Boston Globe's Scores

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For 2,093 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 66% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 31% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.6 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 72
Highest review score: 100 City of Refuge
Lowest review score: 10 Lulu
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,670 out of 2093
  2. Mixed: 412 out of 2093
  3. Negative: 11 out of 2093
2093 music reviews
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    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Black And White Album
    Not exactly different enough to make this the Hives's "White Album," but for once, things aren't literally so black and white.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Red Carpet Massacre
    While Simon Le Bon's tenor is still in top form, his lyrical prowess remains hit and miss as do some of the late-in-the-album tracks. But this is one record the diehard Durannies should find room for in their collections.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Taking Chances
    Are chances taken? Not many, but there are rewards if you're willing to enjoy Dion's precise vocalizing and the hooky songs.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    System
    His dance-pop tunes are surprisingly fresh and emotionally meaty, without a hint of complacency.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    As I Am
    Keys's tunes sing as strongly as she does. Alas, she still relies too often on sloganeering.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ire Works
    The band is clearly comfortable with the medium that it occupies between aggressive and technical post-hardcore yet is beginning to tread new territory.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
    Save the Four Tops medley there has yet to be a match for Levi Stubbs--the Boyz sound as strong and harmonious as ever.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hvarf/Heim
    Together, the EPs form a beautiful post-rock symphony, topped by singer and guitarist Jonsi Birgisson's simultaneously naive and profound singing.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Exclusive
    If there was ever a record created to turn a pop singer into a star, it's Brown's sophomore effort.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Long Road Out Of Eden
    It is an auspicious beginning for a double album so strong it's almost irritating that it took so long to release it.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Under The Boards
    Chris Conley's juvenile lyrics and whiney vocal tone submerge the band's music.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Teenager
    While at times fun and lovely, this release exemplifies the very treachery of maturing that it addresses with such earnestness.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Chrome Dreams II
    The veteran rock 'n' roller manages a few neat tricks on this sprawling head-spinner.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Carnival Ride
    Carnival Dreams, a worthy successor to Underwood's 6-million-selling debut, will surely install the blond belter from Checotah, Okla., on the crossover throne once occupied by Faith Hill and Shania Twain.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Raising Sand
    Raising Sand is the stuff of which music lovers' dreams are made: an unexpected collision of two distinct but complementary worlds that transcend the sum of their parts to create something unique and mesmerizing.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    In The Vines
    The album's Gothic-tinged Americana is an uneasy road but blazes a trail worth exploring, one that is more about the journey and not so much about the destination.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Make Sure They See My Face
    This isn't quite sensitive arena balladry, and it's not quite a disco party, and that's emblematic of both this album's biggest problem and its greatest strength.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Art of Love and War
    Even though she doesn't get the same kind of attention as some of her peers do, Angie Stone is a supreme talent, and this album really shows it.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    In Rainbows
    In Rainbows is a wonderful, absorbing album.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Necessary Evil
    Debbie Harry's sixth solo album starts off strong, or at least nostalgic, with a pair of ebullient New Wave pop-rockers, 'Two Times Blue' and 'School for Scandal.' Then it just gets stupid.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Flying Club Cup
    Condon's lyrics and his singing are nondescript at best, but Beirut retains a ragged majesty that can best be described as, well, French.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Widow City
    This dauntingly difficult-to-sit-through disc of scattershot rhythms, quickly discarded melodies, and opaque ideas seems as much a contrarian dare to its audience as anything else. That's either good or bad news, depending on whether you find Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger's schizophrenic approach irritating or intriguing, grating or great - or maybe both.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Heroes & Thieves
    The driving finale, 'Home,' finds her asserting, "Let's live in the glory," and hitting a magnificent buoyant piano bridge that says as much.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Family
    The result is the best, most cogent album of her career.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Night Falls Over Kortedala
    With such a sweeping sonic palette, it's a pleasant surprise that the record doesn't crumble under its own auspices.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Rock N Roll Jesus
    Even his derivative muddles exhibit such an irresistible zing that you find yourself laughing at and singing along to and not worrying that maybe his heroes did it first and did it better.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Mantaray
    A few tracks may drag along the way, especially the aptly titled social critique 'Drone Zone,' but they're worth it to reach the final and finest, 'Heaven and Alchemy.'
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Magic
    As on much of Magic, Springsteen leaves the interpretive driving up to the fan, offering his most straightforward rock music in years.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Songs Of Mass Destruction
    She applies her ever-mesmerizing mix of vocal heat and instrumental chill to images of longing, falling, searching, raging, and despair on her deeply emotional and soul-stirring fourth solo album, Songs of Mass Destruction.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Shade Of Poison Trees
    The Florida native's fifth disc seems less of a struggle for brand identity, but it's still scarred by past glories.
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