The Suburbs

The general consensus is that Arcade Fire will never be able to top their debut album - Funeral. An understandable consensus at that, as Funeral was an absolute masterpiece of an album. Their second album, Neon Bible, didn't quite do it for me compared to funeral. It was focused more on 'big' sounding songs, which is good for live shows but isn't that good on record. Still a great album, mind.

And now, we have The Suburbs. My expectations weren't exactly rocketing after hearing Month Of May (undoubtedly the weakest track on the album in my eyes), but this album is amazing. They've really outdone themselves, this album has something for everyone. It tops Neon Bible, making a more than worthy successor. Do yourself a favour and pick it up.

Arcade Fire have been something of revolution, indie unknowns in 2004 when the brilliant Funeral was released & 2007's Neon Bible propelled them from cult to mainstream through a mixture of grandeur & dramatic power, musically & emotionally. So where does the difficult 3rd album The Suburbs take us. From the opening bars it's clear that Arcade Fire have opted to evolve, The title track begins with rolling piano, slightly Badly Drawn Boy-esque, quirky & likable. It begins to open up & gradually turn into the kind of grandeur we've come to expect from Arcade Fire. This pattern is recurring, Modern Man, the buzzcock-esque Month of May, synth laced Rococo & Wasted Hours all start & end very differently but still retains that Arcade Fire DNA.
Slotted in-between all this contains a few songs that would not seem unfamiliar on previous albums, Ready to start & Empty Room are classic Arcade Fire anthems, full of energy & sure to be a big hit at festivals, while Half-Light II, catchy but creepy, will leave fans unsure of whether to clap or shudder.
The main them of The Suburbs, obviously, is about going home, nostalgically going back & seeing former neighborhoods changing, realizing their homes were there for convenience ot permanence. This departure by the band is brave & works very well, it allows the band to sound subtle & grown-up.
It'd be slightly incorrect to say all 16 tracks are perfect, Sprawl I & II may only relate to a selective audience, but this is hypothetical & not permanent. This album clarifies what we all knew, Arcade Fire are masters at creating tension & suspense, adding layers, taking them away while still leaving the listener in an hypnotic trance, wanting to listen too more.
The Suburbs completes the best set of 3 albums by any new act of the 21 st century, potentially ever. Arcade Fire are back!

when i heard the opening track i wasn't sure were the arcade fire where going with this, as the album builds it peices together beautifully and shows what a great range of ideas this band has. it has shades of the first two albums, but this has more experiment and less big strings and brass sections. stand out tracks are- ready to start, modern man, empty room, month of may and sprawl 2. arcade fire have dared to do something different and it has paid off....

I was told to take a listed to Arcade Fire when a friend said they were better than Kings Of Leon. I was totlly blown way with "The Suburbs" my fave is "we used to wait" but i can honestly say not one song is a dissapointment. 5/5 :)

It has been the best part of four years since the release of the grandiose and sonically immense Neon Bible an album so enormous in scope and colossal in sound it was declared an independent republic with its own national anthem Intervention.

Now Arcade Fire have returned with The Suburbs which has already been incessantly compared by music aficionados as Arcade Fire s OK Computer or Automatic for the People despite the fact that those albums are so deeply imbued with emotional resonance for those reviewers that an to attempt to make an objective comparison would be both deeply foolish and journalistically indolent.

Perhaps reflective of the title, this offering is a sprawling sixteen track neighbourhood replete with the usual mix of local extraverts weirdoes and conformists.

For existing fans of Arcade Fire you may think that you are familiar with the troupe of Canadians who have newly moved from obscurity into suburban mp3 players. You saw the removal men take in the glockenspiels violas and French horns and you knew what to expect but when they had their first house party and you were not invited their first track is all piani and unfamiliar.

Arcade Fire almost developed a leitmotif with Funeral and Neon Bible and although you will recognise them, they do sound different here. Urgent with Month of May poppy with Sprawl II and introspective with We Used to Wait.

Less likely to thrill but certainly providing accomplished chord progressions are Rococo and City With No Children the latter being somewhat atypical and riffy for Arcade Fire.

Rightfully you should be apprehensive of such an expansive musical metropolis and almost inevitably a record of such verboseness will be contractually obliged to contain a higher percentage of less welcome tracks. You will skip.

Admittedly a fairly obscure and difficult to love band, Arcade Fire go from strength to super-strength with The Suburbs.

Although the songs are less big here they are more like songs and less like operatic performance and maybe this could just make them the household name they probably deserve to be.

Difficult third album? Different third album.

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