No, seriously. I mean, the rest of their new album The Suburbs is also great for very different reasons, but the closing track "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" threatens to outshine and overshadow and dwarf everything else they've ever done. It's like Sarah Brightman meets The Knife meets Empire Of The Sun or something. Coming to a hipster electro-indie dancefloor near you with absolute inevitability. How amazing is this?

I was reading your tweets, so I Googled "Arcade Fire disco" to try to find the song. This thread is the 8th result on the page.

Yeah, it's really good. But the lyrics...I've read the album is about suburbia. If this is any indication, seems like it could equal American Beauty in subtlety and understanding of actual people that live in a suburb.

Yeah, that's good stuff (albeit five years after everyone else had a go at disco, but there's never a bad time).

I'm still ambivalent about Arcade Fire. I like the fact they do things properly, but I don't think they've earned their overwrought "anthemic" aesthetic - not least because their songs aren't really about anything. When I saw them live at Latitude (where else?) I noticed how everything they've got goes "Woah oah oah oah!" or "Aahh ahh aaah ahh!" or, for a treat, "Woah woah ah ah ahh!" You spent the rest of the time chewing your way through a lot of wholemeal chuntering about nothing much, anticipating the next "Whoah" bit. And you're not really sure why.

It's funny that they get the thumbs up from The Culture Show et al, despite being ultimately a bit daft - goes to show the mesmerising effect of a 5.0 grade average.

Lucia Lanigan wrote:
Yeah, that's good stuff (albeit five years after everyone else had a go at disco, but there's never a bad time).

I'm still ambivalent about Arcade Fire. I like the fact they do things properly, but I don't think they've earned their overwrought "anthemic" aesthetic - not least because their songs aren't really about anything. When I saw them live at Latitude (where else?) I noticed how everything they've got goes "Woah oah oah oah!" or "Aahh ahh aaah ahh!" or, for a treat, "Woah woah ah ah ahh!" You spent the rest of the time chewing your way through a lot of wholemeal chuntering about nothing much, anticipating the next "Whoah" bit. And you're not really sure why.

It's funny that they get the thumbs up from The Culture Show et al, despite being ultimately a bit daft - goes to show the mesmerising effect of a 5.0 grade average.

What he said, except I saw them at Ally Pally.

Fair critique of their debut effort, but sort of ignores their whole second album.

As indeed most people who gave it a play have done ever since.

Well played.

I dunno, I think 'going disco' is fast becoming the last refuge of the creatively bankrupt. That Arcade Fire track sounds pretty dull and plodding to me. In other words, it's shorn of all the things that make disco, you know, fun and that.

There was an article somewhere about how they wanted James Murphy to produce this album but their timing got all screwed up. He said something about hoping to do the next one.

Lucia Lanigan wrote:
Yeah, that's good stuff (albeit five years after everyone else had a go at disco, but there's never a bad time).

I'm still ambivalent about Arcade Fire. I like the fact they do things properly, but I don't think they've earned their overwrought "anthemic" aesthetic - not least because their songs aren't really about anything. When I saw them live at Latitude (where else?) I noticed how everything they've got goes "Woah oah oah oah!" or "Aahh ahh aaah ahh!" or, for a treat, "Woah woah ah ah ahh!" You spent the rest of the time chewing your way through a lot of wholemeal chuntering about nothing much, anticipating the next "Whoah" bit. And you're not really sure why.

It's funny that they get the thumbs up from The Culture Show et al, despite being ultimately a bit daft - goes to show the mesmerising effect of a 5.0 grade average.

The Suburbs is very much About Something.

Let me guess . . . city living? No, getting it together in the countryside!

erm, isn't this about 40% too slow to be a proper disco song? It's certainly no neighbourhood 1 (tunnels)

I loved the first arcade fire album, was crushingly disappointed by the second one, and i'm very nervous about listening to this one.

I'd say this track is one of the highlights. There's only a few that stand out. I'll have to listen to it again this weekend but first thoughts last night was it wasn't a patch on Neon Bible which I like a lot, or Funeral which I absolutely love to pieces. I actually think it lacks a bit of musical ambition but that makes me sound a bit of a twat.

Funeral = Some People Have Died
Neon Bible = Hang on! Everyone dies!
Suburbs = But, phew! not just yet. Maybe I should move back to the suburbs. I was happier there as a kid...

I'm cautiously becoming a fan of AF again after hearing this once.

I will merely rehash two previous posts.

1/It sounds slower than most disco.
2/It sounds plodding.

I find it amusing how Neon Bible is currently being slated by the same critics that creamed themselves over it when it came out, eg knob in the Guardian. I'm yet to give Suburbs a proper listen.

A Neon Bible Study
by David Buckna
www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07030103.htm

I think this albums'a a real grower. Neon Bible wasn't so great but had a few great tracks it just didn't have the consistency. The same to a lesser degree for the excellent first LP. But this one...you could live in it. It's a fantastic grower and my favourite of a promising year so far. Give it another spin you naysayers! City with no Children is probably the best track they've ever done.

It's just repeating the obvious to say the third album's the real bugger. Do what people want to hear and you're just repeating yourself. Don't do what they want and you could alienate your following. But yeah, after two listens-through, this one sounds really solid. I'm enjoying it.