I’ve never heard an Arcade Fire album before and barely knew them by name, but then I stumbled across their video for “Creature Comfort” and I was immediately intrigued by their aesthetics and synth heavy pop-rock. So I had to check out Everything Now and see if that carried over to their whole album.
“And every boy uses the same line
I pledge allegiance to everything now
Every song that I’ve ever heard
Is playing at the same time, it’s absurd
And it reminds me, we’ve got everything now”
Well, yes and no. “Creature Comfort” is still fantastic and probably my favorite song off the album, but the quality of the songs here varies wildly from great to what were they thinking. For example, “Everything Now” is an exceptional disco-infused dance record that elevates the song’s social messaging while a song like “Peter Pan” feels juvenile in comparison. In general, I do like the overall sound of the album, it’s different and I dig a lot of the grooves it’s crazy synths create, their messaging however, falls well short of the mark. Beneath it’s dance surface this album is one big social critique, which is fine and noble in intent, but it never elevates past basic chastising, making their generally valid points fall flat. Everything Now is a mixed bag that provides some great moments that often gets undercut by flat songwriting.
Have you heard Everything Now? What’d you think about it? Do you think Arcade Fire came of flat in their messaging? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to leave your own ratings and reactions to the album.
