Every day, we measure other people’s work using our extremely specific, extremely not scientific 0.0-10 rating scale. Today, on the occasion of Pitchfork’s upcoming 25th anniversary—and this week’s launch of our Reviews Explorer tool—we decided to try to quantify some of our own. Since Pitchfork launched in 1996, we’ve published over 28,000 album reviews. (Owing to a CMS migration, only the ones published since 1999 are available on our current site). Below, we break down our reviews archive using a few key metrics.
TOTAL NUMBER OF REVIEWS IN OUR CURRENT ARCHIVE (1999–May 26, 2021)
27,809
MOST USED RATING
7.0 (used 1,414 times since 1999)
LEAST USED RATINGS (all used only once)
9.9
1.4
1.1
0.3
0.1
ARTISTS WITH THE HIGHEST AVERAGE SCORES (among artists with ten or more reviews)
The Beatles (21): 8.9
Miles Davis (18): 8.6
Kanye West (13): 8.2
Prince (17): 8.1
Arthur Russell (14): 7.9
Brian Eno (49): 7.9
ARTISTS WITH THE LOWEST AVERAGE SCORES (among artists with ten or more reviews)
Weezer (13): 5.6
Foo Fighters (11): 5.7
Coldplay (13): 5.8
Eminem (10): 5.9
Madonna (12): 5.9
Nine Inch Nails (17): 6.2
Interpol (12): 6.3
Lil Wayne (18): 6.4
TOP 10 MOST REVIEWED ARTISTS
- Brian Eno (49)
- Neil Young (34)
- David Bowie (27)
- Gucci Mane (27)
- Bonnie “Prince” Billy (27)
- Guided By Voices (26)
- Prince (23)
- Bob Dylan (23)
- Mogwai (23)
- Of Montreal (23)
TOP 10 MOST READ REVIEWS (since February 2016, which is as far back as our tracking platform measures)
- Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
- Greta Van Fleet, Anthem of the Peaceful Army
- Kanye West, The Life of Pablo
- Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
- Frank Ocean, Blonde / Endless
- Lana Del Rey, Norman f*cking Rockwell!
- Kanye West, ye
- Taylor Swift, folklore
- Kanye West, Jesus Is King
- Tame Impala, The Slow Rush
ALBUMS THAT RECEIVED 10s WHEN THEY WERE RELEASED: 11
12 Rods, Gay? (1996)
Walt Mink, El Producto (1996)
Amon Tobin, Bricolage (1997)
Radiohead, OK Computer (1997)
Bonnie “Prince” Billy, I See a Darkness (1999)
Flaming Lips, The Soft Bulletin (1999)
Radiohead, Kid A (2000)
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Source Tags and Codes (2002)
Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters (2020)
SUNDAY REVIEWS AND REISSUES THAT RECEIVED 10s: 127
Aphex Twin, Selected Ambient Works Volume II (1994)
A Tribe Called Quest, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990)
William Basinski, The Disintegration Loops (2002)
The Band, The Band (1969)
The Beach Boys, The Smile Sessions (2011)
Beastie Boys, Paul’s Boutique (1989)
The Beatles, Abbey Road (1969)
The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
The Beatles, Revolver (1966)
The Beatles, Rubber Soul (1965)
The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
The Beatles, The Beatles (1968)
Bikini Kill, The Singles (1998)
Björk, hom*ogenic (1997)
Björk, Post (1995)
Boards of Canada, Music Has the Right to Children (1998)
David Bowie, Heroes (1977)
David Bowie, Low (1977)
Glenn Branca, The Ascension (1981)
James Brown, Live at the Apollo (1963)
Kate Bush, Hounds of Love (1985)
Can, Tago Mago (1971)
Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, Trout Mask Replica (1969)
The Clash, London Calling (1979)
Cocteau Twins, Heaven or Las Vegas (1990)
Alice Coltrane, Journey in Satchidananda (1971)
John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: The Complete Masters (1965)
John Coltrane, The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording (1967)
(1978)
The Cure, Disintegration (1989)
D’Angelo, Voodoo (2000)
Miles Davis, Kind of Blue (1959)
Miles Davis, Sketches of Spain (1960)
Miles Davis, The Complete Birth of the Cool (1957)
De La Soul, 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
(1999)
DJ Shadow, Endtroducing… (1996)
Dr. Dre, The Chronic (1992)
Bob Dylan, Blood on the Tracks (1975)
Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Live 1966: The Royal Albert Hall Concert (1998)
Brian Eno, Another Green World (1975)
