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Post by oasisserbia on May 6, 2022 8:21:32 GMT -5
Here are my first impressions after one spin around the block with "We". Age of Anxiety IOne of the strongest tracks on the entire album and a great addition to their live setlists. I believe this could have been the lead single and definitely the second single from "We". It represents the album the best in my opinion. Good balance of traditional old school Arcade Fire and their electronic tendencies over the last decade. Has a War On Drugs meets New Order's "Low-Life" vibe. Age of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole)My favorite song that they've teased us with over the last 2 months. Absolutely fell in love with the live version from New Orleans and Coachella. Maybe I got too close to the live version because I was taken back by the vocal filter/effect on Win's voice throughout this track. He sounded so strong and defiant on the live cut. Not sure why it didn't any masking on the record. Either way it is a very strong offering from "We". End of the Empire I-IV (Sagittarius A*)This will be the most divisive track on the album. At 9+ minutes I was expecting a sprawling sci-fi epic based on early rumors. Sorta like Arcade Fire's version of Coldplay's "Colortura". It is a lot more simple than what I imagined. Clearly has a David Bowie "Aladden Sane" ballroom waltz meets Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row" feel going on except at times it feels like Win is making up the words as he is going along. Lyrics are extremely on the nose. Maybe too much for some folks. This track probably could have been tightened up and fleshed out more. Doesn't feel like a band track, maybe a solo Win and Regine offering. Then again it feels like that is how Arcade Fire is these days. Win + Regine. The Lightning I, IIThe big comeback single so to speak. Sounds like Springsteen and the War on Drugs. Phenomenal ending and it has gone done live exceptionally well based on all the live streams I've watched. Feels like a full band effort. Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)The second single, a sweet sentimental tune written for Win and Regine's 8 year old son. When they played it at Coachella I got goosebumps at several spots thinking of my 1 year old daughter. Especially when Win broke down crying 20 seconds in prompting a restart from the band. Not sure it should have been a single but whatever. It is safe and most fans seem to love it. Unconditional II (Race and Religion)I've read about two dozen "We" reviews over the last 14 days. Half of them declared this song the best on the album with the other half saying its the weakest link. For me it is somewhere in the middle. I loved "Electric Blue" off the previous album and to me this track is below that in my personal rankings. Peter Gabriel has a true cameo moment singing backup vocals. If they didn't announce it I would never have been able to guess it was him. Hearing a song like this makes me want Regine to drop a solo album full of 80s dance bangers. WEThe album ends with a soft and understated acoustic ballad with Win willing to give up all his material positions. A total 180 from the energetic opener of "Age of Anxiety I". Overall I think this album is a 7/10 on first listen. This is now the second straight album by the band that I haven't been blown away by after a stellar run 2005-2013. The album sequencing is a little off for me. Kinda top heavy with the electronic/epic stuff and ending on softer/shorter material. After a 5 year wait it reminds me of "The King of Limbs". Is this really it? Just 7 songs and 40 minutes? Win shared 4-5 clips during recording in March 2020. Some of that material sounded incredible but out of all those snippets, only Rabbit Hole is included on this LP. Richard has said they left another 1-2 albums on the cutting room floor that he really wants to release to the world. I wonder if another album will come out in the next years or less. Tons of rumors about that even before "We" was announced. I know that is cliche since so many bands always tease a quick followup album and then never deliver. It is hard to see the band touring just these 7 songs for the next 1.5 years but who knows? I also didn't think they would risk doing another arena tour but it seems like that is about to happen again despite a huge attendance issue on their last USA tour. We shall see how it all unfolds. It's only been about 2 hours with the album. I definitely don't want another 4-5 year gap between releases. The band is already in mid 40s range!!!!! It seems that you and me have downloaded the same version 🤣 There are officially ten songs on album, not 7. Last 30 seconds of Age of Anxiety II is actually song called Prelude, we have End of the Empire I-IV but it actually End of the Empire I-III and End of the Empire IV and The Lightning I,II is actually Lightning I and Lightning II 🤣 |
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Post by Lennon2217 on May 6, 2022 10:15:20 GMT -5
