The Suburbs

second album by this band on this... and i can safely say that they're fucking boring. just meandering, meaningless shit. it just doesn't end, but it also never goes anywhere. what a load of crap. fuck off. 1/5.

An emotionally dense concept album that threatens to collapse under the weight of its own ambition - the mid section of the album drags a little - but there’s no denying the quality of the anthems in this work. At its peak it’s absolutely stunning.

Full disclosure: I don’t really care for this band, never have, but I must be getting old and jaded, because every song on this record, I was finding some preexisting counterpart for their songs…like, “oh, they’re doing a Springsteen thing here”, “hey, this is pretty much an M83 track”, “now they’re trying to get a krautrock thing going” and “oh, they own Blondie records, too”. My point is, I spent the majority of this record thinking about other bands. Doesn’t say much for Arcade Fire if the most memorable thing about this record is that it made me want to listen to something else.

There was a brief period from like 2008-2012 when literally all music sounded like this. And I'm totally a sucker for it.

I, too, hate suburban sprawl and the lack of identity that capitalism ingrains into every aspect of our culture.

Are you fucking kidding me? Arcade Fire is boring garbage. I'm so sick of getting generated two star albums.

This album is a masterpiece in my opinion. I ruddy love it. It gives me a very specific feeling when I listen to it and I feel like I have this exact picture of the whole album as a concept. Might be a load of rubbish though. Sprawl II is my favourite Arcade Fire song.

They heard me singing and they told me to stop Quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock These days, my life, I feel it has no purpose But late at night the feelings swim to the surface 'Cause on the surface the city lights shine They're calling at me, "Come and find your kind" Sometimes, I wonder if the world's so small That we can never get away from the sprawl I mean, its pretty good. 4/5

Let me tell ya, when those opening notes of the title track kicked in to open the album, I was 17 again. What a deep and affecting dose of Indie nostalgia. Then the song ends with the final notes ringing out into the near-perfect Ready To Start. Gotta be one of the best 1-2 punches to kick off a record in the genre. Beautiful, affecting music. The rest of the record? Not so much. I like a track here or there but I associate Arcade Fire with the inconsistency very much on display here. What does a song like Deep Blue have to offer me that I don’t get from any other Indie band? Why would I listen to Sprawl II instead of like Passion Pit? There is of course also a little bit of a pall hanging over this group because of sexual misconduct allegations against Win Butler, but I’m not holding that against the rest of the group. What I will blame them for is creating a gigantic band which can so frequently produce a bland sound. It’s a shame the soaring highs seem to be met with such generic lows. Ultimately, an inconsistent and drawn out album. Top tracks: The Suburbs, Ready To Start, Modern Man, Suburban War, Month Of May, We Used To Wait

who wants to start an arcade fire?

After losing his virginity, and narrowly avoiding the cops our protagonist lays down on his bed. He puts his headphones on, smirks at the ceiling, and an arcade fire song plays as we fade to the credits. The scene could be at the end of any coming of age movie, and any song from this album. If you think that's an indictment of coming of age movies and this album, you're wrong, watching a coming of age movie is at least fun.

Man this was a ride listening to today. This album came out when I was finishing university and had no idea what to do next with my life. I was in that period where I was working full time and moving up at work, but still had so much free time and was still hanging around my hometown. I picked it up again in 2011 after they won the Grammy, and I was travelling around the country for work. My interpretation of The Suburbs is all about nostalgia trying to get back home. I think this was my most played album of theirs and I could likely recite every word from it. Now more than 10 years later I come to this album happily married, with a mortgage living in the suburbs with a cat and a job I’ve been at for 6 years. Then I had shaggy hair, now I’m contemplating shaving off what hair I have left. The nostalgia is so potent for that period in my life right before I became a real adult but more importantly before I had any real responsibilities. The Suburbs is looking back even further than the era I’m nostalgic for; before cell phones and the internet. When communication mead weight even when it’s inane. When we went on adventures and explored our surroundings. Had stupid conversations and acted smarter than we were. Is this their best album? Funeral I can’t get through without tearing up. Reflector is real messy but has I think their strongest songs. The Suburbs though does the best job of creating a mood and tapping into a feeling. I think with the benefit of hindsight I think the argument could be made this is the definitive Millennial rock album. Like Nevermind for Gen X or Sour by Olivia Rodrigo will be for Gen Z. It’s so of it’s time and has only grown in power in the decade since.

