Arcade Fire Albums Ranked From Worst to Best (Including We)
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 9 май 2022
- Arcade Fire returned this week with their sixth full-length studio album, called We. WE figured it would be the perfect time to dig into the rest of the catalog and rank the entire discography.
****
Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member Sarah Neufeld, percussionist Tiwill Duprate, saxophonist Stuart Bogie and multi-instrumentalists Paul Beaubrun and Dan Boeckner. The band formerly featured Win's younger brother Will Butler, who departed in 2021.
Founded in 2000 by friends and classmates Butler and Josh Deu, the band came to prominence in 2004 with the release of their critically acclaimed debut album Funeral. Their second studio album, Neon Bible, won them the 2008 Meteor Music Award for Best International Album and the 2008 Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year. Their third studio album, The Suburbs, was released in 2010 to critical acclaim and commercial success. It received many accolades, including the 2011 Grammy for Album of the Year, the 2011 Juno Award for Album of the Year and the 2011 Brit Award for Best International Album. In 2013, Arcade Fire released their fourth album, Reflektor, and scored the feature film Her, for which band members Will Butler and Owen Pallett were nominated in the Best Original Score category at the 86th Academy Awards. In 2017, the band released their fifth studio album Everything Now.
All the band's studio albums have received nominations for Best Alternative Music Album at the Grammys. Funeral is widely considered by music critics to be one of the greatest albums of the 2000s. The band's work has also been named three times as a shortlist nominee for the Polaris Music Prize: in 2007 for Neon Bible, in 2011 for The Suburbs and in 2014 for Reflektor.
The band has been described as indie rock, art rock, dance-rock, and baroque pop. They play guitar, drums, bass guitar, piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass, xylophone, glockenspiel, keyboard, synthesizer, French horn, accordion, harp, mandolin and hurdy-gurdy, and take most of these instruments on tour; the multi-instrumentalist band members switch duties throughout shows.
****
Thanks for watching! Let us know what you think of Arcade Fire and how you rank their records by leaving a comment below.
Next week: Massive Attack
After that: Pixies, Jesus and Mary Chain, Stevie Wonder
#ArcadeFire #AlbumsRanked #WorsttoBest
~~~
Patreon: / tasteslikemusic
Merch: tasteslikemusic.myspreadshop....
Website: tasteslikemusic.com
Instagram: / tastes_like_music
Facebook: / tasteslikeyoutube
Twitter: / tasteslikemus1c
1. Funeral 2. Suburbs 3. Neon Bible 4. Reflektor 5. WE 6. Everything Now
This is one of you all's most positive artist album rundowns and evaluations! I wasn't expecting this much admiration for the majority of the run. I guess that's a testament to Arcade Fires talent, importance and greatness. This is a top 5 video for you all i think,
The List for me is the following
1) The Suburbs (I consider it one of the best albums of all time)
2) Neon Bible
3) Reflektor
4) Funeral
5) We
6) Everything Now
From the opening notes of Funeral, I had a mournful feeling of pleasure from this band. Loved the album art, validating for anyone who’s ever experienced loss and the culture & rituals that surround it. Neon Bible carried this forward and had that beautiful darkness yet again, with scathing disdain for religious zealots, and it mirrored the claustrophobic state of mind that I sometimes found myself in. Then I stopped listening to them and I don’t know why. I came back to them later because of the enthusiastic recommendation of a good friend. The next 4 albums didn’t affect me in quite the same way, but I enjoyed so many of the songs and I’ll never forget how they initially struck me. Regine’s voice makes my heart flutter, and the beauty of making music with your husband seems like a fantasy come true. I will always have a place in my heart for Arcade Fire. My preference for their albums is in the order of their release.
Amazing seeing these guys at a small venue in San Francisco (Bottom of the Hill) with just me and 249 friends. A year later they were playing large venues. That night was amazing. Arcade Fire could barely fit on the stage.. but the enthusiasm and ferocity of the performance was absolutely stunning. It makes one of my Top 10 concert experiences ever. "Funeral" will always hold a special place in my heart.
Arcade Fire means a lot to me, they really hit home and were the soundtrack to my life, didn't realise how popular or contentious they were and I wish I didn't lol Thank you for doing them
I really loved your passion for the band this week. :)
1. Funeral
2. Neon Bible
3. The Suburbs
4. Reflektor
5. Everything Now
6. We
I am so glad that you’re doing Arcade Fire. One of my favourites. I write this before watching and look forward to a long video, over an hour for six albums. I find that I have to give their albums many listens before I can rank them properly so for me it’s too early to include WE on my list, but I think it will en up as number four, possibly number three.
And of the albums that I rank, only number five is a weak one for me. The rest is from 4 stars up to 5 for the top two.
1. The Suburbs
2. Funeral
3. Neon Bible
4. Reflector
5. Everything Now
1. Suburbs 2. Funeral 3. We 4. Neon Bible 5. Reflektor 6. Everything Now
It's a great episode when all have a different number 1 record and the average rankings makes for another different record again, incredible
I think this might be only the 2nd time that’s happened. -Jason
I think that's the magic of Arcade Fire. Each person resonates with a different album and each person enjoys a different type of sound and era that the band has played with. But all of it is exceptional on some level.
