Consequence's Scores

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For 4,038 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 44% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 52% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 4 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 69
Highest review score: 100 Channel Orange
Lowest review score: 0 Revival
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,752 out of 4038
  2. Mixed: 1,215 out of 4038
  3. Negative: 71 out of 4038
4038 music reviews
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    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Jackie [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
    Levi expertly evokes the story and emotion even without any visual cues.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    I See You
    What makes The xx and I See You so enthralling, then, may not be a particular combination of lyrics and melodies, but the notion that there’s a secret life playing out here--one we may not be entirely privy to, but one that still rings with the sound of truth in all of its complexities.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Echolocation
    While it’s a relief that there’s no supergroup pretension present, it’s also a shame that it sounds like the original projects of its members thrown into a blender cranked to its highest setting. That kind of blending obscures the individual contributions of each musician, which ultimately renders Echolocation a dull effort.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Reflection
    On Reflection, Brian Eno chases the endlessness of thought through music and comes to terms with that same endlessness simultaneously--and by doing so, he allows listeners to do the same.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin'
    Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’ seems concerned with little more than keeping up appearances. Hopefully, the high points of the album are a proper barometer, and Kid Cudi’s next destination is a sight better than this.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Not the Actual Events [EP]
    Between the abundant déja vu and the periodical redundancy (doldrums which would be easy enough to overlook on a full-length, but prove problematic on a brisk 21-minute listen like this), Not the Actual Events’ purported “impenetrability” manifests as a riotous retread instead.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Run the Jewels 3
    So the blessing and the curse of Run the Jewels 3 is that it’s still a Run the Jewels album, a promise that every song is good, nothing is bad, and depending on your mood you’ll either bask in the lack of tempo changes, pulchritudinous song structures, and surprising hooks, or you’ll seek out a more colorful record.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Telefone [Mixtape]
    Telefone shows a great sense of promise and complex beauty.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Oxygene 3
    As he closes the final chapter in his Oxygène trilogy, Jarre somehow finds a way to fit all its components in a box, but can’t quite tie the bow holding them together.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    4 Your Eyez Only
    The concept works for Cole, and he does a stellar job diving into the mind of a seasoned criminal, who despite his seemingly impenetrable outer shell, is still human after all. It’s a narrative that allows Cole to retain his reputation as a gifted MC while displaying his own growth and maturity as a human being at the same time.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Blue and Lonesome
    In the end, the record feels like a copy of a copy, though produced on what may just be the world’s best copier. If nothing else, though, the record works as a pleasing re-centering for one of the greatest rock bands of all time.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Worry.
    WORRY. feels like the true start of Rosenstock’s solo career, with a backing band that is finally locked in, a record label 100 percent behind him, and a tower of critical accolades growing taller each day.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Darkness and Light
    Darkness and Light loses its depth, however, when Legend skews toward pop (see: “Love Me Now”), even if these songs do maintain a catchy candor. Fortunately for the album, they’re rare and few.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Harlequin
    Harlequin is the product of five years of writing, refining, and arranging, and yet the record runs on a sleepy, easy vibe--at once one of its greatest strengths and potential stumbling blocks.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Peace Trail
    Young’s prolificness and penchant for producing in the moment often makes for mixed bag records, and Peace Trail is no exception. But if the execution flails in spots, the intention behind these 10 tracks is still plenty inspiring.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    "Awaken, My Love!"
