what is up with the cynicism of folks here? this is one of the best rock -forget indie rock- records of the last 5 years, hands down. not sure where the hostility towards this band is coming from other than the insecure feeling that comes with knowing that one will never create something as lovely in their life as this album. cheers.

Great review, great indie/alternative music. Arcade Fire fans should check out their “Take Away Show” on this site….they perform an awesome version of “Neon Bible” in a freight elevator :)

http://www.ourstage.com/blog/2010/8/12/viewer-discretion-advised-la-blog...

I gave it 3 listens ...

It felt like a high school reunion - fun for a while but then you realize - there is nothing new going on, and it's time to move on ...

David Bowie has been done ...
Talking heads have been done ...
The Cars have been done ...
U2 has been done ...
New Order has been done ...

Since when does combining elements of former greats into your songs make for a musical journey that takes the world someplace new?

The aforementioned influences and:

Hendrix didn't sound like anybody else ...
The Doors didn't sound like anybody else ...
The Beatles weren't revered for all the bands they combined elements of ...
Led Zeppelin sounded like Led Zeppelin ...
Radiohead isn't loved for all the other bands they call to mind ...

They took the greats before them and came up with a NEW voice ... not a concotion that evokes their influences. A bastardized tribute band they were not ...

Have you actually thought about this before declaring this work a modern masterpiece?

Here is a good test to bring the music enthusiast back to focus on what is exceptional art and what is commercial junk food as all 3 of Arcade Fire's albums are ... and not that junk food is all bad, but it's not an award winning 5 star dish it's portrayed as ...

If it's good background music (have it on while your doing something else) it's probably bad music ... sort of like popcorn ... if someone served it as an entree you'd be insulted ... The Suburbs is great ****tail party music ...

If it's good foreground music (sit and listen to it and do nothing else) it's probably artistically evolved ... OK Computer is lousy ****tail party music ...

Please think about this and reassess people ... the world needs smarter, more sophisticated musical scholars ...

And then give this a try ....

www.myspace.com/papertrigger ... unless you're having a ****tail party.

The Average Joe in my office who can't stop yapping about this new Arcade Fire band he just discovered is a huge Pearl Jam fan, which just goes to show ... Pearl Jam sucks just as much as Arcade Fire. And SoundGarden. And RAM and Tool and every other tool band out there. They should all join the Army or get a job at Taco Bell or something. Jack White wears a skirt and has cats, but he's got Loretta Lynn, so he wins.

Arcade Fire has nothing on Death Cab, does not remind me of Death Cab, shouldn't be lumped in with Death Cab for Cutie.

"Using great big words they don't understand"
-Arcade Fire, Rococco

The last comment's author may be a little closeted. Dude, it's okay if you kissed a man once....no one here's going to judge you.

Fantastic Album guys!

ps. define deluged

I would rather insert my junk into a blender than listen to this modern rock/indie rock crap. Thank God for Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Rage against the Machine, Tool, and Jack White. Nothing would please me more than to watch this band get their asses kicked by UFC fighters on National TV. All this modern rock crap we've been deluged with for the past 6 years can seriously go to hell and never come back.

If you like Death Cab for Cutie or this band or any bull**** modern rock band, then I feel sorry for you. Maybe you should go buy yourself a skirt to go with your three cats.

Lame!!!!

I'm absolutely agree with you post. Listen the complete album again, and you will appreciate in a better way the entire Disk.

Every time when you listen it, you'll find sounds, lyrics, harmony... Just Enjoy this Master Piece!

Oh... SPIN: Great review! XD

very well put. could not agree more with everything you just said.

