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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    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Teenage Emotions
    He is at his most interesting on the few occasions where he slips into a sort of uncanny valley of pop music--a bizarro fantasia that he arrives at honestly, like a less satirical PC Music.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Shake the Shudder
    There’s no reason not to throw on Shake The Shudder and dance it out, but like many fun-yet-hazy late nights, it doesn’t leave much of an impression afterward.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Everybody
    “Amiable” is sort of the operant word for Everybody, which, like Joey Badass’ All-Amerikkan Bada$$, strives to create a trenchant pop-rap polemic for the Trump era, but unlike that record—or any other record ever, for that matter—frequently gets lost in minutes-long spoken-word segues in which Neil DeGrasse Tyson speaks as a benevolent god about the nature of self-worth.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    White Knight
    Mostly, White Knight sounds like an album that was probably a lot more fun to make than it is to listen to.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    I Can Spin a Rainbow
    “The Sun Still Shines,” suggests that Palmer and Ka-Spel should have really focused their energies on composing interstitial music for a stage production.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    8
    Too many songs get halfway there, starting promisingly, then petering out quickly.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Whiteout Conditions
    In the immediate, Whiteout Conditions might leave you a little cold.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    Bloodlust
    For every track that maintains an admirable speed-thrash spirit (“Walk With Me,” “Raining Blood”) there’s another that sounds more silly than rocking, like the cheesy posturing of “Here I Go Again,” a dark metal song as imagined by Roger Corman.
    • 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
    • 50 Critic Score
    Emperor of Sand
    Emperor Of Sand is both progressive and regressive, as Mastodon takes two different parts of its past and slaps them together. And while it occasionally works, more often than not Mastodon just sounds confused.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    In Mind
    Pleasant sonic wallpaper that unfortunately doesn’t leave much of a lasting impression.
    • 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.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Voids
    While an album of ’80s-styled pop played by a band with a penchant for fretboard theatrics could be thrilling, VOIDS stumbles more than it should.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Zombies on Broadway
    In sum, Zombies On Broadway compiles some worthwhile ruminations and life lessons, but McMahon needs to search a little harder for compelling ways to package them.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    After the Party
    While The Menzingers’ best work has always been about grappling with personality flaws in the interest of becoming a better person, After The Party only offers surface-level reflections, to the detriment of the band itself.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    He's Got the Whole This Land Is Your Land in His Hands
    These songs would never be mistaken for any other band—by that same token, it’s often so obtuse it feels like it’s not meant for anyone but its creators.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Hardwired...To Self-Destruct
    Hardwired is never embarrassing in the way of St. Anger or Lulu, but it’s rarely revelatory either. It’s not so much that Metallica is incapable of writing a good song in 2016; it’s just a little too complacent to write a truly great one.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Jessica Rabbit
    Sleigh Bells has grown up plenty since their 2009 lightning-strike arrival, but perhaps that strike is starting to feel like more of a distant memory than it should.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    Honeymoon on Mars
    On most of Honeymoon On Mars, the band seems resigned to the apocalypse and modern society’s devolution, resulting in a shockingly limp record overflowing with empty bluster.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Head Carrier
    Unlike Indie Cindy, Head Carrier knows exactly what it is. Whether that’s something we’ll remember is another discussion entirely.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    AIM
    AIM sounds like a field recording made in the middle of a bustling Sri Lankan market: colorful, flavorful, and most of all, noisy. These inescapable Eastern vibes prove to be a blessing, uniting an otherwise fragmented album.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Over There That Way
    Over There That Way’s pandering play for indie-pop acceptance makes it a more leisurely listen. But, with no need to periodically clean a little heavy-metal grit out of the ears, the album just doesn’t demand much attention.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    California
    California is the sound of Blink-182 desperately trying to remain relevant by outsourcing its creativity.
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