The New York Times' Scores

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For 2,073 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 55% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 41% 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: 100 Live in Europe 1967: Best of the Bootleg, Vol. 1
Lowest review score: 0 Shatner Claus: The Christmas Album
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,595 out of 2073
  2. Mixed: 443 out of 2073
  3. Negative: 35 out of 2073
2073 music reviews
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    • 56 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    So-Called Chaos
    The music rings proudly, but the narcissism is suffocating.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Faded Seaside Glamour
    You can't tell a word Greg Gilbert is saying... and you won't care; his soaring falsetto is that beautiful.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Now Here Is Nowhere
    There are moments when the Secret Machines imitate their influences a little too closely, and at times the brothers' voices aren't as imposing as the arrangements. But for most of "Now Here Is Nowhere," the Secret Machines make music that matches the scale of their ambitions.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Split The Difference
    If only all stupid rock music could be this intelligent.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    A Grand Don't Come For Free
    The problem with "A Grand Don't Come for Free" is that the pieces often work better as stories than as songs.... But it is still a thrill to hear Mr. Skinner toy with the form that he invented.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    You Are The Quarry
    At this level of lyric artistry, these warmed-over arena rock backdrops are a waste.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    ONoffON
    Tense, febrile and messy, but tuneful and cohesive at the same time. [2 May 2004]
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Heroes To Zeros
    "Heroes to Zeros" is clearly the product of long hours of multitracking, with just enough song in each track to hang all the instrumental ideas on.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    trampin'
    At 57 Ms. Smith has made the most diverse music of her career.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    A Boot And A Shoe
    There are hints of blues and gospel, but most of the songs could come from a rustic cabaret that is worried about waking the neighbors.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Musicology
    A casual exhibition of Princeliness, stocked with a handful of old tricks but no new ones.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Pretty Toney Album
    "Pretty Toney" doesn't match the high standard of Ghostface's first two, "Ironman" and "Supreme Clientele," but it's a strong album nonetheless, packed with dense narratives and weird conceits.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Good News For People Who Love Bad News
    The best Modest Mouse album yet.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Retriever
    Chiming 1960's folk-rock and Beatles-tinged melodies can't quite pull Ron Sexsmith out of the moderate despair that suffuses his songs.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Honkin' On Bobo
    Not every song here benefits from the Aerosmith treatment. [29 Mar 2004]
    • 53 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Damita Jo
    The album is even sleeker and sexier than its predecessor, "All for You," and in saner times, that would be enough to ensure its success. [28 Mar 2004]
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Confessions
    Like lots of recent R & B albums, this one is heavily front-loaded. Usher's voice never fails him (there are a few falsetto runs that seem intended to put Mr. Timberlake in his place), but near the end, the songwriting does. [28 Mar 2004]
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Fly Or Die
    While Mr. Williams isn't much of a singer, "Fly or Die" has goofy charms to spare.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    They Were Wrong, So We Drowned
    The first time through, the album is as much an endurance test as an entertainment, reaching back to New York rock's most raucous no-wave experiments of the late 1970's and also echoing vanguardists like Merzbow and This Heat.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    College Dropout
    2004's first great hip-hop album. [9 Feb 2004]
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Me First
    "Me First" may not be greater than the sum of its parts, but it certainly is equal to them, which is a lot. [1 Mar 2004]
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Talkie Walkie
    The arrangements are light and immaculate, the vocals coo and cajole, and the melodies are addictive.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Educated Guess
    It's worth putting up with a few overbearing moments to hear someone so willing to take chances.
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