Happy birthday!
Sounds kind of exhausting, tbh (the band, not your birthday), but the last time I saw them live they were still pretty great, even though I hadn't liked anything from their last couple of (long) records. Didn't they release a shitty quarantine song a year or two ago? Is that on here?
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 18 March 2022 10:34 (two years ago) link
The 40-minute, seven-song album is split into one side called “I” (an opening side about isolation) and another called “WE” (about reconnection); the first three tracks are on “I,” and the next four are on “WE.” --anyway i liked the song ok! if that's from the I side, imagine how hard the WE side is gonna go
― maf you one two (maffew12), Friday, 18 March 2022 10:42 (two years ago) link
there was a shitty new song they played on colbert a few years ago and a 45 min ambient piece during the pandemic, neither seem to be on this
― ufo, Friday, 18 March 2022 10:54 (two years ago) link
oh the colbert song was end of 2020 for the election
― ufo, Friday, 18 March 2022 11:00 (two years ago) link
Just heard “The Lighting I, Ii” on radio and was underwhelmed. Kinda melodramatic.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 18 March 2022 11:01 (two years ago) link
hard time buying that
― maf you one two (maffew12), Friday, 18 March 2022 11:10 (two years ago) link
well, i'm looking forward to it.
― DT, Friday, 18 March 2022 16:08 (two years ago) link
hoping this is a bounce back, weirdly encouraged by the pretentious tracklisting
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Friday, 18 March 2022 16:16 (two years ago) link
ok this is their best album
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Friday, 6 May 2022
― imago, Friday, 18 March 2022 16:26 (two years ago) link
Hi friends—I’ve left Arcade Fire— Will Butler (@butlerwills) March 19, 2022
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Saturday, 19 March 2022 21:31 (two years ago) link
Wait, Sarah had already left, too?
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 19 March 2022 22:21 (two years ago) link
sarah is a weird case where she was only listed as a core member on neon bible and the suburbs but has played on all the albums and tours (beyond the very early days). she's still touring with them.
― ufo, Saturday, 19 March 2022 23:24 (two years ago) link
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/world-changed-what-makes-live-show-successful-didnt-arcade-fire/618625/
Kind of revelatory
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, 19 March 2022 23:40 (two years ago) link
WTF?
― Bee OK, Sunday, 20 March 2022 01:41 (two years ago) link
oh, this is Will not Win
― Bee OK, Sunday, 20 March 2022 01:42 (two years ago) link
oh weirdly the digital tracklist is split slightly differently to the cd tracklist
this is the digital tracklistAge of Anxiety IAge of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole)PreludeEnd of the Empire I-IIIEnd of the Empire IV (Sagittarius A*)The Lightning IThe Lightning IIUnconditional I (Lookout Kid)Unconditional II (Race and Religion)We
― ufo, Sunday, 20 March 2022 09:27 (two years ago) link
The Arcade Strikes Back
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Sunday, 20 March 2022 12:09 (two years ago) link
new song is great imo :)
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Sunday, 20 March 2022 20:02 (two years ago) link
best they’ve founded in a while imho
― flopson, Sunday, 20 March 2022 21:01 (two years ago) link
There is also this:
"End of the Empire I–IVI. Last DanceII. Last RoundIII. Leave the Light OnIV. Sagittarius A*"
Bottom line is "Prelude" brings it from 39:44 to 40:14
― Bee OK, Monday, 21 March 2022 03:36 (two years ago) link
the new song sounded a lot better the second time around, hope this album is good as i have lost track of them with the last few
― Bee OK, Monday, 21 March 2022 03:38 (two years ago) link
yes the publicity for REFLEKTOR was pretty cringeworthy
― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, 21 March 2022 03:53 (two years ago) link
That's when everything went wrong - it's like they got too full of themselves. In its defense, Reflektor could've been a good solid LP had they thrown out half of it. IIRC, the chaff was mostly concentrated into the second disc, but I haven't touched it in close to eight years.
― birdistheword, Monday, 21 March 2022 04:18 (two years ago) link
But that's the part of their schtick I enjoy!
