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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    • 67 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Breathe
    Breathe is fine for what it is, but each time Leaves bandleader Arnar Gudjonsson launches into yet another midtempo space-rocker in which he shifts from a mushy monotone croon to a lilting falsetto, the move becomes less a genuine expression of personal style and more a shameless attempt to get with the new rock mainstream.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Dreams Come True
    Dreams Come True throws in the towel, leaving the impression of a half-sketched idea that failed to materialize fully no matter how much it was fussed over.
    • 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.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Out Of Exile
    As Out Of Exile carries on, the songs sound repetitious and a little formulaic; each guitar solo seems to arrive at a preordained moment, and both the album and the individual songs drag on too long.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    Magic Hour
    Nostalgia-driven fan-funding is a useful way to see which short-lived phenoms have anything left in the tank, but Magic Hour suggests Luscious Jackson is a little too far removed from what drove the group to make music in the first place.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Yours Truly, The Commuter
    Lytle settles for repetitive mood-setters that merely re-shuffle the elements he’s been working with for more than a decade now, with no discernible progress or mastery.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Scratch My Back
    Scratch comes off like a ponderous exercise in re-branding--an uncomfortable place to be for one of pop’s great innovators.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Apokalypsis
    Wolfe's goth experimentalism is certainly harrowing stuff, but it's missing the chilling detachment and roughness that made The Grime And The Glow feel dark in unfamiliar and unsettling ways.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Girl In The Other Room
    The Girl In The Other Room represents an experiment for Krall, and not an entirely successful one, but at the end of the record, having demonstrated the confidence to explain herself, she comes out with some of her most persuasive music yet.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Snowflake Midnight
    At its best, Mercury Rev is secretly an Americana band (see Levon Helm and Garth Hudson's appearances on Deserter's Songs), tricking out solid songs with studio know-how; their collapse into catchall experimentation is brave, but ultimately not the best route.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Living On The Other Side
    They live up to their unfortunate name--plodding along, doing the work they need to do and getting no further.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    Share the Joy
    Like a broken record, Vivian Girls appear doomed to repeat themselves.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Eat at Whitey's
    Everlast's pretensions and ambition still outstrip his talent, however, and the distance between the two makes Eat At Whitey's both intriguing and frustrating.... like a defensive tackle trying his hand at ballet, he's far too clumsy and limited a singer and songwriter for the delicate material he attempts.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Datsuns
    With so much apparent calculation involved, it makes sense that the group's self-titled debut is neither as good nor as bad as it might have been.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Back & Fourth
    Yorn’s lightly rusty voice and yearning way with a chorus are, alas, outgunned by his plodding lyrics.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    It's a Corporate World
    The Detroit-based outfit has pieced together a streamlined collection of pleasant but forgettable pop tunes that come and go without much punch.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    The Most Incredible Thing
    Even more problematic is that the music, while ambitious and appropriately dramatic, hardly approaches standalone greatness. The Most Incredible Thing needs Javier De Frutos' choreography to do justice to the story.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Bruiser
    As it is, Bruiser is an album with some promise, but not much.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Time Bomb
    With Time Bomb, Buckcherry still makes the unfashionable seem fashionable, but that doesn't make it any less dumb.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Hot Fuss
    Most of Hot Fuss slides by without creating much of a stir, but it's got too many memorable moments to be written off.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    The State vs. Radric Davis
    He’s clearly made The State to a template, and it suffers as a result, particularly when he blatantly courts radio on the unimaginative, lifeless likes of “Sex In Crazy Places” and the Usher-assisted “Spotlight."
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    4 x 4 = 12
    He takes the stage in headgear so cartoon-cute it could have been devised by an ad firm. Unfortunately, Deadmau5's albums sound that way as well.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Say You Will
    The record shows too many signs of superstar pretension, from the thick liner notes to the grueling 76-minute length.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 42 Critic Score
    Magpie and the Dandelion
    These songs are nice and they’re pretty, but have no bite, no substance, and no real pizzazz.
    • 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.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Music For Listening To Music To
    While the record is undoubtedly pretty, it also feels defanged.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Ready to Die
    With Ready To Die, Iggy And The Stooges have begun to spring back to life. Or at least shown signs of becoming convincingly zombified.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Massacre
    But while its flaws are formidable, so are its strengths, beginning with Cent's dark charisma, belligerent sneer of a voice, fluid delivery, and mastery of hip-hop style
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