I'm still taking this album in. Arcade Fire has some lofty ideas that often fall beneath the weight of the band's musical ambitions. Even when the band is on message it's difficult for me to relate to their existential angst or become consumed by depth of their middle class rage, especially on a cd recording. Like their earlier albums the material on The Suburbs is uneven and the band seems to rely on a self imposed quota of 3 or 4 sublime songs on each album, and then for the remaining songs, the band lowers it's standard of excellence, so they can get to the pub before last call.
In concert it all seems less contrived because Arcade Fire plays with as much fury and passion as any live band I've ever seen.
For me a great deal of Arcade Fire's charm is their frenetic visual appeal at live shows. If you only listen to their albums, then you're missing that element of performance art that makes Arcade Fire more than the sum of it's parts. Their trademark wall of sound approach often sounds cramped up and claustrophobic in a studio recording which is a stark contrast to the primal majesty of their live sound. Arcade Fire has self produced all of their albums and the band is clearly in need of a good outside producer who can fine tune some of the rougher edges of their studio sound.
All three studio albums are good, but only good enough convince me that Arcade Fire's own collective sense of inertia is the only thing that keeps them from being a brilliant band. If Arcade Fire stops slacking off and starts swinging for the fences, they could be one of the great bands of this generation.
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