Fantastic review. In my opinion you nailed it. Love how you chose to highlight "Suburban War". For me it is the standout track on the album, musically and lyrically. I tend to like the darker, more emotionally haunting songs (and bands- Radiohead, Interpol, The National), and to me this track feels most emotionally significant to the album. I have been surprised more reviews have not mentioned it, and also disappointed that the band did not play the song at either of the MSG shows (which were epic btw). The real crowd pleasers seem to be "We used to Wait", "Rococo", and "Sprawl II", which are more upbeat "bigger" sounds yet still strong and thought provoking lyrically. I believe this is the strongest album yet for Arcade Fire, in that, although perhaps it hasn't some of the power anthems put out on Funeral, I am very impressed with the consistency in quality of each track, and the complexity in sound from one track to the next. This album seems to be the most "easy listening" of the three, and although sometimes that can be perceived as a negative quality, here it is not. Arcade Fire have evolved into a more mature band, adding new sounds (electronic), while still managing to keep each track on the album melodically dynamic yet artistically cohesive by way of the central theme. It does not matter that it is a "mundane" theme, as someone suggested... everything is mundane when you think about it...it is about how the band expresses this theme through their music and prose, and how it comes together as an end product. In this case, The Suburbs leaves you feeling emotional, curious, and energized.
I won't say much more about the content because I believe this SPIN review said it perfectly. This band has a TON of talent, I don't think anyone on this blog can dispute that. Nor can it be disputed that despite any "influences" of other bands, Arcade Fire is undeniably in a league of its own. They are not The Boss, Neil Young, the Cure. They are a NEW genre of music altogether, and yes, like all great bands, they learn from other great bands. But give me a ten piece band composed of strings, an accordion, xylophone, an organ, in addition to the standard rock and roll instruments, and now adding an electronic element- give me a band before Arcade fire who has been comprised of all of these elements and still managed to come out sounding like a rock band (with an amazingly fresh, artistic twist). They are the first band of this kind I know of to be selling out MSG upon their debut. It is NOT an understatement to say Arcade Fire is revolutionizing modern music. It is a fact. Listen to The Suburbs a few times (assuming you’ve already heard the first two albums) and you will concur. And just to clarify my stance (as earlier posts suggest A Fire fans are like cult followers) : I am not a "worshiper" of this band by any means (have several other bands I appreciate even more), I simply happen to be blown away by their incredibly dynamic sound. I would never go so far as to make comparisons and say they are the next "Radiohead" as a certain major broadcasting label did... that’s just foolish. They represent their own genre of music, they are great, they have three stellar albums out so far and should they continue this creativity they have an amazing career ahead of them. But for now lets appreciate the masterpiece of a record they just put out. For those who disagree with the SPIN review, I suggest you give this album another listen. The Suburbs will be an album still praised ten years from now, and is a serious contender for best album of 2010 in my opinion (alongside High Violet, in case anyone cares to debate that). Cheers. And again, well done.

Great review. A beacon of light in Spin's Sprawl.

I am surprised that many of the reviews posted on this blog are so contradictory: while the musicianship and the emotional punch of "The Suburbs" is celebrated (almost reverentially), Arcade Fire is ripped apart for "a lack of musical evolution," that their well of good ideas is drying up. I think what is being forgotten is that all musicians, even "trendsetters," are influenced by or -as I will diplomatically state here- "borrow" from other artists. That's the beauty of music: great ideas come forth from people who react to music and artists from their youth, culture, and families. I find it remarkable to listen to "The Suburbs" and pick out the band's influences (U2, Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, New Order). There's a beauty to a band's ability to utilize influences in original, smart, and powerful ways that transcend time and trends. Take the album for what it is: a rip-roaring, grandiose expression of loss, confusion, heartbreak, and hope!

And to the people who found "Neon Bible" murky and dark, that is an album that continues to, for lack of a better catchphrase, rock my proverbial world! It is very difficult to find songs as powerful, raw, yet eloquet as "My Body is a Cage," "Keep the Car Running," and "Neon Bible."

This album is way too good to share my thoughts. I'm going to pretend that I'm the only one listening to it.

However, In a 2005 interview with SPIN, The Killers' Brandon Flowers said that he thought Arcade Fire made such a sophisticated album [Funeral] but since they didn't seem to care about their "image" enough, he didn't think they cared to be "the next U2." Flash forward five years, and Arcade Fire are the best band in the world, the only band with the raw passion and talent to fill U2's shoes (but even better; grounded AND transcendent). Meanwhile, The Killers are, at best, America's f-ckin' Coldplay. Suck it, Flowers.

it gets better as I listen to it. honestly, after Neon Bible I had a bad taste in my mouth. The production of that album was horribly murky and the lyrical delivery was more preachy than Bono if you can imagine.

I think after careful listening on a good sound system...this is their best recorded/produced album yet. However, although it is strong and consistent there is nothing on here as immediately likable and melodically strong as 'Wake-Up" .

I do not think this is the "second coming" or that AF are the new 'messiahs of rock' as many wannabe-trendy-media outlets want you to believe. The album is well-done and intriguing in several aspects, but it is no where near as inventive and 'avant-garde' as advertising and media are touting. AF were instantly crowned and given the keys to the kingdom...and they've been the elected poster children of the promise of what indie-rock should be, for some time now. By now, AF are hardly 'indie' in the typically small, intimate sense. They are gargantuan as far as that scene is concerned. Not that this is all bad. We all grow up at some point. But, they are now the sort of phenomenon that harvests throngs of fans who ponder their every syllable and worship every mention of the Arcade Fire brand. It's like people who by a Jeep that always by a Jeep and nothing else. AF have carefully cultivated brand-loyalty. Good for them, but there's a lot more adventurous music out there that deserves considerably more praise. Still, if you're someone who is getting into music that's deeper than what the radio offers, AF aren't the worst band to start with. After you hear them however, you should trace the myriad of artists that AF are copying if you haven't yet. Bands like: The Cure, Talking Heads, Wilco, U2, Joy Division, and artists such as Bjork, The Knife, David Byrne, and Bruce Springsteen.

