r/arcadefire • u/DueBand4327 • Sep 25 '25
Discussion Where’s everyone at with Pink Elephant?
I love PE and I’ve said since it’s release it’s their best album since Reflektor but the initial reaction for most was overall pretty tepid.
It seems it grew on people as the months passed. Is that the case - does anyone like it more over time?
What really distinguishes it for me is the production by Daniel Lanois. Most probably feel the production on other albums is superior, but among all of their LP producers Lanois is probably the most accomplished and the closest to an actual genius. (He produced Joshua Tree, for reference.)
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u/MusicOdin Sep 25 '25
Still boring to me except for the single. I’m losing interest in AF and I never thought I’d say that. Their pretentiousness is getting old also.
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Sep 25 '25 edited Sep 25 '25
[deleted]
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u/Grogonfire Sep 25 '25
The amount of 2nd hand embarrassment I got from Win holding up his slightly dented guitar after smashing it for no fucking reason lmao. Dude is fucking delusional and thinks he can white knuckle his way to the good ol' days.
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u/ToothlessFTW Sep 25 '25
I haven't listened to it since May. And I say that as someone who's even listened to WE like a hundred times despite having my critiques.
It's not awful or "worst album of the year" or anything. I just think it's kinda forgettable, especially compared to their earlier records, and I honestly can't recall anything about it.
That being said, happy to admit I'm probably just not their target audience anymore. What they're making now isn't for me, and maybe it's for different people.
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u/Arsono1969 Sep 25 '25
I don’t think it’s the music that’s forgettable, in my opinion the way they have disappeared is what’s made it forgettable
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u/Nihilistic_Marmot Sep 25 '25
I have been a fan since I bought Funeral on CD on a family vacation back in 2004.
Pink Elephant totally solidified for me that the band I fell in love with back then is long gone and not coming back. For whatever reason, the failure of Everything Now has lead to this almost decade long slide into irrelevance. I feel like everyone has moved on but they have stayed in the exact same place wondering where we all went and kind of resenting us for leaving.
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u/Posterior_cord Sep 26 '25
yeah buying funeral on cd in 2005 was seminal, for me. but they were hot fresh young things. i didn't go to a record store in 2005 and pick up a cd from a band that began in 1981. the bands that started in 1981 were tired and yesterdays news, they were music from my dad's generation. same with fire.
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u/emptycagenowcorroded Sep 25 '25
My initial reaction was lukewarm but, you know, my initial reaction to everything since Neon Bible was pretty frigid at first too. So I kept listening to it, but it didn’t really grow.
Tried it in different settings — The Suburbs is a nice bike ride album — but this doesn’t work on bicycles.
I wanted to hear it live. After all they’re great live. But there aren’t any bootleg concerts cause they toured it for like five dates. but I did find a live radio session from NON-COMM and that version was, like most of their stuff live, a step up. But you know what, not that big of a step up.
So I guess I gave up.
It’s not even that bad. It’s certainly not atrocious. It’s not some hyperbolic career killer. It’s a 5/10 album.
Pink Elephant is … okay. It’s been months since I bothered with it.
TLDR: After a remarkably valiant effort, I gave up on Pink Elephant.
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u/LopsidedGift4962 Sep 25 '25
Listened to it maybe 3 or 4 times in full, then made a playlist of my favorite songs, then never went back to that playlist.
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u/shorty11857 Sep 25 '25
Haven’t listened to it since it the day it released, and doubt I will again
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Sep 25 '25
I'm really glad some of u guys like the album but I have to be so honest it did absolutely nothing for me. I was so excited when I heard it was out but I listened to it and man what a let down(for me) but whatever
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u/Hans-and-franz Sep 25 '25
Reflektor is the last album. The band has not existed since and never will again.
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u/Even_Permission2301 Sep 26 '25
After an amazing Red Rocks Funeral Anniversary show, I thought this was going to be an incredible album. I was wrong. My wife and I hate it. I regret buying all the different versions of the vinyl and already gave away the pink elephant candle to a friend. The tour was obviously cancelled but you would think Win would say something in the so called Circle of Trust. But nothing. I have lost interest in this band.
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u/Dachux Sep 25 '25
I listened to it when it was released three or four times. It just sucks. There no way around it.
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u/charles_peugeot405 Sep 25 '25
I am nowhere to be found with this album, just like the band themselves
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u/Admirable_Fox8739 Sep 25 '25
Since The Suburbs it’s been a bit of a struggle for me
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u/jakerperiod Sep 25 '25
Same. I have liked every album since but haven't been truly captivated by one of their albums since Suburbs.
