The Suburbs

“Our heads are just houses, without enough windows,” trills Régine Chassagne aboard the grand, orchestral sweep of “Half Light I.” It’s a line that typifies the poetic cynicism—and evocative suburban imagery—of Arcade Fire’s expansive third record. Dripping conflicted nostalgia (“Rococo”), adventurous thematic echoes (“The Suburbs” and “Suburban War”), and throbbing, piano-driven grandeur (“We Used To Wait”), *The Suburbs* both despairs and idealizes, cultivating a masterpiece from disenchantment with the information age.

On their third LP, Arcade Fire prove they can make grand statements without sounding like they're carrying the weight of the world.

Arcade Fire’s second album Neon Bible hit a peak with “No Cars Go,” a song reclaimed from the band’s debut EP and converted into a shimmering, epiphanic vision of a future stretching out like an unsullied field. Arcade Fire’s third album, The Suburbs, is like one long sequel to “No Cars Go.” It extends the slick,…

In the annals of recent Important Rock Bands, the '90s had the self-destruction of Nirvana, the slacker ethos of Pavement…

Check out our album review of Artist's The Suburbs on Rolling Stone.com.

No record is perfect, but ‘The Suburbs’ makes a fair stab at it.

Montreal's Arcade Fire successfully avoided the sophomore slump with 2007's apocalyptic Neon Bible.

Arcade Fire have returned in 2010 and hit the ground running...If their sparkling return to the live arena is any barometer, Arcade Fire are in a good place right now.

Coming off the high concept of their epochal 2004 debut LP Funeral, Arcade Fire lost the plot a tad on 2007\'s Neon Bible.

Flipping the mundane trappings of suburban life into a captivating concept album, The Arcade Fire once more whip us into transcendental flight that’s a confident step forwards.

The album is another triumph of emotional generosity from the most humane and vital rock group of our generation.

By reining in their excesses and lightening up a bit, Arcade Fire regain a lot of charm, says <strong>Alexis Petridis</strong>

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs review: Win Butler’s open letter to the white suburban kid works like a baseball bat to the head, a relentlessly honest manifesto backed by relentlessly crafty pop music.

For all their mainstream commercial appeal, though, you can’t take the “art” out of these art-rockers. Rating: * * * *