The Observer (UK)'s Scores

  • Music
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For 444 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 35% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 63% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 8.3 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 63
Highest review score:
Saltash Bells
Critic Score 100
Lowest review score:
SuperHeavy
Critic Score 20
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 162 out of 444
  2. Mixed: 275 out of 444
  3. Negative: 7 out of 444
444 music reviews
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    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 80
    If...
    If… is a joy, its 10 mostly instrumental tracks proving both intimate and powerful.
    • Metascore: 88
    • Critic Score 80
    Undun
    It's a downer, but timely and affecting, with moments of beauty.
    • Metascore: 76
    • Critic Score 80
    The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons: Live from The Union Chapel, London (Diversions Vol.1)
    A triumphant excursion.
    • Metascore: 73
    • Critic Score 80
    Evolve or Be Extinct
    It's bonkers and frequently brilliant.
    • Metascore: 85
    • Critic Score 80
    Old Ideas
    It is not wild hyperbole to say that he might be the finest master of his craft alive today.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 80
    Be Strong
    Unashamedly uplifting songs about working hard and loving music.
    • Metascore: 66
    • Critic Score 80
    Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan
    75 tracks from as many artists, ranging from the trad (Pete Townshend's "Corrina, Corrina", the upbeat old-time of Carolina Chocolate Drops' "Political World") to the rad (Sussan Deyhim's "All I Really Want to Do", Ke$ha's pleasingly pared "Don't Think Twice…").
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 80
    Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose
    This debut LP is lit up by an imagination as huge and outlandish as her onstage wigs and it makes for songs that bloom.
    • Metascore: 75
    • Critic Score 80
    Blues Funeral
    He appears to have been hoarding his best material for his first solo album since 2004's Bubblegum, because Blues Funeral has quality to spare.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 80
    Tramp
    The producerly hand of the National's Aaron Dessner and cameos by the likes of Beirut's Zach Condon only add to the conclusion that Tramp is one of the must-hears of early 2012.
    • Metascore: 76
    • Critic Score 80
    Animal Joy
    A contender for their boldest LP yet.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 80
    Barchords
    His British debut is a gem: a warm, sun-dappled record with an appealing snag of heartache.
    • Metascore: 86
    • Critic Score 80
    Young Man In America
    A brilliant, highly original album.
    • Metascore: 62
    • Critic Score 80
    Freedom of Speech
    Debelle is not always easy company and can veer into self-absorption, but the album is refreshingly outspoken and, with help from producer Kwes, musically daring.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 80
    Mr. M
    At its worst this understated quality [astral rambling] produces the drear muzak of "Gar", but at its best ... it's sublime.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 80
    The Something Rain
    There are fewer surprises but no shortage of quality.
    • Metascore: 72
    • Critic Score 80
    Voice of Ages
    There are occasional flat spots (Paolo Nutini, the Secret Sisters) but ease, exuberance and quality easily outweigh any faux moments.
    • Metascore: 75
    • Critic Score 80
    Interstellar
    A record to get lost in.
    • Metascore: 69
    • Critic Score 80
    Ghostory
    Happily SVllB still sound fantastic.
    • Metascore: 67
    • Critic Score 80
    Nzca/Lines
    The only problem with this little gem of an album is that there isn't more of it.
    • Metascore: 72
    • Critic Score 80
    Leaving Eden
    Still the most electrifying acoustic act around.
    • Metascore: 78
    • Critic Score 80
    Toward the Low Sun
    Their eighth outing reaffirms their wordless eloquence.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 80
    Break It Yourself
    Bird conducts his experiments with the lightest of touches: his ingenuity matched by a gift for simple, lilting melodies.
    • Metascore: 75
    • Critic Score 80
    Father Creeper
    Sometimes, as on "Let Them Talk", the blend is finger-snappingly fluent, but more often it is deliberately disjointed to match Mathambo's fragmented tales of township life.
    • Metascore: 70
    • Critic Score 80
    Live At Carnegie Hall
    This 2004 acoustic show is an entrancing showcase of their respective talents.
    • Metascore: 74
    • Critic Score 80
    Radio Music Society
    Together [Radio Music Society and Chamber Music Society] they reveal the impressive range of this multi-talented young bassist/composer/singer.
    • Metascore: 72
    • Critic Score 80
    Noctourniquet
    Sonically capricious in the best possible way, it takes in rasping electro, hardcore riffing, rock-opera camp and continues to throw up new surprises with every listen.
    • Metascore: 86
    • Critic Score 80
    Locked Down
    What emerges from their empathy is a thoroughly great record that adds punch and groove to Rebennack's humid party music.
    • Metascore: 70
    • Critic Score 80
    Dear...
    [A] startling debut... As his tremulous whisper of a voice travels over deftly plucked, quietly rippling guitar lines, it feels like trespassing on a very small space, filled with enormous private sorrows.
    • Metascore: 76
    • Critic Score 80
    Boys & Girls
    They not only shake but also rattle, roll and do everything else to ears and body that the most rumbustious soul-rock and roots music can.
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