The Suburbs

 

 

Create your own review

After the brilliance of their debut Funeral, Arcade Fire seemed to be in danger of never being able to match it. It was so good, the second album was almost inevitably going to fall short. Neon Bible was never less than good, and had its great moments (No Cars Go, Intervention, Windowsill) but seemed to be hinting at heading in a U2 style direction of preachy bombast, and suggested they might ultimately become just another 'big' stadium band. Which makes the varied and expanded musical palate of The Suburbs all the more welcome. It is an outstanding piece of work which shows just what a great band this is.

Unlike either of the first 2 albums, this one got me on first listen, and has been getting better and better ever since. A month on repeat on my car cd player has not detracted from its sustained excellence. 16 tracks could be insufferable from a less interesting band(and could be regarded as commercial suicide in the age of the ipod shuffle), but here it ensures there is so much to discover that it takes weeks to get at all tired of it. I don't think I have ever heard an album of this length without a single bad track (Rococo is the only one I sometimes skip) and where you don't want to pick out favourites, but play the whole thing.

Of course it helps that there is a continuity of theme and lyrics throughout the album, as was the case with Funeral, but here more so, with repeated lines and themes turning up in different songs connecting the whole thing and giving the album a circularity and feeling that this is a piece of work in several parts, not just a collection of songs. But there is also a variety of styles here that the band has not previously explored, from the punky Month of May to the electro pop of Sprawl 2. Overall it is more restarined and low key without so much of the massive crescendos we are used to hearing from them, but with more subtlety and layers to discover. Some of my personal favourites include the 2 Half Light tracks, which are both beautifully atmospheric and evocative, and sound like nothing they have done before; Suburban War which slowly builds momentum and emotion, and contains the great lines 'now the cities we live in could be distant stars/ and I search for you in every passing car'; and City With No Children with its irresistable repeated riff.

Lyrically and vocally its easily Win Butler's best effort, gone are the occasinally clunky rhymes and in its place is maturity of voice and songcraft. Regine, who was a little in the background on Neon Bible also sounds great on lead vocals on Empty Rooms and Sprawl 2, and the two of them duet to great effect on Half Light 1.
The Suburbs sounds more like a sequel to Funeral than NB did, both musically and with its themes of neighbourhood and growing up, but it also shows Arcade Fire have moved on from Funeral, expanded their range, and matured with new subtleties and nuances, whilst living up to the promise of their debut. A briliantly crafted record from a band in a league of their own.

Buying a new album from a favourite band is always a stressful process.

I purchased the album blind (or is it deaf) on the day of release and was initially disappointed as the new offering was neither a Funeral II or an appendix to the Neon Bible. Thankfully, as is often the case, a difficult initial listen normally signals future potential and the album is now a fixture of the playlist on my phone, laptop and car.

Like the other reviewers, I can hear influences from Blondie to Springsteen in addition to the common Arcade Fire "wall of sound" elements. Current favourites are the "Suburban War" and "Rococo". My only criticism would be that I would have liked to hear more vocals from Regine, who's style does some resemblance to Bjork on occasion.

The nature of Arcade Fire's music does not (in my opinion) suit 30 second previews, if you are a new to the band try to listen to a few tracks in full before deciding.

Arcade Fire are one of those rare bands capable of such consistent and effortless feats of greatness, it almost becomes too easy to take for granted.

They returned seeming to have matured, aged and developed by vastly more than the five years since the release of Funeral. The quirks and youthful rallying cries of that era-defining debut are long gone. In their place, the subtler, more restrained sound of a band nostalgic for a bygone age, and seemingly on the brink of a cultural apocalypse.

It's a concept album in the very best sense, packed with deft touches of attention-to-detail and a narrative punctuated with musical motifs. Even the artwork was a visual metaphor - eight different varieties, yet all essentially the same, just like the vast and interchangeable 'endless suburbs, stretched out thin and dead' that were once home.

Of course, the journey that begins with 'grab your mother's keys, we're leaving' packs in more than just barren, bland landscapes and 'the modern kids' who live there now. The disillusionment runs parallel with a sense of urgency at wanting to live before its too late: 'So can you understand / why I want a daughter while I'm still young? / I want to hold her hand / And show her some beauty / Before the damage is done.'

Musically there's a light and shade that makes this 16 track opus seem almost short, while avoiding the overbearing earnestness which previous album Neon Bible arguably fell into. So Sprawl I, an almost funereal lament to lost youth in which Win Butler sings of 'the loneliest day of my life', is followed by the Régine Chassagne sung Sprawl II, which - in a quite unexpected move - sounds like Blondie doing disco. Well, specifically, Heart of Glass.

An album about the inertia that exists in that gap between growing up and growing old ultimately left you feeling glad to be alive now to appreciate a once-in-a-generation brilliant band at the peak of their powers.

It's befitting of their complexity that, in making a record about the transitory nature of yesterday's values, fading childhood memories and dissolving landscapes, Arcade Fire produced a work destined for lasting greatness.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 102 customer reviews...

 

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite simply,,,
....a stunning album, from start to finish.

Manages to completely engross me every single time I listen to it, and is up there as one of the best albums I have ever... Read more

Published 20 days ago by rodders81

5.0 out of 5 stars superb
Arcade Fire may well be the best band to appear in the last 10 years. This, their third album, continues to show their diversity and talent, their lyrical ability and a terrific... Read more

Published 1 month ago by markr

3.0 out of 5 stars Grows on you.
After the first couple of tracks I find it hard going then it comes to life again. It's a mixed bag of this and that, maybe after some in car listening the volume will find itself... Read more

Published 5 months ago by sgtdb

4.0 out of 5 stars it's a grower
It takes 3 or 4 listens to get into The Suburbs. But well worth it.Maybe they will never achieve the great heights of Funeral again. But I look forward to watching them try. Read more

Published 7 months ago by deaf dumb and blind

4.0 out of 5 stars really good
I like this album quite a lot and have had it playing in my car for much of the past several months. The songs are consistently good. Read more

Published 9 months ago by D. Lawry

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Album of 2010
Great album. It somehow manages to be dark and poppy at the same time. My favourite album of 2010. I had the first two Arcade Fire albums but this one really stands out as the... Read more

Published 9 months ago by GSF

4.0 out of 5 stars I feel so alone now
Arcade Fire has dropped out of sight in the last several months, so it's nice to see this insanely talented band make their grand reappearance. Read more

Published 9 months ago by E. A Solinas

2.0 out of 5 stars Not as expected.
I purchased this becuase of the good reviews and the fact it has won international album of the year.

I am an Arcade Fire fan. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Seb

3.0 out of 5 stars I really want to like it but....
I just don't. Neon Bible was an absolute sensation, power, beauty, grace, elegance and perpetual effervence and I remember watching them in Auckland in 2008 feeling and thinking... Read more

Published 9 months ago by A. J. Walker

4.0 out of 5 stars An album burning with amusement?
For originality it's hard to surpass Arcade Fire with their onstage plethora of spontaneous instrumentation, and their sound is unlike no other as it's..... Read more

Published 10 months ago by CrazyStreak

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 102 customer reviews...