Urb's Scores

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For 1,126 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 63% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 35% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.3 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 73
Highest review score: 100 The Golden Age of Apocalypse
Lowest review score: 10 This Is Forever
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 856 out of 1126
  2. Mixed: 256 out of 1126
  3. Negative: 14 out of 1126
1126 music reviews
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    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Kicking The National Habit
    This is AM pop perfection that doesn't need a stamp of retro-cool to be timeless. [Mar 2005, p.111]
    • Urb
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    By The Throat
    Combined with newly found experiences, newly discovered self-awareness and newly refined skills, By the Throat catches this almost-forgotten duo at a new height of the pair's combined powers. Well worth the wait.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    No Shouts, No Calls
    Emphasizes stripped down drums & bass. [Apr 2007, p.102]
    • Urb
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Alopecia
    It’s a syrup-sick pop rotted by dark folk, elaborate rhythms and droning psychedelia, but it’s always tight--meticulously so--making Alopecia an across the-board delicacy of warped obsession.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Maritime
    Somewhere between Matmos and Ariel Pink, this is wickedly out there. [Sep 2005, p.110]
    • Urb
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    La Roux
    La Roux’s selft-titled debut doesn’t disappoint, pulling obvious influences from the Human League and Depeche Mode.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Watch the Throne
    Why is it so easy to cling onto certain bodies of work and wish for each subsequent effort to bear resemblance? Well, the easy answer is because both of these men are very good at telling specific types of stories.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tender Buttons
    It's always amazing to see a band eclipse their influences. [Oct 2005, p.77]
    • Urb
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Sign [EP]
    Departs from the most interesting moments of his past work and thankfully st-st-st-st-stays there awhile.
    • Urb
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Essence
    The stance on Essence is less confrontational than its precursor, more a life-affirming offering to elemental forces. [#79, p.128]
    • Urb
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Power In Numbers
    The excellent Power In Numbers finds the group inching toward the future with a fuller sound and different looks. [Oct 2002, p.94]
    • Urb
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Echoes
    While a handful of tracks may... seem familiar to fans of PiL, Dinosaur L, ESG and Primal Scream, Echoes manages much more than aping influences. [Oct 2003, p.83]
    • Urb
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Odd Couple
    With The Odd Couple, Gnarls Barkley is unable to come up with anything containing as much pure pop power as their hit song "Crazy," but it's certainly not for lack of trying.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Out Of The Woods
    This quirky little record shouldn't lose any old fans and may just gain her a few new ones. [Apr 2007, p.108]
    • Urb
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tommy
    Tommy excels because there is no one correct way to describe the music. Using everything from Afrobeat to IDM, Dosh does it all; yet, he manages to find a way to make the entire project cohesive.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
    The shimmering dream pop of the band’s debut is surprisingly accomplished and self-assured, a rare shoegaze-styled album that isn’t hellbent on aping the genre’s luminaries.
    • Urb
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    At War With The Mystics
    Mystics still has plenty of weird, shining moments to solidify the band's unique spot in rock, but the schizophrenia may leave you a bit jarred. [Apr 2006, p.84]
    • Urb
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    21
    21 is just a logical, major label extension of her girl-ish, diary-dream optimism.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Compass
    Although Compass is certainly different from his other albums, it’s also just as certainly distinctly Jamie Lidell, and just the latest step in an ever-growingly impressive career.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Dead Man's Bones
    Is Dead Man's Bones' record necessarily as accomplished as either of the aforementioned? Maybe not. But when one half of your band is splitting his vocations by also brandishing his face onto big studio pieces of celluloid, it's still a mightily impressive debut.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Everyone I Ever Met
    Reminiscent of our favorite moments from groups like Radiohead, ColdPlay, and Kings of Leon, Everyone I Ever Met is sure to garner the vintage Schwinn- riding guys from Oregon some well deserved props from music lovers world-wide. Do not miss this stellar release.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Oracular Spectacular
    Opener 'Time to Pretend' exemplifies this best, as the synths provide quirky cartoonish bounces to tales of fancy car whipping and coke snorting pipe-dreams. However, the record grows sluggish at certain points, particularly when they try to get super sentimental on that ass.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Young Machetes
    The Brothers reach unmistakable heights of blood pressure... but also deliver slow, melodic goodies. [Oct 2006, p.118]
    • Urb
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Escape 2 Mars
    Everything here–like his entire songbook pretty much–is delivered with presence and vigor.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Transit Transit
    Though adhering to this formula/non-formula, this self-produced long-time-comin' sophomore release relies on an even more augmented eclecticism than their 2004 guitar-driven Future Perfect (not better or worse, just OK Computer to The Bends differences).
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Talkie Walkie
    Where Air's previous album failed to ignite like their classic Moon Safari, they have made some amends on Talkie Walkie. [Jan 2004, p.74]
    • Urb
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Joyful Rebellion
    A schizophrenic journey into the mind of a man who clearly embraces myriad genres. [Oct 2004, p.103]
    • Urb
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Another World [EP]
    They stick to the band's strict formula of melodic, thematic, well written music.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Time:Line
    It takes a minimum of three full listens to really appreciate what’s going on here, so take some time with Time:Line, and reap the rewards of cross-country wav file transmission.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    200 Million Thousand
    Very simplistic in melody and progression, each track on 200 Million Thousand is a tube-driven, distorted mess, complete with classic Brit-punk vocals. Twangy and overdriven guitars are matched with screams and pissed-off vocals full of attitude, creating a highly energetic punch, reminiscent of a Black Lips live performance.
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