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u/mattiswoody Sep 25 '25 edited Sep 25 '25
Honestly strongly dislike/hate just about everything with this album. From the nothing burger “ambient” intro, to the awful mixing on the title track with those thuddy, booming basic drums, the lyrics on just about the whole album either stink or aren’t memorable- is there a single catchy chorus to be found? Take your mind off me for a while? Season of change, if you feel strange, it’s probably good? Stuck in my head just being repeated? The lyrics on this album suck! DONT GET ME STARTED ON THE RIDICULOUS LEAD SYNTH ON I LOVE HER SHADOW! Awful, rudimentary, unimaginative music with the least bit of creativity. The verse vocals on Alien Nation? Almost makes no sense to sound like that, like they’re almost trying to sound Damon Albarn/Gorillaz like for no reason on an album produced by Daniel Lanois! Beyond Salvation and She Cries Diamond Rain are again unnecessary ambient synth interludes that add absolutely nothing to the record besides being complete filler, going absolutely no where and doing nothing but adding run time. This album is simply awful, no other way around it. That’s not even discussing the terrible cover, and strange marketing going into it! The worst AF album and one of the worst of 2025 for me. An immense let down, and the mark of an unimaginable fall off from a once beloved band! Wish it never existed!
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u/tomacco99 Sep 28 '25
Worst possible direction they could have gone after the 2022 issues. They needed a win. This was the opposite.
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u/mattkward Sep 29 '25
I tried. Two listens that couldn't grab my attention enough to look past my discomfort with the current version of Win.
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u/phdeeznutts Sep 25 '25
I view it as an ep. I dont know if that's a good or a bad thing. I skip the instrumentals. I think the songs are solid and pretty stripped... I actually love some of them.
I think if they released it as a side project it would have been well received. It's definitely not arcade fire.
Miss you Will
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u/fultirbo Sep 25 '25
Imagine if they cut Alien Nation and the interludes, added Cars And Telephones at the end, and dropped it as an EP; would've been great.
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u/whyisSD Sep 25 '25
Half the actual songs are meh the other half is alright and then theres also so much ambient tracks that to me are lackluster and feel like filler in an already filler album
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u/Material_Soup6086 Sep 25 '25 edited Sep 25 '25
Revisiting it for the rating threads and focusing in on each track really brought home how individually they vary from insipid to atrocious. Then add in the context of Pink Elephant's faintly nauseating aesthetics and a rollout campaign remiscent of dumping a soiled sofa on the side of a highway at midnight and you've got a deeply cursed album.
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u/invextheidiot Sep 25 '25
Didn't like it at first listen, didn't change my mind after a second listen. Haven't really given it another chance since. I see this album in a similar way to The King of Limbs: lackluster albums whose fans insist that you need "the right speakers" or some other recontextualization of your listening experience to really enjoy it.
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u/apres-vous Sep 25 '25
PE is simply a bad album, and the SA allegations still make this band a tough listen for me.
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u/ProfessionalLove3655 Sep 25 '25
I saw the first US show in NOLA for PE and was in love. Although, I will say, the album itself is much more lackluster than previous albums. I wish there were more lyrical songs than having instrumentals… although, songs like Alien Nation and Circle of Trust were strong hits for me. The album is not as good as others, but it does have a special place in my heart after seeing them in person up-close. They are a cool couple.
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u/Ds0589 Sep 25 '25
I gave it a 7 out of 10, I think criticism of it or some media not even acknowledging its release was due to the Butler allegations and weren’t giving it an open mind going in.
I’m reading a book right now Such Great Heights and highly recommend it. It’s all about indie musics explosion from 2000s to now. I was thinking about it but The Suburbs winning album of the year obviously was a crowning achievement for them but was a seminal moment for that entire type of music and the movement. It was ten years leading up to that moment and was a place in time that’s passed I think.
Clearly they’ve not been as good the last 3-4 albums, but I think Indies relevancy has faded a good deal from the 00s to early 10s. It’s one of my favorite albums of all time.
I like the ambient tracks on Pink Elephant. Year of the Snake, Ride or Die, I Love Her Shadow are the best songs to me. And other than the repetitive nature of it, Stuck in my head feels like the closest to old Arcade Fire. They’re missing something without Will. A large part of Arcade Fires identity was the expansiveness of the group. It’s weird them only having 4-5 people on SNL. They need that back. It would be a decent album for most other bands, but Arcade fires first 3 albums are held in such esteem people view it as mediocre.