I like the new single. It approaches the 'live' sound of Funeral that I loved so much.
― Sam Weller, Monday, 21 March 2022 10:35 (two years ago) link
Arcade Fire are set to perform a special livestream show in New Orleans, Louisiana this Friday (April 1).
Per an official listing, fans will be able to “experience Arcade Fire from every angle with real-time, multi-camera views” via “the power of AT&T 5G”. Support comes from King Princess and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
the openers are on now and AF will be coming on in about two hours:https://www.att.com/5Gfanzone
― Bee OK, Friday, 1 April 2022 23:09 (two years ago) link
this is now ON, not going to watch it all but it's sort of cool with four different camera angles
― Bee OK, Saturday, 2 April 2022 02:01 (two years ago) link
so either AT&T 5G sucks or too many people are online watching this as it freezing all over the place for me
― Bee OK, Saturday, 2 April 2022 02:10 (two years ago) link
i have tuned in here and there but will say that "Age of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole)" sounds like a Disco anthem, great song
― Bee OK, Saturday, 2 April 2022 03:00 (two years ago) link
They shoulda used Rogers 5G
― Please don’t take / My time change away (morrisp), Saturday, 2 April 2022 03:04 (two years ago) link
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Friday, March 18, 2022 9:16 AM (one month ago) bookmarkflaglink
Some litmus tests: Does the thought of Butler solemnly declaring, “I unsubscribe” — over piano that evokes “Imagine” and The Sophtware Slump, on a nine-minute multi-movement saga called “End Of The Empire I-IV”
i take it back
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Tuesday, 26 April 2022 01:37 (two years ago) link
Complete the sentence:
Does the thought of Butler solemnly declaring, “I unsubscribe” — over piano that evokes “Imagine” and The Sophtware Slump, on a nine-minute multi-movement saga called “End Of The Empire I-IV”
1. Make you violently ill?2. Increase the world total of suffering?3. Make you want to hurt yourself?
― we only steal from the greatest books (PBKR), Tuesday, 26 April 2022 13:16 (two years ago) link
wouldn't be a new arcade fire album without clunkers like that
― ufo, Tuesday, 26 April 2022 13:48 (two years ago) link
“Born into the abyss/New phone, who’s this?”
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Tuesday, 26 April 2022 14:57 (two years ago) link
cleaning up your inbox can take a long time, tbf
― sloop johnnin' skater (geoffreyess), Wednesday, 27 April 2022 01:39 (two years ago) link
You know, I’m happy for those of you who will find joy in this record. Everyone deserves to be musically happy. (I really mean this.)
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 27 April 2022 01:42 (two years ago) link
this is definitely more successful than the last two albums. not really anything special but it's solid and very streamlined compared to how wildly inconsistent those albums were.
nothing else resembles their earlier material like "the lightning" though, a fair bit of the album follows on from the synth-pop of the last two albums but it's generally executed a bit better.
only real dud is "end of the empire" which as a 9 minute suite is both underwhelming and overwrought and has butler's biggest lyrical clunkers of the album but it's nowhere near some of their previous nadirs, just a bit boring rather than a trainwreck
― ufo, Thursday, 5 May 2022 19:08 (two years ago) link
Looking forward to finally listening to this tomorrow
― Bee OK, Friday, 6 May 2022 01:28 (two years ago) link
was able to finally listen to the first half of this while taking a shower. so far so good and really like "Age of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole)," hope to finish this sometime tonight.
― Bee OK, Friday, 6 May 2022 21:44 (two years ago) link
https://slate.com/culture/2022/05/arcade-fire-we-album-reviews.html?fbclid=IwAR2ChfXjyCRJeAJwvSo1b1NL7vbuWv7bVlT0DW4HdsT96cZeju20fH0mmCo
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 6 May 2022 21:52 (two years ago) link
weird review bc it's not like this is getting overwhelmingly positive reception - consensus seems to be more around a lukewarm "well it's better than the last one or two". there are some rave reviews but there were even for everything now.
and what's with the insistence that "generation a" should have been on the album when it's just as bad as the very worst material from everything now
― ufo, Saturday, 7 May 2022 00:25 (two years ago) link
https://www.nme.com/news/music/arcade-fire-seemingly-speak-out-about-abortion-rights-during-snl-performance-3220480
― Bee OK, Sunday, 8 May 2022 20:28 (two years ago) link
I really like this album
― Bee OK, Sunday, 8 May 2022 20:31 (two years ago) link
xxp a thesis in search of an albummade a couple false starts with this. it's just too dang sunny out.
