DELTRON 3030 RECOMMENDED: ARCADE FIRE – ‘THE SUBURBS’
Your Friday just got that much better. Arcade Fire’s new album has leaked!
With their previous two albums Win Butler and Co. set the bar pretty damn high for their third album, “The Suburbs”. “Funeral” and “Neon Bible” were truly amazing albums that will always hold a special place in my iPod’s heart. “Funeral” was an absolute musical epiphany for me, and I used to melt off hangovers at Santa Monica beach set to the sound of “Neon Bible’s” church organs. I found no irony in the fact that the track that housed those ominous organs was titled “Intervention.” I’ve been talking up “The Suburbs” all summer. It is that one tent pole blockbuster that all the other drops have been leading up to. Knowing that I’ve already had an unhealthy amount of anticipation and set unfair expectations on this album–I tried to dial it down a bit…but The BBC just exasperated the situation this week with their pre-release quote. Speaking about “The Suburbs” the BBC said
“…It is their most thrillingly engrossing chapter yet; a complex, captivating work that, several cycles down the line, retains the magic and mystery of that first tentative encounter. You could call it their ‘OK Computer’. But it’s arguably better than that.”
Wow. Better than “OK Computer.” No pressure there. It’s stupid to even compare it to that. I’m not against comparisons by any means. I tend to compare stuff all of the time, but Radiohead’s “OK Computer” is far more different in tone and style than this (from what I can tell as I give it it’s first full listen). I’m up to track five and I’m already loving it. The frantic energy of the strings on “Empty Room” caught me off guard in the best way possible, especially after the “Free Fallin’ ” slow groove of the Petty-esque “Modern Man.” It’s certainly too early to tell if it will match or top “OK Computer”…but it sounds like classic Arcade Fire so far.
Highlights: “In the Month of May,” “Modern Man,” “Empty Room,” “Half Light I”
Read More from the BBC review here
Note: Arcade Fire will be live streaming their concert on 08/05 @ MSG with “very special guests.” My guesses: David Bowie..and Mark Messier. Check out the trailer here.