Bad Blood - Bastille
Bad Blood Image
Metascore
60 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 9 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 20 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
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  • Summary: The full-length debut release for indie rock singer-songwriter Dan Smith includes influences from folk, hip-hop, indie, and pop music.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. PopMatters
    Mar 5, 2013
    80
    The heightened sense of immediacy is hard to keep up, but Bastille does it remarkably well, resulting in a debut that’s as infectious as it is dramatically powerful.
  2. Drowned In Sound
    Mar 1, 2013
    60
    Sometimes you are left wishing that the songs could be left to breathe a little more for themselves.
  3. The Observer (UK)
    Mar 4, 2013
    60
    Its repertoire of tricks--piano and falsetto sob-rock, yodel-along backing vocals, hands-in-the-air breakdowns--is entirely predictable, but generally redeemed by strong, surging melodies.
  4. New Musical Express (NME)
    Mar 4, 2013
    50
    All this greedy grasping means the London newcomers can’t really get a firm grip on anything, meaning Bad Blood comes out with about as much identity as a Facebook commenter without a profile picture.

See all 9 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 5
  3. Negative: 1 out of 5
  1. BrandonBonasera
    9
    Bad Blood by the British quartet, Bastille, is a brilliant album with all songs being quite great, though some are better than others and some of the lyrics sound a little silly at times. But overall, Bad Blood is a fantastic debut from Bastille and I am definitely looking forward to their newer music in the future.… Expand
  2. cnrcnr
    7
    I think this is a pretty good album, kind of RnB-indie-pop, the melodies are great and songs have a rather epic sound. the one negative... the lyrics aren't that great but these are redeemed by the really well produced music.… Expand
  3. MDeltaC
    7
    A fine debut.

    This album is all in all pretty good. From emotional soaring melodies such as 'Overjoyed' to quirky ballads such as 'Flaws' i    t brings an interesting sound to the table.

    I can't help but Bastille rather overplayed their hand in the lead-up to this album, on first listen I had already heard 6 of the 13 songs. It left it feeling more like a collection of singles than a complete album. Perhaps some tracks should have been left as singles too as it feels like the album has tried to get to many different sounds into one space.

    There are, however some excellent moments. 'Weight of living, Pt I' and 'These Streets' harp back to the original quirkiness and excellent melodies that first caught audience's attention in 'Flaws'. Some of the lyrics are a little bit bland or un-inventive which brings me to my final summary.

    All in all this a a good, solid debut with soaring melodies and well crafted music to back it up. It is slightly let down by the fact it seems some-what unrefined for an album that was a fair while in the making. Very enjoyable.    … Expand
  4. StrawberryBlond
    2
    Mediocre indie synthpop. For the most part, it all seems rather bland with lyrics whose significance I can't seem to get my head around. Apart from the really pretty, ethereal ballad, Overjoyed and tear-jerking love song, Oblivion, almost all the songs merge into one big, mediocre lump that's very unmemorable.… Expand

See all 5 User Reviews

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