Arcade Fire - Everything Now (2017 album)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by LarsO, Jun 1, 2017.

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  1. ConnieGuitar

    ConnieGuitar Here in my balloon...

    EN has been a real grower for me - the title track, "Creature Comfort" and "Put Your Money On Me" were the immediate favorites but honestly, I enjoy all of them now. Yes, even "Chemistry" and the two "Infinite Contents"!

    I know my initial problem was this is the first album of theirs that wasn't a big sonic departure from its predecessor, making comparisons to it inevitable. It was hard to not see it as derivative, especially as there were clearly motifs that had been used in songs on Reflektor and even The Suburbs (that said, if you can't ripoff yourself, who can you lift from?). And at first listen, yes it sure did seem like they made lyrics a low priority, or at the very least not what you would expect from them almost 15 years in (though "We Don't Deserve Love" and "Creature Comfort" are up there with anything they've done imo). And then of course there is the fact that many thought the band was once again showing pretentious stripes and lecturing folks about the obvious.... You can certainly understand where all the criticism came from, even if you didn't agree with it.

    I decided after 3-4 listens to try to block all that out - I freely admit I love the band too much so could not believe that "this was all there is" to take from this album. And it did take a few more listens - but I did get there in the end. Obviously only my opinion but it's a pretty taut collection of songs (certainly by the usual sprawling AF standard), it's structurally the most cohesive thing they've put out, the hooks are ridiculously infectious throughout and lyrically, well, there is a theme going here that I think all of the songs tap into very well. Not an anti-commercialism/consumerism message tag that I admit I also first thought they were going for but more traditional - vintage - Arcade Fire subject matter: that we still manage to keep ourselves more isolated than ever despite/because of having things (and people) more readily available to us than ever. The guy who has all the **** that he can't live without (yet still feels "in the black"), the stalker in the dance club and on the street pursuing a woman who will of course fall in love with him "once you get to know me", the bathtub images, the lovers who can't/shouldn't to be together yet can't face the alternative.... I've said before the pervading melancholy reminds me a lot of Neon Bible, which I have no problem with whatsoever (as I love that album) and imo gives EN a bit more lyrical "heft" than it's been given credit for.

    I can't rank it alongside the other 4 yet but whereas I might have been tempted to have it as my least favorite after the first week, there's no way it can go there now. I just know I cannot wait now until 9/17 - the first of three AF shows I have lined up on this tour (shows #9-11 overall). While I've downloaded some recent performances, I have not watched any of them yet as I really don't want to know what to expect ahead of time, especially because you know some of these new tracks are going to be absolutely massive live!

    Thanks for letting me go on - will just say again: I *love* this band.
     
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2017
  2. countingbackward

    countingbackward Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montreal, QC
    I feel the same way, even if I did like this one pretty much on first listen. The album is as good as any non-Funeral album in the band's arsenal IMHO. It's both peppy and dark at the same time...there seems to be a deceiving depth to the music that I didn't necessarily pick up on first listen.

    Looking forward to seeing what the new tour has to offer tonight!
     
    ConnieGuitar and fourfeathers like this.
  3. DorothyV

    DorothyV Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Arcade Fire have become similar to Radiohead for me in that: I really enjoy their music, but I can't stand the band members or their most ardent fans because they are, in my opinion, too pretentious.

    For this reason, and because I have difficulty separating the band from the music, I can't seem to really enjoy live performances by them. But, listening to their records, or recordings of their live performances, is a whole different, and enjoyable, experience.
     
    Neonbeam likes this.
  4. countingbackward

    countingbackward Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montreal, QC
    Followup on the live show...without giving away any secrets...the show was absolutely incredible. The energy of their early shows in small venues has finally been scaled up to arena size. This was my 10th concert of theirs, and it was as good or better than every one before - from cool stage setup to setlist to pacing, the combination of the energy of old and new, it was incredible. Every song was a high-point for me. This was perhaps partly on account of lowered expectations from what I considered to be a lackluster (by AF's standard) Reflektor tour.

