Product reviewsThe Suburbs by Arcade Fire (CD, Aug-2010, Merge)

ABSOLUTE AMAZING ARTWORK FROM CANADIAN FAVOURITE GROUP

In 1998, Q magazine invited readers to vote for the 100 Best Albums of All Time. Twelve years on, the results offer an unwittingly hilarious glimpse into a lost world, where Ocean Colour Scene's Moseley Shoals was deemed superior to Exile on Main Street and Blood on the Tracks, Supergrass's In It for the Money comfortably outstrips The Velvet Underground Featuring Nico, and Otis Blue and What's Going On cannot hope to match the solid-gold soul classic that was All Change by Cast. If nothing else, it highlights the way some albums' reputations decline dramatically after a period of reflection. Written by the winners, rock history is packed with albums that gradually developed a patina of greatness with time – not least The Velvet Underground Featuring Nico, which was ignored on release, but would one day be deemed almost as good as Supergrass' second album. But it leaves out the once-lauded albums whose importance seems to wane.

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Arcade Fire
The Suburbs
Mercury
2010
Which brings us to Arcade Fire's Neon Bible, the critical standing of which seems to have slumped since it was released to near-unanimous praise three years ago. One reviewer recently described it as "defining the sophmore slump". That's a funny thing to say about a record that reached No 2 in the US chart and catapulted its authors to mainstream success, but it's nevertheless indicative of the way initial awe at its sonic grandeur gradually changed into disappointment. In their passage from the quirky alt-rock of debut Funeral to the Neon Bible's stern lectures on the environment and terrorism, Arcade Fire worryingly appeared to have covered the same ground that separated Simple Minds' I Travel from Belfast Child in the space of one album.

Their frontman Win Butler famously makes great show of never reading anything written about the band, but The Suburbs suggests Arcade Fire may have come to the same conclusion independently. The lyrics stop shaking their fist at the evils of modern life and revert back to childhood, a topic that informed the most celebrated songs from Funeral. There are a lot of rather disdainful references to "the kids" – "the kids have always known that the emperor wears no clothes, but they bow down to him anyway", "the modern kids … will eat right out of your hand, using great big words they don't understand" – which on first listen sound like that least lovable of sounds: the dissatisfied rock star sneering at his audience. But Arcade Fire don't really deal in sour misanthropy: their live performances' evangelical fervour seems designed to disarm onlookers of their cynicism. Instead, the kids in question appear to be Butler and his multi-instrumentalist brother, Will, songs simultaneously chiding and fondly celebrating youthful foibles, of a piece with an ambiguous album that can't decide whether their childhood home was a carefree utopia that can never be located again – The Sprawl I (Flatland) mournfully recounts a doomed attempt to do so – or a place of stifling conformity where "they heard me singing and told me to stop".

Meanwhile, the opening title track steps back from the hysterical sonic overload of its predecessor into infinitely more subtle territory: a sing-song melody, over Neil Young-ish piano and lazily strummed acoustic guitar. Its intimations of doom come not from end-of-dayRead full review...

Arcade Fire Suburbs

This is the most amazing album I have heard in years. I have had the songs stuck in my head for over a week! The CD is basically brand new, just not shrink-wrapped. Excellent value! Very happy.

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: decluttr_store

Love it

Perfect condition, and a great album,

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: meencantalacerveza

Very good.

this is my third. This was for a friend Thanks

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: thahi_4129

Great title.

It's pure musical bliss. Each song flows to the next sometimes the song hits you hard then another hits you softly. I'm an old rocker and this is a rockin lp. From the first time I heard Arcade Fire...I knew they were extremely creative...this is the result of the most creative musically musicians. 25 Stars!Read full review...

Excellent, refreshing album by a talented group

This is a great album worth listening to repeatedly. Fresh, unique, satisfying.

Get it, great rock.

Great CD. Listened while on a road trip and was able to listen to the entire CD without skipping. love it.

Awesome

Awesome

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: wkewi_k_6yehi3