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Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Arcade Fire were well overdue for a critical backlash. Even before their surprise upset Grammy nod, the band was clearly no longer an indie darling upon the release of The Suburbs, but an arena-rock band ascending to take the throne of the Next U2/Springsteen/etc. Critics love underdogs, but they're wary of a winner. To make matters worse, the band did some things that made them look like, well, dicks. Crashing CMJ, turning away fans who weren't in costume from surprise shows, and masquerading as an "indie band" called (in a masterstroke of subterfuge) The Reflektors - these publicity stunts may have attracted more negative than positive attention. So it's no surprise that Reflektor has been getting some negative notices in the press.
It's just a shame that the critics are taking it out on one of the best albums of the year.
Most of the early criticism around Reflektor has been that it's indulgent - all the tracks are too long, overly pretentious, and don't have the content to sustain their running time. First, let me dismiss the pretention claim - do you like Arcade Fire? Because if you do, you like pretentious things. It's been in the band's DNA from the very start - they began their debut with a four-song suite! - and has only increased as time has gone on. If anything, this is less pretentious than The Suburbs - there are no hamfisted T.S. Eliot references here. Next, the tracks are too long. Somehow this wasn't a complaint for LCD Soundsystem's last album, where almost every track was 8-9 minutes, but is a problem when Arcade Fire average around 6. The release of the title track should have been a wake-up call - Reflektor is generally more dance-oriented, and the tracks run longer as a result. But here is my most fundamental disagreement with the critics - the band absolutely has enough ideas to sustain each song. The title track alone finds room for at least four melodies in its choruses, and this isn't including a sublime bridge featuring the Thin White Duke himself.
Perhaps the real problem, then, is a sense that there is simply Too Much to digest here. That's because Reflektor is not just a throwback in genre stylings, but also to the idea of the double album. Much like the most legendary rock double albums (e.g., London Calling, Exile on Main Street, Zen Arcade) this is the band stretching out, showing off their range, letting their ideas sprawl a bit. Going in with this in mind, the album is actually pretty easy to listen to in full.
It helps that most of it is propulsive. Disregarding the ambient interlude at the end of the album (more on that later) the only really beatless song is a reprise of Here Comes The Night Time - and that comes almost as a brief respite after the whirlwind of Disc 1. After the opening disco salvo of Reflektor and We Exist, the band does dubby reggaeton (Flashbulb Eyes), overheated salsa (portions of Here Comes the Night Time) and glam rock stomp (Joan of Arc). There's even a rock freakout thrown in for good measure (Normal Person). Tempos are generally mid-to-high throughout, and the result is almost as exhausting as it is exhilarating.
It's almost a good thing that Disc 2 takes it down a notch, kicking off after the reprise with the gorgeous, woozy sing-a-long of Awful Sound, part one of a sublime set of paired tracks (loosely) themed around the tale of Orpheus. Awful Sound is something of a minor miracle in itself, a track that by any definition shouldn't work, combining as it does a Hey Jude-like chant with Latin percussion and, of all things, a synth line that seems pulled from a Boards of Canada record. Even when the song is swallowed by roaring feedback, it's triumphant. Its companion piece, It's Never Over, begins with an aggressive 80s Bowie-funk strut and call-and-response lyrics, but the bridge softens into something genuinely touching.
Maybe there really is too much going on in this album, or at least too much to talk about - I haven't even mentioned the gorgeous ending couplet of Afterlife and Supersymmetry (semi-gratuitous ambient ending aside) or some of the more redundant tracks on the album (the mournful bounce of Porno could easily have been relegated to a B-side, and You Already Know sounds like it belongs on an earlier record rather than this one). But again - think double album. Excess is the point. And so much of this is very good, and so little of it is actually gratuitous, and most importantly, none of it is problematic to the extent that it cheapens what's around it. For the price of a single album, you're definitely getting your money's worth. Arcade Fire are stretching and growing as artists, and the results are well worth savoring.
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greatness is
Well, I know it's a few years older but this album (2 discs) will sound good forever. I don't listen to too much newer music but the Reflektor immediately stands out in my mind. I spun it up and was very pleasantly surprised. For whatever reason, I envision a rock opera when I listen. To me, this is a great thing. This will be a favorite of mine until it isn't. This was love at first listen. Highly recommended