    Some of the same issues that dogged Childish Gambino’s previous attempts at this sort of powerful expression linger here, but Glover’s anguished wail strikes a far more resonant chord than his impish punchlines.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 33 Critic Score
    Hamburg Demonstrations
    The album falls flat in just about every aspect. It’s not offensively bad, it’s inoffensively boring.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    The Hamilton Mixtape
    As a companion to the musical, it’s indispensable. As a standalone piece of art, it’s as flawed, complex, and sometimes dazzling as the historical figure on which Hamilton centers, to say nothing of the country he helped to create.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Starboy
    It would help if more of the album were idiosyncratic that way, but as is, Starboy is still the sound of Tesfaye knowing he has what it takes to be a major figure in pop music for a very long time.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Positive Thinking
    With Positive Thinking, The Pack A.D. outdo their past, the new facets and layers revealing themselves further with each listen.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Häxan
    Häxan takes Dungen’s psychedelic experimentation and storytelling into a further realm, one at once more fantastic and more rooted in the subconscious. It’s not a definitive statement of who Dungen are, but rather an interesting insight into their ability to connect with who we are.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    MC4 [Mixtape]
    It’s a diverse guest list, and as a consequence, MC4 is too disjointed to feel like a definitive statement.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    24K Magic
    24K Magic is his first album that works as a statement, and while it’s unclear if it will see the runaway success Mars has enjoyed in the past, the coherence and variety of the record’s sound and lack of any obvious dud point to the strides that Mars is making as a songwriter.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Before the Dawn [Live]
    Before the Dawn is living, breathing proof that Bush still has the creative prowess and unique sensibilities that made her a superstar in the first place.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    57th & 9th
    The resulting material is imbued with an energy and urgency severely lacking in much of the music that he has produced across the last decade and then some.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Hardwired...To Self-Destruct
    At nearly 80 minutes, it’s understandable for an album like Hardwired… to Self-Destruct to have lulls, but the band gets way too comfortable way too early.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    An Odd Entrances
    Thee Oh Sees control the listener’s heartbeat with daft indifference and total control simultaneously. An Odd Entrances shows the band knows how to do so with the fragmented release of a two-part album, too.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Woman
    While Justice avoided breaking new ground with Woman, the 10 tracks still manage to remind us why we fell in love with them in the first place.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service
    By and large, We got it from Here… has the classic Tribe sound: a warm and crisp confluence of East Coast hip-hop, jazz, and more, all mixed and mastered impeccably. While some aspects of the sound are dated, others feel fresh.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Devil Music
    The stakes aren’t high on Devil Music, an album that feels less like a career marker for The Men and more like a simple, straightforward gift that they had a blast making, and something they hope you’ll like too.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Here
    Surprisingly, Here doesn’t struggle to balance this range of topics. Keys sings with authenticity and passion, occasionally delving into frustration, which keeps everything connected. What Here does struggle with is an unfinished commitment to order.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    No Waves
    The concept is far more ideal than it is practical, and No Waves dips between meaningful highs and shrug-worthy emptiness.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Stranger Things, Vol. 2 [Original Television Series Soundtrack]
    Dixon and Stein’s music is a chance to revisit it, to envelop ourselves in its arms (or claws), and to bask in the glory of something supremely strange and wonderful.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Slugger
    The energy of that debut track [“Basement Queens”] carries over into Slugger, which weaves catchy pop synthesizers around stylized guitar effects and melodic choruses.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Jessica Rabbit
    They may not have quite hit the mark of a perfect partnership yet, but sometimes progress comes at a price. Jessica Rabbit is at least a step in the right direction.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Until the Hunter
    It is a pleasure definitively for the listener, and from all reports for the musicians as well.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Eternally Even
    Especially on the front half, tracks flow into each other inconspicuously, and two of the nine are one song split into two parts, probably unnecessarily. The effect, then, is a bit of a shrug, a signal that James either has less to say or is less inclined to profess it.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    FLOTUS
    By pushing far outside of his comfort zone, he has imbued his sound with a fresh life that adds another compelling chapter to the chronicle of his rich career.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    New Skin
    CRX might pride themselves on not focusing excessively on cohesion, but on the level of the individual song, a lack of unity can undermine otherwise powerful elements. With New Skin, CRX have defined the parameters of who they are as a band. Going forward, they will need to find harmony in the tensions between them.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Goodbye Terrible Youth
    As McClure and co. look backward, their music only progresses forward.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Big Baby D.R.A.M.
    It’ll be interesting to see how those sorts of lyrics sound 10, 15, or 20 years down the line, but at the very least, Big Baby D.R.A.M.’s melodies and instrumentation are enough to ensure people will be listening to these songs for a while.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Two Vines
    The content of Two Vines doesn’t need to truly illustrate that concept to succeed. Empire of the Sun have managed to remain steadfast in the sound they’ve carved out for themselves since day one, which can be a challenge for a band that has pushed as big and wide as these two have.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Integrity Blues
    On Integrity Blues, Jimmy Eat World return to that mood of reverie, with often beautiful and quietly triumphant results.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Yes Lawd!
    The producer being so secondary here is certainly a missed opportunity. The album still ends up being a thrill, due to the duo’s sheer talent, but its caution undermines its competence. .Paak has insisted that Yes Lawd! is not an Anderson .Paak album, but it sure sounds like one.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Joanne
    The result is a work that may not close any circles, but instead start the pattern of a new shape: something weird, but compelling, and largely authentic.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Retribution
    This blending of past and present, delivered in the rawest way, makes her promise of Retribution that much more powerful.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Say Yes!: A Tribute to Elliott Smith
    If all the covers were as deeply felt as Caroline Says or Julien Baker’s, Say Yes would leap from a covers album to a tried and true tribute, a record that could bring an artist back to life, if only for an hour. If listeners are looking for that, well, then just listen to Elliott Smith’s originals.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Alone
    She might be conflicted, but Alone revels in the kind of humanity that’s long made Hynde’s best work with the Pretenders tick.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    American Football (LP2)
    It’ll make you remember that weird, wistful emotion that isn’t quite sadness but isn’t quite anything else, either. Because, while their music may sound as fresh as ever, American Football’s message these days is clear: time takes everything.