Here are my first impressions after one spin around the block with "We". Age of Anxiety IOne of the strongest tracks on the entire album and a great addition to their live setlists. I believe this could have been the lead single and definitely the second single from "We". It represents the album the best in my opinion. Good balance of traditional old school Arcade Fire and their electronic tendencies over the last decade. Has a War On Drugs meets New Order's "Low-Life" vibe. Age of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole)My favorite song that they've teased us with over the last 2 months. Absolutely fell in love with the live version from New Orleans and Coachella. Maybe I got too close to the live version because I was taken back by the vocal filter/effect on Win's voice throughout this track. He sounded so strong and defiant on the live cut. Not sure why it didn't any masking on the record. Either way it is a very strong offering from "We". End of the Empire I-IV (Sagittarius A*)This will be the most divisive track on the album. At 9+ minutes I was expecting a sprawling sci-fi epic based on early rumors. Sorta like Arcade Fire's version of Coldplay's "Colortura". It is a lot more simple than what I imagined. Clearly has a David Bowie "Aladden Sane" ballroom waltz meets Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row" feel going on except at times it feels like Win is making up the words as he is going along. Lyrics are extremely on the nose. Maybe too much for some folks. This track probably could have been tightened up and fleshed out more. Doesn't feel like a band track, maybe a solo Win and Regine offering. Then again it feels like that is how Arcade Fire is these days. Win + Regine. The Lightning I, IIThe big comeback single so to speak. Sounds like Springsteen and the War on Drugs. Phenomenal ending and it has gone done live exceptionally well based on all the live streams I've watched. Feels like a full band effort. Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)The second single, a sweet sentimental tune written for Win and Regine's 8 year old son. When they played it at Coachella I got goosebumps at several spots thinking of my 1 year old daughter. Especially when Win broke down crying 20 seconds in prompting a restart from the band. Not sure it should have been a single but whatever. It is safe and most fans seem to love it. Unconditional II (Race and Religion)I've read about two dozen "We" reviews over the last 14 days. Half of them declared this song the best on the album with the other half saying its the weakest link. For me it is somewhere in the middle. I loved "Electric Blue" off the previous album and to me this track is below that in my personal rankings. Peter Gabriel has a true cameo moment singing backup vocals. If they didn't announce it I would never have been able to guess it was him. Hearing a song like this makes me want Regine to drop a solo album full of 80s dance bangers. WEThe album ends with a soft and understated acoustic ballad with Win willing to give up all his material positions. A total 180 from the energetic opener of "Age of Anxiety I". Overall I think this album is a 7/10 on first listen. This is now the second straight album by the band that I haven't been blown away by after a stellar run 2005-2013. The album sequencing is a little off for me. Kinda top heavy with the electronic/epic stuff and ending on softer/shorter material. After a 5 year wait it reminds me of "The King of Limbs". Is this really it? Just 7 songs and 40 minutes? Win shared 4-5 clips during recording in March 2020. Some of that material sounded incredible but out of all those snippets, only Rabbit Hole is included on this LP. Richard has said they left another 1-2 albums on the cutting room floor that he really wants to release to the world. I wonder if another album will come out in the next years or less. Tons of rumors about that even before "We" was announced. I know that is cliche since so many bands always tease a quick followup album and then never deliver. It is hard to see the band touring just these 7 songs for the next 1.5 years but who knows? I also didn't think they would risk doing another arena tour but it seems like that is about to happen again despite a huge attendance issue on their last USA tour. We shall see how it all unfolds. It's only been about 2 hours with the album. I definitely don't want another 4-5 year gap between releases. The band is already in mid 40s range!!!!! It seems that you and me have downloaded the same version 🤣 There are officially ten songs on album, not 7. Last 30 seconds of Age of Anxiety II is actually song called Prelude, we have End of the Empire I-IV but it actually End of the Empire I-III and End of the Empire IV and The Lightning I,II is actually Lightning I and Lightning II 🤣 Yeah I didn’t want the streaming version of the album. Hard disagree with the forced splitting of tracks to get to 10 to satisfy their record company. It’s 7 tracks to me. Prelude…..what a waste of time and money. |
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Post by The Escapist on May 6, 2022 11:08:33 GMT -5
Not to spoil my overall thoughts at the end, but there's a brand-new Arcade Fire album out that came out this morning and I'm already finding myself going back to Reflektor instead.
