The Suburbs

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Untitled

The Suburbs is the third studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released in August 2010. Coinciding with the announcement the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing two tracks from the album, "The Suburbs" and "Month of May".[1][2] The album debuted at #1 on the Irish Albums Chart on August 5, the UK Albums Chart on August 8, the U.S. Billboard 200 chart on August 11,[3] and the Canadian Albums Chart on August 11, 2010.[4] It won Album of the Year at the 2011 Grammy Awards and Best International Album at the 2011 BRIT Awards.[5] Two weeks after winning Album of the Year, the album jumped from No. 52 to No. 12 on the Billboard 200, the album's highest ranking since August 2010. Despite this, it's the first album not to reach the chart's top ten after winning that award since U2's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, which only reached No. 49 in the post-Grammy weeks in 2006 [6].

Background

The album's lyrical content is inspired by band members Win and William Butler's upbringing in the suburbs of Houston.[7] According to Win Butler, the album "is neither a love letter to, nor an indictment of, the suburbs - it's a letter from the suburbs."[8] The album was recorded in Win Butler and Régine Chassagne's residence in Montreal, with some parts being recorded at the band's studio in Quebec and in New York City.[2] Win Butler describes the overall sound of The Suburbs as "a mix of Depeche Mode and Neil Young,"[9] stating that he wanted the album to sound like "the bands that I heard when I was very young, and wondered what those crazy noises were."[10] It was released by Merge Records in North America and by Mercury Records in the United Kingdom.

The band pressed each completed song to a 12" lacquer, then recorded it back for the digital master of the album.[11] As a result, the CD and digital versions of the album sound the same as the vinyl,[11] although, as with most recent CD and digital releases, there is some compression applied. There are eight alternative covers for the CD version of the album.[12]

Promotion

A video for "Ready to Start" was released on August 20, 2010, directed by Charlie Lightning and filmed at the band's July 7, 2010 concert at the Hackney Empire in London.[13] On August 30, 2010, an interactive video was released for "We Used to Wait" at http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com, written and directed by Chris Milk, designed in conjunction with Google Chrome, which makes use of Google Maps and Google Street View, and has been featured in Time Magazine's "Short List".[14]

Another music video, for the title track "The Suburbs", was released on November 18, 2010, directed by Spike Jonze. The video, filmed in Austin, Texas follows a group of teenagers living the suburbs and features a cameo of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne as cops. The music video is composed of excerpts from Jonze's short film, Scenes From The Suburbs, which will debut at the Berlin Film Festival, and has a running time of 30 minutes.[15]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[16]
The A.V. Club(A-)[17]
BBC Online(favorable)[18]
Robert Christgau(A-)[19]
Entertainment Weekly(A-)[20]
NME(9/10)[21]
Pitchfork Media(8.6/10)[22]
Rolling Stone[23]
Slant Magazine[24]
Spin(9/10)[25]

The album has received widely positive reviews from critics. Collating 39 reviews, the review aggregator website Metacritic gave the album an average score of 87%, which puts it into the category of "universal acclaim".[26]

Writing for the BBC, Mike Diver wrote, "The Suburbs is [Arcade Fire's] most thrillingly engrossing chapter yet; a complex, captivating work that, several cycles down the line, retains the magic and mystery of that first tentative encounter."[18] Referring to the critically acclaimed 1997 Radiohead album, Diver went on to say, "You could call it their OK Computer. But it’s arguably better than that."

Several reviewers compared the album favorably to Arcade Fire's earlier work. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone awarded the album four out of five stars and described The Suburbs as "their fantastic third album".[23] Ian Cohen of Pitchfork.com gave the album a rating of 8.6 out of 10, calling it "a satisfying return to form-- proof that Arcade Fire can still make grand statements without sounding like they're carrying the weight of the world."[22] Noel Murray of The AV Club described the album as "like one long sequel" to the band's earlier single "No Cars Go", giving it a rating of A-.[17]

Having awarded the album four and a half stars out of five, David Marchese's review in Spin describes the album as, "Radiant with apocalyptic tension and grasping to sustain real bonds, [it] extends hungrily outward, recalling the dystopic miasma of William Gibson's sci-fi novels and Sonic Youth's guitar odysseys. Desperate to elude its own corrosive dread, it keeps moving, asking, looking, and making the promise that hope isn't just another spiritual cul-de-sac."[25]

NME's reviewer, Emily Mackay, awarded the album a score of 9 out of 10 and said, "They've judged their moment perfectly, and this deserves to be their 'Automatic for the People'; an album that combines mass accessibility with much greater ambition. Pretty much perfect, in other words – and despite their best efforts, listening to it feels just like coming home."[21] The record was "Album of the Month" in UNCUT, whose reviewer Alastair McKay gave the album 4 stars out of 5, calling it "a surprising record, swapping the spit and fire of Funeral for a sense of mature playfulness", and concluding that "[it] explores the badlands between safety and boredom. It’s nostalgic, with a sense of future dread. There is pain and pleasure, loss and hope. It feels like the anesthetic is wearing off."[27]

"The Suburbs" was awarded Exclaim!'s No. 1 Pop & Rock Album of 2010.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page). Writer Andrea Warner summarized the disc as "a perfect actualization of the suburbs as metaphor for the classic North American dream: a smoothly perfect veneer covering up the lush complexity of motivation. It's not just metaphor, but goes a step further to exemplify the quintessential Arcade Fire sound ― a controlled frenzy, pushing and reaching for something more."

