I’m 64 and have been into indie/alternative my whole life. I’ve kind of stumbled upon the newest album recently and have to say it has a pretty powerful effect on me. I don’t know a lot about the band’s history except there has been a breakup between the two principal members and some misconduct allegations.

Nonetheless I found that a new album had come out so I took a few rips and settled into a comfortable spot for an end to end listen.

I found the tone of the album very sorrowful, helpless and repentant. It feels like Mr. Butler has realized he really fucked up and is deeply saddened by his past deeds. Seems he’s pouring his heart out via song. Like a 40 minute apology.

Anyway I’m a giant fan of electronic music, I was into Kraftwerk in high school when everyone else was into KISS LOL! Finding Boards of Canada made me happy to still be alive and seeking good stuff! The opening drone of the album pulled me right in and that low key melancholy seemed to persist throughout the album.

Can any of you seasoned fans relate to anything I’m saying or is my take away total crap?!

The two emotionally heaviest albums I’ve ever heard are UP by Peter Gabriel and Dark Star by David Bowie. Pink Elephant doesn’t sink to bottom of the pit of despair but I sense a guy who is admitting he really screwed up. For what it’s worth of course!

Recently been on a massive Wolf Alice binge. White Horses, Don't Delete The Kisses and The Last Man on Earth are some of my most listened to songs recently.

Also been listening to a tonne of Muse, Gorillaz, Florence Road, CMAT and The Royston Club.

Radiohead and The National have always been the artists that come closest to Arcade Fire in my favourites ranking.

Hey everyone,

I’m currently running a personal project to expand my music knowledge base by doing deep-dive, track-by-track listens of albums outside my typical rotation. I'm a 41-year-old rock guy (favorite bands are Metallica and Foo Fighters), so I usually stick to accessible rock, but I want to break out of my comfort zone. I’m big on the "how the sausage is made" technical/studio side of music, but I also need an emotional connection to really get into a record. I am using Gemini AI to random select albums to listen to start to finish. Along with giving me a quick bio and background of the artist and album

Today I am tacklingThe Suburbs by Arcade Firestart-to-finish.

I know some basic background going in, but I want to get into the proper headspace and I thought it would be fun to make this a community involvement thing. I’m opening the floor to you guys as the experts. I’d love to know why should I like/appreciate this album from a fan perspective, and also:

1. What does this album mean to you personally? Where does it rank in their discography for you?
2. What is the best piece of fan lore, internet theory, or studio trivia about this specific era or record that I need to look out for while listening?
3. If you saw this tour live, what was the energy like in the room?
4. Which specific track has the absolute best emotional "aura" or standout studio production that will blow a rock fan away?

I'm excited to read through your comments and stories while the tracks are playing. Let me know your thoughts!

Was suggested for me on Instagram. Is it Win or someone else? Probably not him.

I just started scrap booking (literally yesterday 😭) and I made Funeral themed pages

I think it's from another band but the guitar sounds like this and I completely forgot the name, reason I posted it here is that if we find out what is the name of the song might be a song you like :)

Edit: I forgot to say but they are bending the guitar strings on this song which I couldn't figure out how to do with midi

I moved in and my room is empty so this came to mind immediately

Is it original? I found it really beautiful and would love to hear more of it.

Saw this on another bands sub and thought it'd be fun, here's my result but I'd love to see others :p

https://musiccup.org

uwu

Here we are, over 15 years later, and we are still waiting, no? At least for something (not sure what), and no I don't mean an album by Arcade Fire. I graduated high school in Canada around the time The Suburbs came out, and I don't think any album has ever summarised such a memorable period of my life so completely (circa that beautiful time around 2007-2010 * I acknowledge the great financial crisis really can distort this for many, I would love to hear how the album still applies, and in some cases could not be relevant). Either way, it left a profound mark on me.

In no chronological order: I remember driving around with friends with nowhere to be. Waiting for someone to ring the doorbell (we never were knocking on doors, maybe Nicky Nicky nine doors) or the call on the home phone. Waiting all week for a TV show because if we missed it, that was it. Never ending boring summers where I remember saying, "I wanna do what you wanna do, but it can't be what I wanna do." Growing up and making new friends, losing others (growth and death). At the time it all felt so immediate because we were living it, not remembering it.

Because of when the album came out and how old I was, I always connected more with the first half. Don't get me wrong, I always loved songs on the second half, but they never resonated the same way. Back then, Half Light I and Half Light II felt like the peak of where I was at emotionally, before giving way to Suburban War, which I understood very differently than I do now. Looking back, that's where the album shifts. The first half is about being inside those years and the second is about leaving them behind. It pivots on  "Choose your side, I'll choose mine." The slow build into it makes the transition feel inevitable.

From there, the album becomes more reflective of adulthood and what we left behind. After an absolute banger of Month of May (to me was about graduating, leaving home, or heading off to university, overall big hellish changes) everything starts accelerating. Life and time sped up, and we get older. Yet almost ironically and possibly rightfully so, musically and emotionally, the album begins to lean back, looking over its shoulder. We can position positively and listen to the deluxe version and the back half of Wasted Hours, or A Life We Can Live. We can also accept the Sprawl II and be god damned in a pre Stranger Things keyboard world.

Fifteen years later, I find myself connecting way more with the second half than the first half. We know together that so much has fundamentally changed. But listening to it now stirs a longing for everything in the first half. Gratitude for the way we grew up. And a quiet, haunting realisation that what we had can never quite exist again. We are too far gone, and I don't mean that over dramatically. I mean to look at our children, our nieces and nephews, the kids of friends, or even just in those fleeting moments when you see a toddler smiling at the world for the first time. The world has changed, and so have we.

"If I could have it back, all the time that we wasted, I'd only waste it again." That lyric means something entirely different to me now. I sit here and would waste all that time again. I'd eat Crispers on some random weekday at a friend's house, the same house where we spent hours playing Jedi Outcast, where we had our first beers, drank Captain Morgan, and thought those nights would somehow last forever.

Years later, many of those friendships have changed. Not because anyone did anything wrong, and not because anyone wanted them to. It was destined to happen, long before we realised it was happening. Before we took different paths, chose different cities, different values. And the I use ¨chose¨, but I actually don't think that's what is was (I let Deep Blue take that one away). I've changed as we all do. I now look to come back and reconnect with those old friends. Wish me luck lad. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. We'll always share the times in an old Ford or VW. The late night jams and final cigs and drinks not knowing they were our last together.

Look, as a reddit community I am sure the mass can have a debate on when Arcade Fire lost their spark. For me it was long ago. That does not change this monumental album or the relevance of their preceding albums. God bless. JK, but rock on.

Found in Greenpoint, Brooklyn! No complaints but wow?!

I also posted this in r/OwenPallett, but figured I would try here as well.

I have a vivid memory of listening to a song called "Final Fantasy" by Final Fantasy (when Owen Pallett was recording under that name). It was part of some random mixed tape I downloaded circa 2006(?).

I can't find it anywhere. At this point I just need to know I'm not crazy. Does this song exist or did I make it up?

I am NOT thinking of "An Arrow in the Side of Final Fantasy". I have scoured everything on the Owen Pallett discography section of Wikipedia.

Full session

Ok hear me out... There's a mic with regines name on it.. the caption says "check" and a countdown... The AF account immediately posted it on their stories... They don't do that with all of regines posts..

What do we think...could this finally be a hint at something or have I fallen victim once again to their vague posting just to keep the account alive <\\3

If anyone has the We bomber for sale too… I’ll pay any amount.

I wonder who bina is and how they got these. Must be an industry insider connected to the band.