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Post by Lennon2217 on May 6, 2022 13:56:53 GMT -5
Not to spoil my overall thoughts at the end, but there's a brand-new Arcade Fire album out that came out this morning and I'm already finding myself going back to Reflektor instead. A great album. |
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Post by oasisserbia on May 6, 2022 14:14:18 GMT -5
It's hard to tell what I/we want from Arcade Fire now.
EN had many new ideas and sounds and it was not that good most of the time, WE is more back to basics but again is not good enough.
It seems that once you lost it, it's gone forever.
It's not like that their new music is bad but you know...
It happened to almost every indie band. They all rely too much on that energy, hooks, feelings...that you can only create when you are young.
When they get in their 30s or 40s and that is gone, they don't have much to offer as they didn't progress as musicians that much.
WE feels like something that they could create every week 13,14 years ago.
I can't pretend that it isn't disappointed that WE is the best they could create in 5 years period.
Even though is good.
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Post by oasisserbia on May 6, 2022 14:52:10 GMT -5
Anyway, tonight we celebrate Arcade Fire and everything that they gave to us
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Post by asimarx on May 6, 2022 15:29:46 GMT -5
It's hard to tell what I/we want from Arcade Fire now. EN had many new ideas and sounds and it was not that good most of the time, WE is more back to basics but again is not good enough. It seems that once you lost it, it's gone forever. It's not like that their new music is bad but you know... It happened to almost every indie band. They all rely too much on that energy, hooks, feelings...that you can only create when you are young. When they get in their 30s or 40s and that is gone, they don't have much to offer as they didn't progress as musicians that much. WE feels like something that they could create every week 13,14 years ago. I can't pretend that it isn't disappointed that WE is the best they could create in 5 years period. Even though is good. |
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Post by oasisserbia on May 6, 2022 15:43:14 GMT -5
🤣🤣🤣
That's it.
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Post by The Escapist on May 6, 2022 18:04:00 GMT -5
It's hard to tell what I/we want from Arcade Fire now. EN had many new ideas and sounds and it was not that good most of the time, WE is more back to basics but again is not good enough. It seems that once you lost it, it's gone forever. It's not like that their new music is bad but you know... It happened to almost every indie band. They all rely too much on that energy, hooks, feelings...that you can only create when you are young. When they get in their 30s or 40s and that is gone, they don't have much to offer as they didn't progress as musicians that much. WE feels like something that they could create every week 13,14 years ago. I can't pretend that it isn't disappointed that WE is the best they could create in 5 years period. Even though is good. Did it, though? Everything Now had a lot of bangers, but in terms of ideas it only ever felt like a yassified version of Reflektor, diluted of all the Greek mythic lyrics and Caribbean feel, left as something basic and simple in comparison. But I agree. Arcade Fire have lost something. This album doesn't disappoint me, as such; it doesn't feel like being served a meal which turns out to taste bad - rather, it feels like not being served a meal at all. The melodies, lyrics, and arrangements are just too plain. It's only been out a day and I feel like I've pretty much explored it. Compare that to the dense melancholy of Funeral, the sprawling nostalgia of The Suburbs, and the nocturnal dance-tragedy of Reflektor, and it's hard not to be underwhelmed. To make four incredible albums in one decade and then two just "fine" albums in the next is a drop-off. They're not a bad band, they're just nothing special right now. "The Lightning" is a glimpse into something, but the rest just... feels safe. Too tipsy to write the rest of my track-by-track tonight, I will tomorrow. |
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Post by oasisserbia on May 6, 2022 22:43:13 GMT -5
It was more like, when you hear how they sounded when they were trying something new, it is better for them to go back to basics 🤣🤣🤣
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Post by The Escapist on May 7, 2022 7:26:20 GMT -5
Second half thoughts!