Reflektor is the one that I feel there’s more to explore than the other records. Jason coming back every year is fitting. Lovely video, guys.
1. Neon Bible - 9.0
2. The Suburbs - 8.5
3. Funeral - 8.0
4. Reflektor - 8.0
5. WE - 6.0
6. Everything Now - 5.5
1. Funeral 2.Suburbs 3.Reflektor 4. Neon Bible 5.Everything Now 6.WE
This is my favorite currently active band. I was not, however, an early adopter. I initially passed on Funeral, bought Neon Bible but didn't care for it, started to get interested in The Suburbs, and got fully onboard between The Suburbs and Reflektor. What changed for me was watching their live concerts. They are an incredible live band. I started to really love their the songs from Funeral and Neon Bible, but based on the live versions and not the relatively flat early recordings. By Reflektor and Everything Now the production caught up to the live performances.
1. The Suburbs 4.5/5 stars
2. Everything Now 4.25/5
3. Reflektor 4.25/5
4. WE 4.0/5 (tentative)
5. Funeral 4.0/5
6. Neon Bible 4.0/5
Now I understand why Funeral sounds so flat to me--$10,000 recording budget.
Everything Now ❤️
I am practically the opposite--early adopter, but lately have been quite ‘meh’ on them. I would agree that The Suburbs is great-so those of us on either end of the spectrum (beginning vs end) can agree on the middle album being great.
Me too, it was the live concerts on TV that made me a fan. They are amazing live. The play their music like they meant it.
Arcade Fire are a fantastic band, however I struggle to place them into my favorite artists list. They're a tricky band for me to fully crack, although it was nice to check all of their albums out for once.
Funeral - 5 Stars
Neon Bible - 5 Stars
The Suburbs - 4.5 Stars
WE - 3.5 Stars
Reflektor - 3.5 Stars
Everything Now - 2.5 Stars
I'm a big fan of the work Arcade fire did on Spike Jones Her. The way they married bits of reflectors melodies into the score is gorgeous
A good band, I respect what they do (or did at least), but not an all-time favorite:
1. Funeral- 4.5 stars
2. Reflektor- 4.5 stars
3. Neon Bible- 4 stars
4. The Suburbs- 4 stars
5. Everything Now- 3 stars
6. WE- 3 stars
Arcade Fire are kinda an odd band for me in some ways. I like every single album, even Everything Now, and I have many of the them rated quite highly but I'm not really sure how high they'd actually rank on my list of all-time favourite bands. Maybe there are just too many other artists that I love more overall. I enjoyed this week though, my ranking turned out a bit differently than I expected. I don't think I expected the level of discussion and contention that we saw on Discord leading up to this episode but that always makes for a good time. Enjoyed seeing all of your rankings, I wasn't totally sure what to expect this week. I especially thought you all made a lot of great points about WE as someone who likes the album. Sure the lyrics are a bit silly but that doesn't affect my enjoyment of it. I also really loved seeing lots of defence for Reflektor, an album I really love.
6. Everything Now 3.5 (7.3)
5. WE 4 (7.6)
4. Funeral 4.5 (8.9)
3. Neon Bible 4.5 (9.2)
2. Reflektor 4.5 (9.4)
1. The Suburbs 5 (9.8)
It does feel weird to "dis" an artist you really love by saying they wouldn't rate very high on your all-time list. Pearl Jam fall into that same category for me. Love 'em to death, but when I look at all of music history I think there were others that left larger marks.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 Agreed, it's a strange feeling.
I like Arcade Fire a lot. Not my favourite band but Funeral and The Suburbs are undeniable classics. Funeral is a hugely influential album - a lot of indie bands till this day borrow so much from that album. Reflektor is pretty good as well.
Joe says “indie rock” like it’s a bad word (repeatedly) lol Kramzer’s description of Neon Bible could not be any more similar to how I feel about it
I am looking foward to the song ranking. They have so many good songs.
Thanks for doing “the Fire”, Gentlemen! I think they have a great canon and their fall from grace has more to do with setting an impossibly high standard with their first three records than their last three being subpar. Plus, any musicians that receive that kind of critical praise is going to receive a lot of backlash.
I have to say that the first time I heard “WE” it sounded really familiar….too familiar! I have now listened to it four times since and it gets better every time. I think this is definitely going to continue be a grower - maybe top 3,. I also think it’s interesting that Joe and Jason had criticized that Reflektor felt too long and that Kram thought that WE is too short. I agree with both opinions (sorry, Joe - Suburbs is JUST right!) but you can imagine how that might drive the band crazy! Good episode, Gentlemen! I like all of their albums except “Everything Now”, which is their 2017 version of U2’s Pop, which I really liked. Admittedly. I didn’t give it much if a chance because it’s not what Arcade Fire do best.
Yes it's interesting and all when you all do a video when you are not as into the band your ranking, but episodes like this where you can see and hear your admiration are the best!
Great video as ever guys. Very surprised Jason didn't pick Neon Bible as his #1, but otherwise about what I expected lol. I sure am glad to see the back of the terrible WE marketing though. I'm hopefully gonna be seeing the band in concert in September when they come to the UK.
1. Suburbs - 5 stars
2. Funeral - 5 stars
3. Neon Bible- 4 stars
4. Reflektor- 4 stars
5. WE - 3 stars
6. Everything Now - 3 stars
i was new to this band, and at times i enjoyed alot , but a band in the middle for me
6 WE 3 stars
5 the suburbs 3.0 stars
4 everything now 3.0 + stars
3 funeral 3.0 + stars
2 reflektor 3.5 + stars
1 neon bible 4.0 stars
not a band i could sit down and listen to for a long listening session!
🐯🐯🐯🐯
I still remember when I discovered the band back in early 2005. At that time it felt like I was part of an exclusive, even secret group listening to this very indie and unknown band. Good for them that they became so big. I still like them a lot, but not as much as I did back in the day. This is my ranking (I’m not including WE because I haven’t heard it enough to rank it properly):
1. Funeral
2. Neon Bible
3. Reflektor
4. The Suburbs (agree 100% with Joe’s review)
5. Everything Now
perhaps the band of my youth
1. The Suburbs
2. Funeral
3. Neon Bible
4. Reflektor
5. We
6. Everything Now
Exactly the same order as me
Funeral 5
Reflektor 5
Suburbs 5
Neon Bible 4.5
Everything Now 4
WE 3.5
The First 3 or 4 are very close though and this is just how I feel at the moment
Stevie coming!!!! Most exciting announcement since Bowie and the Byrds. So glad you all are taking the plunge!
07) WE (3.25 stars)
06) Reflektor (3.75 stars)
05) The Suburbs (3.75 stars)
04) Everything Now (4 stars)
03) Neon Bible (4 stars)
02) Arcade Fire (4.25 stars)
01) Funeral (5 stars)
0 stars - irredeemably terrible/insultingly bad/the worst
.5 stars - terrible
1 star - bad
1.5 stars - pretty bad
2 stars - fair
2.5 stars - meh
2.75 stars - "It's OK, but quit playing it."
3 stars - OK/decent
3.25 stars - pretty good
3.5 stars - good
4 stars - very good
4.5 stars - excellent
5 stars - the ocean in a shell
notes:
* I was familiar with Arcade Fire mostly from Funeral which I owned on CD. I also had Neon Bible on CD but didn't click with that one as much. However, I liked it more upon closer scrutiny for this list (which often happens). I wasn't interested in any of the subsequent albums enough to pick them up, and, yes, I did miss out on some good stuff.
* Funeral has a certain magical spark for me. I think it's their most original work. The peaks are high and the energy is infectious.
* I think their debut self-titled ep (which is more like a mini-album) has that Funeral magic in primitive form. The songs get progressively better, starting with two good songs and ending with two excellent ones.
* Arcade Fire are really good at songs that transform and have dramatic changes.
* Neon Bible is good, but only "No Cars Go" has that Funeral magic. "Keep the Car Running" reminds me of "On the Dark Side" by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band for some reason. "Ocean of Noise" flirts with sort of a 50's vibe at first. "(Antichrist Television Blues)" reminds me of Springsteen. "Windowsill" is good but kinda whiney, while "My Body Is a Cage" is excellent.
* My hottest take is probably the low ranking and relatively low rating for The Suburbs. For one thing, I'm not crazy about the old-fashioned honkytonk piano style they do on a few of these songs including the title track. "Modern Man" sports an awkward beat and is vaguely annoying. I do love the exuberant bass guitar on "City with No Children." And there are lots of interesting synth and other touches (as usual).
* Reflektor was consistently good throughout and I thought it would beat The Suburbs, but then the last two songs sucked. "Afterlife" has an awkward beat and points off for the five minutes of random computer noises tacked on at the end of the last track. Sure, most people turn the record off at that point, but when evaluating an album you have to consider the whole thing.
* I went into Everything Now expecting to be underwhelmed based on some things I read about it, but found it to be a very good disco record. I like the endless loop concept of the opening and closing tracks. "Everything Now" sounds like an ABBA song. I love the cool effect on Regine Chassagne's voice in "Creature Comfort," a very cool song. "Peter Pan" is a cool mix of dub reggae and New Wave. And "Electric Blue" has a touch of the Talking Heads.
* WE to some extent continues the disco style they first explored back on Reflektor and they could have used a changeup at this point. The first half of the album is generally good but the second half is rather weak. The Lightning II is too "sing-songy" for my tastes. And some of the lyrics on this album are weak ("I will be your race and religion" - huh?).
* Cheers mates!!!!!!!!!!!
Gosh, maybe I should've given the Arcade Fire EP 4 stars. It's quite good. I was penalizing it a bit, though, both for being an EP and containing the inferior (to my ears) version of "No Cars Go."
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 Regine's voice on the Woodlands National Anthem was a bit off-putting to me on first listen but I eventually got used to it and decided it was good. I generally don't penalize for brevity. EPs and singles can get 5 stars.
@@179rich "Woodlands National Anthem" sounds like you're at the coolest campfire party ever. "I'm Sleeping in a Submarine" is my favorite on the record, it'll probably sneak into my top 10 Arcade Fire songs. I'm also quite fond of the last track, "Vampires/Forest Fire," although it sounds a lot like Neil Young.
Love Arcade Fire and this week I love Jason as we have the exact same order. The Suburbs was the album that got me into the band and it has remained my favourite to this day. I like Funeral but don't connect with it the way so many other people seem to. An impressive discography though you can't help but wonder if their best days are behind them. That said still in my Top 5 bands of this Century.
I’ve been a fan since I saw them on Jools Holland on BBC right at the start. They just reminded me of big band Talking Heads which is a good thing in my view. Funeral is one of the greatest debut albums of all time and will stand up against anything. I don’t get the lack of enthusiasm for Everything Now. That album came alive when I saw them in the boxing ring on tour. Definitely one of the standout acts of the 21st Century.
Good job as usual gentlemen.
1.The Suburbs
2. Everything Now
3. Neon Bible
4. WE
5. Funeral
6. Reflektor
Potentially Controversial ratings:
1. Neon Bible
2. Reflektor
3. Funeral
4. Everything Now
5. WE
6. Suburbs
I found ordering my top 3 difficult as there isn't much between them. Currently my list would be
6. Everything Now
5. We
4. Reflektor
3. Funeral
2. Neon Bible
1. The Suburbs
God, I loved this band 2004 -2010. Saw them twice in one year, London and Manchester gigs on the Suburbs tour and at that stage, as far as I was concerned, they had a perfect catalogue of songs. Each of their first three albums was different, had a different sound, mood, and pace. Then Reflector happened. I do want to love them again, but your reviews of the later albums don't inspire confidence. Still, a run of three great albums from the get go is as good as it gets, and they comfortably fit in my top half a dozen rock bands of all time from the USA/Canada.
I will probably be repeating some of these sentiments in a video of my own down the line. Not that it matters, nobody here (except David) really watches my channel. Haha
To provide Joe with some context of why Funeral is so revered. I was 25/26 when Funeral came out. They had an EP before it, but almost noone had heard it. Right out of the gate, this band captured lightning in a bottle and created an album as huge and emotionally soaring as bands like Radiohead or U2 before them. The difference was they did it on a shoestring budget. Like Kram mentions, a youthfulness that was (and still is) infectious. That's what made it so incredibly approachable. That coupled with everything that inspired it was so deeply personal.
Therein lies the problem with Arcade Fire for me over time. As the statements became more worldly and grandiose, Arcade Fire lost their intimacy. Which I believe Joe touched on with his commentary on the lyrics on WE. At this point, the themes that Win Butler (and Regine) are trying to tackle are almost too big for them to handle. As a whole, I have grown more detached because of this with every ensuing album.
1. Funeral (5 stars)
2. Neon Bible (4.5 stars) - Jason actually nails what I feel about this album. I love the sound of it more than the lyrical content. I do love that isolation of Win Butler within the chaos happening around him. Well put, Jason. It's a bleakness I can still revel in to this day.)
3. The Suburbs (4 stars) - This was my favorite album of 2010. "Was" being the operative word. I saw them perform at The Ryman on this tour and it was an incredible experience. It made up for all the times I couldn't see them on their previous two tours. I did pull it off the shelf for the first time in awhile a few months ago. It didn't hold up the same for me. Some of the songs just aren't as impactful as they used to be. "Modern Man," "Rococo," "City of Children," "Suburban War," "Wasted Hours" just don't stand out to me. They are okay songs. Not bad. By this album, they have an established sound. With ensuing albums I feel like they run out of ideas.
4. Reflektor (2.5 stars) - I feel like James Murphy's influence on this album is heavy-handed. The rock songs are stale and do not differentiate themselves from anything they have done previously. Leading up to the release of this album, I remember them talking about how the sound of Haiti was hugely influential. Aside from the occasional use of polyrhythms, I just don't hear much of that. I wonder if they had really pushed themselves out of their own sound to explore that more, if the results would have been more interesting. To me, it sounds like a pretentious band trying to make dance music. Watching Win Butler try and "dance" in their live performances surrounding this album's release was so awkward. He made David Byrne look like Michael Jackson. The only reason why I give it 2.5 stars is because of "Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)" and "It's Never Over (Hey Orpheus)." The one moment on this album where some new ideas actually come to fruition.
5. WE (2.5 stars - I just don't think I subscribe to Arcade Fire's brand of melodrama anymore. It's that simple. I applaud them for making an album that's only 40 minutes long. "The Lightning I & II" are so Arcade Fire. They've almost become a caricature of themselves. Much like U2 had by the late 90s. I do really like "Unconditional I." I would never dump on parents for writing a song to their child(ren). And this song is not cheesy. "Unconditional II" is pretty cool, but it's like they brought Peter Gabriel in for credibility.
6. Everything Now - (No rating) - Completely forgettable album. I remember nothing about it.
I guess I have a lot to say about a band that I just don't love anymore. Those first two albums, though, will always hold a special place in my heart.
The Arcade Fire are my favorite band from Canada 🇨🇦 since Martha & The Muffins ( Echo Beach ) & The Payolas ( Eyes Of A Stranger) Powerhouse Producer Bob Rock was a Payola.
Also wanted to add Joe has quote of the year “it has that early 80’s Peter Gabriel we have technology we don’t know what to do with vibe” 😀
When asked to comment on his brother’s recent departure from the band, Win Butler's response was, “I guess we’ll just have to adjuuuuuuuuuuuuuuusttt!!!!!!”
That's like a bad sports quote 😆
Was hoping you’d do AF.
Have been listening to the new album a lot. It’s definitely a grower. I now think it’s easily the best album of 2022, so far.
6 - Everything Now
5 - The Suburbs
4 - Reflektor
3 - Funeral
2 - WE
1 - Neon Bible
The last three are all absolutely incredible, I don't mean to imply Funeral is bad here. For me, it's always been a little /too/ bright, and Neighborhood 2/3/4 have always been quite forgettable to me. Wake Up, Rebellion (Lies), Neighborhood 1 and Backseat are great though.
WE is something I just fell in love with. I must have watched live versions of Age of Anxiety 2 over 30 times before the album dropped; the sounds just HOOK me. The lyrics are a lot more figurative and imagery dependent, but besides End of Empire 4 (which is still great!) the lyrics aren't cheesy. Age of Anxiety 1's breathing is also incredible.
Neon Bible takes the sounds on Funeral and makes them darker, more serious and really develops those concepts more. It sounds like a darker, perfect version of Funeral.
For me it's 6. EVERYTHING NOW
5. WE
4. Neon Bible
3. Reflektor
2. The suburbs
1. Funeral
WE cannot wait for this episode
Funeral - 5 stars (10)
The Suburbs - 5 stars (9.6)
Everything Now - 4.5 stars (9.3)
Neon Bible - 4.5 stars (9)
Reflektor -4 stars (8)
WE - 3.5 stars (7.8)
6. We ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️
5. Everything Now ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
4. Reflektor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
3. Neon Bible a very strong ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
2. The Suburbs ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
1. Funeral ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
1. the suburbs
2. neon bible
3. funeral
4. we
5. everything now
6. reflektor
Great video, Gents. Here's what I got:
1. Funeral (huge fan when it came out. Still solid, though not all time for me any more)
2. Neon Bible (noticed none of you mentioned No Cars Go, my fav on this)
3. Suburbs (indifferent to it at first, prob because of it being synthy and programmed, but it grew on me.
And that's where my list ends...
Only heard a few singles from there on out. I'm not much on programmed beats and dance stuff. Maybe I'll check out the new one....
6. Everything Now (2017) 1.5/5
5. WE (2022) 3/5
4. Reflektor (2013) 3/5
3. Funeral (2004) 3/5
2. Neon Bible (2007) 4/5
1. The Suburbs (2010) 4/5
6. Everything Now
5. Reflektor
4. WE
3. Neon Bible
2. Funeral
1. The Suburbs
I remember The Suburbs was a big deal when I was in high school, but for some reason I never bothered to listen to it. It wasn't until a few years ago when I heard Rebellion (Lies) on a weekly spotify list that I got into them. Don't know exactly how to grade them, but their top three albums are all really strong.
6. Everything Now
5. Reflektor
4. We
3. Funeral
2. Neon Bible
1. The Suburbs
Rebellion (Lies) was my gateway song also
1. Funeral
2. The Suburbs
3. Neon Bible
New album’s definitely a grower. Non plussed on first listen but day 6 and it’s taking Reflektor off 4th spot with ease
6. Everything Now
5. Reflektor
4. WE
3. Funeral
2. The Suburbs
1. Neon Bible
1. Neon Bible, 2. The suburbs, 3. Reflektor, 4. Funeral, 5. We, 6. Everything now.
Unpopular list. But I love this band.
6. Neon Bible
5. The Suberbs
4. Funeral
3. WE
2. Everything Now
1. Reflektor.
Maybe it's because I got in to them leading up to the release of everything now, but I love their post suburbs music. Reflektor is a bona fide masterpiece that is one of my favorite albums of the 21st century.
Although I really like WE, I have to agree with Kram. My first impression was that it doesn't sound finished.
Joe is one classy barsteward in this vid. I dig Funeral and The Suburbs but... are these guys dressed by the same crew behind Coldplay's, erm, wardrobe?
Flashbulb eyes is a great song
I didn't like WE that much at first, but I saw Arcade Fire live in October, and it made me appreciate the new album more. The live versions of the songs are probably better than the studio versions.
1. The Suburbs
2. Funeral
3. Neon Bible
4. WE
5. Everything Now
6. Reflektor
1. Funeral (2004) 5/5
2. Neon Bible (2007) 5/5
3. The Suburbs (2010) 4.5/5
4. Reflektor (2013) 4/5
5. Arcade Fire [EP] (2003) 4/5
6. WE (2022) 3.5/5
7. Everything Now (2017) 2.5/5
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER:
4.0 Arcade Fire [EP] (2003)
5.0 Funeral (2004)
5.0 Neon Bible (2007)
4.5 The Suburbs (2010)
4.0 Reflektor (2013)
2.5 Everything Now (2017)
3.5 WE (2022)
The darlings of 21st century indie rock. Their unconventional instrumentation makes them stand out from the pack nearly as much as the quality of their music. Considering that Jar of Flies was included in the Alice in Chains listography (an EP that's 30+ minutes in length) I figured Arcade Fire's first EP qualified. (And it's pretty good to boot.) Funeral's reputation as one of the great debut LPs is well earned. It's virtually flawless. This week also made me sympathetic to the view that the follow-up, Neon Bible, is just as good. Side 1 of The Suburbs might be the best side of music in their entire discography, however, Side 2 of that album runs a bit low on pixie dust. Reflektor is a step down from their first 3 albums yet I can't help but feel like it's underrated. 2017's Everything Now has flashes of goodness that get bogged down by some of the most forgettable music of Arcade Fire's career. The new album, WE, constitutes an improvement over Everything Now but has the same problem where the good tracks have to work extra hard in order to make up for the weak tracks. As much as I love this band, they came along too late in the game to have a realistic shot at my "top 100 artists" list. Too many other music legends are in line ahead of them. That said, they're easily one of my favorite bands of the last 20 years.
MY RATING SYSTEM:
5.0 = major classic (consistently great *and* stratospheric highs)
4.5 = minor classic (consistently great *or* stratospheric highs, but not both)
4.0 = great (more than 50% is worth revisiting and it's an essential record for this artist/style - passes my "it'll make a fan out of someone who's new to this artist" test)
3.5 = seriously good (more than 50% is worth revisiting)
3.0 = nominally good (less than 50% is worth revisiting)
2.5 = decent (competent but uninspired - not worth revisiting)
2.0 = poor (difficult listen)
1.5 = awful (can't finish it)
1.0 = historically awful (musical apocalypse)
*Note: "Consistently" does not mean "flawlessly." I allow for a few clunkers if the rest of the songs are good enough. Also, I don't go below 1 star because once I'm in the realm of the truly terrible I don't care to differentiate anymore.
Amazing, not only you rank the albums exactly as I would do, but also your grades are exactly the same as mine.
I also subscribe 100% everything you say about each album. My only disagreement is that they are certainly in my top 10 artists. My favorite band of this century.
@@Realgodi There are soooo many artists I adore. It's ridiculous how many great artists have come and gone. Arcade Fire's only crime was that they were born too late and my list was already full.
another great list, Whammy Bard. With this type of analysis, wouldn’t surprise me if TLM has you on as a guest ranked.
6. We
5. Everything Now
4. The Suburbs
3. Reflektor
2. Funeral
1. Neon Bible
I feel like WE is more consistent than Everything Now, but the latter has more standout tracks. While EN is flawed, WE was the first Arcade Fire album to underwhelm me from a musical standpoint. It may grow on me so I'll give it another shot.
I haven't really had the chance to do a ranking yet which I think I will find difficult because I have the first 5 albums and I can't imagine them making one that I don't like rather a lot. If I do manage to get round to it I think my order might end up quite similar to Jason's which is interesting as I feel that I generally agree with Joe and Kram more often.
It took me a little while to get into them really. Sometime in, I presume, 2005, I think I read in a newspaper somebody describe Funeral by Arcade Fire as the greatest album of all-time. I had never heard of it and for all I knew it could have been some obscure underground cult album from the '60s or '70s. I was no longer regularly buying music magazines at the time and I wasn't yet online so I was largely reliant on BBC radio for new music. Over the next 3 or 4 years I had heard enough music here and there to make me decide they might be worth investigating so I bought the first albums. I liked them enough to buy The Suburbs pretty much as soon as it came out.
Everything now is a masterpiece!!!
Before I watch, the new one is amazeballs!! I got away from them but I'm back!
I was part of the Mtl music scene when AF hit it big, even just the EP before funeral had made them the big name in town everyone was talking about. I could have gone to go see them perform at a house party a bit before that ep came out but had never heard them so didn't think i'd be missing anything. I was an acquaintance of their first drummer who left after the EP because of creative differences. Don't know if he regrets it now or not. My early reaction to the band was one of kinda like "what's the big deal?" but then after about a year i gave Funeral a proper shot and by the time the local scene was calling them overrated sellouts i got into them (you sell out when you make a lot of money making music yknow...it's at that time that people i knew who had got the early eps decided to sell them on ebay for like a 100 bucks) Haven't cared since suburbs and in hindsight the band is not as good as the hype made them out to be but unlike many people i know i've not retroactively decided they were always shit either...
1 - Funeral (pretty good)
2 - The suburbs (not as good as neon bible overall but the high are higher)
3 - Neon Bible (good)
4 - We (mediocre)
5 - Reflektor bad)
6 - Everything now (very bad)
Nice jersey Kram! I have the winter classic as well.
Like some others have mentioned, being or not being an early adopter really seems to affect how the albums are ranked. I wonder if you can tell from my ranking whether I was in from the start or not?
1 Arcade Fire EP 5
2 Funeral 5
3 Neon Bible 4
4 The suburbs 3.5
5 We 3.5
6 Her (Original Score) 3
7 Reflektor 2.5
8 Everything Now 2
I gotta say, the WE lyrics did negatively affect my rating somewhat. Typically I can ignore bad lyrics but there's a few in there I just can't ignore.
#1 Funeral
#2 The Suburbs
#3 Reflektor
#4 Neon Bible
#5 Everything Now
Haven't listened to WE yet and frankly I am not in a rush to do so.
Arcade Fire Live On Later With Jools Holland Bbc London 2005 05 13. First time for most of us in Europe.Check it out.
Alright! Tastes Like Music does an Arcade fire week ! I guess I have two wishes left now..
PS : I agree with everything you guys say. Good analysis. A little harsh on the "boomer lyrics" IMO but maybe that's just me : I don't think Win is trying to tell us "social media bad". I think that, just like us, he just struggles with how the digital has swallowed up our whole existence, and he tries to communicate his experience in the clearest way he can.
Funeral sure was an awesome 👌 debut by them with all the neighborhood songs. I've been fairly indifferent to everything since. Really want to like them but they don't resonate with me. Funeral is absolutely 💯 essential though - Easily one of the top 10 albums of its decade 👌
Big fan of Arcade Fire here, my favorite band of this century.
Kinda surprised with the positive views Kram and Jason have to their post-Suburbs releases. I think I remember Kram saying something along the lines "They lost me after The Suburbs". I was expecting a Coldplay-like scenario, but I'm glad it wasn't like that. And I thought the disco/caribbean/ABBA influences in Reflektor and EN would be too much for Jason, but again , I'm happy I'm wrong.
Joe's rank and opinions were as I expected, more or less. Gotta agree with him in the cringiness of some of those WE lyrics.
Great video, guys. Thanks!
I also remember Kram saying AF hadn't made a good record since The Suburbs, although it's possible my memory fails me. (I would kinda understand that point of view if Reflektor didn't exist.)
People kinda get confused about the time frame when WE was written. So many think it was related to the Covid -19 anxiety, and disorder the US was feeling.However it was writtebmn and wrapped very soon after coming off of the EN four. So it was a small break and some of the stuff was definitely gave off that same feeling EN was givin but they brought in producer to assist with changing some of its sound to get away fdom EN. ALSO WIN spoke about the Russian novel he read thatvresonates with hin , but the way he describes this album qas kinda like oh yeah I always wanted to write an album kinda based off this book and then he is like oh yeah this is "WE'...and interviewers still ignore the fact the album didnt have a title but yup it was finished
And even recorded pretty much all the way in November pre covid-19...
Additional sounds and edits were put in a a bit later and of course will Butler is definitely on the album. SUCKS HE LEFT.Wolf Parade addition is definitely the perfect pick for a replacement.
so sorry about typos my keyboard is fd.
Revisited their albums after giving We some more spins, and it kinda gets slightly worse every time I listen to it. Their first three albums are way ahead of their latest stuff of course.
6. Everything Now (2017) ★★
5. We (2022) ★★
4. Reflektor (2013) ★★★
3. Funeral (2004) ★★★½
2. Neon Bible (2007) ★★★½
1. The Suburbs (2010) ★★★★
★★★★★ - Masterpiece
★★★★½ - Really great
★★★★ - Great
★★★½ - Really good
★★★ - Good
★★½ - OK
★★ - Bad
★½ - Really bad
★ - Awful
½ - The worst
Terrific, serious and detailed review of one of the most important bands out there, Arcade Fire. But one of the elements that really stands out for me, and maybe hard for you guys to appreciate (with respect) is that they are a very Canadian band. I say that because they present a once-removed take on America and American themes, an observant quality in their approach, particularly on Neon Bible and The Suburbs, an understanding and appreciation of the American super culture, but not being a direct part of it. Youth culture and finding your tribe, yes, but being ever so just out of the mainstream, the “standing to one side” and taking in the tensions and contradictions in the US, but not having a direct voice in all that. That, and the communal aspect of how they put their music together, just seems so Canadian a take on things. A fierce but observant mind set drives their approach, and what they bring to the table. An essential, ever-interesting band, our little gift to the world. Thx, JPE
The more I've been listening to We - the more i appreciate it - it does feel like a cohesive album where they had great ideas floating around and they put them all together in a really cool way. For the 1st time i think i appreciate Regina's led tracks more then Win's - but honesty i like all the tracks, time will be interesting with this one i think
Lol Funeral and Neon Bible are flipped for me vs Jason's. I always love Funeral and tbh I would probably have to say it's my favorite from them (but I go back and forth between Funeral and Suburbs). And then while I like Neon Bible it's the album I return to the least. Idk why...it just doesn't resonate as much as the others for some reason.
It seems that most people's top 3 are Funeral, The Suburbs and Neon Bible but the order may be just how you feel this week about it.
Jason anyone ever tell you you look like Zappa?
Ranking AF albums is like choosing a favourite child
Will they ever come back? “We” fell flat then the world swallowed up Win Butler. Not sure they’ll ever recapture their form from albums 1 to 3
To be fair that’s a tough thing for most bands to do. - Joe
I hope Jason blesses us with this fantastic striped shirt again.
