Arcade Fire - Best Album

Whole lotta ignorant people out there, I guess. Arcade Fire is well known, they've been on Letterman and have been around for years.

How can you not know them?

The Suburbs reached number one on the Billboard charts.

Their song "Wake Up" was featured in all of the Where the Wild Things Are trailers.

They sell out stadiums.

They have appeared multiple times on SNL and other late night shows.

They are well known, and their album was miles ahead of any of the other nominees.

gayguysarecooltoo wrote:

How can you not know them?

The Suburbs reached number one on the Billboard charts.

Their song "Wake Up" was featured in all of the Where the Wild Things Are trailers.

They sell out stadiums.

They have appeared multiple times on SNL and other late night shows.

They are well known, and their album was miles ahead of any of the other nominees.

I think you would have a hard time finding anyone to argue with on these forums, but I am sure someone will pipe in with some kind of garbage.

The sad thing is that there are people in this country who never seek things out for themselves, never read, never do anything. If you parents had not read to you as a child, you would not care about WTWTA, would you?

I know a girl who had NO IDEA what WTWTA even was. She was from the US, etc.

Even though Arcade Fire is well-known, the people on that site (who, apparently, haven't heard of them) still need to realize that SOMETIMES it isn't a popularity contest. Most of the time it is, but for some reason, last night the quality of the music played a factor in deciding who won.

Maybe these people should go check out The Suburbs instead of whining about how they've "never heard of Arcade Fire" or that so-and-so "should have won because they have more hits and I've heard of them."

Arcade Fire is one of those indie band's where you always hear how good they are. Then when someone plays one of their songs for you, you're left scratching your head wondering what the hell they're talking about.

Never been impressed wrote:

Arcade Fire is one of those indie band's where you always hear how good they are. Then when someone plays one of their songs for you, you're left scratching your head wondering what the hell they're talking about.

Don't worry - you'll figure it out someday. Some of their stuff reminds me a lot of the Pixies but they definitely have a sound of their own.

i have heard of arcade fire, but have never heard of the chick who won best new artist. the girl with the big hair. who was she? i have young kids (8 & 10) and they had never heard of her either, so not sure what demographic she's in.

planB. wrote:

i have heard of arcade fire, but have never heard of the chick who won best new artist. the girl with the big hair. who was she? i have young kids (8 & 10) and they had never heard of her either, so not sure what demographic she's in.

Does it matter? She's not Justin Bieber. That's all I care about.

I feel like the quality of the tweets and fb postings on that blog are a pretty good indication of the demographic who isn't familiar with Arcade Fire, or the English language for that matter. I didn't see one correct there/their/they're usage, and it seemed every post contained multiple useages of "f*ck". Nothing like substituting expletives for though.

My favorite - "The grammys must have something against famous people"

I'm a 31-year-old, and I admit that I had never heard of Arcade Fire until the Grammy's last night. I'll keep my ear open for them now, however, as it seems they may have some music I may like.

I've heard plenty of and about Arcade Fire. I accidentally ran across them a few years ago at ACL Festival. I thought they were terrible, but chalked it up to a possible bad sound system at an outdoor venue with multiple stages. After seeing them last night, it turns out I was correct the first time. Obviously, there is some difference of opinion between me and many of the above posters, but I'm definitely no fan. The Suburbs (the song, not the entire album) sounds like MGMT from three years earlier to me. The rest of their stuff sounds like random noise. Esperanza Spalding kicks ass by the way, but only if you're into jazz.

Rick James wrote:

I've heard plenty of and about Arcade Fire. I accidentally ran across them a few years ago at ACL Festival. I thought they were terrible, but chalked it up to a possible bad sound system at an outdoor venue with multiple stages. After seeing them last night, it turns out I was correct the first time. Obviously, there is some difference of opinion between me and many of the above posters, but I'm definitely no fan. The Suburbs (the song, not the entire album) sounds like MGMT from three years earlier to me. The rest of their stuff sounds like random noise. Esperanza Spalding kicks ass by the way, but only if you're into jazz.

AF is definitely much different than MGMT, not really a synth-focused band and a much heavier hook.

AF is like a mix of 80s punk and Bruce Springsteen, which apparently make up their influences, so it makes sense.

I respect your opinion, I don't think everyone should like it.

dude, everything you said eminem has exceeded like 10 times over. his album sold 740k while arcades only sold 156k in their first weeks. miles ahead of the other nominees? i dont think so.

the grammy voters are a bunch of f&%king hipsters.

Was "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" not eligible for best album for some reason? Released too late perhaps?

That was just a bad choice, who really listens to that crap?

Headline of the week!

shadyrimes wrote:

dude, everything you said eminem has exceeded like 10 times over. his album sold 740k while arcades only sold 156k in their first weeks. miles ahead of the other nominees? i dont think so.

the grammy voters are a bunch of f&%king hipsters.

I find many of the posts about people liking the Arcade Fire being hipsters to be pretty ironic. Maybe its just that I'm in college and therefore around a lot of said, "hipsters", but it seems to me that most hipsters would disavow Arcade Fire as being too mainstream or popular or whatever it is that they are against. I mean, they played Letterman, SNL, Madison Square Garden, etc. Not to be snobbish, but if you've listened to anything other than Top 40 R&B/Pop stations in the past 5 years you would have heard of these guys. Hell, even if you just saw the trailer for "Where the Wild Things Are" you'd have some subconscious discovery of them. I get it if people don't like them, obviously not for everyone and maybe they shouldn't have won album of the year (although I thought it was a damn good album), but it seems weird to pretend that they are some underground band when their album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard charts.

Hipster vs Indie Music Snob is a huge debate among itself since hipsters are pretty commercialized now.

I'm by no means deep into the world of indie music, but I heard of Arcade Fire all the way back in 2005. Their music is always used in commercials. In 2007 FOX used No Cars Go for the MLB playoffs. It was playing all the time. Neon Bible was #2 on the Billboard charts when it came out in 2007. It's not like just appeared out of the woodwork.

I mean seriously this is from the 2007 Super Bowl...

I also thought the new album was worse than Neon Bible and Funeral. Just my opinion.

There is nothing Hipster about Arcade Fire. They are straight up Rock and Roll music.

It isn't like they are Wavves or something ghey like that, their sound is totally Rock and Roll. They aren't even snobby or pretentious. Super nice people who give ridiculous amounts of money to charity with each album/tour.

If you don't like Arcade Fire, that is fine. No beef. If you haven't heard of them and you are complaining that they are underground, get your f***ing head out of the sand. That is your fault and you look stupid for not knowing who they are.

It like saying that Zack Galifinakis sucks b/c he is not Brad Pitt.