The Observer (UK)'s Scores

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For 2,616 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 37% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 59% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 4.9 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 68
Highest review score: 100 Gold-Diggers Sound
Lowest review score: 20 Collections
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,230 out of 2616
  2. Mixed: 1,368 out of 2616
  3. Negative: 18 out of 2616
2616 music reviews
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    • 49 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    44/876
    Sting’s still a fearless, fascinating lyricist, and Shaggy’s attractive persona remains one wink short of a leer. 44/876 may be no more exciting than a well-made sofa, but only psychopaths don’t like sofas.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The King & I
    He [Biggie] was never boring, unlike this compilation of tired productions and mawkish interludes.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    In a Perfect World
    For all their stadium uplift and notionally anthemic choruses, they never deliver a hook or melodic sucker punch that really floors you.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Chapter 1: Snake Oil
    It’s a perfectly serviceable album, as one might expect, given the pedigree of those involved. But it’s hard to imagine it being met with anything but bemusement at the Grand Ole Opry.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Lulu
    It's not a successful union: the songs are too close to aimless, unfinished jams, Reed sounds as if he's trying too hard to be controversial and at 95 minutes it's far too long.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Growing Up in Public
    Professor Green’s whiny rap and the tired chart-house riff detract from the power of the narrative.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    A.K.A.
    Anybody who heard 2011's Love? won't find much new here, forgettable EDM-by-numbers floor-fillers jostling with marginally more inspired ballads.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Skins
    There’s nothing here quite as aurally arresting as Moonlight, off XXX’s ? LP, but his recasting of Slim Shady as an eclectic depressive indelibly coloured this year.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    LP1
    Spread over 17 songs that tick off genres with all the flair of an automated Spotify playlist, Payne’s anonymity remains the album’s default through line. Occasionally painful yet weirdly Payne-less.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Memories: Do Not Open
    This is Trump-pop: shallow, always betraying its influences, with a third-grade vocabulary and ambition that runs no further than emptying the nearest wallet.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    III
    None of their melodies sticks in the head or, crucially, the heart.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Fortune
    This is not a great album.
    • 37 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Nine Track Mind
    There are flashes of something special on Suffer, and the surprisingly sultry Selena Gomez collaboration We Don’t Talk Anymore, but in general, Puth’s anonymity is infuriating.
    • 35 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The Female Boss
    The few redeeming moments come when she ceases her bellowing and shows a little restraint, as on the surprisingly likable Skeletons.
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