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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    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Twentyears [Super Deluxe Edition]
    Like most anthologies, the rarities and unreleased tracks are pure icing--nice to have but often superfluous, and more often rarities for a reason.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Yes, It's True
    Even with the group’s slight retraction, it’s that madcap sense of wonder and lofty ambition that helps keep Yes, It’s True healthily afloat.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    OK Human
    It’s solid, in other words—which isn’t damning with faint praise, rather affirming that Weezer is nailing this material. It’s in the slower, more balladry-driven songs that OK Human (the latest in a long line of stupid reference-heavy album titles, this time nodding at Radiohead’s classic) finds its openly beating heart.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Boys Outside
    So Boys Outside has its experimental elements after all, but only by degrees. Mason starts with sturdily constructed songs, then loosens the screws one by one.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Changing Horses
    He's assembled a fine band and finally found a consistently productive groove.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    I Love You
    While Blank’s reference-heavy, mix-tape mentality isn’t radical in the current musical climate, it’s often fun in its familiarity.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Pretty Girls Like Trap Music
    There’s no galactic change to his style here, just a further refinement of it.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Hozier
    Hozier is far more nuanced than these inspirations imply, mainly because of its skillful, smart exploration of dualities.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Reflection
    His assessment is astute; whether used as sonic wallpaper or the soundtrack for a lengthy meditation, Reflection is the kind of album useful for getting ideas percolating and nourishing interior worlds.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Hope Six Demolition Project
    It’s not a “return to rock” (a phrase that probably interests Harvey about as much as “dirt-filled sandwich”), but The Hope Six Demolition Project does contain some of the songwriter’s most guitar-heavy material since the Uh Huh Her days.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Bad Time Zoo
    "We" need more Sims and more Simses; we just need more fun too.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    I Like Fun
    “Lake Monsters” gives rocking sci-fi tribute to mysterious beasts that should please longtime fans, “The Bright Side” borrows from the ’60s British Invasion, and “Push Back The Hands” also turns sweetly nostalgic—though there’s no need for looking backward just yet, as the TMBG song machine is still operating at full force.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Phosphene Dream
    While Phosphene Dream is certainly their most song-oriented release to date, it still too often emphasizes mood and texture over structure and tune.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    De La Soul's Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present...First Serve
    It's a breezy, fun exercise in role-playing and escapism from casually assured artists in complete control of their craft, and it thoroughly realizes its modest ambition.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Landing
    Almost nothing on Landing is relevant to the music scene or the world at large in 2009. Still, there’s something appealing about the way Githead adheres to the big beats and soft grind of songs.
    • 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.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Blame It On Gravity
    Gravity should keep fans happy, the unconverted will stay that way, and no one will be embarrassed.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil, Pt. 1
    E-40's best songs find common ground between the blunt bombast of late-'80s hardcore rap and the clapping repetition of modern club rap (an overlap that usually involves overheating drum machines and occasionally some sirens), and the first album taps that sweet spot for all its worth.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Islands
    Islands’ dreamy pop features a more general feeling of throwback moodiness. The shift bodes well for Philip Ekström’s longevity as a songwriter, and even though there are times when the nostalgic sound seems to be begging for hooks huge enough to make the band a household name (at least to kids dancing at indie nights a few decades from now), there’s no denying that The Mary Onettes know their way around a dramatic pop song.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Fixin' The Charts, Volume One
    Much of Fixin' The Charts would work even without its central gimmick. Valdés supplies credible hooks and winning girl-group harmonies, and Argos' lyrics never separate wit from emotion
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Here I Am
    Rowland has typically been one of R&B's more reserved presences, but on her third album, Here I Am, she sounds positively liberated-it's as if the same radioactive spider that gave Beyoncé her superhuman confidence finally bit Rowland, too.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    ...Honor Is All We Know
    These new songs should be welcome additions to the band’s live performances instead of being the obligatory respite from what fans actually want to hear--and Rancid’s ability to pull that off by being the best version of itself is what makes this album such a triumph.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    English Little League
    English Little League is decidedly overstuffed at 17 songs, and the one-off sketches that were somehow endearing on albums like Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes come off as simply filler here. Still, it remains a pleasure to hear GBV doing what it does best: cranking out song after song.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Field Songs
    Though that rustic snapshot edges perilously close to self-parody for Whitmore, the track ["We'll Carry On"]--and Field Songs as a whole--also sharply defines his elemental strengths.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Love And Its Opposite
    Even when the tempo goes up (on a song called “Hormones,” naturally), Love is cocktail-hour ready, but that helps Thorn’s realism go down like a highball.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Clearing
    The whole record conjures images of naturalism and space, evoking wings, flight, and distance. There’s a melancholy beauty carrying along these delicate compositions. Call it Pictures Of An Outdoor Life.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Wildheart
    Wildheart sees Miguel expanding and refining his sound, and while not every experiment hits its mark, the result is an ambitious and moving album.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    24K Magic
    24K Magic is easily his most cohesive and enjoyable collection, an escapist record that comes by its evocations of the past honestly.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Common Existence
    Common Existence is the band’s densest, most accomplished album to date, with sonic layers and the complexity of a big-budget record, without the bloat.
    • 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.
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