    Caveat...I was at the front of the floor, on the soundboard side of the stage, a spot which contributed to the awesomeness of the evening.
     
  5. dobyblue

    dobyblue Forum Resident

    Have listened through about four times now in the car to the CD, not a fan of Arcade Fire's except for perhaps "Rebellion (Lies)" but a buddy got multiple copies of the CD with his concert tickets and gave me one...I'm really enjoying it! Love the way the last track kicks back into the opening track, don't have any tracks through four listens through that I'm skipping yet...great stuff.
     
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  6. Pretty.Odd.

    Pretty.Odd. Guess I'm Dumb

    Location:
    Montclair, NJ
    Seeing them at MSG this coming Tuesday and I've never seen them in concert before. Extremely excited.
     
  7. andres lira

    andres lira Forum Resident

    Location:
    lima, peru
    I'm still not sold on the record but i've bought my ticket for their show here in december. Hopefuly we'll get a Funeral heavy set list.
     
  8. ConnieGuitar

    ConnieGuitar Here in my balloon...

    Show #1 of 3 this tour for me is tonight in Philly - Preservation Hall Jazz Band opening. Stoked!!
     
    forthlin likes this.
  9. forthlin

    forthlin Member Chris & Vickie Cyber Support Team

    Just the opposite for me. Reflektor and the new album just don't work for me but seeing them on videos (on a big tv) are really cool. In the meantime I'll keep trying with their new music, sometimes things just take a while to click for me.
     
  10. ConnieGuitar

    ConnieGuitar Here in my balloon...

    Excellent show on Sunday night - I too won't give anything away yet for anyone going but the flow throughout was just spot on: didn't stop dancing all night!

    The setlist took in big chunk of the new album but also a pretty nice selection of "hits" from the other four as well (though I would practically sacrifice a digit after 10 years of seeing them to hear anything from the EP live, nevermind some deeper cuts or B-sides, but that's the typical lament of any diehard fan).

    Looking forward to Thursday's show in Atlanta to confirm some of my impressions but I certainly had a ball and it is more than worth seeing them this go-round if anyone's possibly sitting on the fence about getting a ticket. Speaking of, the feeling does seem to be that a confluence of pricing (too high and zero need for $275 VIP tickets), scalpers up snapping the presale tickets and the "meh" reaction to EN left a *lot* of unsold tickets out there - if you're looking to go, lots of cheapies on StubHub and some venues themselves have released tickets (at face) within the first 10 rows in the center 100 sections. Folks up in the 200s were getting upgraded to fill in the gaps around the Wells Fargo.

    Also amazed to say that I was far from one of the oldest folks in there! Though one 20-something across the aisle from us high-fived me a few times for my (cough) enthusiasm.... I'm sure I looked like a nut to many but what the hey. Had to do my part!
    :pineapple:
     
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  11. CBM

    CBM Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    This happened to me Saturday night in DC. We were in the 200's. About 5 minutes before AF were set to go on, an usher came to our section with about 30 tickets and asked if anyone wanted to move down. We ended up in the 10th row. Amazing. This is the 3rd straight tour I've seen them on and I loved this version. Good set list. Great production--lights, video, stage in the round, etc.
     
    ConnieGuitar likes this.
  12. Love them live: cant stand them on cds; awful sound
     
  13. Veltri

    Veltri ♪♫♫♪♪♫♫♪

    Location:
    Canada
    I was surprised to find close seats a week before the show after having checked a month earlier when the close seats were sold out. I'm guessing they were released from unsold VIP or band guest seats.
    The new songs translated well to the live performance; they fit right in with the older ones.
     
