Hartford Courant's Scores
- Music
For 517 reviews, this publication has graded:
-
62% higher than the average critic
-
2% same as the average critic
-
36% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.2 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 71
Highest review score: | Sound Of Silver | |
---|---|---|
Lowest review score: | Carry On |
Score distribution:
-
Positive: 398 out of 517
-
Mixed: 107 out of 517
-
Negative: 12 out of 517
517
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
-
- Critic Score
A collection that finds the 49-year-old singer laudably unchanged on tunes that are comfortably quaint and rich with homespun charm.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Beck has shown an affinity for retro-leaning styles on his previous records, too, but he's never found a sound quite as consistent or compelling as the one Danger Mouse dials in here.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Hammond's lyrics and vocals aren't as distinctive as those favored by Strokes singer Julian Casablancas, but the guitarist's music breathes in ways Strokes songs don't.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Aside from standout individual performances, what makes this vibrant session click so naturally is the collaborative spirit bonding these two great American artists tapping into the rich, varied legacy of our popular music.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
But at its core, the album is no great departure. It's the same seamless amalgam of pop, folk, country and R&B Sexsmith has perfected, like influences and admirers Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe, as poetic and thoughtful as it is tuneful.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
The disenchanted Brits drag their romantic confusions onto the dance floor, where they hope sparkly synths and pulsing club beats will point them toward some much-needed answers. As might be expected, they make little headway, though their wheel-spinning isn't all for naught.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
As a placeholder for Hudgens' future career, Identified serves its purpose, even if it's seldom identifiable as her own work.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
On 'Sensitive Boys,' one of several standout ballads, he articulates the album's thematic truism: Done right, rock 'n' roll is a reason for living.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Lyrically and musically, the album is not a big departure from the band's classic sound, with all 13 tracks telling a glam-rock story of tattoos, drugs and strippers.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
He delivers everything that makes Silver Jews records great, but he's fallen victim to his own past successes: the peaks and valleys that made "Tanglewood Numbers" such a dizzying listen have been smoothed down and filled in, leaving the faithful with an album that is merely good.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
It's an improvement on the band's impressively dull 2005 album, "X&Y," but Coldplay's latest doesn't recapture the promise of the band's first two albums.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Although "Queen Mary" was a strong showing, At Mount Zoomer--named for the band's recording space--is an instant classic, distancing itself from indie rock's skin-deep quirks on the way to something grander and more enduring.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Pacific Ocean Blue makes a strong case for Wilson's skill as a songwriter and arranger.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
His melodies are subtle, but don't confuse his restraint with detachment--these songs sound deeply felt.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
This is grown-up rock, with an adult swagger, from one of today's most gifted songwriting bands.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Wainwright's songs are tight, cohesive and show real emotion.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
With so many stylistic shifts, there's no easy description for the kind of album My Morning Jacket has created, so let's leave it at this: Evil Urges is the sound of a great band that's only getting better.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
She has fresh relationship issues to work through on Flavors of Entanglement, her first set of new tunes since 2004, but she has difficulty striking a balance between soul-searching and dance grooves on a set that doesn't distinguish itself with either.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
We should have known. If his raspy, cartoonish voice didn't mark him as different, his quick wit, offhanded wordplay and quirky subject matter should have in a genre populated largely by grim-faced imitators.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
His singing is a string of raspy exhalations, a measured and folksy wrapper for the despondent musings on 'War Is Kind,' one of several tunes that assess the outside world through introspection.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Whether rollicking through "St. James Infirmary" or reflecting on "Wouldn't It Be Loverly," Wilson is in top-form, always sounding quite loverly.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
As on past releases, he mostly celebrates the snap and polish of the sharkskin '60s. His songs crib so blatantly from that era that citing his influences--Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Van Morrison--is almost redundant.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
There are a few clunkers, and the three songs sung by other band members don't add much, but the so-called "Red Album" is better for its unevenness.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
This time, the strong songwriting and astute musical arrangements combine to make Mann's latest her best album so far.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Between the grounded sweetness of her singing and the quirky naturalism in her lyrics, songs like the throwback-style 'Anyone but You' develop a naturally appealing sophisticated country.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Pecknold and guitarist Skyler Skjelset have been writing teenage symphonies to God since they were actual teenagers, and that transcendent love of music shines through in their own songs.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
If anything, the group's latest is another musical masterpiece from a band known for putting out musical masterpieces.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
Modern touches aside, many of the songs fall somewhere between the Stones' "Exile on Main Street," minus the desperation, and the Kinks classics " Village Green Preservation Society" and "Muswell Hillbillies."- Hartford Courant
- Read full review
-
- Critic Score
As it is, it merely stands him in good stead amongst the many contenders for his throne.- Hartford Courant
- Read full review