The new Arcade Fire album will be called 'Neon Bible'

[gone now bye]

Neon Bible was a fucking rubbish, over-produced, boring album. Unless this one is universally hailed as a comeback, count me out.

[88h88]

Neon Bible was a fucking rubbish, over-produced, boring album. Unless this one is universally hailed as a comeback, count me out.

While I wouldn't go so far as to say 'rubbish', it certainly was a snoozefest. I can appreciate it but it did nothing for me at all, it was all 'nice' and nice doesn't grab you by the testicles, I wasn't lured in by anything.

[wretcherd]

Antichrist Television Blues is certainly a testicle-grabber.

In fact, sat here skipping through Neon Bible, every track has at least a section that constricts my testes.

Y'know, in a good way.

[Mogster]

Back when I bought the two albums, I actually preferred Neon Bible to start with. It has some really brilliant stuff on it, it just doesn't hang together quite as well as Funeral does. Intervention, Antichrist Television Blues and No Cars Go are particularly awesome, the latter being much better than the original.

I'm avoiding any of the new stuff until I get the album though. I want to listen to it all together before forming any opinions.

[The Liberal Elite]

Hilarious price for their 'special gig' next week - 30 fucking quid. not only that, but i'm fairly certain that there were none on sale fucking anywhere, unless they really did all sell out within 2 minutes of going live this morning, and some tout sites having a bunch up already for 150 quid each. GRR.

[pinholestar]

Saw them live in Sweden 2 nights ago at this place:

called Dalhalla, a former limestone quarry & the most spectacular venue I have ever been to.

Incredible live band & a highlight was one of the bandmembers going apeshit all over the stage during Rebellion (Lies) & then taking a running dive into the moat! Amazing scenes!

They played a few songs from their new album. The one that stuck in the mind is Rococo. It's up there with the best songs they have ever done, in my opinion & I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. Listen out for that one in particular; it's very special.

[anewman]

I'm really excited about the new one, naturally.

They don't have to do anything like Funeral again for me to carry on liking them. That'd be crazy scenes.

I also tried to get tickets for the Hackney Empire gig but it was no cars go. I guess you had to be in on the pre-sale.

[Silent Runner]

Has anyone seen this Arcade Fire/Google Chrome video

You put in your address where you grew up and it makes a video using Google Street View. I think it's pretty great.

Edit. For some reason I can't create a link. This is it:

http://www.chromeexperiments.com/arcadefire/

Edited April 11, 2011 by Silent Runner

[Rudi von Starnberg]

Is this the proper link you want?

[Silent Runner]

Yep.

[myoozikk]

Reflektor dropped yesterday & i think it's bloody incredible. James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem fame producing & you can really hear him shine through in the best possible way on this. Oh & some bloke called David Bowie helps out on BV's. What's not to like...

[KartoffelKopf]

Yeah, it's ace isn't it? Nice Anton Corbijn vid too

I'm getting a bit of a Talking Heads vibe from this which is never a bad thing.

[spork]

SO SO GOOD!

[stefcha]

I hated most of the music bar a bit of the last track and generally it just seems like they're about to disappear up their own arses even if it is a bit of fun. I'd kill for more like the first EP or Funeral, but that's never going to happen is it

[spork]

Another new video.

Best one yet!

[joeplus]

I'm getting quite excited about hearing this in full. "Here Comes the Night Time" is absolutely fucking spectacular and I am impatient for a version without Michael Cera jokes on it.

[spork]

Finally this is "out there".

[jonamok]

Really enjoyed my first full listen. Not as many obvious tunes as Suburbs, but some cracking tracks on there.

[MrPogo]

Vaguely annoyed to discover it's one of those "fake" double albums which would have actually gone onto a single disc. They always make me feel like I've been scammed into paying the extra couple of quid they command Good tunes but.

[Reidles]

Near the end of my first listen now, but it hasn't grabbed me yet.

The Suburbs was my first foray into Arcade Fire after trying a few times with bits of Neon Bible, and I loved it first time. I now love Neon Bible almost as much and Funeral is great too. This one may take a few more listens.

'Side/Disc 1' seems a bit weaker at the moment and enjoying from Joan Of Arc onwards pretty consistently. It seems to have a little bit more flow which their albums do so well. The first few tracks almost sounded like it was 'Win Butler sings David Bowie', but still...It's good to have them back!

[Mogster]

It's definitely a grower, although I actually preferred the first half to start with. It's got less tracks that pop out at you the way The Suburbs often did, but it all comes together really well as an album. It's perhaps missing the pure energy of some of their older stuff though.

[Stanley]

Their best album yet. Love the James Murphy production really adds to their sound. The slower second side is really atmospheric.

[Marlowe]

I found the bass a bit muddy on the title track, so initially I was thinking "what's all this fuss about the production?" Rest of the tracks sound good, though.

Maybe it'll grow on me, but so far this is easily their weakest album for me. It lacks the emotional urgency of their other stuff, partly because Win Butler's lyrics seem so tired and unmemorable, but also because their sound has been softened with looser arrangements, slow-tempo rhythms, extra percussion, and the warm synths that have largely replaced the violins. These elements obviously aren't bad in themselves (Sprawl II is one of my favourites and that's all warm synths and fairly slow-tempo), but it's just the way they come together here. The production is cleaner and tighter than ever but the songs all seem so distant and unengaging to me. It's also a shame that there isn't really a cohesive theme to tie the album together -- that was always something that set them apart.

[Jonzo]

anyone else manage to get roundhouse tickets this morning?

[joeplus]

If they lopped off "You Already Know" and "Flashbulb Eyes" and stopped pretending it's a double album, this would definitely be their best.

"Here Comes The Night Time", "Normal Person" and "Afterlife" are absolutely fucking incredible,

[Purin]

'Flashbulb Eyes' is really cringeworthy, I like 'You Already Know', but...

...Jonathan fucking Ross though. Ruins the song, and near enough ruins disc 1 for me.

What on earth were they thinking???

[joeplus]

It seems to be a reference to the time they went on his show and Win got all upset and smashed a camera.

[Garwoofoo]

I really don't like the album. It's too long, too self-indulgent (that final track... ugh), and it simply doesn't have the impact of any of their previous three albums. The lyrics have mostly gone to shit and the synthy 80s production does nothing for me. Barring the title track, there's hardly anything on it that stands out, it just sort of blurs into an hour of medocrity. It doesn't sound like the same band, and if I heard this without knowing it was Arcade Fire, it wouldn't inspire me to listen to anything else by them. It's just rather dull.

[Mogster]

I quite like Flashbulb Eyes, and love You Already Know.

But yeah, it is missing those standouts. I think it's possibly their most consistent album in terms of quality, but there's no Intervention calibre tracks that really grab you on their own.

[Rudi von Starnberg]

I ended up loving The Suburbs after really disliking the earliest songs they revealed at first, but this album... bored. So bored. So disappointed.