Awards and accolades

The album was Album of the Year at the 53rd Grammy Awards, won Best International Album at the 2011 BRIT Awards and was also on numerous best-albums-of-the-year lists:

The single "Ready to Start" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.[50]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sarah Neufeld, Richard Reed Parry, Jeremy Gara, Win Butler, Will Butler, Regine Chassagne & Tim Kingsbury

No.TitleLength
1."The Suburbs"5:14
2."Ready to Start"4:15
3."Modern Man"4:39
4."Rococo"3:56
5."Empty Room"2:51
6."City with No Children"3:11
7."Half Light I"4:13
8."Half Light II (No Celebration)"4:25
9."Suburban War"4:45
10."Month of May"3:50
11."Wasted Hours"3:20
12."Deep Blue"4:28
13."We Used to Wait"5:01
14."Sprawl I (Flatland)"2:54
15."Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"5:25
16."The Suburbs (continued)"1:27
  • "Suburban War" is track 15 on the vinyl version of the album.

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[51] 6
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[52] 1
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[53] 4
Canadian Albums Chart[54] 1
Dutch Albums Chart[55] 4
Finland's Official List[56] 5
German Albums Chart[57] 4
Irish Albums Chart[58] 1
Italian Albums Chart[59] 17
Norwegian Albums Chart[60] 1
Portuguese Albums Chart[61] 1
Spanish Albums Chart 2
Swedish Albums Chart[62] 8
UK Albums Chart[63] 1
U.S. Billboard 200[64] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2010) Position
US Billboard 200 80[65]
Preceded by UK Albums Chart number-one album
8 August 2010 – August 15, 2010 		Succeeded by
Recovery by Eminem
Preceded by Irish Albums Chart number-one album
August 5, 2010 - August 19, 2010
Preceded by
Recovery by Eminem
 Canadian Albums Chart number-one album
August 11, 2010 - August 18, 2010
Preceded by U.S. Billboard 200 number-one album
August 21, 2010 – August 28, 2010
Preceded by Grammy Award for Album of the Year
13 February 2011-

Personnel

Template:Multicol Arcade Fire (mixing, production, arrangement):

Other personnel:

Template:Multicol-break

Technical personnel

  • Owen Pallett – string arrangements
  • Markus Dravs – co-production
  • Mark Lawson – recording
  • Craig Silvey – mixing
  • Nick Launay – additional mixing (tracks 2, 4 & 15)
  • Marcus Paquin, Don Murnaghan and Noah Goldstein – additional recording
  • Brian Thorn – assistant (Magic Shop)
  • Brad Bell – assistant (Public Hi-Fi)
  • Adam Greenspan – assistant
  • Caroline Robert – artwork design
  • Vincent Morisset – art direction
  • Gabriel Jones – photography (assisted by Joey Matthews & Stephane Fiore)

