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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    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Black Moon Spell
    Black Moon Spell wasn’t conceived by Thomas to be a photocopy of the self-titled album--very obviously not--but that doesn’t fix the fact that it’s a little less memorable than its predecessor.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Need Your Light
    It occasionally feels like a collection of lines taken from motivational posters, when it’s not being overtly silly (the vapid disco tics and Queen-style harmonic flourishes of “Bouncy Castle”), but the pleasure here lies in the saccharine joy of such frothy, bouncing pop anthems.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Edge of the Sun
    Edge Of The Sun picks up where Feast Of Wire left off, and though it fails to blaze a new path, it livens up an old one.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The High Country
    They’ve never been the most distinctive group in rock, but with The High Country, the group has maintained a consistent feel for the basic pleasures of three chords and some words about a great girl.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Of Course You Are
    Taking risks and expanding your musical palate is the only way to avoid stagnation. And while Of Course You Are may do so with only modest success, it’s a success nonetheless.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Going, Going...
    Gedge could’ve reached this happy ending with fewer tracks and less gas money, but as anyone signing up for this road trip knows, his rambling never really gets old.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Avenged Sevenfold
    The catchy Stone Temple Pilots vibe of 'Scream' is enough to put the band back on the charts, but that could happen with more than half of this album…And it probably will.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    I-Empire
    'Magic' isn't the sole highlight: 'Sirens,' an earnest new-wave throwback, may even encourage DeLonge's sternest critics to sing along.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Love is Dead
    The songs sound bigger and more layered, but the core of hook-laden, synth-based pop and Lauren Mayberry’s lilting vocals remains undisturbed.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Mister Mellow
    It is exceptionally pleasant to listen to, a seamless stretch of midtempo mood music that glides by in a neat narcotic haze. There aren’t so many standout tracks as there are standout moments, like the echoey crack of the hook on “Floating By,” or the moment the beat comes into dazzling clarity on “Million Miles Away.”
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Big Red Machine
    With much to toy with, Vernon and Dessner create an unhurried warmth that makes a song like “Forest Green” so moving and gives Big Red Machine the feeling of a soft rainbow light cast from a crystal in the sun.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Boxing Mirror
    As is often the case with Escovedo, a certain necessary edge is missing.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Fear of God II: Let Us Pray [EP]
    Fear Of God II is the lean, rousing listen that its predecessor wasn't.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    My Life II...The Journey Continues (Act 1)
    What My Life II lacks in a single vision, though, it makes up for with consistently rousing performances from Blige.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Bloom
    Appropriately, Bloom’s beauty and gifts reveal themselves gradually over time.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Ta-Dah
    Unfortunately, Scissor Sisters share another trait with the acts they idolize: They only produce a handful of great songs per album.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Resistance Is Futile
    Resistance Is Futile, the band’s thirteenth studio album, distills the Manics’ pomp and melancholy into buoyant pop songs with biting electric guitars, sugary synths, and majestic strings.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Weather Station
    There’s plenty to unpack lyrically, too, which makes it ideal for a headphones listen. You know, not unlike Blue or Court And Spark.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Release The Stars
    It's another strong effort, but someone might have checked the orchestral excesses, which sometimes get in the way of the songs.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    For the Ghosts Within
    Ghosts isn't some staid, tasteful covers album. It's lush, yes, and frequently beautiful, but there's also something subtly unsettled about these songs.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Spiritual Mental Physical
    Nothing on the new set is as mind-blowing as The Whole World's alternately assaultive and trippy Politicians In My Eyes, but in some ways, the Hackneys sounded even more ahead of their time when they were just dicking around.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Invisible Violence
    The record could stand to be a little harder and freer. But the band does paint a vivid picture in songs like the opener, “Paloma,” which combines an insistent rhythm and shards of jagged sound, like a go-go dancer’s nightmare.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Take Me Apart
    There’s another EP in here that’s every bit as good as Hallucinogen, but as an album, Take Me Apart remains more proof of Kelela’s talent and still-unrealized potential.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The River In Reverse
    With such strong material and talented performers, it's a pity that River frequently sounds too fussed-over.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Rainwater Cassette Exchange
    The result is not only Deerhunter’s least experimental batch of songs yet, but music that often sounds like it was written by another band.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    American Goldwing
    American Goldwing is a journey into the unknown, and like the drifters Blitzen Trapper sings about, there's no telling where the group is headed next.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Bitter Tea
    What initially sounds like randomly spliced bits of third-generation new-wave mix-tapes gets more intriguing with each listen, largely because beneath the air of general weirdness, there's a perverse pop sensibility.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Too
    It’s a bold step away from the grimy surf-punk that made the band famous, but anyone who’s old enough to feel the buzz wearing off will be right there with Fidlar.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Weezer (White Album)
    Despite the occasional misstep, this is an enjoyable album, one that you can expect to hear blasting from car radios from now to September.
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