    • 92 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    You Want It Darker
    Using his remaining time, he’s not only putting his house in order, he’s tidying up ours too. You Want It Darker prepares us for his departure and, in turn, shows us how it’s done, so we have a road map--pockmarked by land mines as it is--in place when we reach that stage.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Running out of Love
    Running Out of Love is absolutely true to the duo’s style and their assessment of today’s Sweden.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    These Systems Are Failing
    Taken individually, the tracks from These Systems Are Failing are refreshingly vibrant for the 51-year-old Moby, who, even after 12 studio albums and countless other releases under his belt, continues to reinvent himself.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Dissociation
    Their final record is fittingly cyclical, beginning in the death of love and ending in death alone, full of transportive moments and beauty along the way. And though there may never be another Dillinger Escape Plan record, this one is perfectly suited and deserving of massive replays to come.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Cashmere
    That ability to tell stories of varying depth and importance is what rap is really all about, and in that regard, Swet Shop Boys are ascending fast.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Gameshow
    As a band that formed in 2007 and became emblematic of indie pop in the early part of this decade, Two Door Cinema Club were already sliding towards irrelevance. Unfortunately, Gameshow doesn’t really help to arrest that trajectory.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Walls
    Musically, WALLS isn’t some adventurous left turn towards krautrock or no wave. Rather, it’s KOL’s most unified, solid, and direct album since Aha Shake Heartbreak, its arc owing to time-tested AOR more than anything else.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Day Breaks
    The record retains some of the boundary-pushing and the jazz doesn’t always thrill, but it’s a record on which Jones sounds entirely familiar.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Three
    Three is a Phantogram record in that it’s a well-crafted release, but it lacks the originality Phantogram prided themselves on.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Don't Let the Kids Win
    Due to her diverse strengths, Jacklin’s songs differ greatly--but where for some that may result in an inconsistent tone, Jacklin strengthens the album by honoring its emotional core at all costs. Tracks jump from genre to genre without losing their hypnotic quality.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Revolution Radio
    Revolution Radio plods its way down roads the band first stomped on years ago. In a career filled with euphoric highs and honorable lows, this might be the first album that sits exactly on the middle of the scale, dipping its toes into every possible outcome but refusing to dive in and embrace either comfort or chaos.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Ruminations
    Oberst is best when his guard is down, and this album takes seven songs for that to finally happen.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Cody
    The transitional record nails the discomfort of feeling out of place or unsure of yourself. Imperfect but impassioned, Joyce Manor astutely capture uncertainty and anxiety throughout Cody.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Big Boat
    Big Boat, is wonderfully accessible thanks to its relatable sense of communal fun, as well as the band’s own self-awareness.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Sirens
    Jaar has signature tones--every musician does, and it’s hard to escape them--but he steps past expectations to make a political statement that’s still subdued, jaunty, and sharp.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    A Seat at the Table
    The interludes are all derived from the same sonic template as the songs, so the borders between tracks can be hazy, giving the album a meandering feel. That said, ultimately there’s something refreshing about Solange’s dreary, almost funereal compositions.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    The Altar
    None of the material on The Altar will revolutionize alt R&B, future soul, or whatever awkward label one might apply to this nebulous genre. What is here, though, is proof of an artist still searching for a new direction.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Atrocity Exhibition
    These songs aren’t for everyone, but they stand as some of the most fearlessly created music of the year--even if Brown sometimes sounds petrified for his life.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Care
    There are few sonic commonalities between the texture-oriented Love Remains--an album a lot of people loved--and Care. Objectively, though, this is a thoughtful, sincere pop R&B record that at times reaches Krell’s intended gorgeous heights.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    American Band
    While the no-bullshit lyrics and get-in, get-out nature of American Band work to make the band’s politics perfectly clear (at 47 minutes, it’s a contender for DBT’s shortest LP), it still has unique lyrical details that separate it from other protest music, even protest music of the loud and pissed-off variety.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    22, A Million
    The music’s vision and beauty hold together regardless, a sturdy and unparalleled step of confidence.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    RR7349
    RR7349 is a more complex affair than Stein and Dixon’s work on Stranger Things and for obvious reasons, above all being the involvement of Adam Jones and Mark Donica.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Remember Us to Life
    With Remember Us to Life, Spektor foregoes some of the whimsical narratives on previous albums and digs back into more personal thoughts, showcasing her inimitable vocals and piano talents.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Blood Bitch
    All that’s left to do is to approach the album the way you would modern art at a museum: with open ears, curious eyes, and a desire to exit with a newfound ability to find beauty in most everything around you.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Keep Me Singing
    The return to familiarity is a welcome one.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Healing Component
    The production ranges from icy to neon. And yet these tracks all clearly feel cut from a single cloth. The Healing Component evolves Jenkins’ worldview boldly, keeping his messages easy to digest but bursting with meaning.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Chapter and Verse
