Artist – Album: Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Released: 2nd
August 2010
Sounds Like: The sound of The Suburbs
The Arcade Fire’s very own Win Butler described the sound of
this album as “a mix of Depeche Mode and Neil Young”, a comparison which should
give some measure of the maturity, if slightly jaded approach, to the music on
The Suburbs.
For the record, there’s a lot more of Neil Young in this (plaintive
vocals, baroque arrangements, conceptual theme, and confessional lyrics) than
Depeche Mode (ambition, a mild electro-pop/AOR bent), but this is far more than
a tribute album. Whilst the emphatic ‘Sprawl
II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)’ can’t help but conjure up images of
Blondie circa ‘Heart of Glass’, ‘The
Suburbs’ is jauntily Kinks-esque and ‘Empty
Room’ sounds uncannily like it could break into a cover of ‘French Disko’ by Stereolab at any time,
the majority of the album is unquestionably Arcade Fire-like. ‘Ready to Start’ is probably the best
example, a souped-up version of Funeral’s ‘Rebellion
(Lies)’, complete with the grand, barked chorus, and ascending coda.
Each of the Canadian outfits’ albums have been exceptional;
each with its own theme and a high level of consistency that never falters. Funeral had more anthems, and Neon Bible more
than its fair share of woes, but I get the feeling that this is the one that
could ultimately be seen as their masterpiece.
Albumaday... rating:
10/10
1. The
Suburbs – 5:15
2. Ready
to Start – 4:15
3. Modern
Man – 4:39
4. Rococo
– 3:56
5. Empty
Room – 2:51
6. City
with No Children – 3:11
7. Half
Light I – 4:13
8. Half
Light II (No Celebration) – 4:25
9. Suburban
War – 4:45
10. Month
of May – 3:50
11. Wasted
Hours – 3:20
12. Deep
Blue – 4:28
13. We
Used to Wait – 5:01
14. Sprawl
I (Flatland) – 2:54
15. Sprawl
II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) – 5:25
16. The
Suburbs (continued) – 1:27
Listen to ‘Sprawl II
(Mountains Beyond Mountains)’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awHWColYQ90
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