Entertainment Weekly's Scores

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For 3,519 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 81% higher than the average critic
  • 1% same as the average critic
  • 18% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 5 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 78
Highest review score: 100 The Idler Wheel Is Wiser than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More than Ropes Will Ever Do
Lowest review score: 0 Playing With Fire
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,085 out of 3519
  2. Mixed: 407 out of 3519
  3. Negative: 27 out of 3519
3519 music reviews
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    • 77 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Hamilton Mixtape
    The more faithful covers might feel redundant if you still have the original cast recording on repeat, while those drawn to the pop covers can probably skip past Miranda’s original demos. Still, by providing another eye-opening entry point to his groundbreaking work, the mixtape might be what takes you from being a casual fan to a hardcore Hamophile.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Darkness and Light
    As always, his perfectly raspy croon is the connective tissue, but it’s an awkward match on pop plays like the uplifting-anthem-by-numbers “Love Me Now” and the synth-heavy “What You Do to Me,” co-written with hitmakers Justin Tranter and Julia Michaels. Those tracks aside, Legend is mostly in his soulful comfort zone.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Starboy
    While musicians writing about coping with newfound celebrity is one of pop’s oldest tropes, the Weeknd avoids the usual clichés with observations and anecdotes that feel specific and genuine.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    The Weight of These Wings
    There’s something pleasingly organic, though, in Weight’s cohesiveness; it asks for patience and rewards it, weaving true tales of regret and resilience into one fiercely honest, gloriously flawed whole. Bless this mess.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    24K Magic
    With only nine songs, there’s not an ounce of fat on Magic, and nearly every track sounds like Top 40 gold.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service
    Luckily, We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service not only satisfies its lofty expectations, it often exceeds them.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    57th & 9th
    It proves that years of passion projects haven’t dulled his songwriting instincts.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Here
    The combination of her subject matter and her urgent delivery makes Here her most vital release in years--and a welcome addition to 2016’s rich canon of albums from Beyoncé, Solange, Frank Ocean, Common, and Dev Hynes that address black life in America.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Black America Again
    It’s the MC’s empathetic and clear-eyed rhymes that truly make this a vital contribution to the national conversation.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Cosmic Hallelujah
    His attempts at digging deeper make the lighter material feel earned--and they elevate his work above much of country’s escapist fare.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Lady Wood
    Lo sounds as if she’s in the throes of a quarter-life crisis. And what a beautiful and messy one it is.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Joanne
    Joanne is a curious bauble, demonstrating that although Gaga’s power to shock has waned, her artistry continues to evolve in exceptional ways.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Mad Love
    JoJo’s collection of soulful slow jams and dark, contemporary R&B head-bobbers is uneven. The latter category has more misses (the generic “Vibe.”) than hits (the flawless first single, “F— Apologies.”), but the stirring piano ballads that bookend the standard edition more than make up for that.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Ruminations
    For good and bad--mostly very good--Ruminations is a vulnerable Conor Oberst cracked open, spilling his soul. Pain is its recurring theme and though Oberst comes close to wallowing in it, the gift is his ability to embrace and absorb it and make it something beautiful.
    • 92 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    You Want It Darker
    On his 14th studio album, the songwriting maestro--still vital at 82--is a lion in winter, his lyrics heavy with God and sex and death and his legendary voice scraped down to a subterranean rumble.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Oh My My
    Their most diverse-sounding album yet.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Walls
    The result is their richest, most textured effort yet.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Day Breaks
    Still, it’s the relationship between Jones’ voice and her piano that impresses most. Not since her entrancing debut has she sounded this engaged.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Revolution Radio
    On their 12th studio LP they’re dialing down the excess, and the result is a focused set that rocks as fearlessly as their Gilman Street glory days.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Blue Mountain
    A moving group of tunes worthy of any campfire.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    A Seat at the Table
    The album radiates universal beauty and truth in the tradition of Stevie Wonder and Minnie Ripperton--and the whole world could simply use more of that.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    22, A Million
    It’s one of the year’s strangest albums, but some of the oddball arrangements work: On “10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⊠ ⊠” Vernon fuses Chipmunk soul with a booming low end to chilling effect. Still, he’s at his strongest when he keeps his outré inclinations in check.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Keep Me Singing
    Morrison’s voice has lost some of its sheer power, but he has retained all of its deep expressiveness, still every bit the otherworldly musical instrument it’s been for the past half-century.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Tidal Wave
    The guys once known for writing songs about girls who paid them no mind in adolescence aren’t here any more. Instead they’ve learned from their past, creating an album that’s both eclectic and sensitive, not just one or the other.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Hard II Love
    Instead of coming across convincingly tough, Hard II Love on these songs merely lives up to its title.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Braver Than We Are
    The backstories of the songs give the album an archeological spin. But it’s warmed by just enough updates to deliver Meat’s usual lumpy charm.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    AIM
    AIM may not be the Next Great M.I.A. album, but it delivers a solid collection of distinctive, crowd-friendly bangers that sound like no one else.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Wild World
    While Bastille’s expansion of influences is admirable, the whole album runs more than an hour in length and the sonic whiplash can be tiring. It’s cool they’re trying on many different styles, but truly killer albums have laser-sharp focus.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    E-MO-TION Side B [EP]
    Side B is that bash: intimate yet inclusive, with an invitation personally delivered by hand.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016
    Acoustic Recordings spools along as if conceived as a work unto itself, not a crazy quilt of quiet odds ‘n’ sods.
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