    ConnieGuitar likes this.
  14. DorothyV

    DorothyV Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland, Ohio
  15. fourfeathers

    fourfeathers Forum Resident

    Location:
    North America
    They may not be filling arenas to capacity, but hooo mama are they ever putting on a hell of a show. Caught one of the two tour-closing Toronto shows and it was one of the most uniformly positive concert-going experiences I've ever had. Perfect setlist pacing, a hell of a stage show, a splash of humour, and NON STOP grooves. Takes a hell of a band to get the entire arena on their feet all night. Not many bands are doing arena rock spectacle better than Arcade Fire right now!
     
    DBMethos, Neonbeam and ConnieGuitar like this.
  16. gfong

    gfong Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Saw them Wednesday Nov 1st in Windsor, Ontario. Excellent concert, lots of energy and emotion with great song selection from all releases. With respect to the thread, the tracks off of Everything Now translate better in concert than they do on the album. Few songs I thought were weak I now listen to more because of the concet.
     
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  17. ConnieGuitar

    ConnieGuitar Here in my balloon...

    I have never danced so much in my life (and I danced a lot during the Reflektor tour) - only breather I took was during " We Don't Deserve Love", and even that was only for a minute tops.

    No doubt Scott Rodger lost his job as manager in part for the inarguably botched tour planning but no fault can be laid at the spectacle of - and performance by - the band imo: the shows were simply *superb*. So happy to have caught three shows on this tour (last one this past Monday in Chicago) and am honestly in withdrawal...already jonesing for the next go-round in 2020/21.
     
    fourfeathers likes this.
  18. SoundAdvice

    SoundAdvice Senior Member

    Location:
    Vancouver
    15k strong in Vancouver that stood for the full show. He did make that attendance remark at that show.

    I do have to admit that I find Win's ego a distraction.
     
  19. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    It's going to be interesting to see how this album will fare in "Best of 2017" polls. Suddenly a lot of people seem to find it less off putting as in July:evil:
     
  20. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident

    Location:
    America
    This could be good for them. They seemed like they got big heads after the Grammy win for The Suburbs, so maybe this will give them a humility and get those super creative juices flowing again to where they give us another great complete work, instead of another album with some great tunes and some crap tunes that aren't worthy of their name.
     
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  21. ConnieGuitar

    ConnieGuitar Here in my balloon...

    Hmmm - it's actually a very good album if one can get past their "what *I* think Arcade Fire should be"-ness.

    Any and all are entitled to that feeling - more than understandable - but there's really a lot more there there than it seems.
     
    JediJoker likes this.
  22. SoundAdvice

    SoundAdvice Senior Member

    Location:
    Vancouver
    The "Crowds half size as this in cities 3 times as large" paraphrased comment at the show I attended seems to be a Vancouver(15k) vs. Dallas(5k) reference. Metro populations are 2.4mil vs 7.2mil, respectively.

    Note how the low numbers happened in Texas/Quebec, both places which figure strongly into the band's personal history.
     
    George Co-Stanza likes this.
  23. 200 Balloons

    200 Balloons Forum Resident

    That's why it’s at 66 on Metacritic and 2.51 on RYM? Critics and fans are all just too stupid to recognize its hidden depths? Give me a break. They already made the transition on Reflektor, anyway. People get it. They just don't like it.
     
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  24. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    Metacritic isn't really able to show what people think now. It's a collection of vintage reviews. As for RYM.... give me a break. The end of the year polls will be more revealing than any of them.
     
    ConnieGuitar likes this.
  25. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident

    Location:
    America
    I think the problem is that many reviews on sites like RYM are knee jerk reactions, and most people aren't going to go back and listen to it if they do not like that much at first, much less go back to the site and change their vote. Not saying that is why this album doesn't have a high score, just that online sites are now filled with knee jerk reviews and ratings (good and bad).

    For me, my opinion on this album has stayed pretty consistent:
    -it has higher highs than Reflektor and lower lows
    -doesn't touch their first three albums
    -those highs are some of their best songs to date, and those lows are some of their worst songs to date
     
    The_Windmill likes this.
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