Albums to watch

Everything Now

Arcade Fire

Everything Now

Fifth album from the Canadian indie rock band co-produced by Thomas Bangalter (Daft Punk), Steve Mackey (Pulp), Geoff Barrow (Portishead), and Markus Dravs, who co-produced their past three albums

ADM rating[?]

6.5

Label
Columbia
UK Release date
28/07/2017
US Release date
28/07/2017
  1. 10.0 |   NME

    Bigger, bolder and more fearful of the future than ever on their colossal fifth album
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  2. 10.0 |   The Independent

    'Everything Now' album feels like staggering through a disco with a dagger in your side
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  3. 10.0 |   The Arts Desk

    Arcade Fire have learned the fine art of parodying while simultaneously honouring their source material, and it’s a thrilling thing to experience
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  4. 8.8 |   Paste Magazine

    As brainwashing goes, it’s genius—and as a piece of art, Everything Now is not only worthwhile but rather brilliant
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  5. 8.3 |   Earbuddy

    Many of Everything Now‘s songs are good and some are great. Even the ones that are arguably bad like “Chemistry” aren’t without their charms
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  6. 8.0 |   Slant Magazine

    Everything Now is by far Arcade Fire's most upbeat and easily digestible effort to date
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  7. 8.0 |   DIY

    Some of their most sky-reaching moments yet
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  8. 8.0 |   Rolling Stone

    More comfortable in their dancing shoes, Arcade Fire have it both ways on Everything Now, zeroing in on our modern malaise while taking inspiration from more concise dance-pop styles
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  9. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    The sound of a band coming back to what they've always done best says
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  10. 8.0 |   The Observer

    Win Butler and co counter the excesses of global infotainment with a rousing mix of disco, electropop and killer tunes
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  11. 8.0 |   The Music

    An album of infectious pop songs with such irresistible uplift that it is impossible not to take flight and soar sky-high on these feel-good vibes
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  12. 8.0 |   Uncut

    An intoxicating ride
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  13. 8.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Whatever it is you crave, chances are you'll find a taste of it here. Whether forging an escape or a space for reality to hit home, Everything Now is a celebration of, well, everything
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  14. 7.5 |   AU Review

    Whether you’re a fan of Arcade Fire or not, you have to admire their ability to continuously reinvent their sound in a way that seems fresh and unique, despite clearly being influenced by sounds we’ve heard before
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  15. 7.5 |   Gig Soup

    Sees Arcade Fire move in a new direction, but it's not a radical reworking so much as an accentuation of their preexisting pop prowess; forgive the album the occasional stumble and there's much reward to be found here
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  16. 7.5 |   A.V. Club

    Everything Now could stand to be more disciplined, though its looseness is also a reminder of how Arcade Fire leaped past its indie-rock peers by being an honest-to-goodness hot, swinging combo, feeding off each other and the crowd
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  17. 7.0 |   musicOMH

    When it’s good, it’s very, very good – but it’s also flawed
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  18. 7.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    There will be those Everything Now alienates, but Arcade Fire are not your corporate product
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  19. 7.0 |   American Songwriter

    So view Everything Now as a glass half empty due to its inconsistency or as a glass half full of standout singles. You won’t be able to ignore it though, which, in today’s crowded musical landscape, is triumph in itself
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  20. 6.0 |   Prefix

    A solid listen, but it expands the band's scope without maintaining its focus or its usual fiery energy
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  21. 6.0 |   Exclaim

    They're not back at their best, but on Everything Now, Arcade Fire once again sound like the world-beaters they were on The Suburbs without forgoing the acidity, swagger and scope of Reflektor
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  22. 6.0 |   NOW

    An ironic, irreverent tone renders some songs frivolous, but Everything Now comes in for a smooth landing by the end
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  23. 6.0 |   Q

    Offers an underwhelming kind of overload: too much, but still not quite enough. Print edition only

  24. 6.0 |   Mojo

    State of the union address from the Montreal sextet. Print edition only

  25. 6.0 |   The Skinny

    While there is still plenty to love here, Everything Now feels like Arcade Fire's first non-essential album which is a serious matter given their illustrious back-catalogue
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  26. 6.0 |   No Ripcord

    For the most part, Everything Now is a massive disappointment, a big stumble in Arcade Fire’s career. It’s their weakest album by far. But there are segments of radiant brilliance that will make you wonder what could have been
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  27. 6.0 |   God Is In The TV

    The choral baroque-pop of their beginnings may be long gone but the character of Arcade Fire: ambition, epic power and an empathetic consideration for society are still present
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  28. 6.0 |   All Music

    Arcade Fire sought to make a Big Statement but instead produced one of their least impactful works
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  29. 5.8 |   Consequence Of Sound

    For the first time in their storied career, Win Butler and co. sound insubstantial
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  30. 5.6 |   Pitchfork

    Finds them in musical and lyrical stasis. The pale, joyless songs don’t transcend their social critique—they succumb to it
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  31. 5.5 |   Spectrum Culture

    Do we need another album about the excess of consumer culture?
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  32. 5.0 |   Pretty Much Amazing

    For the first time in their career, Arcade Fire haven’t made a record; they’ve manufactured one
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  33. 5.0 |   Loud And Quiet

    Everything Now (the single) is the perfect avatar for the album that follows: superficially pleasant, sporadically intriguing, temporarily addictive and, under scrutiny, woefully underdeveloped
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  34. 5.0 |   PopMatters

    Arcade Fire is not old enough for this work as late career orthodoxy nor suave enough to cook these observations into delicious bites
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  35. 5.0 |   Under The Radar

    This is the band as a shell of themselves, an uninspiring slog of half-baked ideas following a "trying-by-not-trying" attitude. The grandiose heights of Funeral seem light-years away
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  36. 4.0 |   State

    Bogged down with an overly negative motif and a seeming lack of inspiration, Everything Now is a surefire misstep from a band that should be at the peak of their powers, and a return to former glory will require some serious soul searching
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  37. 4.0 |   The Irish Times

    Perhaps the patchiest, least effective album that Arcade Fire have so far released
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  38. 4.0 |   Clash

    Arcade Fire live shows are known for bringing together thousands in celebratory unison, though 'Everything Now' alienates the listener with snarky commentary and pretentious preaching, which leave us cold and unsatisfied
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  39. 3.0 |   Punk News

    You have a few little gems here and there but Arcade Fire truly disappoint. I can't wait for their next album to hopefully rectify this
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  40. 3.0 |   Tiny Mix Tapes

    Everything Now is, in many ways, the opposite of what great indie rock is purported to be, beckoning us away from consciousness, not toward it
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  41. 2.0 |   The 405

    It’s a compositional mess, somehow both gratuitously moralising and morally repugnant, duller than watching already-dry paint, and I don’t want to waste another word on it
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