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Bloodsports (album)

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Bloodsports
Studio album by
Suede
Released18 March 2013
Recorded2012
Genre
Length39:46
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerEd Buller
Suede chronology
The Best of Suede
(2010) 		Bloodsports
(2013) 		Night Thoughts
(2016)
Singles from Bloodsports
  1. "It Starts and Ends with You"
    Released: 4 February 2013
  2. "Hit Me"
    Released: 27 May 2013
  3. "For the Strangers"
    Released: 21 October 2013

Bloodsports is the sixth studio album by English alternative rock band Suede. It was released on 18 March 2013, via Warner Bros. Records. It is their first studio album since A New Morning in 2002.

The album was the first since Coming Up to be produced by their longtime producer Ed Buller, and also the first album to feature keyboardist Neil Codling since his departure in 2001.

Background and production

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Frontman Brett Anderson commented that the album would sound like a cross between Dog Man Star and Coming Up.[3] He stated that Bloodsports is "about lust, it's about the chase, it's about the endless carnal game of love. It was possibly the hardest we've ever made but certainly the most satisfying".[4]

The band performed new material in 2011, most of which got scrapped when they went into the studio with Ed Buller, the producer of their first three albums.[5]

Release

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In January 2013, Suede released a free download of opening track "Barriers".[4] The lead single, "It Starts and Ends with You", followed in February.[4] Second single "Hit Me" was released 27 May.[6] Third single "For the Strangers" was released in October on the same day the band released The Vinyl Collection, a box set of the band's six studio albums and b-side collection on vinyl.[7] Bloodsports debuted on the Official UK Albums Chart at number 10,[8] on first-week sales of 10,453 copies.[9] It went on to sell 22,410 units after 12 weeks.[9] A 7-inch double a-side of "Barriers"/"Animal Nitrate" was released 20 April on Record Store Day.[10]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.3/10[11]
Metacritic80/100[12]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]
The Daily Telegraph[14]
The Guardian[15]
The Independent[16]
Mojo[17]
NME7/10[18]
Pitchfork7.6/10[19]
Q[20]
Rolling Stone[21]
Uncut7/10[22]

Bloodsports has been very well received by critics, their most acclaimed album since Coming Up in 1996. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80, based on 29 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[12]

Year-end lists

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Bloodsports has been included in many Best Albums of 2013 lists including:

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
ABC News US The 50 Best Albums of 2013[23] 2013 29
AllMusic US Best of 2013 – Top 50 Albums[24] 2013 N/A
PopMatters US The 75 Best Albums of the Year[25] 2013 57
Q UK 50 Albums of the Year[26] 2013 22
The Quietus UK Albums of the Year[27] 2013 42
Rough Trade UK Top 100 Albums of the Year[28] 2013 67
Under the Radar US Top 125 Albums of 2013[29] 2013 23

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Barriers"
3:42
2."Snowblind"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
4:03
3."It Starts and Ends with You"
  • Anderson
  • Codling
3:51
4."Sabotage"
  • Anderson
  • Codling
3:45
5."For the Strangers"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
  • Codling
4:12
6."Hit Me"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
  • Codling
4:03
7."Sometimes I Feel I'll Float Away"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
4:12
8."What Are You Not Telling Me?"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
  • Codling
3:12
9."Always"
4:42
10."Faultlines"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
  • Codling
4:05
iTunes deluxe edition and Australia CD bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Dawn Chorus"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
4:03
12."Howl"
  • Anderson
  • Osman
3:35
Japan bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Dawn Chorus"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
4:03
12."Nothing Can Stop Us"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
  • Codling
3:35
Box set bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Dawn Chorus"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
4:03
12."No Holding Back"
  • Anderson
  • Oakes
  • Codling
3:52

Personnel

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Charts

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Chart performance for Bloodsports
Chart (2013) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[30] 181
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[31] 74
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[32] 77
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[33] 12
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[34] 65
French Albums (SNEP)[35] 97
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[36] 95
Irish Albums (IRMA)[37] 22
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[38] 18
Scottish Albums (OCC)[39] 15
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[40] 36
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[41] 32
UK Albums (OCC)[42] 10
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[43] 2

References

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  1. ^ Lakhani, R. (5 July 2013). "The best albums of 2013 (so far)". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  2. ^ Matusavage, Philip (12 March 2013). "Suede – Bloodsports". musicOMH. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  3. ^ Cooper, Leonie (30 November 2012). "Suede Unveil New Album and Live Show Countdown". NME. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Hart, Tina (7 January 2013). "Suede to Release First New Material in 10 Years". Music Week. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  5. ^ Neighbour, Flora . "Suede Ditch All Material Recorded for New Album". Gigwise. 11 May 2012.
  6. ^ Cooper, Leonie (14 May 2013). "Suede add dates to autumn UK tour – ticket details". NME. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Suede - For The Strangers: Exclusive video". The Guardian. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Recently reunited indie rockers Suede are back with their first Top 10 album in almost 14 years". Official Charts Company. 24 March 2013.
  9. ^ a b Williams, Paul (21 June 2013). "Going It Alone". Music Week: 14–16.
  10. ^ Newall, Phil (21 March 2013). "Full list of Record Store Day 2013 releases unveiled…". louderthanwar.com. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  11. ^ "Bloodsports by Suede reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  12. ^ a b "Reviews for Bloodsports by Suede". Metacritic. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  13. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Bloodsports – Suede". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  14. ^ Brown, Helen (8 March 2013). "Suede, Bloodsports, album review". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 March 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  15. ^ Hann, Michael (14 March 2013). "Suede: Bloodsports – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  16. ^ Gill, Andy (15 March 2013). "Album review: Suede, Bloodsports (Warner Music Group)". The Independent. Archived from the original on 19 March 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  17. ^ "Suede: Bloodsports". Mojo (233): 96. April 2013.
  18. ^ Hewitt, Ben (18 March 2013). "Suede – 'Bloodsports'". NME. Archived from the original on 21 March 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  19. ^ Berman, Stuart (22 March 2013). "Suede: Bloodsports". Pitchfork. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  20. ^ Segal, Victoria (April 2013). "Brett, the Devil You Know". Q (321): 98.
  21. ^ Sheffield, Rob (20 June 2013). "Suede: Bloodsports". Rolling Stone. p. 72.
  22. ^ O'Connell, Sharon (3 April 2013). "Suede – Bloodsports". Uncut. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  23. ^ Raible, Allan (30 December 2013). "The Year in Review: The 50 Best Albums of 2013". American Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  24. ^ Best of 2013. AllMusic. 2013.
  25. ^ The 75 Best Albums of the 2013. PopMatters. 2013.
  26. ^ "Q Magazine's '50 LPs of 2013' List; Arctic Monkeys top it". BrooklynVegan. 2013.
  27. ^ "Albums of the Year 2013". The Quietus. 2013.
  28. ^ "Rough Trade's Top LPs of 2013". BrooklynVegan. 2013.
  29. ^ "Top 125 Albums of 2013". Under the Radar. 2013.
  30. ^ "Suede ARIA Chart history complete to 2024". ARIA. Retrieved 26 July 2024 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
  31. ^ "Ultratop.be – Suede – Bloodsports" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  32. ^ "Ultratop.be – Suede – Bloodsports" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  33. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Suede – Bloodsports". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  34. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Suede – Bloodsports" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  35. ^ "Lescharts.com – Suede – Bloodsports". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  36. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Suede – Bloodsports" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  37. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Suede". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  38. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Suede – Bloodsports". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  39. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  40. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Suede – Bloodsports". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  41. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Suede – Bloodsports". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  42. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  43. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
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