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- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Kerrang!Jun 24, 2015Thrilling, challenging, life-affirming rollercoaster of a record. [27 Jun 2015, p.50]
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MagnetJul 8, 2015Freedom ultimately finds cohesion in Refused's continuing mission to punish your ears, move your feet and rage against the Man. [No. 122, p.58]
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Jun 24, 2015All of this is more fun than a politically charged hardcore album has any right to be.
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Q MagazineJul 1, 2015They are as fearless and undiminished as ever here. [Aug 2015, p.114]
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Jun 30, 2015Freedom sounds as furiously principled as this group has ever been, and it's a liberating, hard-hitting exercise in punk for smart people.
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Jun 26, 2015Persuasive, pummelling, precise, Refused may have--quite literally--set the agenda with ‘The Shape Of Punk To Come’ but here they’re proving that they can still translate the blueprints regardless of how much time has passed.
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Jun 26, 2015A solid listen front to back, Freedom is the album fans have been waiting for.
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Jun 24, 2015The 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.
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Jul 1, 2015He's a master of weaving his overdubbed vocals into rapturous gospel heights, as on "Flesh," and his cry of "Should've known better" amid the heartbreak of "Leaves" resonates long after the track is finished.
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Jun 30, 2015It's the exhilarating sound of a band that still lives by its own rules.
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MojoJul 28, 2015A leaner, more radio-friendly effort. [Sep 2015, p.86]
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Jul 1, 2015Occasional static aside, it seems Refused are really making good on their long-stated goal to take the airwaves back, or at least vibrating a little closer to the right frequency.
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Jun 30, 2015Although 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.
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Jun 30, 2015While crossover potential is huge with their more conventional, contemporary sound, Freedom is doomed to connect on a far more limited level than their early triumphs, especially with the genre’s diehards.
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Jun 25, 2015It's unclear from this album what they came back to accomplish.
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Jun 30, 2015It's too bad the songwriting doesn't match the ambition.
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Jun 24, 2015Freedom is nothing more than an exercise in competent stadium rock.
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Jun 24, 2015This is not a terrible record, just a bland and misguided one.
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Jun 30, 2015Freedom never seems to settle on a single direction, but it’s hard to say whether that’s good or bad.... But it’s when Refused attempts to sound modern--through ultra-slick production tricks and modern sonic collage--that the album truly falters.
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Jul 30, 2015Loaded with fake anthems and wholly failing to capture the anarchistic musical charisma of past work, Freedom is a worst-case scenario. Refused was better off dead.
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Jun 26, 2015After a fierce opener that sounds like they've never been away ("nothing has changed", screams Dennis Lyxzén over raging instrumentation), things then, regrettably, go downhill.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 18 out of 24
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Mixed: 3 out of 24
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Negative: 3 out of 24
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Jul 3, 2015
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Dec 6, 2020Sensational fresh and with interesting vocals and solid percussion work it feels new but keeps the punk spirit.
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Jul 4, 2015