Day Three hundred and sixty - WE

Who : Arcade Fire

Album name : We

Formed : 2001

From : Montreal, Canada

What do they play : Indie rock / chamber pop / art rock / baroque pop / symphonic rock (at least according to Wikipedia)

Release date : May 6, 2022

I only know one thing about this record for a fact. It's the only Arcade Fire record I have two versions of : a cassette version and a picture-disc version, because that came in a bundle when I purchased the album. But other than that, I know nothing of it. I have never listened to a single song from it. Never, ever. For some reason I can't explain, I have never felt tempted in the slightest to play this record. I knew, right from the beginning, that this was a record I was buying for no particular reason, other than maybe a slight feeling of guilt for never having bought the previous record, 'Everything Now'. And today... well, today was the day. Today was the day I finally queued it up and pressed play. And what did I think about it? It's ok, it's nothing spectacular, probably a bit more balanced as a whole when compared to the previous entry. In a sense it feels like it condenses a bunch of everything they've done since the first record up until the latest : there are the galloping piano sections, there are the sing along songs, there are the electronic elements that were so prevalent in 'Reflektor', now more subdued and restrained - and that's probably for the better. There are the songs that evoke nostalgia - I'll confess to have not really paid that much attention to the lyrics, so I can't really attest as to whether or not that nostalgic slant is present there, but in terms of music, there are songs here that certainly could have been recorded in the late 70's or early-to-mid 80's, they have that familiar sound from that era. Especially maybe the 70's - I could hear some prog in some songs, and also those pastoral melodies that wouldn't be out of place in something that came from a Canterbury scene record. 

There's good stuff here, but again - it's all mostly unremarkable. Listening to this album - as well as the previous two - made me think about my writing here on my blog. Very often I find myself struggling to come up with a viable idea for a post, and I resort to these little reviews/critiques, and I end up littering it with filler. That's the impression I get from the band, that sometimes they just use some half baked ideas and use them as filler. And not a particularly interesting kind of filler, either. Truth is, I wouldn't be able to name a single song that stuck in my mind. And maybe that also serves as a metaphor for where I am now, and where I'm going. There will always be some things from times past I will always love, and there'll always be something very specific for which I will always hold an eternal love, but maybe it's time to realize that what captivated me in the first place is no longer there - because I remained stuck in love with a memory, while live moved on. It's good, but not great. Fond, but not in love. It's all just so very... ok. And it's ok, to be just ok. Not everything needs to be super duper amazing, really. It's albums like these - to be fair the last half of their discography - that make me realize just how much of a desert island disc 'The Suburbs' really is. That's the benchmark, and if nothing else by the band holds a candle to that, then there's nothing wrong with that. At least not for me, not anymore. I don't even know what to give this one. A six seems a bit low, but I don't think it's a seven either. Maybe not even a six and half. Fuck it, a six it is.

And so we reach the end of the Arcade Fire discography review. I chose not to review their eponymous E.P. - I never did like it - and nor shall I be reviewing the soundtrack they wrote for the movie 'Her'. I am not inclined, not even one bit, to listen to soundtrack music from movies, at least not now. Maybe one day later, I'll pick it up and play it. So, all this done, was it worth it, this little experiment? Yeah, it kinda was. It was fun to revisit those early albums, and think about the stories that brought me to and bound me to them. I'd say that at least that first half of the discography was a fun thing to do, and the other half I knew would bring some challenges with it. 'Reflektor' didn't give me anything new, that I really feel like going back to time and time again, but 'Everything Now' certainly contributed with a heap of songs that moved straight into my favourites. And who'd've thought, considering my initial impression of the record? There were positive things to take away from this, for sure. And so the march towards the inevitable end continues. I can't wait to get there.