Album rating: 3 1/2 *

As for AF fans who treat music as if they're rooting for a football team, here's what I think of how you react to your demigods:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-fAQcx2jzk

I like that part where they are playing the guitars and stuff.

this review is very good but i believe this one here is a better one i've come across http://independentmusicreviews-paddy.blogspot.com/

This review is utter pretentious gob****e. The 'dystopic miasma of William Gibson'? What the **** are you talking about? Great album, though.

Actually, Rococo sounds more like a song about a band thumbing their nose to people who like a certain music just to be hip, and then hear something new from the same band and can't stand it, probably because the sheen of being looked at as "hip" has worn off. So essentially it's about people who liked Funeral for whatever reason didn't like Neon Bible because it didn't live up to their unreachable fantasies, whatever they might've been, and the band not really caring. Neon Bible was a great album, but the backlash was not only inevitable, it was amusingly cliched.

Is really no one mentioning the final paragraph of this review? May I quote:

"Radiant with apocalyptic tension and grasping to sustain real bonds, [it] extends hungrily outward, recalling the dystopic miasma of William Gibson's sci-fi novels and Sonic Youth's guitar odysseys. Desperate to elude its own corrosive dread, it keeps moving, asking, looking, and making the promise that hope isn't just another spiritual cul-de-sac."

Did no one notice this? "Apocalyptic tension"? "Real bonds"? "Hungrily outward"? "Dystopic miasma"? "Corrosive dread"? And, the coup de grace, "Hope isn't just another spiritual cul-de-sac."

Is this a joke?

I will give this album credit for being carefully thought-out from a lyrical standpoint (the songs are like variations on a theme), purposeful from an artistic standpoint (the melodic ornamentation on rococo is a clever touch), and well-arranged from a musical standpoint (the music is multi-layered and self-referential). But there's something about all of it that just feels lacking in musical evolution. It just doesn't feel new and inspired to me. It feels forced. It feels like they're out of ideas, like just threw new clothing over and old dress.

I'd have to say this is their most consistent album (maybe even best album). They will never recreate the visceral emotional energy of funeral (nor should or could they), Neon bible for mine was a bit patchy and incoherent. but this is a truly great album. thematic, consistent, masterful, beautiful.

I listened to this album, and I really, reallly like it. It's different than Neon Bible and Funeral, but thats good. I think it's on par with both of their previous albums it's just different direction, and I really like it.

Wow that's a pretty elitist, pompous response. I listened to the album and I think it is awesome. There are only a few songs I don't like off the album, but otherwise it is pretty awesome. Why can't Arcade Fire make songs about the places the grew up in? I like how music snobs like you immediately dismiss something if somebody else make music about a certain topic and it is automatically bad if somebody else did in great -- but in that bands own way.

It's funny, when Neon Bible came out, people like you didn't like it either becuase it was selling out, even though the album was ****ing great, and even if it wasn't as good as Funeral, it wasn't some mainstream pop bull**** that you tend to paint it out as.

This album is already better the 99 percent of the **** put out this year, and yet they are some coporate sell outs.

Right.

I like the album well enough, though not as much as NB or Funeral. It might be their weakest, or it might just turn out to be their best (after a few more listens).

What a hilariously pompous 3rd year lit class review, for an equally pompous band and album. HASN'T THIS TERRITORY BEEN TREAD UPON ENOUGH ALREADY? Are we really amazed when some people who've managed to make a living playing in a freaking band come along and lecture us about the soullessness of the suburban wastelands that they grew up in and return to for thanksgiving dinners?

oh right, the evolution argument. rococo, month of may, evolution? if by evolution you mean moving forward, as in fast forward, i can dig it. and let's not forget that that same evolution had them covering themselves on Neon Bible. surely redoing a song from a previous ep (often cited as the best song on NB) would not be necessary for a band with a plentiful cache of evolving ideas.
not familiar with the Lenin track, but glad to find out they market tested the idea prior to going with it. no one knows more about how an artist should proceed than their listening audience.
i guess if you are into listening to some guy whine about his pitiful state, this album is aces. just don't catch yourself singing "ro-co-co, ro-co-co, ro-co-co" in the mirror.

They evolved in to a different band, deal with it. If they were repeating Funeral for a third time right now (notice this is the same complaint also leveled at Neon Bible) you'd be calling them creatively stuck and I can guarantee Funeral would have lost its own charm if it had been tarnished by two similar records.

Look to the track Lenin that they released between Neon Bible and The Suburbs. That was much in the same vein as Funeral and fell flat as a result, being seen as tired and by-numbers.

Arcade Fire are held in the regard they are today purely BECAUSE they evolve and change with each record.

let's not praise "great" bands, but great work. too many "great" bands get passes these days because of their "great"-ness

Cynical, much? The album is solid, after a few listens, it grows on you a bit. We should be praising the efforts of great bands when you know it's true man, dig it.

listening now. where's the out of tune vocals and raw production that made arcade fire the inconoclastic visionary in the first place. it sounds like they ran them thru the same meat grinder production that made peter gabriel so pablumy palatable for the masses to get those sales up. PASS. But I'll take some of that nice kick back mags get these days to tell you what to like.