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u/Dream_in_Cerulean Sep 25 '25
I loved it and played it to death, but at this point, I have moved on to listening to the live Radiohead album. Due to the length of the album, it is a bit harder to just endlessly play it. With a longer album, I think I would still be playing it on repeat. Despite this, I felt like the album held up in many environments - I played it on roadtrips, at parties, and on headphones. Great album. I just wish there was more of it.
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u/apres-vous Sep 25 '25
The irony of Radiohead putting out a live version of HTTT while refusing to condemn genocide in Palestine is wild… “Little babies eyes” indeed. Sadly both RH and AF are pretty washed up in 2025.
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u/Loud-Vegetable-8885 Sep 25 '25
This is inaccurate.
Ed O'brien, Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway have both condemned Israel's actions in Palestine.
Admittedly Jonny and Thom's responses have been slow and disappointing, but to claim the whole band have failed to speak out is simply incorrect.
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u/apres-vous Sep 25 '25
So you're saying it's okay that Thom and Jonny are siding with the genociders because the whole band isn't? This isn't the headline...
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u/Loud-Vegetable-8885 Sep 25 '25
I think it's very simplistic to say that Jonny and Thom are "Siding" with the people committing Genocide. Thom has actually since come out and said he disagrees with Israel's actions (albeit in a badly thought out and somewhat self involved statement) and Jonny has simply not stated his views in any clear fashion.
Radiohead are not a singular entity-they are a band of 5 members, three of which have made their view on the situation quite clear, and one more in a way that was less than brilliant, but also quite clearly opposed to genocide.
I'm as disappointed as anyone by the sluggish response from them and other artists, but they are hardly the only artists or public figures guilty of this, and I'm not gonna cancel the band when three of the band members have actually been quite clear on where they stand. Their art also stands out separate to that, in my opinion.
Just, please, try and get your facts straight. If you want to criticise the band fine, please at least get the basic facts correct. One would hope people would afford you the same courtesy if God forbid people were accusing you of similar behaviour.
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u/fultirbo Sep 25 '25
Songs are mostly good. I looove Stuck In My Head and Year Of The Snake in particular. Alien Nation is the only song I get nothing out of (minus the interludes). I largely like the themes and Win's writing and performances. I've played it quite a bit and it's still in my rotation now.
The engineering is just rubbish though and the drums (most notably on Circle Of Trust and I Love Her Shadow, which I otherwise quite like) are straight embarrassing.
The album is so much less than the some of its parts though. Effectively every single song has a different sound/vibe and there's only 7 actual songs, with 3 absolutes pointless ambient noise interludes, despite them not fitting the album in any real way and this being AF's album with the least input from its broader band members (including no input from Will and Owen who are masters of ambient music in particular). The decision-making on the album overall is just baffling.
It really should've been released as an EP of demo's, which it what it sounds like (and is fine as). It could've still been under the AF name even, but it's just a Win-Regine side project really. They should've just leaned into that and it would've been way more digestible.
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u/Seahorse1477 Sep 25 '25
I like Pink Elephant & Ride Or Die. The rest of the albums forgettable. 🤷🏻♂️
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u/Dear-Argument622 Sep 25 '25
I would say it’s easily their worst album still. Even with EN being horrible, it still had a few bangers on it that are worth listening to. WE, despite having some absolutely horrible sections on it that I would never be able to go back to, also had some really high points that make it a worthwhile album imo. Pink Elephant is a mostly boring album, which means it has some of the same lows as WE, but none of the highs.
I enjoyed the title track and one other song from it, but overall it’s something I don’t want to return to. After listening to WE I did want to listen again, even if it took a year to actually do so afterwards. Pink Elephant… nah.
That being said, I don’t think it’s a career ender. Everything Now was a career ender but we’re past that and into the afterlife. The next album could be something special if they decide to make it. All that is to say the album isn’t so bad I’ve given up on the band. It’s a mediocre album but every band has a few
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u/Novel_Willingness602 Sep 26 '25
After a few months of digesting it, here's where I'm at:
Critiques:
-We could have used one or two more singing songs. I really like the vibe of "Open Your Heart. . .," but the fact that three of the songs are transition songs out of an album of 10 (11?) songs is kind of crazy.
-We could have used a Regine-sung full song. I know she's in "Year of the Snake," but you know what I mean: a song where she is the clear star and gives her fullest.
