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Critic Reviews
83
The chances of Refused saving your life these days are next to nil, but they can still make a hell of a soundtrack for figuring it out on your own.
10y
80
The conviction put into every moment of this record, much like that they put into every second of their original reunion shows, makes Freedom a more than worthwhile comeback.
10y
80
A solid listen front to back, Freedom is the album fans have been waiting for, and proof that Refused are most certainly not "fucking dead."
10y
80
This may be their biggest gamble yet, but they’ve got a winning hand: Refused are no longer fucking dead.
10y
80
It's not hard to be a bit cynical about Refused choosing to reunite, but Freedom sounds as furiously principled as this group has ever been, and it's a liberating, hard-hitting exercise in punk for smart people.
10y
70
It's the exhilarating sound of a band that still lives by its own rules.
10y
60
Although Freedom isn’t the return fans were hoping for, there’s enough experimentation here to at least remind old fans of what made them adore the band in the first place.
10y
60
Freedom isn’t free from the looming specter of their last beloved record, and there’s precious little on Freedom that lives up to the inventiveness of The Shape of Punk to Come’s chewed-up post-hardcore.
10y
60
These songs stay well within the Refused wheelhouse, but don’t exactly inspire any confidence that the band has retained their ability to upset punk music standards the way they used to.
10y
54
Even under the pretense of ironic ear candy, the band's hijacking of commonplace modern rock proves ultimately to be neither subversive nor satisfying. No, Refused are not fucking dead, but it's unclear from this album what they came back to accomplish.
10y
50
That intensity is largely absent because Freedom is nothing more than an exercise in competent stadium rock.
10y
50
It's no surprise a comeback album arising from a reunion tour would be optimized to reach the cheap seats; maybe Lyxzén would even defend the arena as the ideal venue for agitprop. It's too bad the songwriting doesn't match the ambition.
10y
45
This is not a terrible record, just a bland and misguided one; the band that made The Shape of Punk to Come sound like they want to be in a play-it-straight rock band, and that - frankly - is a tragedy.
10y
43
While the album contains trace amounts of what made The Shape so canonical, Freedom feels like a concerted effort to dismantle whatever legacy was built during the band’s absence.
10y
40
Refused return with a comeback record that's far from pleasing.
8y
30
Other cuts offer mere Refused-by-numbers or even descend into self-parody, a trait best exemplified by the track title "Destroy the Man." Destroy the legacy, more like.
10y
17 years after "The Shape of Punk to Come," the album that set the standard so high, and with this release, they can't even reach the level of that album. This album lacked the same groundbreaking impact as its predecessor, zero innovation, and lack of interesting sound. It's got a way more straightforward rock sound, and it sounded like any other hardcore band I've heard before.
I actually wanted to like this, but this is not a great comeback album. They tried to sound more "mainstream" and accessible, but it doesn't work that well.
Elektra starts Freedom off with a bang, delivering a high energy punk banger. You’d think it serves as a tone setter, but the rest of the album doesn’t sound like that. The song following has much lighter instrumentation and softer guitar, but I enjoy its freaky structure and how it differs from other Refused music. Most of the album sounds like alt rock, some songs with horns in the background. A far cry from the vicious punk on Songs to fan the flames of discontent and the dynamic ... read more
Creative maximalist Hardcore punk. I like the activist angle, but musically it can get a bit tacky at times
Contributions By
patton, thisisabtlgrnd, philthy, erik, PureRage, OPENblinds, Space Vacation, Walter3000Become a Subscriber
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Track List
| 1 | Elektra 3:12 | 90 |
| 2 | Old Friends / New War 4:28 | 63 |
| 3 | Dawkins Christ 4:05 | |
| 4 | Françafrique 4:39 | 52 |
| 5 | Thought Is Blood 4:18 | |
| 6 | War on the Palaces 3:35 | |
| 7 | Destroy the Man 3:24 | |
| 8 | 366 5:20 | |
| 9 | Servants of Death 3:43 | |
| 10 | Useless Europeans 6:31 |
Total Length: 43 minutes
