The Boston Phoenix's Scores

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For 1,091 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 63% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 34% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.2 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
Highest review score: 100 Pink
Lowest review score: 0 Last of a Dyin' Breed
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 956 out of 1091
  2. Mixed: 88 out of 1091
  3. Negative: 47 out of 1091
1091 music reviews
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    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Grace/Confusion
    The disc's six tracks clock in at less than 40 minutes, so there isn't really time to screw things up on a royal scale, making Grace/Confusion a fine listen.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 37 Critic Score
    Bish Bosch
    Call it what you want, just be prepared to call it something other than music.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded--the Re-Up
    Special note to the freakazoids who think "Starships" killed hip-hop: the rapper who rhymes "fri-vo-lous" with "po-ly-ga-mist" is X-Acto sharp as ever.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    The Odds
    Their third record proves that even the most militant punk songs are often best served by a stripped-down aesthetic.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Trilogy
    Even at Tesfaye's most awkward, it's impossible not to be intoxicated.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Lonerism
    Lonerism is a life raft for the abyss of song-induced self-reflection it inspires.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    House on the Hill
    The songs are what we've come to expect--approachable slacker jams mixed in with cursory love songs, and the occasional guitar solo that proves reverb and washed-out colors don't have the monopoly on nostalgia--but production is cleaner and energy levels are lower.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Temporal
    Temporal as a whole is evenly mastered and gratifyingly titanic.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Koi No Yokan
    Koi No Yokan is not only the year's best metal-rock-space-pop album--it's also the finest Deftones album, front to back, to date.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Inner Mansions
    The Inner Mansions is much more interesting than your typical bedroom pop album.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    King Animal
    On the whole, King Animal is a welcome return, and though it doesn't reinvent the wheel, it reminds us why these guys were considered the architects of the Seattle scene.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    Just To Feel Anything
    The Ohio trio took their time with Feel Anything, arriving at this more focused, albeit less celestial, effort.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Top Ten Hits of the End of the World
    The music is what matters, and Prince Rama, with this highfalutin' silliness, have delivered big.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 37 Critic Score
    Music From Another Dimension!
    With tracks like "LUV XXX," "Beautiful," and "Lover Alot," everyone's favorite dude-looks-like-a-grandma just can't let go of that screechy horndog rock.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Zeros
    It's a minimalist approach that started on the Soft Moon's outstanding 2010 self-titled debut full-length, and continues here with each composition taking on an overall instrumental feel despite the occasional presence of lyrical accompaniment.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 0 Critic Score
    Last of a Dyin' Breed
    On Dyin' Breed, they stoop to some depressing new lows.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Pink
    Ironically, this patchwork of 12-inch singles is Kieran Hebden's most delectable album-as-album.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 37 Critic Score
    Mumps, Etc.
    Lifeless and boring.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    Banks
    Even though the album's zany unpredictability can be thrilling, it often feels like Banks is adorning vacant tunes ("Arise Awake," the plodding instrumental "Another Chance") with bells and whistles.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    Free Dimensional
    Everything about Free Dimensional is cheesy--from the mousey bedroom beats to the predictable synth lines to O'Regan's (hard) Soft Cell vocal delivery to the awkward, bumbling raps. Regardless, several songs are stunning.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Local Business
    Patrick Stickles finally overworks his music to match his trying-too-hard fables.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Haunted Man
    Khan might be getting bolder, bigger, and more experimental, but pushing past what everyone expects or wants from you as an artist sometimes works - even the third time around.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Cobra Juicy
    In sacrificing weirdness for conformity, Cobra Juicy shows growth, but somewhat mugs the band of what made them so singular.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Former Lives
    Gibbard's carving out new musical territory on Former Lives, while amplifying the broken heart of what makes his sound so wonderful.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Soft Fall
    Glossy and palatable, but also decidedly sophisticated.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Until the Quiet Comes
    Ellison excels everywhere else, keeping the beats brisk and the instrumentation organic and lively.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Who Needs Who
    Art-pop triumph "Tell Me" puts it all over the top as the zenith of Triple D's young career. That's something to be optimistic about.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    End of Daze [EP]
    The album's listlessness - when compared to the blisteringly restless heartbreak/firecracker of Dreams - is kind of a bummer.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Babel
    Individually, these songs pack an emotional wallop, performed with a passion that is rare in today's indie-rock scene of disconnected cool. But taken as a giant lump, they're exhausting dead-ends: 12 straight climaxes cancel each other out - and Babel could use a little rising action.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Shields
    On Shields, they achieve a fluid synthesis: Rossen and Droste still share vocal duties, but they often tag-team the same track, trading off lines and writing melodies for one another's voices. Their styles coalesce so smoothly, it's often difficult to tell where one singer-songwriter starts and the other ends.
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