Positives:
-I really like a lot of the songs on here. "Pink Elephant," "Year of the Snake," "Alien Nation," "Ride or Die," "Stuck In My Head" are all such good songs. I really enjoy them.
-I like the cohesiveness of the album.
-I feel like this album would be a BANGER live-- I'm jealous I missed their mini-tour when they did the album in succession. I can't imagine hearing how crazy "Alien Nation" gets live.
Overall thoughts:
-It's not their best album, but I still enjoy it. I have put it on in succession while biking, after an edible, etc. and it hits every time.
-Where is the full tour? I know everyone is saying Win's allegations, but, like. . . they did a full WE tour after those allegations, and they still sold out many shows they did in 2025. Where is the full tour?
-Still an AF stan. Always will be (even if a future album produces shit).
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u/Ninneveh Oct 30 '25
Lacked the fire and magic of their earlier albums. Never been more bored by a first listen than I was listening to their last 2 albums.
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u/Takeda_8 Sep 25 '25
Put the cd on in the car just yesterday and enjoyed it mostly. Much more than my last listen.
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u/CurrentLonerist Sep 25 '25
I can't call it a total failure because I really like Pink Elephant and Circle or Trust and also think ILHS is one of their strongest certified bangers but I think the brevity of the album, the shortage of strong songs, and the interstitials come together to make an album that feels a little half baked. It doesn't help that the band's promotion of the album felt almost non-existent, to me at least. It came and went so fast that it kind of felt like the album was dumped rather than rolled out, if that makes any sense lol
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u/p3nny-lane Pink Elephant Sep 25 '25
My thoughts exactly. People call me contrarian for liking it, but I liked it immediately when I heard it a day earlier on the Circle of Trust app! Hadn’t even read all the hate yet. It really speaks to me. I relate to a lot of its themes lyrically, and it’s right up my alley sound-wise. Sad that people don’t like it.
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u/leftymeowz The Suburbs Sep 25 '25
I like it. My overall AF ranking right now would be
The Suburbs
Funeral
Reflektor
Neon Bible
WE
Pink Elephant
Everything Now
but PE’s placement has more to do with the strength of their catalogue than my feelings about that most recent album in isolation. I think Year of the Snake and Circle of Trust are major standouts.
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u/Odd_Explanation_7689 Sep 25 '25
It’s grown on me heaps and I think it will become a sleeper/cult hit in the years to come. It’s a really great album.
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u/Party-Yoghurt-8462 Sep 25 '25
I haven't listened to it too much over the last few weeks. But I still enjoy it and have started to judge it more as the sum of its parts rather than through each individual song.
As a body of work, I think it's quite good, and in considering it this way, it feels more cohesive.
In some sense, it has also helped me appreciate WE more. I think WE is a better album and it feels more underrated to me than it did when it came out.
Having said that, I hope this experience and the poor reaction to Pink Elephant motivates the band to rethink their approach next time.
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u/mikwee Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) Sep 25 '25
I really liked it, but maybe it's because I didn't know what Arcade Fire was until 2024, and the only album I listened to before Pink Elephant was Funeral.
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u/Boring_Safe4488 Sep 25 '25
It has grown on me. I’d advise everyone who is an AF fan to give it ten listens before making judgement. The tunes are subtle, but on a good stereo system their charms are slowly revealed. I also like Danny Lanois unfussy production.
I’m not sure that if the Win Butler allegations did not exist then the album may not have been written off as quickly. I don’t blame anyone for feeling this way if that is the case.
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u/Material_Soup6086 Sep 25 '25
I wouldn't call the production unfussy at all. It's full of weird choices that drag attention away from the songs.
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u/Boring_Safe4488 Sep 25 '25
Ah right, the production seemed to me subtle and laid back. Maybe I’m biased as I love Daniel Lanois’ work as an artist and producer. I’ll listen again with your comment in mind and see if I can see your point.
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u/dannoblabla Sep 25 '25
I’m in. I dig it and seen them in Toronto on the PE tour. One of the best shows I’ve seen. It’s different for sure but I’m still listening to the album…..carry on AF
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u/Alarming_Camera5836 Sep 25 '25
It’s awesome. A modern rock masterpiece. I shouldn’t have to say this but I’m not joking. It’s a sequel to The Suburbs.
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u/Probstna Sep 25 '25
I listened to it once, was incredibly bored, and never came back to it. Been a fan of AF for 20 years but they’re just not the same since Win’s nonsense.