Review Summary: Is it Album of the Year? Hell yes.
There's been quite a few shocks at the Grammys lately. Justin Bieber didn't win the 'Best New Artist' award, as most of his never ending fan clubs were expecting. Lady Gaga shocked the crowd by coming out of a translucent egg, which was a parody of 'Bad Romance'. (Correct?) Lady Antebellum took home 'Record of the Year', and dip*** Christina Aguilera sang the Star-Spangled Banner correctly at the Grammys, but, of course, not at the Super Bowl. In my opinion, though, the biggest shock of all was Arcade Fire's win.
Now, I'll be completely honest: I liked Arcade Fire even before this album. Funeral was one of the best albums I had ever listened to, at the time. Neon Bible was an interesting twist on indie / alternative rock music. Heck, I even liked their self-titled EP. Now, after all the hype that's going around, this is one ambitious album, with high expectations, taking home Album of the Year, and, for the most part, The Suburbs meets them with hard work like none other.
First off, under the whim of Merge Records, the production on The Suburbs in spot-on. The mixing in the album is great: the bass and acoustic guitar are crisp, clear, the vocalist's mature, likable voice is also a lot more clear, while not staying too loud or too muffled for any other instrument. The editing and mastering is booming, powerful, and will always go through clearly from your stereo.
One of the things that made The Suburbs so amazing was that is helped exemplified what the band sees, lyrically. The songwriting and lyrical fire, though, is one thing: modern. And that's what suburbs really are: modern. They're not Egyptian-like, they're not about death, they're not about love, just plain old suburbia. Songs like the title track show this, while others just talk about daily jobs, like "Month of May" sings about recording studios, "Ready to Start" talks about the advantages and pitfalls of leading a normal life, and the amazing "Suburban War" sings about the long, long chapter of life, about growing up (in the suburbs, of course). They never over-exemplify the lyrics, they just sing about normal life.
And the quality of the instruments are really, really good. When you hear the acoustic melody intro to "Suburban War", or the smooth riffs in "Month of May", you can tell they know what they're doing. Unlike in some death metal bands, which most songs on their albums have a repeating rhythm, The Suburbs close to never repeats the same kind of formula. There's also a new rhythm, some new keyboard composition, or a new drum beat. Hearing the guitar smoothly chugging in 'Deep Blue' is a great experience in itself.
Now, for those ready to attack me for giving it a perfect 5, let me assure you, there's also some bad aspects to an album. The exact editing of some songs could use a little more effort. For example, the bass is clear for some of the part, but the acoustic guitar and drums tend to dominate and overshadow the album. And 'The Suburbs Continued' feels a little out of place.
Overall? The Suburbs is Arcade Fire's Born to Run. The Suburbs is their OK Computer. The Suburbs is a subversive, addicting experience like none other. Although, I am beginning to sound like a broken record now, but it just may surprise you how massive this album really is.