THE LIGHTNING (I & II) - 8.5/10
This is where we transition to the “WE” side, and mileage will vary as to whether the switch is crude or necessary – I think it’s probably both. In the place of lonesome melodies, now there are sticky choruses, power chords, even a rapturous finale that’s all teenage-rebellion refrains and Surburbs-esque Americana which practically write the “Return to Form” headlines themselves. An obvious and correct choice for lead single, the best track on the album, and a needed feeling of fullness, energy, and warmth that the first half of the album lacked in retrospect. The second half is the one part of the album that captures what made their early records so exhilarating.
UNCONDITIONAL I (LOOKOUT KID) - 6/10
A bizarre choice for a single. The warmer vibes continue with sweet guitars, childish choruses, and rich production. The melodies are good too, with a full structure and a U2-ish refrain to close things out. All good - but fuck me, the lyrics are bad. Some people want the rock without the roll, but we all know there’s no God without soul! No-one's perfect, let me say it again, no-one's perfect! You know how to move your hips, and you know God is cool with it! All the melodies that should be emotional become irritating when they feel like they’re being delivered by a thirty-eight-year-old Christian counsellor who wants to be the “hip priest”, and plays songs on his acoustic guitar while telling kids that Jesus was the greatest rock-star of them all.
UNCONDITIONAL II (RACE AND RELIGION) - 6.5/10
The Suburbs had Sprawl II, Everything Now had Electric Blue, and this album has Unconditional II. This is the synth-heavy, pop-tastic dance-ballad for the album, and it does the job well enough. We’re deep into the second-half's emphasis on love, togetherness, and it’s Regine’s ecstatic vocals that lead us into the community. The melody is strong, the production is competent, but it does feel like we’re getting diminishing returns with this formula of song. For such a short album, after such a long wait, it does feel like the band has run out of new ideas of what “Arcade Fire” can be, even if they’re a little more consistent with executing it than they were last time.
WE – 6/10
Yeah, it’s okay. The second half of the record imitates the first by ending with it’s most forgettable track, choosing to sail away on a ship of a synth-pads and sparse acoustics. It’s not bad but there’s a real feeling of “Oh... that was it, then" as it ends. By far the band’s weakest closer, and after a wait of five years for just eight full tracks, having one of them be such a throwaway for the conclusion is underwhelming to say the least. The album badly misses a satisfying closing point to bring everything together and make the whole feel more pleasing. It’s like a film that ends with all the characters just deciding to move house and forget all that silly plot nonsense.
OVERALL – 6.5-7/10
Overall, this album is fine. There’s nothing bad on it, at least. Nothing that makes you embarrassed for recommending the band to people in the way that the likes of “Infinite Content” and “Chemistry” did on the last album. Sadly, though, there’s just nothing that special for them here. There’s no “Everything Now” or “We Don’t Deserve Love”. It feels safe, like a Win and Regine “solo” album where they retreat to retro influences to appease their fanbase. That’s not bad, there’s a maturity and cohesiveness here, but in ten years, if you went to an Arcade Fire concert and they didn’t play a single “WE” track, I don’t think anyone would even notice. It’s inessential, really. After such a wait, with so few tracks, the quality just isn’t there to make you come to any conclusion that whatever magic the band had on their first four records is either long-gone or very much packing its bags.
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Post by matt on May 7, 2022 17:14:36 GMT -5
First impressions are that I prefer the flawed Everything Now over this. Don't know if a more reigned in Arcade Fire is the thing though.
Disappointing because the reviews suggest this is a much better album than Everything Now. But I think with the former album's bigger gesture at a time when they were a bigger band made them, unfairly, a bigger target for criticism. A lower key, lower promoted album never gets peoples goat like going full U2 (i.e. totally overboard for an album that doesn't deserve such manufactured hype) on the promotion front.