Was underwhelmed the first time I listened to it, but it has eventually become my favorite Arcade Fire album

Never understood the acclaim for this album. It's really quite boring. Sprawl II is the only redeeming factor.

uh, WOW. this has got to be one of my favorites so far. i can tell that repeated listenings can only enhance my enjoyment of this album, and i am going to listen to other music by arcade fire, too. this is definitely an album to be enjoyed fully. the singles are definitely good and stand out, but the album was created to listened to as it is. the variety of instruments and sounds! the flare from the classical music influence, the different impact coming from two vocalists, it's all wonderful.

I am listening this album for years. Brilliant.

Definitely a fave. So many great tracks, this album makes me feel lots of things

Too generic for my pallet.

This album almost erased my will to live. It is so tiring.... you have to listen to it by yourself to believe it. Nothing is interesting Nothing is entertaining Nothing is anything Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo Rococo, rococo! Rococo!

5* One of the best albums of the 2000's. The deceptive easiness of the songs will give up their depth after a few listens. City With No Children is a truly amazing song

It’s fine, kind of lacks the magic of the early AF stuff

I liked Arcade Fire when "Funeral" first came out, but their style of overly-sincere, orchestral indie-pop got old real fast. This one was a real slog. I'm glad it's over and look forward to avoiding Arcade Future from now on.

reminds me of summer time, old pets, of lighting fireworks in the streets with neighborhood friends as a kid. feelings you can't fully understand til you're old. relationships you thought would last forever. you remember fondly that we're definitely flawed but you sort of wish you could get back. something about this album evokes such a raw emotional yearning and nostalgia and brings me back to those days.

Don't play with fire or like me you could end up with a disgustingly disfigured penis. It's like a half melted candle. But not a thick one, a weedy kids' birthday cake one. Children are still allowed to blow on it and make a wish if they like.

I do wish that whoever the female singer is would get more time to shine on this album, I find her more enjoyable to listen to than whoever the male vocalist is. She's on 'Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)' which is definitely a big highlight. An 80's vaporwave sounding track which is pretty dreamy. I wish there were more electronic and hard rock tracks. For every 'Empty Room' which is a catchy, upbeat hard rock delight where both singers harmonise well together, there's a dull meandering track. For every 'Month Of May' which has White Stripes or early Kings Of Leon vibes there's generic indie which you could hear from any band from the same era. For every 'Half Light II (No Celebration)' which is another great track, a real foot tapper that builds and builds as it goes on, there's boring filler. I liked this a lot more than the other album I had from this band, 'Neon Bible' and I do think I would enjoy this more with more listens.

I never understood this era of indie music, or this era of Pitchfork-core. I was the target audience of this album – applying to film school, going to hipster house parties, over with her hometown but also hopeless about the future. And yet, I never got this album, or Arcade Fire in general, besides a song here and there. It just felt more trite and put-on, even compared to my own suburban angst. Over 15 years removed, and I still feel the same apathy towards this music, and this band, and this general aesthetic. There's a song here and there that I can't deny, and generally, it's well-made, but it's still trite and it's still put-on – an aesthetic for the then 30 year old journalists to project onto, not one to be consumed by actual Millennials. It's only in the book due to the hype at the time, and the fact that it fancies itself conceptual. It's not going to stand the test of time, and the fact that we now know he's a gross creep helps me not feel guilty about not understanding the adoration.

With so many members and so many instruments, one would think an interesting sound would fill one's senses. But no. A dull sound like dustbins being moved in an alley. For a long time. Hurdy-gurdies, whirlygigs, and all manner of things joining in - but the result is yawneroo: one long track that goes on and on and on and on - please god make it stop. Pointless. I kept drifting off and forgetting to listen.

