn't sounded this resoundingly stupid since Bootsy Collins' squiggly solo work.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 20 Critic Score
    Crown Royal
    The musical equivalent of Willie Mays stumbling around in the outfield years after his skills were gone, Crown Royal fails in the most arbitrary, impersonal way possible, piling on so many ringers that Run DMC often seems like a guest at its own party.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 20 Critic Score
    Ghetto Postage
    Ghetto Postage illustrates P's unwillingness to learn from past mistakes. The names may change, with No Limit newcomers like Krazy, Afficial, and Slay Sean filling in for the AWOL Mystikal and the inexplicably absent Mia X, but P's formula of endlessly repeated choruses, feeble thug-life lyrics, and generic, low-end-heavy beats remains as tiresome and unrewarding as ever.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Conspiracy of One
    Setting aside the abhorrent "Original Prankster," which plumbs new depths of Yankovic appropriation--and throws in a stupid Rob Schneider sample to boot--the bulk of the album indulges The Offspring's preferable loud-fast-shrill side... Conspiracy Of One's crowd-pleasing novelty idiocy doesn't run much deeper than its single, and while that may disappoint those who enjoyed Americana, it makes it The Offspring's most tolerable record in years.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Suitcase: Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft
    A must only for the hardest of the hardcore Pollard fans, its subtitle--Failed Experiments And Trashed Aircraft--should not be ignored. It takes 17 tracks to hit a song ("Spring Tigers," from the aborted 1992 album Back To Saturn X) that sounds like a regrettable exclusion, and the consistency doesn't pick up from there.... if nothing else, it's a fine warehouse of great song titles...
    • 56 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Twisted Tenderness
    The occasional brush with former glory, such as "Vivid" and the title track, isn't enough to make up for the eager-to-please inadequacies of the other material.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 20 Critic Score
    Horrorscope
    Horrorscope is glossy, artless, proficient, and dull enough to be easily tuned out...
    • 57 Metascore
    • 20 Critic Score
    Songs From an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile
    It vacillates between insignificant fluff and confessional songs that have nothing new to confess.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Invincible Summer
    Instantly forgettable... consistently tepid, devoid of personality, and characteristic of a considerable talent on auto-pilot.
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