For 4,084 reviews, this publication has graded:
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67% higher than the average critic
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3% same as the average critic
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30% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 76
Highest review score: | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [50th Anniversary Edition Deluxe Version] | |
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Lowest review score: | Songs From Black Mountain |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 3,648 out of 4084
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Mixed: 400 out of 4084
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Negative: 36 out of 4084
4084
music
reviews
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- By Critic Score
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- Critic Score
These are all top-shelf tunes, and they serve as evidence that Rankin and O’Hanley are among the best pop-song writers working today.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Oct 6, 2022
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Although the handful of newly pared-back songs would theoretically give him a broader space for these more approachable laments, the band don’t yet sound comfortable in this zone, and their work often masks Kiely’s hideous charms. At its best, Most Normal, which Gilla Band produced themselves, reflects the group’s newly gradual creative process.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Oct 5, 2022
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The tranquil and atmospheric flow of the album is a perfect canvas for Rossiter, who tends to bellow more than sing. His rich and emotive voice can sound at times like that of a much more timid Jeff Buckley, and with the album’s open feel, it has space to stretch, rather than snarling, like on some of the band’s more tense moments.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Oct 3, 2022
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Aggression doesn’t fully return until nine tracks later on the aptly named instrumental “Trolla Gabba,” and then again on the back half of the title track. These explosions are among the album’s most riveting moments, but you have to clear the muck before you get to the fireworks. ... That effort eventually proves worthwhile: Many of the musical risks pay off once you get accustomed to the songs. And despite her occasional failures, Björk still illuminates enough of her story to remain compelling.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Sep 30, 2022
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As is the case for many Lambchop albums, there is sadness and melancholy, but on The Bible, there’s more hope for a better tomorrow. Wagner sounds rejuvenated after following a different path on the way to making this record than on Lambchop’s three previous albums in just as many years.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Sep 29, 2022
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Whereas previous YYYs albums are built on thrills and speed, Cool It Down drives us with its almost manic instrumentation at every corner, subdued and despondent pleas in its lyricism, and an intoxicating, frenetic energy.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Sep 26, 2022
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Rice, singing [on "Light Industry"] about “Bennie and the Jets and dreary weekend sex,” plays perfectly into the song’s hesitant mood. It’s the one moment on Gulp! where his audible exhaustion fits, a song that makes you wonder what the rest of the album would have be like if only the band could translate Rice’s weariness into something more suited to their strengths. Instead, Sports Team take a swing with Gulp! and barely make contact.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Alex G’s ability to widen the aperture of his work with each album, and not alienate his audience, speaks to just how much he’s able to pinpoint and define what stands out within his work. God Save the Animals is just the latest reminder that, as his tastes expand, so too does his sonic palate.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Sep 20, 2022
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Death Cab for Cutie underscore their range and numerous eras on Asphalt Meadows. Uniting the past and the present, it’s the perfect mnemonic for this band’s legacy.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Sep 16, 2022
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Her robust voice keeps these tracks on the right side of the cheesy/affecting divide, exemplifying Hold the Girl’s niftiest trick. Often, when Sawayama looks back on her past to inform her present, she leans into her new collaborators’ radio-pop bona fides and sings her way into earnestness.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Sep 14, 2022
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With their first two LPs, they proved themselves to be self-aware witnesses to their own histories and heartbreaks. With the third, however, The Beths solidify themselves as expert observers of the joy and anxiety that define our time.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Sep 14, 2022
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It’s this kind of versatility and attention to the heft that different forms of blackgaze songs can take that makes Dimensional Bleed a remarkable listen, as gargantuan and awe-inspiring as the scenes Holy Fawn set.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Sep 9, 2022
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Sometimes, the album switches styles so quickly, you can practically hear Parks tiring of one toy, dropping it and moving on to the next one that catches her eye. This is not necessarily a bad thing; NBPQ is as thrilling as it is, at times, jarring.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Sep 9, 2022
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It’s best to take When the Wind Forgets Your Name in the spirit offered. That is to say, it’s a rewarding one-off project on songs that underscore Martsch’s talent as a songwriter and guitarist, while also showing him in a different light. May all his future collaborations be so inspired.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Sep 7, 2022
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Spirituals is an album that takes admirably big swings in its desire to shake all constraints off, and inevitably, there is messiness in the movement. The risks pay off, but leave some of the tracks in the album’s middle stretch to play supporting roles.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Sep 7, 2022
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As far as box sets go, Against the Odds is a textbook example of how to do justice to a band’s legacy.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Aug 29, 2022
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Punk in sentiment, pop in sound, and political for the fact that it exists, All of Us Flames weaves justified fury into a testament to community, borrowing from sounds of the past to envision a less destructive future.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Aug 26, 2022
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Flood doesn’t quite reach for the same comedic relief that its predecessor gleaned. But that’s a good thing—both records are necessary in Donnelly’s canon. She could’ve easily made a second record about the assholes of the world who move beside her (the well is, unfortunately, always brimming with material), but maybe the most remarkable thing about her sophomore effort is that her independence is a wrecking ball.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Aug 25, 2022
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These are musicians totally in command of their sound, devoted to every specific artist and genre that influenced it, but there remains enough levity that it never gets bogged down by perfectionism—sometimes just caring is enough.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Aug 23, 2022
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Jacklin displays a newly developed maturity in PRE PLEASURE’s 10 near-perfect songs, while maintaining her talent for crafting hooky indie rock that often catches you off guard with its emotional weight.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Aug 22, 2022
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Hot Chip is a band you can count on to consistently make crowd-pleasing records, and Freakout/Release is a well-rounded addition to their discography.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Aug 19, 2022
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Darnielle is having so much fun splashing around in the cinematic world of gory retribution that his delight is, perversely, inclusive and inviting.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Aug 19, 2022
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Hour of Green Evening remains engaging even at its most lethargic. ... There’s a mystical, almost hallucinatory quality to Becker’s songwriting.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Aug 17, 2022
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Much of the joy in Reset comes in instances like these where Lennox and Kember wholeheartedly embrace the sounds of the past with a distinctly contemporary approach.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Aug 11, 2022
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There aren’t many surprises in the album’s 37-minute runtime that will rope in the unconverted. But for those who can’t get enough of it, Kiwi Jr. are doing this kind of music better than just about anybody right now, and with Chopper, Gaudet and the rest of the band justify their standing amongst their influences.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Aug 10, 2022
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God’s Country is as deftly ugly as its namesake, searing in its approach, forcing you to confront the black heart at the core of a rotting nation.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Aug 2, 2022
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Love the Stranger, Friendship’s first release with Merge Records, hits like a call out of the blue from an old friend, touching on the passage of time, its disappointments and humble victories, and the struggle to stay kind whether or not the world returns the favor.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Jul 29, 2022
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Even if Surrender and HIIAPL aren’t 100% dynamite from start to finish, it’s clear Rogers is consistently capable of creating special (and yes, spiritual) moments in pop music. On Surrender, Rogers is in communion with her collaborators and her listeners, and that’s a path to something lasting.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Jul 28, 2022
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As much as it is very much a folk record, Florist is its own climate, a true suite of compositions that balance each other out and are full of bursting potential, but never overstay their welcome.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Jul 28, 2022
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For all her strong feelings on Take It Like a Man, Shires remains a poet at heart. If her lyrics here are often forceful, they’re also always evocative and sometimes even elegant, whether she’s revisiting her fondness for bird imagery or seeking the thrill that accompanies a new relationship.- Paste Magazine
- Posted Jul 27, 2022
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