But Everything Now still has the bigger, better and much more memorable tracks. And I never disliked any of it, despite the criticisms of Chemistry, et.al.
All this album does for the moment is solidify my opinion on Everything Now as an underrated if flawed album. This album is decent but it doesn't evoke any strong feelings in me. There seems to be this weird 'intellectualism' about music that if you show ambition and throw the kitchen sink at it with massive choruses, then you deserve to be slated. You get sneered at by an insecure, secretly self pitying nerd who writes for The Quietus or Pitchfork and you lose instinct and start writing what you want your approved target audience to hear. I don't know if the previous album criticism really stung them, but Arcade Fire lose a lot by not having that 'reach for the sky' ambition they had on previous albums.
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Post by oasisserbia on May 8, 2022 3:19:18 GMT -5
I just hope that they keep on working now.
We need more music now, if we get another album next year, nobody will overanalyze WE that much, we will take positive things from it and move on.
If we wait another 5 years, then in five years before new album, WE will be only music that they released in 10 years and that would be really embarrassing.
As it doesn't sound that much inspired, WE could be something that they recorded in few weeks and then moved on.
I hope that's the case.
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Post by girllikeabomb on May 8, 2022 3:53:31 GMT -5
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Post by The Escapist on May 8, 2022 6:03:35 GMT -5
Yeah, all you have to do is take off the two worst tracks from Everything Now, and you end up with an album that is the exact same length as WE and considerably better. On initial impressions, this is their worst album, to me.
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Post by oasisserbia on May 8, 2022 8:44:39 GMT -5
Yeah, the only thing is that album is like one piece of art and not collection of songs.
So, you can't take off songs just like that.
Look at this
5. "Peter Pan"
6. "Chemistry"
7. "Infinite Content"
8. "Infinite_Content"
That is just too much. It like playing football in 5-0-5 formation. You can have 5 best defenders in the world and 5 best strikers, but if you play in that formation, you will lose every game.
EN had better songs and had more potential but WE is better album.
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Post by Lennon2217 on May 8, 2022 9:23:11 GMT -5
Yeah, the only thing is that album is like one piece of art and not collection of songs. So, you can't take off songs just like that. Look at this 5. "Peter Pan" 6. "Chemistry" 7. "Infinite Content" 8. "Infinite_Content" That is just too much. It like playing football in 5-0-5 formation. You can have 5 best defenders in the world and 5 best strikers, but if you play in that formation, you will lose every game. EN had better songs and had more potential but WE is better album. Saggy middle section. Needed more time in the gym before the big gala. |
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Post by Lennon2217 on May 8, 2022 9:29:30 GMT -5
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Post by The Escapist on May 8, 2022 9:44:53 GMT -5
I like Peter Pan.
If you take off "Chemistry" and "Infinite Content", you're left with a 41-minute album which is the exact same length as WE but is just, well, better. This is the weakest and most inessential thing they've made, for me, even if it has more consistency to it than Everything Now. I agree that another long wait for the next album would basically kill all the hype the band have ever had around them, unless the next one is truly special once again.
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Post by Lennon2217 on May 9, 2022 11:23:11 GMT -5
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Post by shadowplay on May 9, 2022 11:54:44 GMT -5
I expect to be impressed by Arcade Fire, this album just kind of floated by without leaving much of an impression. Not their best which is a bit of an understatement
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Post by Lennon2217 on May 9, 2022 17:30:49 GMT -5
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Post by oasisserbia on May 9, 2022 20:20:14 GMT -5
Funeral/The Suburbs
Neon Bible/Reflektor
WE/Everything Now
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Post by The Escapist on May 10, 2022 4:05:23 GMT -5
4/10 from Melon Man. "If you've heard The Lightning, you've heard the only excitement WE has to offer".
Hard to disagree with that one.
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Post by Lennon2217 on May 10, 2022 6:06:57 GMT -5
Sloppy start
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Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5
Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5