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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    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
    With any band, ambition seems inextricably tied to bloat, but The Devil's better moments make a little pomposity endurable.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Inspiration
    He spits snowman raps with rough-hewn charisma and unseemly enthusiasm.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
    It's all darkly beautiful, because Barnes continues to emote more through the music than through his words.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    West
    When the group tries to explore the other, louder side of its sound, West sounds slapped-together.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Tones Of Town
    Tones Of Town sounds genuinely confident, like the band learned to focus more after its 2005 debut.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Hats Off To The Buskers
    [The] good half is legitimately exciting.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    I'll Sleep When You're Dead
    Nobody makes hip-hop as textured and atmospheric as El-P, and he manages to temper his disorienting noise with soulful suggestions this time out.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Grinderman
    A thorough reminder of what's majestic, funny, bizarre, and poetic about Cave.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Bird And The Bee
    Like a lot of the music of the boy-girl pop-duo genre, The Bird And The Bee can sometimes get overbearingly adorable... But mostly, it's a warm, cheerful distraction with enough bite to remain relevant through the summer and beyond.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Turn The Lights Out
    They still sound like imitators, but they're imitators moving toward a place they can call their own.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Strange House
    It's a surprise that it delivers on more than just shock value.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Favourite Worst Nightmare
    Arctic Monkeys are hardly the most important rock act in the world, or even the UK. But unlike a lot of their competition, they're a good band getting better.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Security
    With seven songs lasting about an hour, Security can be a challenging listen without a party and a packed dance floor.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Tears Of The Valedictorian
    Tears Of The Valedictorian may be Frog Eyes' most accessible album, if only because Mercer sings as much as he yelps, and pulls back the reins on the band's thrashy, bashy art-folk long enough to let some melody creep in.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Dumb Luck
    Dumb Luck can't help but sound like a compilation, with peaks and valleys directly correlating to a taste for the vocals.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Mice Parade
    Mice Parade is a record steeped in sophistication and modern anxiety, rendered in multiple shades of beat-crazy.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Night Of The Furies
    While largely more up-tempo than Birds, Furies is decidedly artier, borrowing the severity and breeziness of early '80s Britpop and using it to create rigidly defined sonic chambers filled with sweet-smelling fog.
    • 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.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Because Of You
    Because Of You, is a real sleeper that reveals considerable strengths upon repeat listens.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Mirrored
    It works best when the songs sound in thrall to themselves, reacting in different ways while retracing steps, but it also fishtails into missteps ("Rainbow") that sound oddly like Mannheim Steamroller.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Voxtrot
    Voxtrot is a thoughtful, well-crafted pop record that doesn't live up to expectations and anticipation.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Double Up
    Kelly routinely cooks up killer grooves that make his exuberantly stupid lyrics and hackneyed song concepts seem strangely charming.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Carry On
    Carry On represents an artist looking back more than moving forward.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Sun And The Moon
    The Sun And The Moon might be as essential as another Kajagoogoo album, but on its own modest terms—meaning appealing to those who guiltily loved The Bravery—it's a minor success, brimming with hooks nicked from Duran Duran and Naked Eyes, as well as few of their own.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    It's A Bit Complicated
    With Argos still writing gems and the band stepping up musically, Complicated should be as irresistible as its predecessor. For newcomers, it may be. For fans, it's still enjoyable, but familiar.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Mix-Up
    A satisfyingly uneven, agreeably overreaching hodgepodge of sounds and styles a la Hello Nasty or Ill Communication.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Sweet Warrior
    Running nearly 70 minutes, Sweet Warrior is perhaps too indulgent in the album's flabbier second half. But fans surely are happy to let Richard be Richard.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Brag And Cuss
    Votolato's raspy voice and full arrangements bring depth to lopers like "Lilly White" and "Before You Were Born," making this record charmingly earthbound.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Our Love To Admire
    On the whole, Our Love To Admire delivers exactly what's promised, which for fans will be exactly enough.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Else
    The Else initially sounds more cohesive (and samey) than the Johns' usual kitchen-sink approach, but multiple listens reveal the many melodic subtleties underneath the catchy, upbeat alt-rock tone and the unusually processed, beat-driven sound.
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