The Boston Phoenix's Scores

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For 1,091 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 63% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 34% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.2 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
Highest review score: 100 Pink
Lowest review score: 0 Last of a Dyin' Breed
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 956 out of 1091
  2. Mixed: 88 out of 1091
  3. Negative: 47 out of 1091
1091 music reviews
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    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Cease To Begin
    There's much beauty in the modest moments: the gentle, dreamy guitars in the ballad 'Detlef Schrempf,' the Uncle Tupelo–ish tumble of 'The General Specific,' and the instrumental interlude of 'Lamb on the Lam (In the City),' which sounds like the Cure lost in the Appalachia.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Comicopera
    The sweetest instrument, however, is Wyatt’s voice, whose fragile, high, quavering tone is honest to the core.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Magic
    Chalk up at least some of this disconnect to Brendan O’Brien’s production, which is often so slicked down and smooshed together that it doesn’t just airbrush the band’s jagged edges, it sandblasts them.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Shade Of Poison Trees
    A self-conscious return to Dashboard’s acoustic-troubadour roots. The good news is that the mellower sounds don’t come with mellower sentiments.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Born Into This
    Despite always titanic levels of rock-star delusion must at some level be aware that this time they have turned in a truly half-assed piece of work.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Revival
    The title Revival is no hype: Fogerty is again in full command of his talent for blending heartfelt writing with irony-free meat-and-potatoes rock.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    100 Days, 100 Nights
    Any of these songs would have been a charttopper in the day. Should be now, too, but that’s another story.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    White Chalk
    White Chalk is more chamber music, and a dark chamber at that. The only flickers of light come from Harvey’s voice: high, airy, and imperiled as she weaves her echo-coated and darkly soulful spell till the story’s bleak finale.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Shepherd's Dog
    On his third Iron & Wine full-length, he goes for his biggest sound yet, but the production is mere window dressing for some of his best songwriting.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Washington Square Serenade
    There’s an urban-informed edge to much of the disc.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Songs About Girls
    There’s something melodious and calm about Will.i.am’s third solo hip-hop/R&B album--but there’s also something boring about its euphonic electro-funk dolor.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 37 Critic Score
    Two Gallants
    So far--on two full-lengths and a pair of EPs--the results have been underwhelming. That trend continues on this homonymous disc.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    Shine
    Subdued but not entirely resigned, Mitchell sings in a strong, assured voice that’s still warm and welcoming, though lowered by decades of ecologically unhip tobacco smoke.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Trees Outside The Academy
    Trees might be at its best when Moore gives into the freewheeling vibe that is the natural outgrowth of spending your adult life engaged in on-stage jam sessions.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Spirit If...
    Spirit If . . . takes plenty of time to revel in the beauty of its surfaces.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Bitchin'
    The Donnas get the ball into the red zone from time to time on Bitchin', but they never really score.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Into The Wild
    Working with producer Adam Kasper, Vedder played nearly everything on the album. And that gives Into the Wild a cozy, intimate feel.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Love Is Simple
    There’s some exceptional songwriting here.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Ripe
    By the end of the 13-track disc, Lee's unwaveringly hopeful message starts to sound preachy. But if it works for him, well, maybe he’s onto something.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Proof of Youth
    His crafty postmodern bubblegum is a treat well worth chewing.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Attack Decay Sustain Release
    You won’t care that it’s gleefully empty, shamelessly primitive, pre-rational, lo-fi. You’ll be too busy dancing.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Civilians
    The 12 songs are rhythmically warm and appealing thanks to Jay Bellirose’s spare-cymballed drumming and the beautifully knotty guitars of Henry, Bill Frisell, and Greg Leisz.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    La Radiolina
    La Radiolina is the most rockist album of his solo career--and also the most disappointing.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Going Way Out With Heavy Trash
    Some things, like this album, are best left unanalyzed and simply enjoyed for their own bone-headed dedication to rockin’ out like a motherfucking banshee. Which Going Way Out does in spades and diamonds.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    None Shall Pass
    Aesop's preference for boring "live" beats tends to hit somewhere between the Roots ('Getaway Car') and Linkin Park ('None Shall Pass'), but that hardly matters: it's his delivery that commands the attention here.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 12 Critic Score
    Bring on the Comets
    For the most part, singer-songwriter Craig Pfunder doesn't justify the presence of vocals and lyrics.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Lifeline
    These 11 tracks are mostly mellow and melodic, with some Otis Redding-style come-ons
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Ear Drum
    Ear Drum doesn’t reach the highs of that far more ambitious and sprawling album ["Train of Thought"], but it’s a welcome return to form.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 63 Critic Score
    Planet of Ice
    Minus the Bear seemed more serious about their music than about its presentation.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Unglamorous
    The title cut is the best of the lot, an anthem about the beautiful chaos of family life where wine is sipped from a jelly jar and “peanut butter is everywhere.”
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