Buy Now
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Mar 12, 2013Bloodsports is bleeding good.
-
Mar 18, 2013Bloodsports is effortlessly superior to its predecessor A New Morning, and averages out roughly on a level with Head Music (though more consistent in quality).
-
Mar 15, 2013Calling Bloodsports a comeback album almost seems to belittle just how strong a record it really is; it’s nearly as good as any they’ve put out before.
-
Classic Rock MagazineJun 6, 2013Suede sound like Suede again. [Apr 2013, p.97]
-
Apr 12, 2013The songs on Bloodsports are suitable to excite the fans (Yes, they do still exist!), enthuse the critics, engage the occasional casual listener, and elicit a shrug from the general public.
-
Mar 22, 2013Bloodsports is such an assured return, as welcome as it is unforeseen, that Suede have succeeded in rewriting what might be deemed acceptable for a band preparing to enter middle age.
-
Mar 19, 2013Decade-long hiatus or no decade-long hiatus, Bloodsports finds Suede in exactly its element.
-
Mar 19, 2013Never once do they sound desperate on Bloodsports; they sound confident, and comfortable in the knowledge that this is where they all should be.
-
Mar 19, 2013Even if there are only ten tracks to feast upon, it’s clear that Suede is back in force, and Brett and the boys sound cooler than ever.
-
Mar 18, 2013In a way, it’s the most honest collection of songs Anderson’s ever written.
-
Mar 15, 2013Producer Ed Buller has given the band a bigger sound that works well on the rolling U2-esque riff to “Barriers”, but parts of the album still sag under expectations.
-
Mar 15, 2013They've arrived at a romantic, odd, ambitious pop record that eschews musical theatricality for punchy, 40-something's take on the complexity of love from the view--and this is why it works--of one who is still, at heart, an incurable and incorrigible teenage romantic
-
Mar 14, 2013Suede's sixth album, 11 years after their underwhelming fifth, is a bit of a treat.
-
Mar 14, 2013Bloodsports is exactly what a Suede fan wants, and it also sounds remarkably less dated than anything their old rivals Oasis are up to these days.
-
MojoMar 12, 2013This is a galvanising return. [Apr 2013, p.96]
-
Q MagazineMar 12, 2013Keeping hold of their past while seizing the present, Suede are still capable of taking you over. [Apr 2013, p.98]
-
Mar 12, 2013This is a photocopy of the original Britpop blueprint.
-
Mar 22, 2013Throughout Bloodsports, Suede consistently strikes the balance between decadence and elegance that marked their signature work.
-
Mar 18, 2013Bloodsports is the sound of a band who have rested, recouped and clawed back some of that old time vitality.
-
MagnetMay 10, 2013Boasting strength, durability and psychic stability on comeback Bloodsports, Suede shows its true dramatic worth on pensive, atmospheric exhibitions. [No. 98, p.57]
-
Mar 18, 2013Bloodsports finally provides the send-off Suede’s legacy deserved 10 years ago. And, fittingly, it’s due to them thumbing their noses at the notion of growing old gracefully, and making brilliantly daft pop music instead.
-
Mar 18, 2013For the most part, though, Suede’s newfound maturity suits them well.
-
Mar 13, 2013Much of it feels like pastiche, albeit of an often very entertaining sort.
-
UncutMar 12, 2013It's a credible step back into the ring after years on the ropes. [Apr 2013, p.66]
-
Mar 12, 2013It’s a fine Suede record, a passionate and seductive creature which reminds us of how distinctive and dynamic this most underestimated band can be.
-
Apr 2, 2013Bloodsports is fine, pleasant even.
-
Mar 18, 2013The quality tails off quite dramatically, with a string of unremarkable ballads closing the album, but this is still a pleasing return to something approaching their best.
-
Mar 14, 2013So swings and roundabouts, then, but for all Bloodsports’ faults, it’s still pretty good.
-
Mar 13, 2013Suede deserve some credit for being one of the few reunited bands to actually risk their reputation by recording a new album and whilst there is nothing on 'Bloodsports' as gloriously epic as 'Stay Together' or as bat-shit crazy as 'Introducing The Band', it should be viewed as a partial success.
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 41 out of 43
-
Mixed: 0 out of 43
-
Negative: 2 out of 43
-
Mar 19, 2013
-
Mar 19, 2013
-
Mar 19, 2013