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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    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Wildlife
    An often gorgeous and heartbreaking record, Wildlife is kept out of the canon of great growing-pains albums by some stagnant lyrics.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Animal Feelings
    When Rafter goes the extra step and fills out Animal Feelings songs like "No Fucking Around" and "Paper" with complete thoughts and richer arrangements, he becomes the kind of sonic guru worth heeding.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Slip
    The hard-hitting early tracks '1,000,000,' 'Letting You,' and 'Discipline' are particularly good, though typical; Reznor keeps farming the same fertile ground that yielded The Slip's predecessors.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Divine Providence
    Deer Tick's members act like kids, but Divine Providence is best when they sound like full-grown men.
    • 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.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Transfixiation
    The band’s small but noticeable stabs at restraint make Transfixiation another step forward in A Place To Bury Strangers’ evolution from brutal experimentalists to more pop-conscious noise rockers.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Preliminaires
    It’s an album of curveballs, and while not every track finds its zone, it’s still a pleasure to hear Pop turn disgust into inspiration.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Peanut Butter
    Taken in one full burst, Peanut Butter succeeds as a rousing and frenetic call to arms, built on the back of sunny harmonies and squealing distortion. It’s not the best record of the year, but it might be the most efficient.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Codename: Rondo
    In spite of the album's flaws, the duo has assembled a great collection of sounds that immediately identify Codename: Rondo as a Ghostland product.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Mutilator Defeated at Last
    While not front-to-back pummeling, Mutilator Defeated At Last is fast and hard for much of its 33 minutes.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Battle Born
    They say go big or go home, but The Killers went home and made something as big as fans' expectations.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Live in Liverpool
    The live format suits Gossip well.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Packs
    Now two LPs and four EPs deep, Droog projects are broadcasts from a smoke-filled, permanent-midnight club, his verses spit with the off-the-cuff ease of a dude feeling it that night. At this point, he’s already got one thing Nas never had: consistency.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Such Fun
    Such Fun continues Annuals' knack for taking the hollow sounds of The Cure and The Walkmen and filling it in with cheery exuberance.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The False Alarms
    The False Alarms finds Fol Chen stripping off its makeup and taking a good, hard look in the mirror.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Til The Casket Drops
    Brothers Terrence “Pusha T” and Gene “Malice” Thornton--a.k.a. Clipse--spend a surprising amount of their third official album (not counting mixtapes and collaborative showcases) sounding both upbeat and reflective.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
    With just a touch of enunciation and a dash of well-placed bombast, these songs could be bona fide hits.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Another Fine Day
    There's plenty of gold here, but also too much smog.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Hats Off To The Buskers
    [The] good half is legitimately exciting.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Snowdonia
    Getting these skills to jell means moving further away from the Surfer Blood that fans may be accustomed to, but Snowdonia hints at a rewarding payoff.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Underneath the Rainbow
    Rainbow works best when it strikes the perfect balance between bratty abandon and silly sensitivity.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Hypercaffium Spazzinate
    At 16 tracks, Hypercaffium Spazzinate contains some filler, but with only three songs crossing the three-minute mark, these lesser moments breeze by without consequence.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Shape Shift with Me
    Those who like their alt-punk laced with introspection and intellectualism will continue to like Grace’s music, and perhaps learn a bit about what it’s like to be her as well.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Paracosm
    At a handful of points throughout the record, a group of voices arise as the music recedes, all laughing, talking excitedly, and beckoning friends to come closer. These voices, combined with the occasional field recording of birdcalls and nature sounds, give Paracosm an air of carefree, breezy effervescence.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Meat + Bone
    Meat And Bone is the heir apparent to Now I Got Worry, and a fine return to form.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Voxtrot
    Voxtrot is a thoughtful, well-crafted pop record that doesn't live up to expectations and anticipation.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Post Pop Depression
    Most of the music reflects a kind of mid-paced and downcast feel. As the tracks bleed into each other, at times there’s too much stylistic similarity. But any feeling of monotony is cut short by songs like “Vulture” or “German Days,” which mixes playful ’70s guitar-riffs with a dark, flourishing chorus.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Invitation
    Invitation is strong enough as a whole to breeze past those weaker moments. Filthy Friends’ debut provides exactly what their lineage promises, and when it comes to supergroups, that amounts to coming out ahead.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Marauder
    Like a wild party, the album gets looser and less coherent as it goes along. Still, fans should be pleased to hear that Marauder shifts the group’s focus while still remaining recognizably Interpol.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Ringer
    On Ringer, a generously portioned EP, Hebden dials back his frenetic eclecticism, instead turning out ambitious yet danceable techno.
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