Arcade Fire - Everything Now (July 28,2017) Album • Page 17

Just saw them at Lolla. They blew every other act away. To an absurd degree. They are legitimate professionals. What an amazing performance and show. Such an incredible band. They only played 4 new songs live and they all ripped.

Setlist not in order.

Everything Now (slow)
Everything Now
Rebellion (Lies)
Here Comes the Night Time
Signs of Life
Electric Blue
No Cars Go
Keep the Car Running
The Suburbs
Ready to Start
Sprawl II
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
Reflektor
Afterlife
Creature Comfort
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)

Wake Up
Mind Games

 

The new songs sound great.

 

Yeah, this album is really good and got unfairly maligned by pretty much everyone. It's not flawless, but tbh I was listening to Funeral last night and that's not the masterpiece it's lauded as either.

 

I like it a lot, even more with each listen. I'm surprised how much it has stuck with me because after first listen I didn't expect to play it anymore. It's been said a lot, but the last two tracks are incredible.

 

Agreed that this album is much better than the critics that are obsessed with telling everyone how much they dislike it are saying.

Disagreed on the second part. Funeral is a masterpiece.

 

Electric Blue live is a complete blast. I love that song.

 

There's maybe three songs on this that I really enjoy, the rest just doesn't do anything for me.

 

I don't really understand this. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places, but I'm seeing a completely normal amount of mixed reviews for an album of this caliber? You seem to be really hung up on this, as if the people who dislike it aren't being truthful or something.

 

I just expected more from them. I don't give a shit about whether it's hip or not to hate on it. I just don't like it very much.

 

Creature comfort ripped so much love on Sunday

 

I just think it's silly to imply that a large number of professionals are being disingenuous about their dislike for this album because it's "hip" or whatever. I'm sure any number of those critics who consider themselves Arcade Fire fans (including Craig) would have much preferred to enjoy the record, but that's just not how it goes sometimes

 

The whole f the critics mentality is something I don't get, music and film criticism is important even if you don't agree

 

I can tell you honestly that I wanted to like this record and struggled to get through it every time I listened. I think it's mostly bad songwriting wrapped in weird, finger-pointing cynicism.

 

It is important. Don't have an F the critics mentality.

 

I keep trying, I've probably listened to this around eight or so times now and I just can't get with it. Every time I listen to it I find something else I dislike about it. It hurts me to dislike something a band I love has done so much. But here I am, a couple weeks later and I'm still like "This can't be the new Arcade Fire record." Haha.

 

"Put Your Money on Me" is such a goddamn earworm.

 

I know for me, it's just the dismissiveness of a lot of the criticism doesn't seem totally warranted. Which is odd, because you'd think people would be willing to let an Arcade Fire album sink in and maybe marinate for a bit. I mean, they're top of the class in terms of bands that have come out in the past fifteen years or so. I don't even think that's debatable. You're hard pressed to find someone who doesn't love at least one of their first three albums. So to dismiss this one outright, like the band made this cynical, vapid record, is kind of weird. But the vibe I'm getting from a lot of reviews is that a lot of critics were chomping at the bit with their pitchforks.

I'm not saying the album is flawless, by any means. And I'm not saying that great bands can't drop the ball. It's just none of the criticisms I've seen have made me go, "Oh, yes, absolutely agreed. This makes this album terrible." If someone simply doesn't like the album, more power to you. I'm not trying to invalidate anybody's criticisms. I found the album jarring at first, but I've gone back a bunch of times and it's revealed itself as a really solid record (and a pretty genuine one at that). It's definitely no Suburbs, and sure, I miss "the old Arcade Fire" as much as anyone, but to say this album is just outright bad is kind of weird to me. When I think of genuinely bad albums, like really bad albums, this does not even come close to fitting the bill.

And this isn't directed at anyone here, just a vibe I've gotten in general from publications, indie music circles, and whatnot. I've just never seen fans who were so eager to knock this album, to not even give it a chance to settle in before dismissing it as terrible... For such an apparently beloved band, I just find it kind of bizarre and really, really interesting, haha. I'd assume that's where this feeling of people is coming from, to a degree. Everybody wants to take shots at the band on top, especially when it comes to "indie" music, and when they're as pleased with themselves as Arcade Fire can be... yeah. So I don't think those assumptions of critics and fans wanting to dislike the record are totally unwarranted.