    Chapter and Verse--familiar as it is--also has an ace in the hole that just barely keeps it from being a shameless cash grab: the inclusion of five previously unreleased songs.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016
    For now, as a clue, we have this album of nuances, a revue of a career, where the delight is consistently in the details, some of them random, and others masterfully intentional.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Head Carrier
    While Head Carrier may fall far short of lightning bolts raining down from Olympus, there’s enough reason to believe Pixies have a bit of thunder in them yet.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    I Had a Dream That You Were Mine
    I Had a Dream You Were Mine overflows with satisfying and complex melodic shape.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Heads Up
    With so many co-existing styles, what could have been a disjointed listen is reigned in thanks to intelligent songwriting, contemporary production, and, most importantly, an intensity that elevates everything with impenetrable confidence and cool.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    A Corpse Wired for Sound
    For those who have paid close attention to the band’s evolution, it seemed inevitable that he would get to this point. Accordingly, A Corpse Wired for Sound feels like a culmination.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Mount Ninji and Da Nice Time Kid
    These songs, plus several others, are ultimately frustrating because they never achieve Die Antwoord’s self-professed new direction. Even more frustrating, the few tracks that try something different end up being some of the group’s strongest material to date.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    The Sides and in Between
    The Sides and in Between is an honest attempt at reviving rock ‘n’ roll, transforming it without the cheesy “those were the days” vibe.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Stage Four
    Much of what makes Touché Amoré a success remains intact: the band jamming away behind Bolm, supporting and expanding his “slam poetry.” But, oh what wonderful poetry it has become, as Bolm dives into the depths of his cortex as he comes to terms with the death of his mother in 2014.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings
    It’s this fusion of generations that partly makes Loud Bash such a fresh and exciting record. There’s plenty of Replacements hero worship going on with the loud, tumbling arrangements and sweeping vocal hooks, but that’s what being a teenager is all about.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Divine Feminine
    The album could offer some really tender moments, but because they’re buried under lyrics that talk about nothing but sex, they’re lost. Instead, The Divine Feminine leaves a sour taste behind and entirely misses an opportunity to truly honor the female gender.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Femejism
    Deap Vally are most compelling when they dig further than irreverently dismissing superficial, mainstreamed feminism, but rather go on to explore what makes modern womanhood disturbing or even terrifying, the omnipresent eye of patriarchy be damned.
    • 95 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Skeleton Tree
    As an artist, he needed to release the record in just this way in order to process his pain. Skeleton Tree was released for us, but it’s for him.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Preoccupations
    Preoccupations does away with the murkiness, sounding remarkably clear in contrast to its predecessor.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Shape Shift with Me
    As a cohesive work, Shape Shift with Me lacks the level of urgency and revelation of its predecessor. ... As listeners, we might not be able to carry the same things away from it, but maybe that’s okay---at the end of the day, it’s for her, not us.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    AIM
    Traditionally, M.I.A. peaks when she melts her musical influences, but on AIM, there’s this lingering feeling that too many of the songs were left half-baked. As such, the album feels less like a farewell and more like a preview for her next reinvention, a midday snack before the full-course government takedown.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Sunlit Youth
    Local Natives’ original components are still in fine working order, but evolution shouldn’t sound this unnatural. They tried, but their discomfort with the equipment stops the songs from fluorescing.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Sun's Tirade
    It’s not as ambitious as it could have been, but it works due to its sheer expressiveness, one man going through the motions and chronicling every movement, a tirade in the purest sense.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Schmilco
    Though the album came out of the same sessions as last year’s looser, wilder, and intentionally irreverent Star Wars, there’s now a deliberate quietness and gentleness to the core instrumentation.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Away
    The album is a tremendous achievement that captures sentiments of loss, isolation, and searching for a belonging in a way that only a writer with a keen eye and empathetic nature as Sheff’s could fully articulate.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Skiptracing
    While the instrumentation may change here and there, and the beats per minute may move up or down a few clicks, the general groove and melodic pattern of each song tread too similar a path and the winking references to earlier ideas feel just like the same song played over again.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Ultra
    On Ultra, it simply feels as though something is missing, and overall, makes more sense as an appetizer than the entrée.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    My Woman
    Although her bio insists that the narratives within the record aren’t intended to comment on gender roles, My Woman strikes down the notion that neither Olsen’s artistry nor her womanhood can be limited.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    How to Be a Human Being
    The tracks flit between genres with little regard for thematic continuity. Still, the album makes up for that absence with a barrage of raw humanity.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Take It, It's Yours
    Take It, It’s Yours, dresses 10 classic punk songs from artists like Wipers, the Gun Club, and Blondie in gorgeous, shimmering hues that sparkle and wink with double entendre.
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