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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    • 64 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Oblivion With Bells
    Expansive, unfurling bangers like 'Beautiful Burnout' help keep Underworld above the line that separates has-beens from are-stills.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Classics
    Losing something in translation is the potential downside of interpreting beloved standards, and while She & Him are lovingly faithful performers, Classics ends up as just pleasant background music.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Kidsticks
    In the end, Kidsticks’ raw material is sound, and Orton’s attention to detail is impressive. But this adventurous approach could use a bit more structure and cohesion next time around.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    In the Key of Disney
    In Mickey Mouse terms, this album is more the blandly suburban color Mickey than the anarchic black-and-white Mickey. The shape is the same; the spirit isn't.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Girl Talk
    Girl Talk may be the album she’s always wanted to make, but fans of her older material may be left wanting.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Sondre Lerche
    This eponymous release is as flavorless as its moniker-in spite of the notable piano, string, and accordion flourishes, the rest of the mostly subdued bunch isn't all that memorable, with the possible exception of the closer, "When The River," which gets its laid-back groove on and ends up making a pretty impressive showing with dramatic synths, echo-y vocals, and jangly guitar.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Just Like The Fambly Cat
    Fambly's flabbiest moments sag pretty low, to the point that the album's midsection is almost entirely skippable.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Joy
    It’s barely over 30 minutes long but brims with musical ideas, including several sets of interconnected songs that push Segall and Presley to their weirdest and most tuneless.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Zeitgeist
    Zeitgeist ends up sounding like a Corgan career retrospective in B-side form.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Elixer
    Elixir showcases Bria Valente, whose sultry-but-dull vocals don’t foretell great things.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Planetarium
    It generally just plays like a wash of ideas without much of a through-line, despite its galaxy-driven conceit.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Mixed Race
    while there are moments when his old jaggedness cuts through--the scraping "Early Bird" brings Tom Waits to mind, while "Ghetto Stars" has an eerie keening quality suggestive of industrial screech--Mixed Race is long on half-digested detours.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Life Death Love and Freedom
    With producer T-Bone Burnett stripping his rootsy jangle down to a monochromatic, almost lo-fi rumble, Life Death Love And Freedom practically demands to be called "Mellencamp's darkest yet," but it's really just relentlessly downbeat and one-note.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Alpha Games
    Alpha Games is the sound of a band trying to reignite its former flame, while simultaneously digging its heels so deep into unfamiliar territory, it can’t even reach the lighter.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Morning World
    The album skates from tumbling tracks like “Pink” and “Morning World”—which are reminiscent of the slightly math indie-rock sound of the solid Polyvinyl band Aloha—to a jam like “It Starts At The Water,” which features static washes floating in and out of the atmosphere while an underground buzz burrows beneath a simple, chugging beat.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Little Broken Hearts
    Jones is good at what she does, but it never feels like something she burns to do.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Purple Naked Ladies
    Without that blessed cohesion that is the groove, Purple Naked Ladies is an alternately jaggy and listless dream, rather than the narcotic romp it is meant to be.
    • 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.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    22 Dreams
    There's a sense of fun and wonder to 22 Dreams that keeps it from feeling pretentious--just not any less tedious.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Push Any Button
    She doesn’t capture that magic consistently on the rest of the album, though, which leaves Push Any Button feeling jumpy and unfocused.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Mines
    In practice, there's nothing particularly challenging about Mines.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Dum Spiro Spero
    What's most disappointing about Dum Spiro Spero, though, is how empty and unfinished it sounds, even as the group sets in motion an intricate apparatus of grinding riffs, pinpoint leadwork, and labyrinthine time signatures.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Kill For Love
    The ambience is fine enough, but it's probably worth just waiting for the movie.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Two-Way Mirror
    After a decade of excellence from like-minded groups such as Liars and TV On The Radio, Crystal Antlers can't help but sound like a mildly intriguing afterthought, even if Two-Way Mirror holds the line in hopes of greatness to come.
    • 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.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Glasvegas
    It's a textbook example of a promising debut from a humorless band that has nowhere to go but down after the opening cut.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    The Formula
    The Formula should please 9th Wonder and Boot Camp Click cultists, but hip-hop heads eager to hear 9th Wonder collaborate with rappers worthy of his talents are better off waiting for his next album with Murs--or praying for a reunion with Little Brother.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Leave It All Behind
    Nicolay has never been afraid to go soft and smooth, but his production on Leave It sometimes borders on easy listening.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Relaxer
    In its eight songs, Relaxer feels as though it covers almost as many musical moods and genres. That overload, combined with its stylistic hairpin turns, leave one feeling queasy and slightly confused, lessening the impact of its more successful cuts.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    New Life
    It's far from being her best work. It engages her vocal strengths without ever really challenging them-for better or worse.
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