I am perfectly content to live the entire rest of my life never having heard any Arcade Fire at all. Yet here we are, listening to it. By the halfway point, I am bored to the point of desperation. And that's after some judicious skips. I'm going to have to stop. Made it as far as Half Light II (no celebration). I'm definitely celebrating the decision to stop listening to this bilge.

Besides a few stand-out moments, this bloated album consists of mid tempo cheesy pop melodies paired with moderately interesting introspective lyrics placed over top of vaguely emotional instrumentals. Also I'm pissed off.

"Who the fuck is Arcade Fire?" ...was the trending topic the night The Suburbs defeated the likes of Eminem and Katy Perry for album of the Year back in 2011, event which closed the Indie era of music and consecrated the band commercially. The suburbs is an ode to the millennial coming of age and a beautiful recognition of the shared experience of a generation, even if you were not from Canada or Texas, it is quite universal in its topics and feels. I had already finished college by the time it came out and was in the process of getting my degree and finding my first job, so the nostalgia in this hit me hard, even more when thinking about their ride from 2004 niche triumph to their explosion in 2010, it was like we had all made it. All the songs of this album, which at the time, I still downloaded illegally from Limewire like all my music back then, all have a deep shared meaning for many of us, it may have weak links like modern man or month of May, and it may also be very long, but it is a brilliant album, a total evolution in their music from their previous (brilliant as well) albums: The title song is beautiful and full of purpose, Half Light I is so evocative and heartful, Deep Blue so ad hoc with the closing titles of the movie "Boyhood", Culture War so prophetic (even if it’s not in the normal album)… But the true timeless piece of the album is, (and I think this is quite unanimous) Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains). It is just gloriously beautiful, even the name is quite gigantic, it says it all about the alienation and the terrible and insatiable urban sprawl and how we all tried to survive it in our youth and will try to survive the rest of our lives. 15 years later I can safely say, it’s one of the best songs I’ve heard in my entire life, and live, it is just something else. How is it that this album is now out of the current list? That’s just crazy but this list keeps disappointing.

A fantastic album

not bad so far. had never listened to arcade fire

This is such a great record and easily my favourite from Arcade Fire. It's lyrically very tight and works great as a front to back album. It potrays the feeling of being stuck in the suburban sprawl and yearning to escape and be something greater but still loving home anyway because it's what you know. Musically it's energetic and danceable and the production is very clear. They really nail the Arcade Fire formula here with great tension building and larger than life moments. Easy 5 for me.

Love this record. Start to finish it is great. Favorite son is Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains). Reminds me of growing up and nails the aprehension I feel for my children's future. It's nostalgia and dread all at once but in the best way. Technology and development are changing the world from what we grew up in to an uncertain future and no assurances of our place in it.

Nostalgia and suburban malaise are things I think about a lot. And I’m sure there’s bands that make better music than Arcade Fire about these topics. But… none of them have Regine Chassagne on backing vocals and percussion

Day 31: The Suburbs - Arcade Fire. Arcade Fire album 2/3. This is the second Arcade Fire album that this generator assigned me this week. The album felt a little bit bloated, but overall, it is still a good listen. For some reason, I'm not too fond of its title track. It's the first Arcade Fire song that I've ever heard, and it opens this album. I just don't get its popularity. Beyond the title track, this album is a gas. It features indie rock that has been constructed in a beautiful and somewhat poetic manner. Despite being Canadian, I don't really listen to any Canadian artists besides Rush and occassionally Céline Dion. I'm probably missing out on a lot of stuff like this. From what I've seen so far, Arcade Fire are a great band. I find it shameful that this album was removed from later editions of "1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", despite dreadful listens like "A Grand Don't Come For Free" and "Logical Progression" staying in the book. I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure that most people would rather listen to Arcade Fire than whatever those aforementioned albums. Personal Enjoyment: 4/5. How Much It Belongs Here: 4/5.

Pretty solid concept album. Kind of drags its way along though Some good songs: The Suburbs Ready to Start We Used to Wait Sprawl II

Sounds like an Arcade Fire album.

