The A.V. Club's Scores

Select another publication »
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
view
per page
    • 68 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Man Against Machine
    Instead of building on Brooks’ strengths, Man Against Machine is firmly rooted in midair.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Sweet Talker
    Nearly every song on Sweet Talker was constructed by a team of co-writers, a level of sonic micromanagement that stifles the music’s direction rather than improves it.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    A New Testament
    For all its talk of hearts and affection, A New Testament barely has a pulse.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Junto
    For the most part, Basement Jaxx are coloring within the lines on Junto, which leads to disappointing results.
    • 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.
    • 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
    • 50 Critic Score
    Musik, Die Schwer Zu Twerk
    Ultimately, Musik, Die Schwer Zu Twerk is satisfied with halfheartedly rehashing a handful of psych and prog rock signifiers with little renewed enthusiasm or inventiveness.
    • 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.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    World Peace Is None of Your Business
    The future is here; love has not brought us together, nor has the bomb. Morrissey, having left himself no other options, makes do with a shrug.
    • 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.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    What Is This Heart?
    On the disjointed What Is This Heart? the disconnect between Krell’s pop leanings and his innate miserableness has never been greater.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Band of Brothers
    Unfortunately for Nelson, Band Of Brothers isn’t the country legend’s best album of all time. It’s pretty good at best, a must only for reasonably hardcore Nelson fans.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    Ultraviolence
    Ultraviolence moves away from more pop-friendly territory and instead languishes in a sleepy, sad aesthetic.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Days of Abandon
    Days Of Abandon’s lushly clean tones provide an innocuous foundation upon which layers of warm harmonies are laid. In the end, the record’s flaws aren’t wholly a product of the mellower genre as much as a generally uninspired execution.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    Turn Blue
    Feelings are always “heavy” or a “burden,” and love is consistently “dark” or “light”; it’s thematic territory that feels stale for the band, and the result is an album that aspires to talk about the complex nature of relationships, yet has nothing meaningful to say.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Someday World
    Most of the album wanders, zany but directionless, among sound effects borrowed from a ’70s action-adventure soundtrack, where one never quite grasps the thread of the confusing storyline.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Everyday Robots
    It’s a pretty enough record, but not one that makes any sort of impression, breaks any ground, or leaves listeners wanting more.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Do To the Beast
    The least boring band in the world awoke from its slumber just to deliver a snoozer.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Range of Light
    These two tracks ["Alpenglow" and "The Dome"] are outliers, though, emotionally and sonically devastating songs on an otherwise languid and forgettable record.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    Kiss Me Once
    Kiss Me Once is a disappointing record that tries too hard to mold Minogue into something she’s not.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    Louder
    Sadly, a compilation of tracks randomly culled from the best Rachel Berry solos recorded for the show would yield a stronger album than this one made up of originals.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Atlas
    The Real Estate of Days was eager to take the listener off guard, to show off its ample musicianship through tunefully off-kilter songs. In contrast, the band that made Atlas seems to be hesitatingly wondering what to do next. Here’s hoping it’s something surprising.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Motivational Jumpsuit
    It’s difficult to find any song on Motivational Jumpsuit that GBV lifers can place among the group’s most accomplished work.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Hotel Valentine
    Hotel Valentine is a fine addition to the limited canon of colorful post-punk all-girl trip-hop records, but can’t avoid sounding like the relic that label implies.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    After the Disco
    Since the driving tracks are bigger earworms than the carefully crafted, fragile ones, perhaps the duo would’ve done better to focus on the party, instead of what comes after.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    High Hopes
    With High Hopes, Springsteen splashes his brightest colors against a canvas, crosses his fingers, and hopes they mesh.
Page: