Pitchfork has done some reflecting and has decided to change their mind about some things. The music blog famous for its meticulously decimal-pointed reviews has gone back and reevaluated 19 of the scores they previously gave to albums over the years.
Covering everyone from from Regina Spektor to Chief Keef, the new scores are “born out of conversations” the Pitchfork staff has “all the time” and, it is noted in bold, “not canon.” The real question is: How “good” are these rescored reviews? I am not a music critic, but I too enjoy giving a somewhat arbitrary numerical value to a piece of work based on my own personal whims, so here are my own ratings of the 10 rescored Pitchfork reviews that spoke to me most.
Wilco: Sky Blue Sky
Original Score: 5.2
Revised Score: 8.5
Olivia’s Score of this Rescore: 2.6
One time a friend brought me to a Wilco show and I saw only one other woman there whose skin tone could not be described as alabaster. Pitchfork is calling them “one of rock’s most daring groups,” but I did not have a fun time and therefore believe that this album probably does not deserve an 8.5. I think their original rating of 5.2 (to which I give a 8.9) was just fine.
Chief Keef: Back From the Dead
Original Score: 7.9
Revised Score: 9.1
Olivia’s Score of this Rescore: 7.3
Chief Keef is literally ten days older than me, so it was very cool that he was releasing music like this while we were both 17. I support him in all of his endeavors, but like Pitchfork agree that he made better music later on. On the other hand, this is the mixtape that gave us “I Don’t Like,” so maybe it should get a 10.
Regina Spektor: Begin to Hope
Original Score: 7.5
Revised Score: 8.5
Olivia’s Score of this Rescore: 9.1
Shout out to all the girls who dressed like they lived in London while spending endless hours scrolling through Tumblr for keeping this album alive throughout the years. This one was certainly for you, and you deserve this very slight upgrade from the music authorities.
Chairlift: Moth
Original Score: 7.6
Revised Score: 8.5
Olivia’s Score of this Rescore: 0.9
My score reflects both the actual numerical difference between Pitchfork’s two scores and how pointless it is to include such a small increase on their list. It got better by less than a full point? Thank you for clarifying. Maybe leave that one in the Slack channel and stop wasting Caroline Polachek’s time.
The Strokes: Room on Fire
Original Score: 8.0
Revised Score: 9.2
Olivia’s Score of this Rescore: 4.7
We, as a culture, do not need to give Julian Casablancas any more than he already has.
Lana Del Rey: Born to Die
Original Score: 5.5
Revised Score: 7.8
Olivia’s Score of this Rescore: 6.3
Similarly to Chief Keef, Lana’s debut album was huge for me in high school, so I will always say that it is the greatest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. That being said, I can’t help but notice that they gave it a 7.8, just a tenth of a point higher than what the artist Shamir called “the essential gay listening bat signal.” Could that be a coincidence? Maybe, but they lose points for cheekiness.
Charli XCX: Vroom Vroom
Original Score: 4.5
Revised Score: 7.8
Olivia’s Score of this Rescore: 3.5
Ok, not a coincidence.
Daft Punk: Discovery
Original Score: 6.4
Revised Score: 10
Olivia’s Score of this Rescore: 7.9
I am not a fan of electronic music or saying that any piece of art is perfect, but I appreciate the gumption shown here. Discovery is one of those albums that is, like, your favorite artist’s favorite album, and you can’t really overstate how big of an impact it has had and continues to have. Or I guess you can, and they did.
Grimes: Miss Anthropocene
Original Score: 8.2
Revised Score: 6.9
Olivia’s Score of this Rescore: 6.3
Are they right that this album is not as good as, say, Art Angels? Yes. Do I think they’re trying to get Grimes to notice by giving her what is essentially a 69? Yes. She loves math jokes. Points deducted once again for cheekiness. “Delete Forever” is still a great song.
Liz Phair: Liz Phair
Original Score: 0.0
Revised Score: 6.0
Olivia’s Score of this Rescore: 8.2
Justice was served, but was it enough?