It’s a good album, and it has a couple certified bops, but it’s also strange. It feels very nostalgic for an event I was not a part of. It’s not a born in the wrong era thing because I feel it with both older and contemporary bands. It’s almost like this album is talking about an inside joke I’m not a part of. Overall good, but especially given recent events I probably won’t have a strong desire to relisten to this

It’s a much more compact sound than I’d expect from Arcade Fire, but still so deceptively intricate. Thematically permeated by “the suburbs”, the existential dread of the metaphor saturates the music. Most of the time (as in the title track), it’s highly enjoyable. I don’t get Win Butler’s explanation of the music as Depeche Mode meets Neil Young, but I appreciate the attempt.

I once followed a meme page that actively hated Arcade Fire

I still remember when this album came out, how much noise it made in the indie rock community, and the major stir it caused in the mainstream community by winning a Best Album Grammy. Back in 2010 when I listened to this, I didn't appreciate this album, nor understand the hype around it, so I was excited to listen again all these years later with ears that have expanded and developed their tastes. This time around, I enjoyed the album a lot more. This is yet another album that is best enjoyed as an album, and not as singles. It makes good use of storytelling and the songs have good ups and downs and mixed tempos to keep things from feeling stale. This time around, I'm happy to say this album resonated with me and is exactly what I have come to enjoy about indie rock.

Well, this is a bit of an anticlimax for my last album on this list. I've never found Arcade Fire all that inspiring, and it was kind of a let down to go out on an album that I will almost certainly think is okay and not much more. Anyway, onto my review. This album is okay and not much more. It's fun at times, but I've always found this group to be kinda bland. I'd say more, but I don't really want to, and I'm finally done with this list after more than 4 years of listening to an album every week day. I found lots of albums that I will cherish forever, and I also found out that I don't really care much for Arcade Fire. I looked back at my previous reviews for this band, and found my review for Neon Bible: "I don't know. They keep giving me Arcade Fire albums, and I keep finding them competent, but not spectacular. Maybe it's me, maybe it's Arcade Fire, but I must ask as I enter the endgame with this list, to respect my wishes and not make me review any more Arcade Fire albums at this time" This makes it kinda funny that I ended with this band, although it would have been a lot more cosmically funny to give me another Randy Newman album at the end of all this, given the terrible things I said about him in my previous review 3/5 or whatever, who cares?

I expected a lot more from this record. I was a little disappointed. I wanted to love it. That said it’s three stars. It was fine.

Not sure what to expect here, let's give it a whirl. Wiki says they're a canadian indie rock band...they kind of remind me of The Shins. It was good. 3 stars

I probably listened to this all the way through less than twice when it came out, then placed it at the back of the digital shelf. A decade later and no hidden surprises are revealed: starts well enough, but quickly sags and never really recovers apart from the fabulous "Sprawl II", a well-executed Blondie pastiche. Shame

its kinda cool, sounds like a weirder coldplay with a more rock and happy vibes feel. i like their debut better, its more raw and in a way, closer to the strokes or something more rock and roll like that.

I imagine this is what a barbecue in Tremont sounds like

The epitome of angsty end of the decade indie. A couple of good songs in isolation (the shared vocals on Empty Room were especially good) but on the whole too long and too average. Don't get the hype.

A bit whiney for me

the title of this perfectly encapsulates this album-an insipid manifestation of the suburbs themselves; a lifeless and boring soundscape to match the monotony of suburban life. the suburbs feels like the milquetoast hipster who lives next door trying way too hard to impress his equally insufferable friends. there are a few songs with redeeming qualities but even those wore out their welcome before the two-minute mark.

All the songs kinda sounded the same. But overall a feel good vibe from the album.

Just like the suburbs this album is too expansive, dull, monotonous, full of angst, and not worth returning to.

Boring and inoffensive alternative. Felt like I was listening to a guy have an existential crisis for an hour.

