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10.0
14843
10.0 |
Q
The Suburbs is a giant leap forward in songcraft. Print edition only
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10.0
15023
10.0 |
The Independent
The anxieties of Neon Bible still lurk in some of these songs – the unease of the "Modern Man" is rendered with the deceptive naivety of Talking Heads
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10.0
15031
10.0 |
The Fly
Boasts exquisite sophisticated songwriting that subtly taps into a sense of modern existential anxiety and elevates its makers yet again into a different musical league entirely
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10.0
15175
10.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
In an age where the album finds itself in peril, the idea of such an effort as this seems almost dangerous. But, you have to sort of treat it retroactively. Don’t run through it. Take a stroll. See the sights. Feel the vibes. Rinse and repeat
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10.0
15221
10.0 |
The Digital Fix
Grand but not bloated, artistic but not pretentious, thoughtful but not dull, The Suburbs is close to musical perfection
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10.0
15311
10.0 |
God Is In The TV
It doesn't matter if it sounds how Arcade Fire 'should' sound. The simple fact remains: 'The Suburbs' is a flawless album
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9.5
15192
9.5 |
The Line Of Best Fit
The message is simple: Arcade Fire has done it again. Get The Suburbs. Turn down the lights. Play it loud. Be blown away
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9.5
14740
9.5 |
BBC
The Suburbs is their most thrillingly engrossing chapter yet...You could call it their OK Computer. But it’s arguably better than that
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9.5
14955
9.5 |
Prefix
At this point, they have no competition but themselves. No other band is this bold, this daring. As long as Arcade Fire is making records, the music world is a better place
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9.3
15101
9.3 |
Beats Per Minute
Arcade Fire have crafted something truly remarkable here
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9.1
19559
9.1 |
A.V. Club
By and large, this is some of Arcade Fire’s most straightforward work to date
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9.0
15136
9.0 |
Rave Magazine
It’s not as grand as Funeral or as intense as Neon Bible, but The Suburbs is still as good as either
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9.0
15194
9.0 |
No Ripcord
They’ve spent most of the decade shouting to be heard, but now they are content to let the music and the message flower and take root
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9.0
19558
9.0 |
Slant Magazine
Another triumph of emotional generosity from the most humane and vital rock group of our generation
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9.0
15054
9.0 |
Independent on Sunday
Somehow, the Montreal septet have shrugged off the weight of their own self-importance and discovered a new sense of purpose
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9.0
15074
9.0 |
Under The Radar
OK Computer comparisons are inevitable, with its themes of technological dread and an overriding feeling that the damage done may well be irrevocable
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9.0
14936
9.0 |
musicOMH
To the doubters then, concerned after Neon Bible that the band had perhaps lost their early magnificence, this is a swift, elegant, engrossing and totally admirable rejoinder
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9.0
14941
9.0 |
NME
An album that combines mass accessibility with much greater ambition. Pretty much perfect, in other words
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9.0
14952
9.0 |
The 405
If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life I recommend you choose this
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9.0
14749
9.0 |
Spin
This is a bigger, more byzantine Arcade Fire. Words that serve as master keys in one lyric become hushed whispers in another
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9.0
14601
9.0 |
Clash
Album reviews are often littered with hyperbole yet ‘Suburbs’ flattens them like the demolition balls that have so shaped their urban subject matter... Further proof that The Arcade Fire may indeed be the best band on the planet
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8.6
15070
8.6 |
Pitchfork
By dropping Neon Bible's accusatory standpoint, The Suburbs delivers a life-affirming message similar to Funeral's: We're all in this together
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8.5
14978
8.5 |
FasterLouder
A different kind of record for Arcade Fire, subtle and slow-burning where previously they had been spectacular. But it may be their may be their greatest trick yet: a record all about boredom which manages to be kind of thrilling
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8.0
14983
8.0 |
Uncut
Arcade Fire have learned from the undiluted angst of Neon Bible, and the music here is simpler and sweeter
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8.0
15010
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
The evenness in tone does mean The Suburbs lacks either the explosive, erratic magic of Funeral or the clearly defined, brilliantly coloured melodies of Neon Bible...Would The Suburbs still work if it were pruned to its ten or 12 best songs? I doubt it’d do much damage
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8.0
15021
8.0 |
The Guardian
For the most part, The Suburbs' pleasures are subtle ones...The most surprising among them must be the discovery of Arcade Fire's sense of humour, hitherto unnoticed, possibly because it was hitherto nonexistent
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8.0
15024
8.0 |
The Irish Times
What they have done is artfully worked their way around themes of ageing, belonging and separation to an amorphous Krautrock/Sonic Youth backing. At times you feel your are in Berlin’s Hansa Studio in the mid-1970s
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8.0
14808
8.0 |
Rolling Stone
On their fantastic third album, The Suburbs, they aim higher than ever
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8.0
14844
8.0 |
Mojo
An overwhelming reassertion of the band's self-evident gift for melodious communion. Print edition only
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8.0
14917
8.0 |
Sputnik Music (staff)
Arcade Fire still have some of that magic encapsulated so perfectly in Funeral, and they may just enchant the entire indie music world once more
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8.0
15059
8.0 |
The Observer
This is an acutely observed record, rich with drama and saturated detail, retaining the authoritative dread of its predecessor, Neon Bible, while harking back to the childhood nostalgia of Arcade Fire's celebrated debut, Funeral
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8.0
15035
8.0 |
Evening Standard
Those in search of arms-aloft anthems will leave feeling short-changed; the rest of us will agree that, in the case of The Suburbs, less is more
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8.0
15050
8.0 |
Daily Telegraph
The Suburbs can be gruelling at times... There are, however, sufficient spiritually uplifting anthems aboard to take Arcade Fire finally into the superleague.
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8.0
15080
8.0 |
Tiny Mix Tapes
There’s nothing on The Suburbs as immediately gripping as “Wake Up” or quietly haunting as “Keep the Car Running,” but the album, with each song subtly flowing into the next, is not designed for standouts, but rather to be taken as a whole
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8.0
15118
8.0 |
The Scotsman
In truth, none of this, as revealing as it might be, amounts to vintage Arcade Fire. Thank heavens, then, for Butler's wife Regine Chassagne, who enters the album a full quarter of the way in
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8.0
19801
8.0 |
All Music
It’s serious without being preachy, cynical without dissolving into apathy, and whimsical enough to keep both sentiments in line
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7.0
15079
7.0 |
Bowlegs
At times it lacks the intensity and urgency of ‘Neon Bible.’ The sound and feel of the album seems to walk on safer ground than its predecessor
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6.0
15072
6.0 |
PopMatters
The Suburbs’ humorless, myopic critique of modern youth and suburban life is too empty a concept to sustain a 16-track album, and the band makes a big misstep by overestimating the impact of Butler’s musings
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6.0
14972
6.0 |
Eye Weekly
There are more than a few songs that start to drag ass into their fourth and fifth minute; still, The Suburbs does boast some perfectly haunting production
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6.0
15017
6.0 |
State
The Suburbs is fine – nothing more, nothing less. Arcade Fire are a good band, not yet a great one. If they can learn a to focus their vision, however, that status may be round the corner
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