Green Suede Shoes

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
The Indianapolis Star	[12]
Knoxville News Sentinel	[13]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[14]
USA Today	[15]

The Knoxville News Sentinel called the album "a rehash of the Black 47 shtick," writing that Kirwan "becomes ludicrous with his overdramatic storytelling."^[13] The Chicago Tribune wrote that the band "again adorns its rousing tales of political martyrs and working-class louts with Celtic flourishes, reggae rhythms and punchy hard rock."^[16] The Santa Fe New Mexican noted that the band "is often put down as a watered-down Pogues," but praised "Forty Deuce" as "a chilling story about modern Irish-American gangsters."^[17]

The Indianapolis Star stated that "Black 47 blends more styles of music than perhaps any other band out there today... But it works."^[12] The Los Angeles Times thought that "Kirwan brings a theatrical literacy and creativity to the table ... tales deal with the larger than life, the idealistic rather than the hedonistic."^[18] USA Today concluded that, "unlike many pop prophets, the band conveys its agenda in keen storytelling and intoxicating tunes."^[15]

AllMusic wrote that "the band cooks simply and mightily, goosing the traditional jigs and reels that make up most of its melodic repertoire with R&B, hip-hop and reggae riddims."^[11] Dave Thompson called the album "a neglected classic, the Pogues go posh."^[19]