The Observer (UK)'s Scores
- Movies
- Music
For 2,616 reviews, this publication has graded:
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37% higher than the average critic
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4% same as the average critic
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59% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 4.9 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 68
Highest review score: | Gold-Diggers Sound | |
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Lowest review score: | Collections |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 1,230 out of 2616
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Mixed: 1,368 out of 2616
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Negative: 18 out of 2616
2616
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Critic Score
It has its moments--the title track has a certain chutzpah--but a lack of killer hooks means there's precious little to get excited about here.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Sep 12, 2011
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- Critic Score
Goldwing is just too canonical to tell us anything novel about either heartland or heart.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Sep 11, 2011
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- Critic Score
The modulations and switches in pace remain as bold as ever, and Clark has a knack for memorable melody and a winning voice with shades of Kate Bush and Leslie Feist.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Sep 11, 2011
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- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Sep 8, 2011
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- Critic Score
Throughout, Fool's Gold lollop along confidently, Top's husky croon offset by Lewis Pesacov's guitar lines, like dewy spider's web.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Sep 6, 2011
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- Critic Score
They've retained the late-80s-Mancunian-indie-plus-surf-pop formula, and though that produced some sparkling tunes first time round, now things sound somewhat thin: each lovelorn and drear ditty seems to blend into the next.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Sep 6, 2011
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The humour is often savage--a sprightly accordion heralds a story of damaged troops--but Cooder's aim is true. He's become a Woody Guthrie for our times.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Sep 6, 2011
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- Critic Score
Their second album once again combines the muscularity of 80s post-hardcore types Hüsker Dü and Dinosaur Jr with the dynamics of breezily sunny three-minute pop songs, this time to even better effect.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 29, 2011
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- Critic Score
Sometimes they sound like an anaemic Coldplay; at others they're a sweatier version of the Shins.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 29, 2011
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- Critic Score
It's the band's refusal to sound older, or wiser, that's integral to their charm.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 29, 2011
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- Critic Score
Their fifth album sidesteps the rolling, electric style that's made them world-conquerors for a return to acoustic campfire camaraderie.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 29, 2011
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- Critic Score
Guetta's trademark union of stadium trance and American R&B is represented in a glittering array of bling-encrusted collaborations (Snoop Dogg, Akon, Chris Brown) but they struggle to impose any distinctive personality on the overall mood of relentless rictus-grin-inducing euphoria.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 29, 2011
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The album has a tentative quality which is sometimes beguiling – the gently grooving "Lights Out, Words Gone", effete and insistent all at once, is a delight – but often they sound in need of more conviction.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 29, 2011
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- Critic Score
Press-release comparisons to Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin are misplaced-Lenny Kravitz, maybe--but this is still a good album.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 23, 2011
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- Critic Score
Gone are the meandering, proggy excesses of 2008's Real Emotional Trash, and in their place are sharper, melody-driven tracks that foreground Malkmus's distinctive oblique wit.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 22, 2011
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Fans of long standing might actually find The Rip Tide a bit too restrained now that Beirut sound more assured and less like a tipsy string quartet stumbling around an accordion factory, egged on by a hopeless romantic in his lowest register.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 22, 2011
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- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 22, 2011
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- Critic Score
The title may be misleading: if there are hearts on this stirring debut they're the blood-racing, pulse-quickening kind rather than any idly-doodled kitsch.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 18, 2011
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- Critic Score
It's likely to appeal more to dedicated Martyn fans than newcomers but a fine tribute nonetheless.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 16, 2011
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- Critic Score
It's better than West's last, impressive album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. With fantastically varied production, Watch the Throne marches hungrily forward, belying its genesis in a series of swanky hotel rooms.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 15, 2011
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- Critic Score
Toddla proves himself better at preposterously high-energy dancehall tracks ("Badman Flu") than forays into early-90s piano-led vocal house ("Take It Back"). Good fun in small measures.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 12, 2011
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On paper, its influences--surf punk, Prince, oriental pop, minimalist dance--smack of hipster posturing, but on record, they blend beautifully.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 10, 2011
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- Critic Score
Gentle Spirit is one of those group effort records where musicians' edges smudge and no one showboats – except, perhaps, Wilson, who occasionally reels off the kind of distant, contemplative guitar solos so lacking in aggression that they sound like they were recorded the next canyon over.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 8, 2011
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Souther sings in a mid-70s croon, tuneful but grain-free and, for a man inspired by Roy Orbison, oddly unemotional.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 8, 2011
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- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 8, 2011
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- Critic Score
You could argue retro soul and R&B are two of the decade's hegemonic sounds, but there's no vamping here. Rather, songs such as "Go On Easy" glide by in an opiated glaze, while "Strange Attracter" makes unexpectedly groovy use of the bagpipes.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 5, 2011
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- Critic Score
Only the syrupy "I Was Here" disappoints, its corny bluster at odds with the laid-back feel of her most accomplished album yet.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 2, 2011
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- Critic Score
They may have plenty of heart but their heads are lost in the clouds.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 2, 2011
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- Critic Score
Ultimately, Famous First Words sets the cause of resurgent guitar rock back… ooh, a good 20 years.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 2, 2011
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- Critic Score
Now 64, Ely still sings with agility and swagger, though retrospection and mortality tie together the songs here.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Aug 1, 2011
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