Template:Multicol-end

See also

References

  1. ^ "Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs to be released August 3". Nationalpost.com. Retrieved May 27, 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Hear Two New Arcade Fire Songs and an Interview". NPR's All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen talked to Arcade Fire's Win and Will Butler about the record, while also offering a special preview of the songs "Month of May" and "The Suburbs." Retrieved May 27, 2010.
  3. ^ "Billboard 200 - Week of August 21, 2010". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
  4. ^ "Arcade Fire heats up charts". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
  5. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_BRIT_Awards
  6. ^ http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/74333/week-ending-feb-20-2011-albums-an-early-birthday-present/
  7. ^ "Arcade Fire reveal meaning behind 'The Suburbs' album title" (May 27, 2010)
  8. ^ NME Magazine, 31 July 2010, pg. 24
  9. ^ http://www.spin.com/articles/new-arcade-fire-depeche-mode-meets-neil-young
  10. ^ NME Magazine, 31 July 2010, pg. 25
  11. ^ a b "Vinyl - Arcade Fire".
  12. ^ Prince, David J. (2010-07-14). "Arcade Fire: The Billboard Cover Story". Billboard.com. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-08-12.
  13. ^ "Ready to Start video". YouTube. August 20, 2010. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  14. ^ Corliss, Richard; Paul Moakley; James Poniewozik; Steven James Snyder (13 September 2010). "Short List: Time's Picks for the week". Time Magazine. p. 67. 4 [MUSIC VIDEO] www.thewildernessdowntown.com {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
  15. ^ Richardson, Mark (18 November 2010). "Watch: Video for Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs"". Retrieved 18 November 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |Music webzine= ignored (help)
  16. ^ Monger, James Christopher. "allmusic - The Suburbs Review". Retrieved August 2, 2010.
  17. ^ a b Murray, Noel (August 3, 2010). "Arcade Fire The Suburbs". Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  18. ^ a b Diver, Mike (July 21, 2010). "Arcade Fire The Suburbs Review". BBC. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
  19. ^ Christgau, Robert. "M.I.A./The Arcade Fire". Retrieved January 7, 2011.
  20. ^ Greenblatt, Leah. "Entertainment Weekly - The Suburbs Review". Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  21. ^ a b Mackay, Emily. "The Album Verdict". NME. 31 July 2010. London: IPC Media: p. 27. {{cite journal}}: |page= has extra text (help)
  22. ^ a b Cohen, Ian. "Pitchfork: Album Reviews: Arcade Fire: The Suburbs". Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  23. ^ a b Sheffield, Rob (August 3, 2010). "Arcade Fire: The Suburbs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
  24. ^ Cole, Matthew. "Arcade Fire: The Suburbs - Music Review - Slant Magazine". Retrieved August 16, 2010.
  25. ^ a b Marchese, David (July 21, 2010). "Arcade Fire, 'The Suburbs' (Merge)". Spin. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
  26. ^ "The Suburbs by The Arcade Fire". Retrieved August 13, 2010.
  27. ^ McKay, Alastair. "Album Review: Arcade Fire - The Suburbs". UNCUT. September 2010. London: IPC Media: p. 80. {{cite journal}}: |page= has extra text (help)
  28. ^ "Arcade Fire discuss 2010" Retrieved 30 December 2010.
  29. ^ "Clash's Top 40 Albums of 2010" Retrieved 26 December 2010.
  30. ^ "Pop & Rock: Year in Review 2010" Retrieved 26 December 2010.
  31. ^ http://www.sputnikmusic.com/news.php?newsid=16204
  32. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/kingsmill/playlist/s3091125.htm
  33. ^ [1]
  34. ^ "MAGNET’s Top 20 Albums Of 2010" Retrieved 26 December 2010.
  35. ^ "NME's Top 75 Albums of 2010" Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  36. ^ http://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/music/features/23797-our-top-10-albums-of-2010/
  37. ^ [2] Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  38. ^ http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2035319_2034644_2034636,00.html
  39. ^ "Under the Radar’s Top 50 Albums of 2010" Retrieved 26 December 2010.
  40. ^ "The Top 40 Best Albums of 2010" Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  41. ^ "Kanye West, Robyn And More: 20 Best Albums Of 2010" Retrieved 26 December 2010.
  42. ^ "Rolling Stone's Best Albums of 2010" Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  43. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2010" Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  44. ^ Songwriter’s Top 50 Albums Of 2010 Retrieved 26 December 2010.
  45. ^ "Drowned in Sound's albums of the year 2010: 50-11" Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  46. ^ "Pitchfork Staff Lists:The Top 50 Albums of 2010" Retrieved 17 December 2010.
  47. ^ "Albums of the Year" Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  48. ^ "The Glide 20: Our Top Albums of 2010" Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  49. ^ "50 Favorites: From Thomas Ades To Buke And Gass" Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  50. ^ http://www.grammy.com/nominees
  51. ^ "australian-charts.com - Arcade Fire - The Suburbs". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  52. ^ "Ultratop Belgian Charts - Arcade Fire - The Suburbs".
  53. ^ "Ultratop Belgian Charts - Arcade Fire - The Suburbs".
  54. ^ "Jam! Music". Retrieved August 12, 2010.
  55. ^ http://www.dutchcharts.nl/weekchart.asp?cat=a&year=2010&date=20100814
  56. ^ http://ylex.yle.fi/lista/tuote/10555
  57. ^ http://www.media-control.de/groesster-charts-erfolg-fuer-blind-guardian.html
  58. ^ [3]
  59. ^ "Classifica settimanale dal 09/08/2010 al 15/08/2010". FIMI (in Italian). Retrieved August 25, 2010.
  60. ^ http://lista.vg.no/artist_info.php?ArtistOp=show&artistId=4874
  61. ^ http://blitz.aeiou.pt/gen.pl?p=stories&op=view&fokey=bz.stories/64355
  62. ^ http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Arcade+Fire&titel=The+Suburbs&cat=a
  63. ^ "Archive Chart". UK Albums Chart. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  64. ^ Caulfield, Keith (2010-08-11). "Arcade Fire And Taylor Swift Sweep In With New No. 1s". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  65. ^ "Best of 2010 - Billboard Top 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Grammy Award for Album of the Year
2011 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Suburbs&oldid=415963433"