Arcade Fire The Suburbs

4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]hey instinctively scale their most intimate confessions to arena-rock levels, rolling out big drums and glossy keyboards..."
4.5 stars out of 5 -- "Radiant with apocalyptic tension and grasping to sustain real bonds, THE SUBURBS extends hungrily outward, recalling the dystopic miasma of William Gibson's sci-fi novels and Sonic Youth's guitar odysseys."
"The band certainly aims for transcendence on THE SUBURBS -- a work of impressively fervent majesty..."
4 stars out of 5 -- "THE SUBURBS is a surprising record, swapping the spit and fire of FUNERAL for a sense of mature playfulness....There is pain and pleasure, loss and hope."
Ranked #4 in Uncut's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2010" -- "[The album] sounded like a band recapturing their wistfulness and, even, their humanity."
3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Drawing on everything from '70s radio rock to angular indie rock from the '90s, Arcade Fire have built one of the most interesting-sounding records you're likely to hear all year..."
"Filled with big-money percussion blasts, waves of strings and This-Is-Important surges of energy, 'Rococo' and 'Month Of May' will, no doubt, sound amazing echoing off arena rafters."
Billboard (p.28) - "At 16 tracks, this dense, complicated set covers considerably more stylistic territory than either of the band's previous albums..."
4 stars out of 5 -- "Crammed with addictive confections....THE SUBURBS also heralds unexpected vistas, not least of which is a sense of humour."
Ranked #2 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2010" -- "[T]hey raze the peaks and troughs of that bombastic chamber rock and add fuzz-punk and soaring synthpop to an expanding, yet more refined, pallette."
Paste (magazine) - "[I]t's Arcade Fire's most ambitious and concept-driven effort to date....A vein of emptiness and Beckett-esque waiting courses throughout..."
3 stars out of 5 -- "The spritely opening title track is terrific, as is the sad, anthemic beauty of 'Ready To Start'....There are some magical moments here..."