Afterlife has been released and is pretty awesome In typical Arcade Fire fashion, it takes a couple of listens and then it just gets stuck in your head
Link? I'm not seeing it on what. Edit: Slow download and who knows how long it will be up. - http://www39.zippyshare.com/v/25619874/file.html
I love the album, not their best but I definitely like it more then Suburbs (and possibly Neon Bible, but not sure on that one yet, need to relisten to that one). Reflektor, We Exist, Here Comes the Night Time, Normal Person, Awful Sound, It's Never Over, and Afterlife are all JAMS (i just realized how long that list was after typing it out). The only real dud is maybe Flashbulb Eyes
This album is definitely a grower. When I first heard Here Comes the Night Time, that opening driving beat really gets your attention and is a bit of a letdown when it dies out. I've grown to love the song though and it's become a favorite - "If there's no music up in heaven, then what's it for?" It really picks back up at the end and makes for a nice bookend to the meat of the song. Awful Sound and It's Never Over are both excellent. I thought the whole Orpheus/Eurydice thing was going to annoy me when I saw the album cover/song titles, but these tracks are some of their best work and fit perfectly within the album. The ending of Awful Sound is going to make for an awesome crowd sing along moment when heard live. I think I remember reading that Pitchfork hated Porno, but I think it's badass. Absolutely love this song and sounds like nothing they've done before. On first listen, this was the track that I wanted to repeat 5 or 6 times in a row before moving on. And Reflektor and Afterlife are just classic Arcade Fire songs. I'm with you Astrosfan, you don't realize how many great songs there are until you start typing it out.
I'll have to check it out. I thought Sunlandic Twins/Hissing Fauna/Skeletal Lamping was one of the best 3 album stretches of any artist I liked. I still jam to each of those regularly. I was really disappointed though in False Priest, and haven't really paid much attention since then.