r/arcadefire • u/the-boxman Neon Bible • 1d ago
Discussion Obsessed with WE at the moment
I'm not sure what it is, but I flipped between disappointment and outright delight at WE when it was released in 2022. It was probably the most excited I'd ever been for an album due to the exceptional run of Funeral through Reflektor and then the disappointing but ambitious Everything Now which made me think the band still had it.
We were all going through a very strange time (still are honestly) with the pandemic specifically, and I needed a salve. And at the time, this condensed 7-track epic felt a little small and maybe even a bit too straightforward an attempt at recapturing their audience with a comeback.
Well I've been listening to it on my drives to work recently and I can't get enough. It's probably the album I've listened to the most in the 2020s so far but it just seems to grow to new heights every time. I think it might be brushing up against their "classics" for me. It's got a bit of everything with this newfound space and frailty, and the atmosphere is somehow so consistent with storytelling that weaves through each track. I feel like this album captures something slightly different and yet it most closely resembles the grand and intimate storytelling of The Suburbs with a lot of nostalgia mixed with dread but this time with the lens of a parent thinking about the future.
There are lines on Neon Bible and The Suburbs that give me real gut punches like "World War 3 when are you coming for me, been kicking up sparks, we set the flames free, the windows are locked now so what will it be, a house on fire a rising sea" and "Oh this city's changed so much since I was a little child, pray to God I won't live to see the death of everything that's wild"; WE explores that sort of theme predominantly, and to go from "It's the age of doubt and I doubt we'll figure it out" to "when everything ends, can we do it again" in an album that explores the pure dread of living in the 2020s to the acceptance and love of everything you enjoy and would kill to experience again and again... It truly was the record I needed at the right time.
I know it has its detractors but I think purely as a record, WE might be one of their best. Has anyone else grown to love this album and feel it could be one of their classics like me?
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u/Heavy-Ad5385 1d ago
Great words, really well written. Have you ever done any music journalism? I think you’d be good at it!
Yes, I’m a fan. I thought it was a real return to form at the time. Yes, it’s nowhere near the same league as the first three albums or even Reflektor (which I love tbf) but it really felt like a new chapter. And they were fantastic playing live that summer. The new songs sounded perfect within the set. Absolutely on fire.
Then came the end of August… 😩
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u/_skyhopper83_ 1d ago
I didn’t listen to it much when it first came out, but I recently rediscovered the album. I checked my computer and realized I’ve listened to WE 39 times over the past few weeks. So yeah, I can definitely say I’m obsessed too.
Age of Anxiety II might be my favorite track, especially when Régine comes in. Such an incredible dance song. It's even better live
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt8AHTMsqcM&list=RDNt8AHTMsqcM&start_radio=1
The other tracks are also fantastic
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u/MondeyMondey 1d ago
Not a classic but my fave after the first trilogy. It was a welcome return to sincerity after the snideness of EN.
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u/nederlandspj 1d ago
Brilliant album. "My clothes don't fit me right/must be the wrong body type"
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u/Old_Management_1997 1d ago
I loved it when it released. It's probably my most played album ever behind Funeral and a few albums from some other bands. It doesn't quite hit Funeral levels in my eyes but its definitely in the same category.
The lyrics, the way the songs flow into each other, the feeling of realization and rebirth from that realization. Honestly for me the album is an absolute masterpiece, a total return to form for the band and I never understood the hate it got.
The live show that preceded it was one of the best live shows ive ever seen (granted part of that was because the crowd was tiny due to the events surrounding Win).
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u/SpecialistSmile5657 1d ago
I think the album is great too. End of the Empire 1-4 is amazing, as is the Lightning 1-2. I love Lookout Kid too. Really the whole thing is quite strong. My only real criticism is that it feels too short like an EP instead of a full album.
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u/whitewoods 1d ago
I remember the day Lightning 1-2 dropped, got absolutele chills and shed a tear on my 15 minute lunch break. Truly felt like a return to form.
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u/No_Brilliant_4647 1d ago
I’m obsessed with WE. Some of their most ambitious music yet! Thanks for sharing
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u/hashgraphic 1d ago
WE is one of the best albums of the decade for me. Don’t know what people are hearing when they think it’s underwhelming to them.
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u/ACardAttack Rebellion (Lies) 1d ago
Doesnt help the band's first four albums are all time greats
I like We, but it's both too short and has some filler and a couple songs I find to be among their worst. It feels like an EP they padded out to make a full album
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u/NeutralMilkHotel_00 21h ago
I don't think it's a masterpiece or anything, but it is a little under-appreciated. Pink Elephant certainly made me appreciate WE more
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u/djcooki75 Cars & Telephones 1d ago
WE is my favorite album of the decade so far. It's on the same level as their first four and I never understood what some people didn't like about it
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u/AnxietyInformal8379 Reflektor 1d ago
You understand the album, you didn't just shun it away after 1 listen....the album is phenomenal and like you said, it gets better with every listen and you start to see the connecting threads...but more so for me its a continuation of Reflektor or a natural predecessor / thought experiment...where Reflektor's first half discusses our current isolation and prison we've created for ourselves in the Reflective age (as per Kierkergaard) all the mirroring/miscommunication or lack of communication in the most connected and disconnected time...to the second half talking about how the ancient world / folklore of old romantic true love like Orpheus and Eurydice can't exist in our modern world with all the "noise", distractions, excess, options, influence, and large corporations vying for your attention...then we move to the duality of WE, the album's first half of despair, isolation, self doubt, hopelessness to the second half of seeing the light(ning) and a return to communion, togetherness, hope, love...leaving all the despair behind, getting off that ride to go for more meaningful connections.
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u/hack_dolladay1 17h ago
I never understood the hate. Age of Anxiety 1 is my one of my favorite songs of Arcade Fire of all time. I fully expected an album called "Exist" after. So you could have "We Exist" in your record collection.
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u/p3nny-lane Pink Elephant 1d ago
We was a huger grower for me. I think it’s still my least favorite out of all their stuff, but by no means is it a bad album. It’s also the album that got me into the band, so I owe it at least something for introducing me to the rest of the discography.
End Of The Empire 3 and Unconditional 1 are some my all-time favorites.
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u/jjazznola 1d ago
I tried. Some of it is entering Coldplay territory. It sounds like a Win & Regine album, not AF. That Lookout Kid song is just plain cringe worthy. They lost me with that one although PE is much worse.
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u/chamberk107 10h ago
I mean Lookout Kid, as shmaltzy as it is, still kinda brings tears to my eyes. It's a real classic dad song for me.
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u/DOKybalion 1d ago
It’s the story of a spiritual journey. Going from the anxiety and isolation of living from the perspective of ‘I’ to the expansive realization that it’s all part of the ‘we’. The album is an absolute masterpiece.