Paste Magazine's Scores

Select another publication »
For 4,075 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 67% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 30% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 76
Highest review score: 100 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [50th Anniversary Edition Deluxe Version]
Lowest review score: 10 Songs From Black Mountain
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,639 out of 4075
  2. Mixed: 400 out of 4075
  3. Negative: 36 out of 4075
4075 music reviews
view
per page
    • 82 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Arkhon
    The result is her vastest music yet, a cavernous sort of middle ground among orchestral, Gothic, pop, opera and industrial music that feels apt for barreling through obstacles both global and personal.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Sometimes, Forever
    This doesn’t negate the power of Sometimes, Forever, a record that will be noted for its big swings, but rather reinforces it. When a band is able to thrive both inside and outside their comfort zone, it is built to last. The release of Sometimes, Forever is just another indication that Soccer Mommy will persevere in the face of an industry that is always changing.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 84 Critic Score
    Ugly Season
    It’s one of the most challenging and rewarding releases Perfume Genius has ever attempted. ... Ugly Season continues a hell of a winning streak for Perfume Genius, a group that has ascended beyond expectation.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 74 Critic Score
    Ultraviolet Battle Hymns and True Confessions
    The new album is a return to form. Yet Ultraviolet Battle Hymns and True Confessions still manages to range far and wide.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 84 Critic Score
    Farm to Table
    Farm to Table, in some ways, is Bartees’ sunrise. It’s proof of his undeniable spark. As Farm to Table demonstrates, Bartees Strange is only getting started.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 73 Critic Score
    Mercury
    Hinton’s own voice doesn’t show up on his latest LP, but it doesn’t have to. His songs tug at heartstrings all the same, and in a cultural landscape where “Does this make you feel something?” is now the predominant question, Mercury is sure to prompt a resounding yes.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Big Time
    Big Time is emotionally devastating, but never toes a line of melodrama.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Versions of Modern Performance
    Between the stylistic achievements that feel refreshing without over-referencing, the truly deadpan delivery on a coiled bed of noise, and (at last) some proper sequencing, Versions of Modern Performance is a smart record that prove Horsegirl to be the real deal.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    From Capelton Hill
    Throughout the album’s twists and turns, Millan and Campbell build off each other’s energies the way they always have, asking and answering each other with grace and sensitivity.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 79 Critic Score
    Blue Skies
    After clocking more hours in the studio this time around, the band sound even more assured. On Blue Skies, those telltale hooks manifest themselves again on nearly every song.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Heart Under
    Heart Under is simultaneously ghostly and glorious, a wretched yet emancipatory tornado of distorted dissonance that places the band among the vanguard of the British Isles’ ever-crowded post-punk scene.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 79 Critic Score
    Cruel Country
    At 21 tracks, Cruel Country is, unsurprisingly, a bit too long. ... As it is, it’s an album that gets back to basics and shines a spotlight on a particularly uncluttered version of Wilco that offers a little something for everyone.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 84 Critic Score
    And Those Who Were Seen Dancing
    And Those Who Were Seen Dancing certainly isn’t the first album to put a fresh spin on the psych aesthetic, but by shrugging off its constraints, Parks has left her own definitive mark on it.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 77 Critic Score
    A Legacy of Rentals
    As usual, the people in Finn’s songs are vivid and compelling.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 74 Critic Score
    If I Never Know You Like This Again
    If Grim Town focused on what mere survival looked like, then If I Never Know You Like This Again captures the gnarled frustrations and contentment alike of a life fully lived.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Harry's House
    He sounds in command of his voice on this record in a way that he hadn’t yet reached in his past two releases. While truly every track on Harry’s House has something to admire and embrace, the ninth song, “Daydreaming,” is a standout for one simple reason: Styles uses a sample for the very first time.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky
    They show they don’t need to burn down what they’ve built and start over—they can grow outward, not just upward. These songs are some of the best and most inventive they’ve done, and they prove that Porridge Radio, while always burning brightly, are no mere flash in the pan.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Preacher's Daughter
    Preacher’s Daughter produces a crater-deep impact that commands respect and attention. Where one may knock some of the power ballads for sameness, one might instead find consistency, an album grounded in the artist’s inspirations and narrative mission that is, above all, tantalizing. It is hard not to crave more.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 81 Critic Score
    Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
    Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers rejects conformity and leaves its flaws in on purpose, featuring some of Kendrick’s best and worst songs of his career.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    A Light for Attracting Attention
    For now, A Light for Attracting Attention is a versatile beacon for Yorke and Greenwood’s groovier side, and a remarkably assured debut that—let’s be honest—doesn’t really feel like a debut at all.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 82 Critic Score
    This Is a Photograph
    The progression of Morby’s most recent albums hinted at the true extent of his musical ideas, but that honeypot of talent and wisdom didn’t truly run over until now. Still, Photograph doesn’t overshadow his other work—rather, it honors it all.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dance Fever
    When a band have been so focused on their brand for as long as Florence + The Machine have, it’s easy for them to box themselves in, muting their power; instead, Dance Fever is the sound of a band finding an escape route, rediscovering what makes them special.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 84 Critic Score
    We've Been Going About This All Wrong
    The combination of her voice, her ever-deepening talent as a songwriter and musical arrangements that are well thought out but not fussed over makes We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong a potent addition to Van Etten’s catalog. Whatever else the album title refers to, she’s been going about her music exactly right.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    WE
    It’s their best album since The Suburbs.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    LP.8
    Even though LP.8 is a triumph in tone, it’s disappointing to listen to a record that feels as though Owens was self-conscious knowing the accessibility of the releases that came before it. ... But on the other hand, it would be foolish not to chase the muse, and this album is definitely born from the bleak times in which it was created.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    When It Comes
    When It Comes takes risks, and while it could stand to take some more, there is something to be said for letting the most calculated risks stand out the most, and between Gavanski’s vintage pop/folk prowess, notes of experimentalism, and some sonic diversity, there is little doubt that this is a step forward for the artist after a more guarded debut.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    Forgiveness
    It’s apparent even now, though, that the group is still growing and refusing to choose any one path. An inventive, varied record made in this way can succeed, but there needs to be something holding it all together, and Forgiveness is void of any such spine
    • 83 Metascore
    • 81 Critic Score
    Palomino
    At 15 tracks long, it’s a smorgasbord of Lambert specialties: traditionalist country, vivid character sketches, revved-up rock guitars, double-take turns of phrase, pop curiosity, place names and incredible consistency. It may not be her best album, but it is a very worthy entry in what is quickly becoming one of the best recorded catalogs in music. Period.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 76 Critic Score
    Blood Karaoke
    Where his first record, You’re Useless, I Love You (Reading Group, 2016), was a gorgeous rush of intoxicating pop mutations, Blood Karaoke is a nervous, epic downward spiral of the weird, wonderful and forgotten poetry of social media.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 84 Critic Score
    I Dont Know Who Needs to Hear This...
    i don’t know who needs to hear this… is grander than anything she’s done before, but rarely does it feel like a departure.
Page: