Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Taylor's Choice:

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Hipster Review:

It is said that positive emotion trumps negative emotion. The Suburbs, while guilty of the latter, is still fantastic record in it’s own right. In fact it’s brilliant, miles above Neon Bible. While that was a good record, it oftentimes suffocated itself with its own bombast; on the other hand, the key to [their debut] Funeral’s perfection was its ability to communicate big, powerful messages through intimacy. The Suburbs, however, opts to walk the line between intimacy and bombast, and succeeds because of the album’s careful craft; The Suburbs was not rushed or hurried for damn sure, and that carefulness is present in every aspect of the album. The record was clearly created as a complete experience, meant to be listened to from front to back; there is no filler, only pieces that serve as small parts of the whole. And instead of making catchy songs, the band is more concerned with making pieces that do more than please that hook-loving part of your brain. The album is also very downcast in tone; despite the sentiments stated above, the looming, powerful despair that hangs over the record cannot be ignored or denied. However, while sad, it’s a fighter, and the further one steps into the record the more one sees the flurry of mystery that resides inside; it's not just a sad sack album. Overall, The Suburbs is a beautiful, touching work, and easily one of the best albums I’ve heard this year.

Hipster Rating:

9.0

Friend Review:

I kinda lied about the New Politics album being next, sorry. I was hoping to interview them when they rolled through Dallas, but right now it’s looking like I may not be able to attend their show. : ( BUT! I promise I will do my best to see it and interview them for the blog and then post the interview and reviews this week! No promises though! Except for the album review, that will for sure be posted this week.

So, I’ve listened to this album nearly three times now and I’m still not sure what to think about it. It’s alright I suppose, slightly above the average mark. But there’s nothing that really amazes me. Then again, I’ve never really been the biggest Arcade Fire. I mean, I like Funeral as much as the next guy but I’ve never been obsessed with them. There may have been a time where I’d namedrop them pretty frequently to sound cool but I believe those times are over. Anyways, upon listening to this album, the instrumentation anything but bad, really the only thing I have against this album is the vocals. There doesn’t appear to be much energy in them, each song just kinda drones along. And at over 63 minutes, this album isn’t just a casual listen. This album felt more of a chore listening to it rather than listening to it for enjoyment. There are a few high points such as the track “Empty Room” and “Month of May” which are a bit livelier than their surrounding tracks, but overall the album is rather boring. But, I think that there may be sometime in the future when I want to listen to it again. This album is one of those where you have to be in the mood for it, which just kinda sucks. I guarantee you this will be one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year, but in my opinion it will also be one of the most overrated.

Friend Rating:

7.0

Coming up next, Let It Sway by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin!