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Arcade Fire - Reflektor - Printable Version

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Arcade Fire - Reflektor - Music Head - 08-11-2013

online listen

allmusic - 2.1 of 3.0

I have my album of the year
I cheated though, fired one up prior to play
whatever works
don't love it yet, but I will
didn't know it was a double album
just barely, 75 minutes (max for 1 cd is 74 minutes)
surely you could have cut back 1 minute guys
13 tracks and some are a bit long imo
last track is way too long, and not good either
title track is so much better without that stupid video
will be a great album

[Image: MI0003666353.jpg?partner=allrovi.com]

Bio - from allmusic

A combination of indie rock muscle and theatrical, unapologetic bombast turned Arcade Fire into indie royalty in the early 2000s. Originally
comprised of Régine Chassagne, Richard Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and brothers William and Win Butler, the group formed during the summer of 2003,
after Win spotted Chassagne singing jazz standards at a Montreal art exhibit. The grandson of famed swing-era bandleader Alvino Rey, Win was
quickly charmed by Chassagne's performance, leading the two to launch a songwriting partnership. Romance followed shortly thereafter, and the
duo expanded its sound by gathering Parry on organ, Kingsbury on bass, and Win Butler's younger brother, William, on synthesizer and percussion.
Drawing from the bandmates' varied influences, Arcade Fire began mining an eclectic mix of bossa nova, punk, French chanson, and classically
tinged pop music, referencing everything from U2's passion to David Bowie's eclecticism in the process.

Arcade Fire issued a self-titled EP in 2003, having briefly retreated to Maine for the recording sessions. Propelled by Win Butler's quavering
vocals and his bandmates' symphonic swells, the disc helped earn the band an official offer from Merge Records. The bandmates' luck faltered
later that year, however, when Chassagne's grandmother passed away. The Butler brothers' grandfather followed suit in March 2004, and Parry's
aunt died one month later. Seeking catharsis in the studio, the members of Arcade Fire funneled their energies into the creation of Funeral.
Released in September 2004, the debut album was met with unanimous acclaim -- both commercially and critically -- and Arcade Fire found
themselves maintaining a nearly constant presence on the road, playing such high-profile festivals as Lollapalooza and Coachella between a slew
of smaller club dates. They also appeared on the cover of Time magazine's Canadian edition, garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative
Music Album, rubbed shoulders with superfan David Bowie, and toured alongside U2.

Following an exhausting year, Arcade Fire decamped to a church outside of Montreal to work on a second release. The ambitious Neon Bible arrived
in March 2007, featuring such grand ornamentations as a pipe organ, a military choir, and a full orchestra. The album peaked at number two and
sparked another tour, which found the band playing more than 120 shows over the course of a year. When touring wrapped up in early 2008, Arcade
Fire played several shows in support of presidential candidate Barack Obama before beginning work on a third album. The resulting Suburbs, an
eclectic 16-track ode to childhood, suburban sprawl, and middle-class dreams both won and lost, arrived on August 2, 2010. The record was
universally acclaimed and reached number one in both the U.S. and U.K. album charts. The following year they won a host of awards, including
prestigious accolades such as a Grammy for Album of the Year, the Polaris Prize, and BRIT awards for both Best International Album and Group,
among other honors and nominations.

Their success followed them on the road as they sold out shows across the globe, and in 2011 they released a deluxe version of Suburbs that
included a short film -- titled Scenes from the Suburbs -- directed by Spike Jonze. They began work on their fourth release in 2012 and enlisted
LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy for production duties. The album, entitled Reflektor, was released in October 2013.

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Album Review - from allmusic

After stunning the mainstream pop machine into a state of huffy, new school e-disbelief by beating out Eminem, Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga, and
Katy Perry for the 2011 Album of the year Grammy, Arcade Fire seemed poised for a U2-style international coup, but the Suburbs, despite its
stadium-ready sonic grandiosity, was far too homespun and idiosyncratic to infect the masses in the same way as the Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby.
Reflektor, the Montreal collective's much anticipated fourth long-player and first double-album, moves the group even further from pop culture
sanctification with a seismic yet impenetrable 13-track set (at 75 minutes it’s one minute over standard single disc capacity) that guts the
building but leaves the roof intact. Going big was never going to be a problem, especially for a band so well-versed in the art of anthem
husbandry, and they're still capable of shaking the rafters, as evidenced by the cool and circuitous, Roxy Music-forged, David Bowie-assisted
title cut, the lush, Regine Chassagne-led “It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus),” and the impossibly dense and meaty “We Exist,” but what ultimately
keeps Reflektor from sticking the landing is bloat. The stylistic shifts, courtesy of LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, aren’t nearly as jarring
as the turgid and Tiki-colored, almost seven-minute “Here Comes the Night Time,” the six minutes of rewinding tape that serve as the coda for
the otherwise lovely “Supersymmetry,” or the unnecessarily drawn-out fountain of white noise that should seamlessly connect the Gary Glittery
“Joan of Arc” with the Flaming Lips-ian “Here Comes the Night Time, Pt. 2,” but doesn’t because the songs are on separate discs. Flush with
artistic capital, they went on a bender, and in the process lost some of the warmth, jubilation, and capacity for empathy that made their first
three efforts so inclusive. Nevertheless, Reflektor is as fascinating as it is frustrating, an oddly compelling miasma of big pop moments and
empty sonic vistas that offers up a (full-size) snapshot of a band at its commerical peak, trying to establish eye contact from atop a mountain.

since we have previously posted Reflektor and Afterlife
I'll pick this one

[video=youtube;L35rpdiHH_8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L35rpdiHH_8[/video]

Track Listing

1. Reflektor
2. We Exist
3. Flashbulb Eyes
4. Here Comes the Night Time
5. Normal Person
6. You Already Know
7. Joan of Arc
8. Here Comes the Night Time, Pt. 2
9. Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)
10. It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus)
11. Porno
12. Afterlife
13. Supersymmetry

Arcade Fire - Reflektor - SteveO - 10-11-2013

Great reviews,,,more to come!:biggrin:

Arcade Fire - Reflektor - SteveO - 11-11-2013

^ Well well well...what a fantastic album Music Head! I streamed it in about 6 or 7 times...it's that good! Not a song on there that I don't like!!!actually Reflektor may be my least favourite track(but I like it!). A daring foray into electronica as well as very good pop songs, good hooks and melodies! There's a Bowie & Byrne influence here of sorts! I still think Win sounds a little like Neil Young..lol......Love that!

This track is especially great! Neil Youngish!!!!

[video=youtube;DIIQgDJNyiY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIIQgDJNyiY[/video]

Arcade Fire - Reflektor - Music Head - 11-11-2013

I agree with the Neil sound and the Heads influence

Arcade Fire - Reflektor - CRAZY-HORSE - 11-11-2013

there are certainly NY tones in his vocals in your link SteveO....

this one is already on my "end of year" list

Arcade Fire - Reflektor - TraceNspace - 12-11-2013

I like this and I heard Afterlife too, downloaded it. I will most likely complete the rest of the album from iTunes.

Arcade Fire - Reflektor - Music Head - 12-11-2013

TraceNspace Wrote:I like this and I heard Afterlife too, downloaded it. I will most likely complete the rest of the album from iTunes.
:frown:
hard copy

Arcade Fire - Reflektor - SteveO - 12-11-2013

I will be getting Christmas music coupons so I can wait until then to buy it!!!!

Arcade Fire - Reflektor - Music Head - 12-11-2013

same here
I won't be buying until January