Spin's Scores
- Music
For 4,260 reviews, this publication has graded:
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50% higher than the average critic
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3% same as the average critic
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47% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.6 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 70
Highest review score: | To Pimp A Butterfly | |
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Lowest review score: | They Were Wrong, So We Drowned |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 3,058 out of 4260
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Mixed: 1,147 out of 4260
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Negative: 55 out of 4260
4260
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Critic Score
Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest distinguishes itself in Callahan’s catalog not just by its subject matter, but also by the holism of its compositions. Paradoxically, they achieve their feeling of tossed-off informality through an astounding intricacy of form.- Spin
- Posted Jun 18, 2019
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Musically, the hooks are softer, the arrangements more ambitious, and 1960s British psychedelic folk (Fairport Convention, Vashti Bunyan, Pentangle) a far more palpable influence than the Americana that fueled the band's 2008 debut.- Spin
- Posted May 4, 2011
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The strangest and most ambitious album yet by the electronic composer and producer born Daniel Lopatin. For all its references to the past, Age Of is a distinctly 21st-century collage. ... When the Baroque arpeggios that close “The Station” enter a lockstep reminiscent of his synth-drone score for the 2017 thriller Good Time, for instance--it’s a musical thrill that renders questions about historical fidelity irrelevant.- Spin
- Posted Jun 1, 2018
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- Critic Score
It is exceedingly rare to find a producer who does so much, with so little, that he distilled from, again, so much.- Spin
- Posted Jun 2, 2015
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In declining to meet expectations, the Body have gotten free of the potential pigeonholing that plagues both them and the genre at large, providing something so utterly resigned, hopeless and, above all, barren; the most exciting bits on No One end up heightening the frustration and disappointment we crave more and more with each listen.- Spin
- Posted Mar 15, 2016
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- Spin
- Posted Oct 12, 2015
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- Critic Score
It doesn't excite with sonic innovation and lyrical reinvention, it excites by just sounding really, really, really good, and coming from a voice that, in more ways than one, we've never quite heard before. And that in itself should make it one of the most thrilling albums you hear this year.- Spin
- Posted Mar 23, 2015
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Though it would still be a potent political statement, Hopelessness would be something of a joyless slog if the music weren’t so gorgeous, matching the intensity of the subject matter without overwhelming it and giving the appropriate space to ANOHNI’s voice, which remains a glorious instrument.- Spin
- Posted May 3, 2016
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Its long-awaited threequel (after a beloved detour for his Social Experiment crew’s Surf last year) hits less directly and challenges its listeners to engage with something downright lovelier than usual.- Spin
- Posted May 18, 2016
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There's an exhilarating bleakness at the center of Virgins--the hollow at the heart of all things, nibbling inexorably away.- Spin
- Posted Oct 15, 2013
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- Critic Score
It's one 
of the most overly complicated hard-rock records 
of the past ten years. It's also one of the best.- Spin
- Posted Jun 6, 2011
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- Critic Score
A near-masterpiece of magical sounds that are both familiar and wildly new, a stunning blend of classic Americana and classical orchestration.- Spin
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Radiant with apocalyptic tension and grasping to sustain real bonds, The Suburbs extends hungrily outward, recalling the dystopic miasma of William Gibson's sci-fi novels and Sonic Youth's guitar odysseys.- Spin
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Forever is livelier, grittier and better [than "Be."] [Aug 2007, p.101]- Spin
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- Critic Score
Minekawa doesn't just get by on riding kitschy gimmicks and trends: anything but bubblegum pop or cute rock, her latest, Maxi On, is a deliberate, understated effort that works below the surface with fragile electronic arrangements and delicate noise collages.- Spin
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While more sonically ambitious in moments with bits of synth and vocal effects, 30 mostly stays the course of past Adele works: undeniable melody over gimmicks, piano and guitar built to transcend.- Spin
- Posted Nov 19, 2021
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Given its songs' consistent strength, Rings' extravagant extras rarely seem excessive. [Apr 2002, p.125]- Spin
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- Critic Score
I Bet on Sky is the sound of a great, influential band that, yes, picked up where they left off, but instead of luxuriating in the sentimental hue of the moment, got back to work and kept moving forward.- Spin
- Posted Sep 28, 2012
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Clark's complex femininity, both self-possessed and keenly evolving, is what makes her music so powerful and fascinating.- Spin
- Posted Aug 26, 2011
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- Critic Score
Preposterous and sensational, We Love Life grapples with nothing less than how best to prove you're alive. [Oct 2002, p.116]- Spin
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- Critic Score
Thee Oh Sees are always the same but different, drifting through genres before twisting them out of shape, from the bubblegum of Castlemania to the metal-tinged Floating Coffin. On A Weird Exists, they do this more successfully than ever before. [Sep 2016, p.80]- Spin
Posted Aug 11, 2016 -
- Critic Score
Middle Cyclone carries case's unique vision one step further: here, she truly embraces the beast within.- Spin
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Shoniwa is both impulsive and precise: Every string-swept disco flourish or arena-rock guitar break heightens an unflappable poise that bypasses rote R&B melisma for soul-shaking celebration.- Spin
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Aside from "Lovealot," she proudly proclaims her intentions as a first-world pop star, de-emphasizing found collage and "third-world democracy" for melodic sway and punky bluster.- Spin
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Fetch the Bolt Cutters is definitely the product of cabin fever and occasionally feels claustrophobic but it’s an undeniably fascinating and complex collection of songs. It manages to refine many of Apple’s already good ideas and displays a distinct sonic evolution.- Spin
- Posted Apr 17, 2020
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- Critic Score
If Slave Ambient represented a breakthrough, this one is an out-and-out star-maker that should rank among the year's best albums.- Spin
- Posted Mar 13, 2014
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- Critic Score
These are 50-year-old songs written by a man in his early 20s performed by a handful of 70 year-olds come to life and, thanks to the incredible strength and musical bond of the E Street Band, they dovetail very well with the new material. ... The results are stellar. There’s really not a bad one in the bunch.- Spin
- Posted Oct 20, 2020
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Noname leaves little to no room for filler on Room 25, conveying a wide breadth of compelling ideas within 35 minutes. ... Though it can require attention to detail for her words to sink in, she gives off a feeling of effortless and whimsical grace as she speaks from a place of stark honesty over live instrumentation. A complete one-of-one act who continues to grow in real time outside of the limelight, Noname makes a subtle yet strong statement for women providing alternatives to one-dimensional rap archetypes.- Spin
- Posted Sep 27, 2018
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- Critic Score
Tightening the screws of his delivery, he's found a bruising poetry in a flow that once seemed clumsily conversational. [Jan 2003, p.93]- Spin