Entertainment Weekly's Scores

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For 3,519 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 81% higher than the average critic
  • 1% same as the average critic
  • 18% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 5 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 78
Highest review score: 100 The Idler Wheel Is Wiser than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More than Ropes Will Ever Do
Lowest review score: 0 Playing With Fire
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,085 out of 3519
  2. Mixed: 407 out of 3519
  3. Negative: 27 out of 3519
3519 music reviews
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    • 82 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Hot Thoughts
    This 10-song collection is dominated less by taut rhythm guitar than by synths, handclaps, and kickdrums. ... A band that never gets sick of adding tools to its bag of tricks.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Spirit
    It’s the political songs, however, that give the album cohesion and purpose, not to mention an outlook that’s admirably unafraid to express contempt.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Heartworms
    True to the band’s spirit, but willing to push beyond aesthetically, Heartworms is a rewarding and singular addition to the Shins’ catalog.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Divide
    If the familiarity of the album bodes well for its commercial success, key elements of Sheeran’s schtick don’t add up creatively. Despite the wrinkles of wit and flashes of detail in his writing, he’s horribly sentimental, idealizing love into anonymity in a song actually called “Perfect,” as well as one titled “How Would You Feel (Paean).”
    • 78 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    The Breaker
    Although the rest of The Breaker may not be blessed with the T-Swizzle magic, there are some more strong contenders for your next breakup playlist.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Dirty Projectors
    He’s applied some of his musical tourism to Dirty Projectors to convey a batch of hyper-specific lyrics through an often-thrilling blend of electronica, prog-rock, Afro-beat, R&B, and pop.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Windy City
    Windy City does more than just remind listeners of her prowess, it enforces her legacy as one of American music’s standout talents.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Prisoner
    Prisoner doesn’t differ enough from its recent predecessors to stand out as a singular mid-career achievement for the ever-prolific songwriter, but it’s one of Adams’ most fully-realized, sturdy collections to date, and quite possibly his finest record of the past decade.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Life Will See You Now
    Yielding vibrant optimism where Lekman had typically sulked with a smile. Life is the perfect pick-me-up for the winter of our discontent.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    I Decided.
    It’s a supremely listenable album, loaded with comfort-food hip-hop fit for booming club sound systems and earbuds on the subway alike. It’s also Sean’s most cohesive, personal work to date.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Process
    Over Process‘ 10 songs, Sampha executes a sonically adventurous vision that’s entirely his own and builds on his enormous potential.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    SweetSexySavage
    She sometimes coasts on a singsong, nearly spoken flow that squanders the expressivity of her understated but resonant pipes. Yet haunting highlights like “Piece of Mind” and “Everything Is Yours” prove that beneath SSS’s padding, there’s a succinct, sassy, and sincere album waiting to be slimmed down to Kehlani’s own soul-searching essence.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Near to the Wild Heart of Life
    Noisy but built on articulate songwriting, Near radiates a sincerity often missing from bands this brash. At a time of doubt and fear, it’s screamingly optimistic.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    I See You
    The payoff is the boldest work yet from a band famous for subtlety--the sound of the xx hitting the caps-lock key.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    DNCE
    Thankfully, the group ultimately finds its groove with retro, funk-heavy tracks like new single “Body Moves” and “Blown,” which is about exactly what you imagine it is. It’s better for the band—and everyone else--when they don’t overthink it.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    The Hamilton Mixtape
    The more faithful covers might feel redundant if you still have the original cast recording on repeat, while those drawn to the pop covers can probably skip past Miranda’s original demos. Still, by providing another eye-opening entry point to his groundbreaking work, the mixtape might be what takes you from being a casual fan to a hardcore Hamophile.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Darkness and Light
    As always, his perfectly raspy croon is the connective tissue, but it’s an awkward match on pop plays like the uplifting-anthem-by-numbers “Love Me Now” and the synth-heavy “What You Do to Me,” co-written with hitmakers Justin Tranter and Julia Michaels. Those tracks aside, Legend is mostly in his soulful comfort zone.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Starboy
    While musicians writing about coping with newfound celebrity is one of pop’s oldest tropes, the Weeknd avoids the usual clichés with observations and anecdotes that feel specific and genuine.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    The Weight of These Wings
    There’s something pleasingly organic, though, in Weight’s cohesiveness; it asks for patience and rewards it, weaving true tales of regret and resilience into one fiercely honest, gloriously flawed whole. Bless this mess.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    24K Magic
    With only nine songs, there’s not an ounce of fat on Magic, and nearly every track sounds like Top 40 gold.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service
    Luckily, We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service not only satisfies its lofty expectations, it often exceeds them.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    57th & 9th
    It proves that years of passion projects haven’t dulled his songwriting instincts.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Here
    The combination of her subject matter and her urgent delivery makes Here her most vital release in years--and a welcome addition to 2016’s rich canon of albums from Beyoncé, Solange, Frank Ocean, Common, and Dev Hynes that address black life in America.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Black America Again
    It’s the MC’s empathetic and clear-eyed rhymes that truly make this a vital contribution to the national conversation.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Cosmic Hallelujah
    His attempts at digging deeper make the lighter material feel earned--and they elevate his work above much of country’s escapist fare.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Lady Wood
    Lo sounds as if she’s in the throes of a quarter-life crisis. And what a beautiful and messy one it is.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Joanne
    Joanne is a curious bauble, demonstrating that although Gaga’s power to shock has waned, her artistry continues to evolve in exceptional ways.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Mad Love
    JoJo’s collection of soulful slow jams and dark, contemporary R&B head-bobbers is uneven. The latter category has more misses (the generic “Vibe.”) than hits (the flawless first single, “F— Apologies.”), but the stirring piano ballads that bookend the standard edition more than make up for that.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 83 Critic Score
    Ruminations
    For good and bad--mostly very good--Ruminations is a vulnerable Conor Oberst cracked open, spilling his soul. Pain is its recurring theme and though Oberst comes close to wallowing in it, the gift is his ability to embrace and absorb it and make it something beautiful.
    • 92 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    You Want It Darker
    On his 14th studio album, the songwriting maestro--still vital at 82--is a lion in winter, his lyrics heavy with God and sex and death and his legendary voice scraped down to a subterranean rumble.
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