The A.V. Club's Scores

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For 4,545 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 64% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 34% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.6 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
Highest review score: 100 Fearless (Taylor's Version)
Lowest review score: 0 Graffiti
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,664 out of 4545
  2. Mixed: 771 out of 4545
  3. Negative: 110 out of 4545
4545 music reviews
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    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Loneliest Time
    The Loneliest Time ends up toggling between this effervescent disco-inspired pop and Laurel Canyon folk sensibilities, with neither shedding light on a new facet of the other. In spite of The Loneliest Time’s tinge of cynicism when it comes to relationships, the title track (which serves as the album’s finale), ends everything on a high note.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Midnights
    Midnights marks Swift’s self-assured return to her comfort zone: delivering sweeping crowdpleasers and nuanced hard-hitters.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Words & Music, May 1965
    The clarity of Reed’s voice as a songwriter contrasts with the tentative musicality in kinetic ways, making Words & Music a rare thing: a historic document that is also compelling listening.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Pulse of the Early Brain: Switched On, Vol. 5
    Most of the material on this fifth volume of Switched On studiously avoids the trappings of pop music, so hearing this Emperor Tomato Ketchup single as a coda underscores how Stereolab’s music is the product of careful choices and planned adventure, a combination that often produces compelling results as Pulse Of The Early Brain makes plain.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Big Time
    Big Time is a monumental work on loss and how quickly things can change. We see Olsen come into a new power as a songwriter, resulting in an album filled to the brim with radiance and conviction.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Alpha Games
    Alpha Games is the sound of a band trying to reignite its former flame, while simultaneously digging its heels so deep into unfamiliar territory, it can’t even reach the lighter.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Skinty Fia
    More than anything, however, Skinty Fia’s plodding progression and miserabilist overtones come across like cut-rate versions of Bauhaus’ chilly gothic vibes and the aforementioned Joy Division’s claustrophobic dirge, only without the benefit of the latter group’s inimitable basslines.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    (Watch My Moves)
    It’s a sprawling, sublime collection which rivals B’lieve in the context of Vile’s largely unimpeachable discography.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Wet Leg
    There are no dull moments on Wet Leg. With the winning pairing of two incredible guitarists and excellent songwriting, this is a near-flawless introduction. The record holds such a compelling collection of songs.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Chloe and the Next 20th Century
    There are songs about lovers remaining strangers and dumbstruck fools falling for each other, and musically, it is sleek. The whole record carries a surprising confidence in regard to affection, survival, and making ends meet.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Unlimited Love
    Casual fans may be disappointed by the lack of hooks until they’ve heard it another twenty times, while hardcore fans will slowly discover there’s a musical depth the Peppers have long been striving for. The bulk of the album blends into its own flavor, and it’s a good one. Unlimited Love doesn’t do it all, but what it does, it does damn well.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Forever
    While Forever has moments from the artist as good as anything he’s done, it also has a lot of posthumous eulogizing and after-the-fact assembly, all riven through with a heavy dose of sentimentality.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    SZNZ: Spring [EP]
    This EP finds Weezer safely in its comfort zone, leaving a big challenge for the rest of the EPs in the series. But for now, fans can still enjoy the fact that Weezer can sometimes—when the right effort is made—sound genuinely great.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Crash
    Overall, CRASH’s crystal clear production and iron-clad writing has all of the force behind it to propel the album into the stratosphere. But instead of putting the pedal to the metal in pursuit of a high camp sound, it stays in the slow lane.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    In/Out/In
    In/Out/In, a collection of five rare and unreleased tracks from the band’s final decade, isn’t going to change anyone’s minds about Sonic Youth. If anything, this decidedly lo-fi affair only reinforces what listeners likely already know: that the group could pivot easily between lovely little compositions and shrieking avant-garde noise that is practically anti-music in its deconstructionist tendencies.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Back in Black
    Back In Black is an album-length reminder of why the group has managed to have such staying power. It straddles that difficult artistic line between being devoted to what made the rap outfit great, while changing things up just enough to stay relevant.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Hygiene
    Hygiene is a record wholly unconcerned about how derivative it sounds, or with how it fits into the wider rock landscape—happy instead to carve out its own niche, straddling genres with aplomb. That it’s so much damn fun to boot is the good part.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    How Is It That I Should Look at the Stars
    Given the deeply vulnerable quality of all the tracks on How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars, however, Lindeman’s instincts to allow them to breathe—recording them as simply as possible in an improvisational way—reveals a different facet of her songcraft, one that’s just as accomplished as the arguably more accessible sound of Ignorance.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    PAINLESS
    Yanya’s voice, both grounded and airy, slides across PAINLESS’ 12 expertly crafted and unusually somber love songs.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Squeeze
    While the work may not always feel cohesive, SASAMI moves between these worlds with ease.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Garden
    The orchestral arrangements provide fertile soil to highlight her strengths as a songwriter, allowing her bright, elegant melodies to bloom even wider than before.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Timewave Zero
    If the band was trying to make something that feels like Blood Incantation without sounding like Blood Incantation, it’s succeeded. ... [But] By setting the album down on rails and allowing it to click along in such a conventional way, Blood Incantation removes any real element of danger or spontaneity; the end is always visible on the horizon.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Wild Loneliness
    The fundamental stye of this iconic four-piece has never congealed. You never get the sense the band is trying to recreate its past records. Instead, it’s looking to insert little changes and musical tics, ways to find something new in the long-running sound that’s come before, without losing the Northern Star of its genre-defining style. It’s a wild realization.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    LIFE ON EARTH
    Overall, Life On Earth has plenty of strong music that shows how much Segarra’s artistry has evolved.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Once Twice Melody
    With Once Twice Melody, Beach House proves there’s more to the duo than fans may think, with brash, lively arrangements that shine as much as the restrained ones.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Heterosexuality
    Heterosexuality’s first three tracks, which rank among Shamir’s best songs to date. The rest of Heterosexuality uses synths not as sandpaper to drag across the ears, but as a melodic invitation to join Shamir in his quest toward internal betterment.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Lucifer on the Sofa
    Lucifer On The Sofa is one of the band’s most focused songwriting efforts yet: Every note feels deliberately placed and well-constructed, with crisp arrangements (the piano-sprinkled ballad “My Babe”), piercing hooks (the elastic “The Devil & Mr. Jones”) and sweeping dynamics (the melodramatic, glammy art-rock waltz “Satellite”).
    • 83 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Laurel Hell
    For someone who has historically bared it all in her work, it’s frustrating to hear Mitski craft songs with such surface-level musicality. Still, on a lyrical level, she conjures wonderful tales of sorrow and desire, with a pointed sense of brevity and a newfound ability to just let things go.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Time Skiffs
    Time Skiffs is a record meant to be played front to back; for those willing to ride the mellower waves, it’s a satisfying skiff, indeed.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 58 Critic Score
    Extreme Witchcraft
    The songs on Extreme Witchcraft that don’t work simply blend into the background. ... Moments that do work—and there are a handful—combine Everett’s peerless gift for melody and pacing. ... Ultimately, however, there isn’t much in the way of subtext here.
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