The Observer (UK)'s Scores
- Movies
- Music
For 2,617 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: 1,231 out of 2617
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Mixed: 1,368 out of 2617
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Negative: 18 out of 2617
2617
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Critic Score
Chinouriri is an accomplished songwriter. Ideas spill out of every crammed corner of this collection. Her often hushed husky voice, developed when trying to practise without annoying her Zimbabwean parents, isn’t for everyone. Yet there’s range to her delivery, whether dropping punchy barbs during Dumb Bitch Juice or self-excoriating on My Blood and I Hate Myself.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted May 9, 2024
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This is an album that, as with previous Lipa outings, preaches agency and self-worth; her high bar for distilling past dance forms into present pop bangers is maintained, whatever the spin.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted May 6, 2024
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Bereavements and recent fatherhood have led Washington to ponder mortality. But there is little dread in these 12 rich and versatile tracks, which touch sensually on Zapp’s Computer Love and examine the Road to Self via a 13-minute workout.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted May 3, 2024
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- The Observer (UK)
- Posted May 3, 2024
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Congo Funk! Sound Madness from the Shores of the Mighty Congo River (Kinshasa/Brazzaville 1969-1982)A beautifully packaged time capsule.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted May 1, 2024
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From the noisy low end of lead track Broken Man, through Flea’s prowling industrial pop and the superlative goth jazz, Bond-like theme of Violent Times, it’s a loud and unapologetically varied work.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Apr 29, 2024
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- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Apr 29, 2024
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Essentially, there are three types of Pet Shop Boys albums: life-changing, great and OK. This one’s great.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Apr 26, 2024
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The overall sound may seem too polished and wary of explosive emotion, but it’s nonetheless a consistent and confident foundation – one primed to launch Blue Lab Beats into the spotlight as formidable producers and performers.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Apr 22, 2024
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Ultimately, this may be Swift’s most Swiftian album: the unhappiness profound, the details generous, the lessons absorbed.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Apr 22, 2024
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There are no cathartic singalongs in the album’s downbeat cello or swelling drones. Its relatability stems from somehow managing to recreate the specific texture of loneliness.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Apr 19, 2024
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While the heavier, distorted guitars of Tower and Love We Had feel somewhat jarring in the ebullient context of the album, Sun Without the Heat is a freewheeling and joyous listen, with McCalla employing her knowledge of musical traditions to produce fresh combinations.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Apr 15, 2024
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The emphatic playing of Hutchings’ more exhortatory bands (chiefly Sons of Kemet) has given way to a more impressionistic delicacy.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Apr 15, 2024
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Khruangbin’s strengths exist in relative quietude, making their intricate music sound so gentle that it lulls the listener into a newly imaginative state.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Apr 8, 2024
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It feels like a feast at a time when pop is offering up scraps. As she mentioned herself when announcing the album to a mix of anger, intrigue and confusion: “This ain’t a country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.” It’s also her fourth classic in a row.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Apr 8, 2024
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The greatest satisfaction is that she does not jump the shark: everything here is possible-sounding, humanistic and full of emotion; only slightly uncanny.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Apr 1, 2024
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- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Apr 1, 2024
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Vocally, the “queen of Latin music” isn’t particularly distinctive, but she ranges from seductive to strident in a single line and makes both equally appealing. Her Majesty’s moods are despondent (rare), thirsty (much less rare) or proudly powerful (nearly always) and she ensures you’re buffeted by every emotion billowing past.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Mar 25, 2024
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The record’s dreamlike atmosphere is seductive and disquieting; a moving tribute to Albion’s troubled soul.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Mar 19, 2024
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It all makes for a multi-textured, multi-hued portrait of an artist who playfully seeks out the primary colours but remains very frank about the shade.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Mar 18, 2024
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Refined and subtle, but with the right amount of bite (see the darkly hued True Story), Eternal Sunshine feels like a clearing of the emotional decks.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Mar 18, 2024
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Letter to Yu finds this dancefloor native expanding his already imaginative sound design. It’s sad, but also full of diversions, with Pupul’s curiosity and squelchy sense of fun ever-present.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Mar 11, 2024
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Filthy Underneath feels like an intelligently calibrated vehicle in which musical and emotional progress is made, even as suffering laps at the running boards like flood water.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Mar 7, 2024
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Musically, meanwhile, Where’s My Utopia? marks a huge leap forward, with co-producer Remi Kabaka Jr of Gorillaz helping to realise soaring ambitions.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Mar 4, 2024
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You might file her body of work under 70s-tinged alt-country. But Webster’s subtle accessorising – her eclectic production choices, like Feeling Good Today’s Auto-Tuned multitracking – always render these miniatures next-level.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Mar 4, 2024
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As eloquent as Squire’s guitar is, his lyrics can often be trite. Sometimes, though, Gallagher sings something that makes you sit up.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Feb 27, 2024
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There are words of love for suicidal addicts (Alibi) and a sense of the distance travelled, while remaining constant: an outlier whose solidarity with the runaways and the marginalised endures.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Feb 26, 2024
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- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Feb 22, 2024
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- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Feb 20, 2024
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For those expecting Malone’s all-enveloping instrumental embrace, the churchiness of the voices can startle. But the younger artist came to music through choirs, and the sorrowful grace of the words makes plain emotions she previously only implied.- The Observer (UK)
- Posted Feb 12, 2024
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