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
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wood/Water
    What may be irritating some of The Promise Ring's former fans is that Wood/Water purposefully leaves aside youthful aggression in favor of probing, thoughtful musicality.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Magnificent
    DJ Jazzy Jeff still makes music that matters, which can't be said of his former partner.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sneak Attack
    As unmistakably old-school as a fat gold chain and a pair of unlaced Adidas sneakers.... He delivers a raw, grimy set of anthems as noncommercial as anything he's done.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wasp Star (Apple Venus, Pt. 2)
    One of the most unassuming, instantly pleasing efforts of XTC's career.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Night
    The Night finds the trio expanding its sound beyond its periodic tendency to fall back on noirish shtick... a marvelous high note.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Malpractice
    Redman sticks to what he does best on his fifth solo album, Malpractice, perfecting his blend of blunted silliness, brash irreverence, and sloppy funk.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Handcream For A Generation
    It's party music with an edge, and celebratory songs for underdogs.... A spirited, unpredictable good time.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    What's Next To The Moon
    The fact that its 10 songs are all Bon Scott-era AC/DC covers seems oddly secondary.... There's nothing earth-shatteringly special about reinventing old songs this way, but it's striking how well the lyrics match Kozelek's weary delivery.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Public Domain: Songs From the Wild Land
    Alvin's approach acknowledges the haunting quality that traipsing through history can evince; Public Domain is like a photo album of ghosts, where the images are recognizable but occupying some other plane.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Disco Volante
    Disco Volante is a treat, an unassuming melange of '60s pop styles that's disarmingly sweet and consistently endearing. It's a logical sidestep away from The Wedding Present that neither lets listeners forget [David] Gedge's rock roots nor lets them be missed.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    With Ghost
    This slow, hazy, head-in-the-clouds music has a way of leaving sonic cobwebs long after it's over, the melodies lingering like distant memories.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Release
    A plaintive 10-song set, and the group's most consistent album since 1993's classic Very.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    World's Apart
    But even when ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead slips, it's in the service of exploration. With Worlds Apart, the band takes a confident, blind leap toward a potentially confounding future, and lands solidly and triumphantly.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Digital Ash In A Digital Urn
    Mark[s] a remarkable progression from Oberst's teen troubadour origins.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
    A culmination of Bright Eyes' decade-long habit of reviving folk-rock conventions and social engagement for a generation raised on the celebratory egomania of rap and reality television.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Great Destroyer
    In making like a post-rock Crazy Horse, Low has found new ways to eke dynamic moments out of lingering notes.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Before The Dawn Heals Us
    M83 has written and recorded a kind of secular Mass, dull at times and transcendent at others, but overall a stunning example of how to turn sound into ceremony.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Wilderness
    Both fastidious and unassuming, Wilderness never begs for attention, but often rewards it just the same.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    I Sold Gold
    After 10 tracks of diffident, postmodern songcraft, I Sold Gold ends on a small note of triumph with the tinny synth-pop anthem "The Tulsa Trap," an inspiring statement of purpose about breaking the bonds of a provincial living to go out and "give the people what they need."
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    I Am A Bird Now
    Antony's musical presence haunts and hypnotizes long after he's left the stage.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Manzanita
    Brings in a smoky mysticism and freeform beauty that recalls Nick Drake, Tim Buckley, and Joni Mitchell.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    LCD Soundsystem
    Marries raw rock attitudes to the sonic spread and kinetic energy central to dance music.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Take Fountain
    The band's return to the name might initially smack of a desperate reunion, but it's more than just symbolic: With Take Fountain, The Wedding Present reclaims its place as a thoroughly convincing vessel for pop heartache and joy.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Mysterious Production Of Eggs
    He collides substances that shouldn't mix to create a sound that not only survives the impact, but thrives in the aftermath.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dignity And Shame
    An album to stand with his Archers best.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    End Of Love
    End Of Love tracks like "The Sound Of German Hip-Hop," "Tiny European Cars," and "Jews For Jesus Blues" tell sketchy stories that describe moments of surprising awareness.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Arular
    As an MC, M.I.A. sounds brash and sassy, a party-starter first and a polemicist second.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    In The Clear
    Simultaneously exciting and relaxing.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Soviet Kitsch
    Spektor's songs tend to take strange turns halfway through, jutting off for a chorus or bridge that barely seems connected to what's come before, then circling back to make the connection clear.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Back To Me
    Edwards has a suggestively melancholy voice, a gift for well-turned phrases, and an uncanny knack for making uptempo tracks like "In State" sound as intimate and raw as her ballads.
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