The first couple of tracks are better than anything on their debut, though still instrumentally overburdened, but by the halfway mark the Arcade Fire had ground me down with their relentless pretentiousness. This is paper mache melodrama filmed in IMAX, no varnish spared. This time I do recognise a knack for hooks and stomps to go with empty climaxes, the lead songwriter’s speciality I have read. Lyrically, I close-listened to the last few tracks, and the paucity of concrete nouns outside vague, unanchored, oft-cliched analogy (“every corner of the earth”) is a giveaway: they’ve little to say, just the mundane usual, pumped-up with cheap obscurity. Simon, you may ask for an example of expensive obscurity: Bowie, if I’m being peaceable, but as it’s my birthday I’m throwing Scott Walker at you with a moronic giggle x

I didn't know this singer. No bad but it's the kind of music I don't heard.

Basic...very boring. I can't think of a more down the middle milquetoast album that I have listened to in the past 10 years. Lyrics are meh. I know they have their fans though...good for thee, not for me.

😴

American idiot for men too scared to wear guy-liner

jakieś hipstery z H&M

I didn’t know about this album as an angsty teenager. As an adult, hits different 1/5

Was not my cup of tea. Very boring and depressing.

A meandering, self indulgent, boring pile of "look at me, I'm so Indie" shite. Not a single track on this absolute turd of an album is worthy of anything more than "meh". Usually if I don't like an album I can at least go "well it's not for me but I can see the appeal". Not with this. I'm actually angry they stole an hour or so of my life. Fuck them. 1 star and that's being generous.

Decent. Very 2010 sound. Good times. Some bangers.

Detta är nog mitt mest lyssnade på album någonsin. Det finns alltid nedladdat på min Spotify. Jag har lyssnat på det varje gång jag åkte flygplan sedan jag var 16 (minst). Detta albumet har varit med mig genom fler saker än någon människa jag känner. Att tajma Sprawl II till när flygplanet bryter nedanför molnen för första gången sedan man lyfte och man ser åker, byggnader och parkeringsplatser breda ut sig nedanför är obeskrivligt. Detta fick mig också att inse att de släppte ett album förra veckan, så jag ska testa det med!

Love this album. Listened a lot to it when it came out and still do occasionally.

Hermoso álbum para escuchar de principio a fin. Si bien como canciones individuales algunas decaen bastante, como producto en su totalidad es una pieza hermosa para deleitarse. Ideal para ir en un viaje largo y escuchar hasta terminar.

What a great record! Every song is a hit.

Powerful, introspective lyrics. Dreamy yet strong vocals. The instrumentals are so catchy too. I can imagine most of these songs being in a coming-of-age movie. Felt quite uplifting, like worship music lol. Really like this album.

This album is very important to me, so it’s impossible to rate below a 5. I do have critiques (it’s over-long, and slow at times) but the feelings it makes…all timer

Fucking loved it!! Easy 5/5. No idea how I’d never heard of these guys before. Fave tracks were Sprawl II, Ready to Start and Suburbs. Fuck the 2008 financial crisis!!!

You hear human voices, but they're only echoes. This is probably, to me, a five, because of how personally impactful it feels. I remember vividly, at age 17, playing, and singing, the title track for my first girlfriend, who is also my wife. I thought to myself: I want a daughter, with you. Or, God, if it be your will, send us a son. Toute ma vie est avec toi. I grew up in the suburbs, and I think I romanticized this record such that I felt as if I grew up in -it-. As Deep Blue played at the end of Boyhood, the year after I entered that relationship, I thought, this is my life on screen. When I lost my first job, working the floor at Target Canada before its demise, I peered into the locked windows of the store and thought to myself: dead shopping malls, mountains beyond mountains, no end in sight; this is how the world ends. It helps, too, that perhaps my definitive concert experience at that age was Arcade Fire at the Scotiabank Saddledome, at which they covered Leslie Feist's I Feel It All. I would call it unimpeachable, if not for the fact that Arcade Fire, or rather Win Butler, have regrettably tarnished the legacy of this band and therefore this record (which did, somehow, win the Grammy in 2011). All that doesn't change the fact that this, and the wasted hours — wishing you were anywhere but here! — that it laments, is great, and beautiful.

