Is "Suburbs", the new album by Arcade
Fire the album of the year? After wearing down the CD with dozens of hearings,
here are our views (do not think they differ much...):
by Leonidas from Caravel :
Win Butler describes the sound of Arcade Fire in the Suburbs as a
mix of music by Neil Young and Depeche Mode! The reviews it has
gotten so far are mostly positive. Mike Diver of BBC says this is their OK
Computer, while the parallels and comparisons continue on NME, where Emily
Mackay says that is their Automatic for the people aspiring to
obtain with it a greater acceptance by a wider audience. The truth may be somewhere in
between.
The album's first title track is a folk-rock one
of the most mainstream and friendly songs to the ear the band has ever recorded.
In Ready to start the rhythm goes up and I can see it as an
ideal start to the next live of the band. Any organizers reading? In Modern
man they flirt with American mainstream rock and is one of the few
weak points in the album, if any. Rococo, as I correctly read in
Quietus, is the intersection between ELO and Spiritualized.
For the first songs of the Suburbs Arcade Fire sound more
mainstream and it I assume this is designed so that more people will listen to
the album. They're followed by dynamites and some of the most beautiful songs
the band has ever written: Empty room, Half light in two parts so that
in bursts the second with synths like New Order and Deep blue with
playful piano. These four and Ready to start are along with Neighborhood
# 2, Rebellion (Lies) , No cars go, Wake up the best songs by the
band! City with no children is a little reminiscent of the Ramones End
of the century and Pleasant dreams era, and somewhere I read it's reminiscent
of Jumping Jack Flash. Ramones also make their appearance in Month of
May that could succeed Rockaway beach, after the necessary
introduction 1-2-3-4 by Dee Dee, in a concert at CBGB in the 70's. As
for Suburban war, it's something like what the Byrds would sound in
2010. Wasted hours is closer to their first two albums and We used to
wait is a bit reminiscent of Depeche Mode. Sprawl reveals some
electronic elements in the second part. The album closes with the acoustic
version of Suburbs.
The truth is it was obvious from the first four songs
that were released before the official release of the album, where they were
heading. A great album! The best album by far, til now, in 2010. I vote the Suburbs
as the best album by Arcade Fire and one of the best in recent
years. Someone could argue that there are 4-5 songs that could be heard from a
wider audience and had no place in either Neon bible, or Funeral ...
It's an opportunity for even more to love this truly great band, I answer. As
for those who have doubts about whether this is a great band, let us consider
how many bands in recent years have been affected by Arcade Fire and
their sound.
9,5/10
by gbal (who
has not yet read what the other one wrote):
In "Funeral" the "fires of Arcadia" (close to us...)
created a very special blend of post-rock, pop, classical music and opera.
Great reviews from the music critics then, and after three years, in 2007 for
"Neon Bible". For the last I would say that the completed the
thoughts that already existed in 2004. Long songs with lyricism and depth,
close to the bottom of the well...
But what could we expect from the third project of the
Canadians in 2010 (three years later again)? A small shift, probably some changes?
Let's take things from the beginning: After "Keep
the car running" in "Neon Bible", Win Butler from the
start confesses that he learned to drive in the suburbs, listening probably to
folk music, as is the title song of the album. "Ready to start"
that follows is perhaps one of the songs, that belong to the changes, we talked
about. This is a song - a classic single, that is easily heard on the radio.
Besides, what part of the two previous albums can be considered a radio piece?
So since businessmen drank the blood of Butler (in "Ready to start": "Businessmen, they drink my blood / Like the kids in art school said they would. "), "Modern Man" also reminds us of the recent past of the band and the classic sound of great musicians of the 70s, like David Bowie and Neil Young. But Bowie comes to mind for some quiet moments of the album as well, like "Deep Blue" and the chilling "Sprawl I (flatland)". In this the trembling voice of Butler along with the guitar and violin make up one of the most beautiful moments in "Suburbs".
For me though the highlight of the album is "Rococo", a unique and special concert piece (imagine it live with the audience shouting "kokoko"), which gradually "takes off". "Empty Room", "Half light I & II" remind us of the past of the band and "City with no Children", "Month of Man" take us back to the punk rock of Ramones.
Finally, "We used to wait" will be the second single, which will be able to stand on the "difficult" Greek radio and "Suburban War" my second favorite track after "Rococo", with a awesomely lyrical, yet dynamic finish.
And we got to the conclusion... If you expect me to tell you that this is the album of the year, then yes, I will tell you that until this moment (Friday 6/8 13:38) it is the best I have heard this year. With Suburbs, Arcade Fire without losing their identity, steer in some way to a more mainstream path. For the first time they have 2 singles, which can be fairly heard on the radio, thus creating the appropriate conditions to do more concerts in great stages around the world. This of course is my own conclusion and I do not believe that the band thought it so...
There were references to the 70s in the two previous albums. Perhaps in Suburbs it is more obvious, given the diversity of the sound in the album.
Is it time for Arcade Fire to be what in some way Radiohead had been in 1997 with OK Computer? Will they have the same recognition? Maybe... But do you think they need to?
9 / 10
Listen to the whole album here .