Funeral is a masterpiece, one of my favourite albums of all time. Subsequent albums haven't been as good but they did set the bar very high. I still look forward to any new release and they are absolutely amazing live.

 

Honestly... I don't love it. It's a little too The Killers do Arcade Fire to these ears...

I also thought it sounded a bit like the Killers

I'd say their third album 'The Suburbs' was their best album - quality througout and created such an atmosphere. Over an hour of bliss. Loved the first two but prefer the overrall more subtle feel of 'The Suburbs'. 'Reflektor' was great in parts but the songs were too long. Didn't bother with 'Everything Now'. Will check this one out.

Will Butler has announced that he’s left the band

I wonder if that's why this album appears to be so much shorter than a typical Arcade Fire album

For me Funeral is their peak and one of my favourite albums of all time.

 

Didn't like Reflektor and lost interest after that but I quite these two new tracks on first listen

Impossible to get tickets for their KOKO show 😭

'Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)' released the other day. Shaping up to be a gorgeous album :wub:

 

Well, this is much better than 'Everything Now'

On 1st listen and have to say it's a very nice album

a 7 review from Pitchfork

 

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/arcade-fire-we/

It wouldn't be an Arcade Fire album without Régine randomly appearing with a pop song — 'Unconditional II (Race and Religion)' is a bop.

Highlights of the album tracks for me are the two parts of 'Age Of Anxiety' (II is easily my favourite track on the album, think that might be a moderately hot take but it's a bop) and 'End Of The Empire I-III' (which feels very 'Rolloland BJSC entry') - IV isn't nearly as good as it has some pretty choice lyrics so I am grateful that's a separate track on the digital version of the album!

 

I enjoyed all of the singles as well btw as I realised I didn't post in this thread yet ('The Lightning II' a lot moreso than the other two but still).

This album really came and went, huh?

 

The reviews were a little all over the place (the standard they're held to is really impossible to sustain) but I think it's pretty great — I keep coming back to it, and I say that as someone who really disliked 'Everything Now'.

Frontman Win Butler has been accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct. There’s far too much for me to summarise, though Win has issued a statement. Pitchfork’s extensive report into it is here:

 

- https://pitchfork.com/news/arcade-fires-win...ontman-responds

Well that's a thoroughly depressing read.

 

When reached for comment, Butler communicated with Pitchfork via the New York-based crisis public relations expert Risa Heller. In his first written statement to Pitchfork, which addressed the allegations made in this story, Butler acknowledged having sexual interactions with each of the four people, but maintained that they were consensual, and not initiated by him. Through Heller, Butler offered to put Pitchfork in contact with different women who had consensual sexual experiences with him in the past.

 

:/

 

Even the “consensual” version of events makes for grim reading. I find it difficult to believe that he didn’t realise this sort of behaviour was a blatant abuse of his position towards people who were only teenagers. No wonder Will left the band.

Well, damn.

 

Here is a list of women I haven't abused is not the defence he thinks it is — nor is mentioning his wife's miscarriage as a reason for his behaviour.

 

 

 

 

Gosh, this one hurt a bit :( They're one of my favourite bands and this is honestly shocking to read, I never got that impression from him, I know you can never tell, but he just always seemed so virtuous and wholesome, especially being a family band.

 

Even if his version of events is true, they were by no means fully consensual, there was enough of an age gap to know better which invalidates almost everything he says.

 

This has clearly been brewing for a few months given Will leaving and the buzz for the album did seem to come and go, not really sure there's any way they can continue now.