Arcade Fire appear to be music's very own version of Marmite. You either love them or hate them or in many circumstances the reply you will get is "Arcade Who?" Following the Montreal Based band winning Album of the Year at the Grammys, it was met with online disapproval with people not knowing who they are. Quite simply this shocks me as The Suburbs was number one in both the UK and US charts.
The Suburbs is the bands third album and for me is my personal favorite of the lot. The Suburbs has no stand out vocal point such as Funeral's 'Wake up' and 'Rebellion' or Neon Bible's 'Keep the Car Running' and 'No Cars Go'
The Suburbs rightly begins with a song of the same name. The song rightly starts with the ongoing themes of what would be expected in suburban life that weaves itself throughout the album. 'Ready to Start' explodes with lyrics portraying disappointment and anguish balanced with an air of triumph thrown in for good measure. The first two songs set the scene for what is to follow and without a doubt are two of the best songs on the album. 'Modern Man' brings a more relaxed feel from Ready to start and gently caresses the listener. 'Rococo' is a seeming live anthem with it's booming chorus and explosion from a relatively relaxed start. This is Arcade Fire at their grandiose best pounding drums and catchy chorus. 'Half Light' is the first of two, two part songs on the album. Part one takes the more soft approach and easy on the ears with the main portion of the singing being done by Regine (Arcade Fire's second vocalist and Lead singer Win's wife.) Part two offers more guitars and vocals by Win. 'Month of May' returns to the upbeat tempo from 'Ready to Start' and is the main frantic song in The Suburbs. Both 'Wasted Hours' and 'Deep Blue' gives the listener a more gentle break before the album picks up again with the brilliant 'We Used To Wait' The plinking pianos begin this song and continue throughout the song with Win lamenting about writing letters to a true love and waiting for a reply. This song is one of the gems that gets uncovered as the album continues and rightly is the song used for the interactive experiment 'The Wilderness Downtown' (Link Below). The penultimate songs are Sprawl I & II the first being a gentle piano song with the latter being a synth filled poppy tune being sang by Regine. The Album ends where it began with Win and Regine singing acapella the chorus of Suburbs.
All in all The Suburbs is a brilliant album no two ways about it. Sure there are some filler songs but even these remain at a consistantly high standards. No doubt about it, Arcade Fire are getting better, there are not many bands who can consistantly make brilliant albums one after the other. Arcade Fire are doing this and with The Suburbs they are finally getting the recognition they deserve.
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