American Songwriter's Scores

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For 1,814 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 50% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 45% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.8 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
Highest review score: 100 Rockstar
Lowest review score: 20 Dancing Backward in High Heels
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,458 out of 1814
  2. Mixed: 352 out of 1814
  3. Negative: 4 out of 1814
1814 music reviews
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    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    City of Gold
    The slower songs—“Stranger Things,” “Goodbye Mary,” “The First Time I Fell In Love,” “More Like a River,” and the aforementioned “When My Race Is Run” in particular—assure an emotional essence remains intact throughout. Taken in tandem, then, this City of Gold shines bright indeed.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Speak Now (Taylor's Version)
    They [vault songs] offer something completely new, which is what many people expect from an album release, but they aren’t the most interesting thing about Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), in my opinion. .... That matured, time-honed voice coming out of Swift in her latest re-recording is a mirror image of a fan base who has weathered the storm and come out the other end with her.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Stories From a Rock 'n' Roll Heart
    These stories resonate with strength and an irrepressible spirit few other artists can summon. Williams’ ability to persevere over issues that would sideline lesser talents and create music this impressive is a testament to the vitality of her rock ’n’ roll heart.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Exorcist
    He continues his streak as one of this country’s most prolific and talented players, singers, and songwriters in an inimitable “electric swamp funkin’ blues” genre he pretty much owns.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Orpheus Descending
    Ultimately, Orpheus Descending ranks as one of the most commanding and compelling albums of Mellencamp’s entire career.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    What Matters Most
    It’s a feeling of abject determination that makes this album different from many of Folds’ earlier endeavors, and, as a result, a somewhat more earnest offering as well. In that sense, What Matters Most reflects all its name intends to claim.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    LaVette!
    LaVette is clearly in her element throughout, delivering Bramblett’s words with as much emotion as anyone could squeeze out of them. Producer Jordan supports her with a band of pros that never upstages the star. Call it a win-win for the writer and singer, spotlighting the talents of both, with this thrilling, often electrifying work.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Shadow Kingdom
    Consider Shadow Kingdom another opportunity to seize on a fabled legacy while reminding the world yet again that certain songs never go out of style.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Brandy Clark
    Clark has an outstanding cast of supporting players helping to underscore her intents, among them, Derek Trucks, Lucius, guitarist Judd Hughes, drummer Matt Chamberlain, bassist Sebastian Steinberg, and of course Carlile herself. Nevertheless, Clark can claim credit for this remarkably revealing record and for having the courage to convey these tattered truths so well.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Council Skies
    Those memorable, sweeping, soaring melodies the older Gallagher is known for prevail. Horns adorn some selections but it’s the strings, recorded at Abbey Road, which push these songs from very good to the next level.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Such Ferocious Beauty
    Another classy, sublime entry in the group’s expansive resume, one that has remarkably few missteps.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Live at Berkeley 1971
    It’s an inspired performance. Stills is in fine form, vocally, on guitar, banjo (a searing “Know You’ve Got to Run,” a precursor to Déjà Vu’s “Everybody I Love You”) and even pounding the piano for a ragged but committed mash-up of “49 Bye Byes” and the Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.”
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte
    To say it sounds like another great Sparks set might be damning it with faint praise.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Now
    The material is softly lit and effortlessly assured, conveying the calming and caressing sound that all so frequently added its soothing sobriety to CSN and CSNY (Crosby Stills Nash & Young), respectively. That’s not to say there aren’t rallying cries included as well. Both “Golden Idols” and “Stars and Stripes” recall the outraged anthem of old.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Seven Psalms
    Seven Psalms is certainly an intriguing album, but not necessarily one that will reflect the faith of his followers.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    RökFlöte
    The arrangements are both agile and emphatic, by turns jaunty, gyrating, and exuberant.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Henry St.
    While it’s not necessarily the kind of record that’s going to grab immediate attention, it does retain an amiable accessibility all its own. In that regard, listeners might just find that The Tallest Man On Earth makes music that’s all within an easy reach.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Continue as a Guest
    Ultimately, The New Pornographers specialize in creating a most satisfying sound—the effusive rush of “Bottle Episodes” and “Angelcover,” being two of the more obvious examples—while also making music that begs repeat listens in order to fully grasp the magnitude of their overarched intents.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Raving Ghost
    Jean’s vocals are on the thin side, especially for music that punches and pounds like the majority of these tracks. But she delivers her often dark-edged lyrics with the louche, ice-queen nonchalance of Debbie Harry and Belinda Carlisle which suits this snaking vibe.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Chicago Sessions
    As always, Crowell is in prime form, and the ten songs that make up the set list hold to the high standard he’s known for.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Spectral Lines
    The end result is an album that demands a concerted listen in order to fully appreciate all the tones and textures it has to offer. With Spectral Lines, Josh Ritter continues to blur the boundary between melody and mystique.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Hypnogogue
    On The Hypnogogue, the quintet creates fluid moods, moving in idiosyncratic directions while maintaining the shadowy gaze that has defined The Church’s style. Still, a few more songs like the relatively pop-oriented “C’est La Vie” would help elevate and energize the album by varying its consistency.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Angels in Science Fiction
    Often moody, intermittently lovely, if cautionary, set.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Defiance, Pt. 1
    The performances smartly stick to rockers since the few ballads (“Guernica” and “No Hard Feelings”), while darkly tuneful, expose the limitations of Hunter’s voice, now a shadow of his “All the Young Dudes” heyday. But give him credit for refusing to tweak it with electronic enhancers and writing some terrific tunes, which he attacks with more vigor than many a quarter of his age.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    High Flyin'
    High Flyin’ offers an interesting insight into one of Young’s many outside ventures and a good representation of a brief chapter in his ever-changing trajectory that hasn’t been shared to any great extent before. On the other hand, it doesn’t represent any dramatic change in his template, as the replay of his aforementioned classics confirms so convincingly.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Somewhere Under the Rainbow 1973
    The sound is of bootleg quality, with audience comments and an occasional cough evident in the mix. Nevertheless, given the set list that’s spread out over the two discs, it does make for a worthy archival addition.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    All Roads Lead Home
    Taken in tandem, All Roads Home makes for an enjoyable outing, one that gives each musician an opportunity to take center stage while demonstrating a small sampling of their individual wares.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    A River Running to Your Heart
    A River Running to Your Heart qualifies as a complete triumph and one that serves Fruit Bats’ legacy well. To describe it as simply exceptional doesn’t say it all.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Love Still Held Me Near
    Both haunting and harrowing in equal measure, The Love Still Held Me Near finds the bond that connects those emphatic emotions clearly and convincingly.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Who with Orchestra: Live at Wembley
    Most of the extraneous contributions are little more than negligible. ... Any live album that showcases their classics—and, as in this case, makes room for some newer offerings as well (“All and Chain,” “Tea and Theatre,” “Hero Ground Zero”) is, by degree, an essential additive to the band’s continuing catalog. So too, both Daltrey and Townsend are in fine form, and clearly up to the task of presenting the group’s catalog in the best light.
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