I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again
1) Funeral - 10
2) Neon Bible - 9.5
3) The Suburbs - 9
4) WE - 7
5) Reflector - 6.5
6) Everything Now - 6
Funeral is an all time great for me. Possibly in my top 10 albums of all time. I'm actually surprised how many people here don't put it as their No.1. For me it's comfortably their best album. It's not really particularly close. Neon Bible and The Suburbs are also excellent, but Funeral is a long way clear.
Anyway, after those 3 albums, there's a huge drop off, but was really pleasantly surprised by The Lightning II this year. That's the best they've sounded for over a decade. Shame the rest of WE doesn't quite live up to it. Still a slight improvement on the previous two albums overall though.
1 - 'Funeral'; 2 'Neon Bible'; 3 - 'Suburbs'; 4 - 'WE'; 5 - 'Reflektor'; 6 - 'Everything Now'. Editing: I am putting 'We' as dead last; totally trite music. Bon Jovi type stuff.
Jason, don't use the "Neighborhoods," use what they wrote in parentheses, like "Tunnels."
I listened to "Funeral" enough to know that none of it did anything for me.
Love this band alot but not heard we yet
Everything now: 5 out of 10.
We: 7 out of 10.
Funeral: 8 out of 10
Reflektor: 8.5 out of 10
1.funeral
2.the suburbs
3. Neon bible
4. Reflector
5. Everything now
Will come.back with we but I love all there albums but everything now
Couldn't listen to the albums for this week, but I knew the albums before. Haven't listened to them for a long time though, so I won't rate them.
1. Neon Bible
2. Funeral
3. The Suburbs
4. Reflektor
5. Everything Now
Couldn't finish WE yet.
Ranking you guys best to worest
1.kram
2.jason
3.joe
Arcade Fire. The sort of band who everyone knows the name of, but nobody actually listens to. See you next week.
LMAO @ Neighborhood 3 sounding like Rush. It does!
Nice comments guys. My favourite would probably be Neon Bible. 📖
After seeing them live We has become my favorite AF album. The songs were incredible live and while I really liked it going in, I loved it afterwards.
I've always known of this band but I never liked them. It wasn't until the past week when I found some of their music quite decent, but not enough to convert me into a fan.
1. The Suburbs (2010) 19/25 ★★★ ½
2. Everything Now (2017) 18/25 ★★★ ½
3. Funeral (2004) 18/25 ★★★ ½
4. Neon Bible (2007) 18/25 ★★★ ½
5. Reflektor (2013) 15/25 ★★★
6. WE (2022) 8/25 ★ ½
To me they're just like Modest Mouse. Quirky whiny uneventful indie rock. Absolutely cannot stand the vocals.
I think if you replaced Here comes the night/We exist/Normal Person with the live versions they did on SNL special you have a 5 star album. The studio versions were lacking compared to those.
I never too really liked Funeral as much...its ok but too "normal" for me production wise.
*5 Stars*
1. The Suburbs - It's a long album, but overall it's their best batch of songs. There's not much in the way of weak spots and the highlights are numerous.
*4.5 Stars*
2. Neon Bible - Almost 5 stars. The only weakness is the last two tracks where they fall into the overly bombastic approach of Funeral, which seems out of place.
3. Funeral - Excellent, although a little over-the-top at times. Also, I'm not crazy about the Regine songs.
*3.5 Stars*
4. Reflektor - There's a good album in here somewhere, but just too long
*3 Stars*
5. We - It's a good album. The Lyrics are pretty cringeworthy which bring it down a bit.
*2 Stars*
6. Everything Now - Bad, pretentious, and just not what I want from the band at all.
I feel the exact same way about WE. I was on the verge of giving it 3.5 stars but the more I looked at the lyrics the more the album faltered. I also think there are 3 tracks that are just plain not good- Rabbit Hole, Sagittarius A, and Race & Religion.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 Musically, it's good. I'd probably go 4 stars, but it's like Win Butler started attending the Rivers Cuomo school of lyric writing where he tries to make himself seem hipper than he is by including weird pop slang like "New Phone Who Dis?" and "I Unsubscribe". He comes across like a dad who tries too hard to fit in with his kids' friends or something.
@@edgustafson Maybe it's just the lyrics that are killing those 3 tracks for me but I'm already at the point- after about 7 or 8 listens- where I skip them every time I play the album.
Boooyyyzzz…..biought the first one for my mom and didn’t work for her….I was a massive fan….got a friend to burn a copy of neon bible for me then kind of lost touch…..always been a massive James Murphy..lcd sound system…dfa fan so gonna start with reflektor and work out from there…funnily enough just started reading some eastern psychology to get my shit together…. Reflection + Risk = Contribution…..
Funeral on 3, that can happen since there are also Neon Bible and The Suburbs in the catalogue. But Reflektor on 1, that´s crazy talk! And Funeral on 4...that´s just wrong. I mean scientifically wrong. That´s against all evidence.
You guys should do Wilco when the new record comes out
Why do you hate me. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic lol you have a problem with Wilco?
I'd be surprised if they don't. I know I'd be looking forward to a Wilco week.
Jason is huge on Wilco. I foresee them doing this one when Joe’s on vacation lol