Really great, I always had this pegged as a "lesser" AF album but this is barnstorming from start to finish

I remember discovering this album and feeling that it was immediately the most relatable record I'd ever heard. As a kid who grew up in the suburbs and always wished for an escape, although to where, I have no idea, the album really resonated with me. And while I can't say I'm still an Arcade Fire fan (yeah, Win Butler really dropped the ball), I have no choice to give this album 5 stars. It's beautiful, brilliant, reserved but sprawling, and easily a standout from one of the best years in music possibly of all time. Go look up the albums that came out in 2010 and tell me that wasn't an incredible year for releases.

The memories and feelings I have tied up in these songs (listen to the deluxe!) are nearly as boundless as the suburban sprawl that serves as their inspiration.

I haven't listened to this album all the way through since I was very young and it was very cathartic to do it. It evokes a completely different set of feelings in me than it did in 2011. Maybe it's because we're actually living in a suburban war now. The end of this album really made it for me. What a strong finish.

Absolute banger of an album. Been a fan of Arcade Fire for years and this album slaps.

Banger

Album was very very good. I love the variation in the songs.

I fucking love this album. I first heard it when I was in highschool when I lived in the suburbs and it is so nostalgic to me. It has a melancholy to it that I can't really describe and haven't heard in any other album. It gives a very specific mood which I think is why it sticks out to me. If I had one complaint it is that they could have trimmed out a few songs. It feels 10 minutes too long and drags a bit in the middle. But 9/10 album in my opinion.

I've loved this album since it came out. I'm almost embarrassed to give it a 5 because I tend to want to reserve that for masterpieces that will stand the test of time. I don't know that this will. But I don't know I listened to it on repeat for the last 24 hours because I love it.

Solid album

On paper, I should have always been a huge Arcade Fire fan. I think they were just 2-3 years too old from my Indie-Music fandom. I have never listened to them like this, nor taken them seriously, which is weird because this should be right up my alley for taste... and... it is. It's incredible. I'm kicking myself for never taking them seriously. I absolutely love this and am going to revisit their entire discography. This rips Best Song: The Suburbs Rating: 9.5/10 (Incredible) Stars: 5/5

An absolute classic

I would consider The Suburbs to be the last truly great Arcade Fire record, and the final entry in a 3 album run as good as any band has ever released. I've loved this since it came out, and even if it doesn't spend the time in my ears that it once did, but I can confirm that it's still an absolutely fantastic listen.

The album is pretty good, i get why the people who love arcade fire, also talk about the singer writer and his ego. This is album is one of the few that are required listening, its weird, there are rare albums no matter what genre, move people and this one of them. if you go through is this whole list listen to this album. if possible listen to it on hifi and by your self first.

# Album Name: The Suburbs # Artist: Arcade Fire # Rating: 5/5 # Comments: Honestly, this is a great album. Loads of bangers on this record if you give it a chance. Its a dark horse. The biggest detraction from the album is the number of songs. Personally i dont mind as i enjoy most of the tracks but you could easily cut 3-4 out. # Top Tunes: Suburbs / Read to start / Modern man / Rococo / Ready to start / City with no children / H. Light 1 & 2 / Suburban war / Deep blue # Would I listen to it again? Def

Love this album.

A classic

Like it don't love it.

Iconic for my youth

Awesome. Not a dud on here

Oh yes. Her er det planlagt og gjennomført, transitions mellom bangere og dritbra indie.

I haven't listened to this album since probably 2011, and I came in assuming it was going to feel dated and overblown in retrospect. But damnit, this album has aged really well. I didn't remember half the tracks on here, and it's basically perfect beginning to end.

A staple record from the 2000's earliest essential bands of indie rock.

perfect

I listened to this album very regularly. The last time was just this past weekend. Arcade Fire is my all-time favorite band, and it's hard to decide which of their albums is best. I think Neon Bible would win, but Funeral was the first. However, I saw the band touring again when they were promoting Suburbs. Anyway, this is a stellar album that I will continue to listen to for years to come.

One of my favourites in highschool Easy listening, overproduced, indie rock, and it holds up 9/10 Fav tracks - All of em

I love this album & recently revisited it. 5/5

A moody album with great songs that seem to flow together lyrically and musically. It feels like a rock opera. The two brothers in Arcade Fire are from The Woodlands in Texas, where I have a lot of family. It is a huge planned community- I can understand their melancholy.