 

I mean, timeliness is an important aspect of reviews, especially for bands/records as big as this one

But why would anyone who truly cares about the band want to dislike the album? I genuinely don't understand that logic.

That's because, well, you like the album and the people who are criticizing the record don't ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Can I make an "everything now" joke about this?

But of course, that's just the nature of the beast. Still, I feel like there's rarely music reviews in general that allow for that notion of things revealing themselves over time. There's a need for an immediate definitive take, which is fine in context. But again, I'm just surprised that for a band so celebrated, there were hardly any reviews willing to give it a chance beyond immediate impressions. It just felt like people were really anxious to bury this one.

I mean, there's an unknowability to that. That raises the question of what makes a true fan of an artist vs. who's following the crowd in praising/critiquing their output, but I think that's kind of a lame road to go down. Though I think the latter definitely happens in any field of criticism, it's also coming dangerously close to undermining any criticism altogether. There's really nowhere to go with this other than speculation on specific reviewers' objectivity/subjectivity, which is just, ew.

But with that said, to say certain factions of music fans and critics aren't fickle would be a little remiss.

Haha, not exactly what I was getting at. I totally understand criticisms of the album, I'm just shocked by the amount of vitriol, you know? Just for a group that is apparently so loved, to suddenly be hit with these reviews that make these really vicious, sometimes personal, remarks towards the band/album/Win Butler. Over what, three or four songs? I think most of us would agree that Reflektor had its share of duds as well, but the reaction was nothing like this.

I just find it all surprising and really interesting. I mean, we've all seen bands fall out of favor with critics and fans, but I've just never seen it like this. And you may find it warranted, that's fine. I personally just find it baffling, haha.

 

I agree. Much more thought out take than any of my spewing. I think it's the words I am reading in regard to the band. It's not black and white. It's the grey area in between. It's the way the words are written. Like I have said before, I felt they were just waiting to open the flood gates to bury this band. And the whole "why would someone want to bury a band they love/like?" take just doesn't float with me. People can be petty. Even over a marketing campaign. Or Reflektor didn't age as well as some critics would have liked, so maybe they couldn't wait to right their wrongs from praising that record. Idk but there is something there that I am (and some others) are obviously seeing.


If you genuinely don't like the record that is cool. I really enjoy it outside of 2-3 tracks. And that's probably where my opinion will lie going forward.

 

I mean, I didn't expect to like it, but I wouldn't expect to be wowed by any record where I:

1) don't like the preceding record
2) don't care for the direction the band was going in
3) didn't love any of the singles

I think there are maybe five worthwhile songs on the record. I think the bad songs are awful, and I think the best songs are just okay. I think the album fails as a thematic piece and fails to offer an emotionally engaging listening experience.

I'm not really sure why people don't "get" the criticisms here. This record is pretty drastically different from anything the band has done before, it's offputting from a thematic perspective, and the promotional campaign has made the band hard to root for. If you like it, that's cool, but critics really didn't have to reach to critique this thing.

 

I just got floor tickets to the Chicago show they announced after lolla. I can't wait to see them again.

 

Imo, I think there are a lot of critics out there who have probably been put off by this band for a long time, and are relishing the chance to pile on now that that's an uncontroversial narrative. Probably unfair, and definitely kind of crappy if they held their tongue if they hated the last two records when they came out, but I can understand it. (Personally, I've been saying this band sucks for years! /scene points)

And basically everything Craig said is true. There are bands and albums where the sarcasm thing works for the rollout, but they're off-putting as hell with it.

 

I find that not liking the album rollout is being maybe a little sensitive? Seemed to be the point of the rollout imo. Sarcastic and a sign of the times. Found it most surprising that people couldnt separate the satire and used it as a launching point to hate on the record. That's their choice. I guess that doesn't compute for me.

Also, "Signs of Life" ripped live at Lolla

 

I thought this album was going to be fucking awful when I first heard it based on all the impressions I read but really it turned out to have three mediocre songs and the rest was enjoyable