The Fall, This Nation’s Saving Grace (1985)
Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (1977)
Funkadelic, Maggot Brain (1971)
Serge Gainsbourg, Histoire de Melody Nelson (1971)
Galaxie 500, On Fire (1989)
Ghostface Killah, Supreme Clientele (2000)
Glenn Gould, Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1955)
Grateful Dead, American Beauty (1970)
Guns N’ Roses, Appetite for Destruction (1987)
GZA, Liquid Swords: Chess Box Deluxe Edition (1995)
Herbie Hanco*ck, Head Hunters (1973)
PJ Harvey, Rid of Me (1993)
Hole, Live Through This (1994)
J Dilla, Donuts (45 Box Set) (2006)
Michael Jackson, Off the Wall (1979)
Joy Division, Unknown Pleasures (1979)
Joy Division, Closer (1980)
Carole King, Tapestry (1971)
King Crimson, In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)
KISS, Alive! (1975)
Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II (1969)
Led Zeppelin, Physical Graffiti (1975)
Metallica, Master of Puppets (1986)
Metallica, Ride the Lightning (1984)
Joni Mitchell, Blue (1971)
Joni Mitchell, Court and Spark (1974)
Joni Mitchell, The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975)
Mobb Deep, The Infamous (1995)
Modest Mouse, The Lonesome Crowded West (1997)
Van Morrison, Astral Weeks (1968)
My Bloody Valentine, Isn’t Anything (1988)
Nas, Illmatic (1994)
Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998)
Nirvana, In Utero (1993)
Nirvana, Nevermind (1991)
Pavement, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins (1994)
Pavement, Quarantine the Past (2010)
Liz Phair, Girly-Sound to Guyville: The 25th Anniversary Box Set (1993)
Pink Floyd, Animals (1977)
The Pixies, Doolittle (1989)
Prince, 1999 (1982)
Prince, Dirty Mind (1980)
Prince, Sign o’ the Time (1987)
Prince / The Revolution, Purple Rain (1984)
Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
Public Enemy, Fear of a Black Planet (1990)
Public Image Ltd, Metal Box (1979)
Otis Redding, Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul (1965)
The Notorious B.I.G., Ready to Die (1994)
R.E.M., Murmur (1983)
R.E.M., Reckoning (1984)
Radiohead, The Bends (1995)
The Replacements, Let It Be (1984)
The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main St (1972)
The Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers (1971)
Roxy Music, For Your Pleasure (1973)
Nina Simone, In Concert (1964)
Slint, Spiderland (1991)
The Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream (1993)
The Smiths, Hatful of Hollow (1984)
The Smiths, The Queen Is Dead (1986)
Elliott Smith, Either/Or (1997)
Sonic Youth, Daydream Nation (1988)
The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses (1989)
Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run (1975)
Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska (1982)
Spiritualized, Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (1997)
Steely Dan, Aja (1977)
Talking Heads, Fear of Music (1979)
Talking Heads, Remain in the Light (1980)
Talk Talk, Laughing Stock (1991)
Talk Talk, Spirit of Eden (1988)
Television, Marquee Moon (1977)
Throbbing Gristle, 20 Jazz Funk Greats (1979)
Various Artists, No Thanks!: The 70s Punk Rebellion (2003)
The Velvet Underground, Loaded (1970)
The Velvet Underground, White Light/White Heat (1968)
Weezer, Pinkerton (1996)
Weezer, Weezer (Blue Album) (1994)
The Who, Odds & Sods (1974)
Wire, Pink Flag (1977)
Wire, Chairs Missing (1978)
Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
X-Ray Spex, Germfree Adolescents (1978)
XTC, English Settlement (1982)
Neil Young, After the Gold Rush (1970)
Neil Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)
Neil Young, Tonight’s the Night (1975)
ALBUMS THAT RECEIVED 0.0s: 9
Flaming Lips, Zaireeka (1997)
John Frusciante, Smile From the Streets You Hold (1997)
KISS, Music From the Elder (1997)
(2000)
Liz Phair, Liz Phair (2003)
Travis Morrison, Tranvistan (2004)
Jet, Shine On (2006)
Various Artists, This Is Next (2007)
ALBUMS THAT RECEIVED BOTH A 10 AND A 0.0: 1
Robert Pollard, Relaxation of the Asshole (2005)
