Based on 9 reviews from outlets we track. Scores run 60 to 100.
By the numbers: Scores ran from 60 (Distorted Sound) to 100 (AllMusic). The ninth best-reviewed album of 2017 we've tracked.
| The gist | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AllMusic via Wikipediaby Matt Collar | 5/5 | 100 | ||
| Consequence | B | 85 | “Colorful instrumentation and insistent hooks overpower the uneven parts of the band's fifth studio outing.” | |
| Sputnikmusic via Wikipedia | 4.1/5 | 82 | “Paramore – After Laughter review: Can you accept that change is good? It's good, it's gooood.” | |
| Rolling Stone via Wikipediaby Maura Johnston | 4/5 | 80 | 2017 | “Our take on the band's fifth LP and reunion with drummer Zac Farro.” |
| Drowned in Sound via Wikipediaby Joe Goggins | 8/10 | 80 | 2017 | “After Laughter isn’t a reinvention. It’s the sound of Paramore casting off the weight of other people’s expectations” |
| The Guardian via Wikipediaby Harriet Gibsone | 4/5 | 80 | 2017 | |
| NME via Wikipediaby Leonie Cooper | 4/5 | 80 | 2017 | “Paramore’s fifth album is a pop triumph – but there’s some serious sadness underneath all the bangers. Read NME's review.” |
| Pitchfork | 7.5/10 | 75 | “After years of merrily keeping the Paramore lights on, Hayley Williams considers her life and lets go of her grin on her latest album, a fizzy yet despondent piece of…” | |
| Distorted Sound | 6/10 | 60 | “Elliot Leaver reviews the brand new album from Paramore. Check out his review of 'After Laughter' right here on Distorted Sound!” |
More from Paramore
More Rock from around 2017
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How the Breakdown works
Every outlet’s score is converted to 0–100 (2/5 is 40, 5.9/10 is 59, a B+ is 88) and averaged. Grades follow the B-Side scale: A is 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69, F below 60. Approval is the share of critics who scored it 75 or higher; the Breakdown shows green at 75 and up, red below. Divisiveness asks a different question: not how many critics liked it, but how close their scores are to each other. Five critics who all give it 50 are Unanimous, even though none of them liked it. The labels run Unanimous, Broad agreement, Some debate, Divided, and Contentious. Replay rate comes from listeners, not critics: yes counts fully, a few tracks counts half, no counts zero. The gist quotes each outlet’s own summary of its review. Published is the date on the review itself, read from the outlet’s page, so you can see whether an album’s reputation came at release or years later. Scores marked est. come from reviews that publish no number. Scores marked via Wikipedia are archive ratings, mostly for older albums, taken from the “Professional ratings” box on the album’s Wikipedia page (published openly through Wikidata); each links to the original review when we can find it online, and to that Wikipedia entry when we can’t. When an outlet reviewed an album twice, years apart (often for a reissue), both scores count, each labeled with its year.
A-Side marks the critics’ top tier. An album earns it automatically, from its numbers alone: a Breakdown of 90 or higher, from at least 5 reviews, with at least 75% approval. Nobody hands it out and nobody can buy it; if new reviews pull an album below the line, it loses the badge.
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