― maf you one two (maffew12), Sunday, 8 May 2022 21:14 (two years ago) link
i like “creature comfort” more than any song on the new one :(
and frankly the 1975 are way better at attempting whatever win’s trying to do lyrically
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Sunday, 8 May 2022 23:20 (two years ago) link
With this album as the final bit of evidence I need, I've concluded that I just don't think the Arcade Fire make very interesting synthpop, though they try to do it again and again.
And End of the Empire is an absolutely lethal, endless dead spot so early in this record.
I like do like The Lightning, and Lookout Kid made me smile.
― Davey D, Sunday, 8 May 2022 23:55 (two years ago) link
a big part of the difference is that matty has fun with it while win always comes across as so self-serious
but the lyrics on this one aren't as much of an active hindrance as they were on the last one, it's only really "end of the empire" where how bad they are is at the forefront like on everything now. i somehow barely notice the goofy lines in "rabbit hole" ("born into the abyss/new phone who's this").
the real successes here are "age of anxiety" i & ii and "the lightning". only really dislike "end of the empire" but the rest is a bit undercooked. incredibly sad that coldplay were recently able to do a 10 minute epic better than arcade fire.
― ufo, Monday, 9 May 2022 00:14 (two years ago) link
“rabbit hole” is very…. bad imo
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 9 May 2022 04:02 (two years ago) link
surface level pleasant but doesn’t work as a song for me in the least
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 9 May 2022 04:03 (two years ago) link
i thought i would feel better about this record after a second listen but instead i’m vowing to never listen to “end of the empire” voluntarily again
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 9 May 2022 04:14 (two years ago) link
i also… don’t get “lookout kid.” melody is cloying as fuck and indefensible opinion ahoy but i think kids are cool and all but i’m never having any of my own and i don’t give a shit about what the song is trying to say
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 9 May 2022 04:28 (two years ago) link
very disappointed to discover that despite the pretentious af tracklist there are only two songs with any interrelated parts at all, “end of the empire” (ew) and “the lightning” (second half is dope and way too short)
i mean now that i’m looking at the tracklist i’m realizing they telegraphed this a bit
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 9 May 2022 04:38 (two years ago) link
I was basically liking this as background music and then one song came on that made me be like "ugh, what's this, it sounds like the thing that's supposed to be the big emotional number from a musical that closed in previews" and it's "End of the Empire," the same one all you guys hate
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Monday, 9 May 2022 15:38 (two years ago) link
the first track is really good and it totally gets you amped for an arcade fire record that the rest largely fails to be
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 9 May 2022 16:18 (two years ago) link
also “race and religion”…. woof
First two tracks not bad before it gets equal parts dull and pompous.
Interesting how "Unconditional II" becomes the second stadium rock band (after Coldplay's "Talk") to borrow heavily from "Computerlove".
― yesca, Saturday, 14 May 2022 17:44 (one year ago) link
Kinda feel like New Order's "Temptation" and "Procession" are a wellspring of inspiration for this band too; I started humming the former's melody over the snares of the Rabbit HOle track.
― yesca, Saturday, 14 May 2022 17:46 (one year ago) link
lol okay, yes, "End of the Empire" is terrible. The first part, the part that was a super transparent Bowie bite, wasn't bad, but it just kept getting worse and worse.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 18 May 2022 15:19 (one year ago) link
I'm not sure about this album now, I was impressed when I played it for the 1st time as background music but on closer inspection it's not really hitting me.
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 18 May 2022 18:26 (one year ago) link
They also have a commercial out that is playing all the time for Dolby System's, which is strange. It hypes the new album and Dolby.
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 18 May 2022 18:28 (one year ago) link