Everything Now (studio album) by Arcade Fire

I came into this record seeing a lot of negative reviews and thinking it is probably just down to the high standards of Arcade Fire that people are disappointed but after listening I was proven wrong. This really is a massive step down from what they have made previously. The songs no longer seem to be as complex and instead are replaced by simple dance rock songs that do nothing for me really. The songs seem lifeless and dull and it is a drag to get all the way through this record. There are a couple of glimpses of light shining through in the title track and other songs but that is really it. Musically, it is cringey at times and I struggle to listen to this record when I put it on. Electric Blue is one of the biggest low points for me due to the vocals sounding so awful. Overall, this style of music does not suit Arcade Fire and I hope this doesn't act as a precedent for future releases but after hearing WE for the first time the other day I think it might be.

Dance Rock
A change of pace and feel for Arcade Fire - not welcomed by all their fans I note. But since I got into them late and despite loving Funeral and Suburbs, I am not as emotionally tied to that more chamber and baroque sound and more willing to engage in this change. It is more electronic and dancey - whimisical I am sure real fans will suggest.
Along with the title track I love Electric Blue, Good God Damn, Put Your Money On Me and We Don't Deserve Love. Caught them live wit the tour for this album.

They loss their mark here. I hope they comeback with better effort in the future. I heard the rumors of a new album coming soon. Too boring, blunt, and very little good songs in it.

It could have been one mean EP:
-Everything Now
-Creature Comfort
-Electric Blue
- Good God Damn
- Put Your Money On Me
- We Don't Deserve Love
- Everything Now Cont.
HOWEVER as an album unfortunately the rest reaches the level of awful truly soiling the experience...
When it hits those tunes though im always paying attention

From Vatsal 10/23/2020 08:23

So I decided to revisit this album after 3 years to see if I was maybe too hard on it when it came out.

And nope! It didn't sound better. It didn't sound any worse. I still stand by the title track and PYMOM, great songs. and Creature Comfort, Electric Blue, We Dont Deserve Love are still okay, occasionally good. The rest is still a clunky awkward mess. The album just insists upon not being taken seriously. Im still suspicious this was some experiment in lowering expectations from the band which were unrealistically sky high before this release.

Which is exactly how I felt when I listened to it in 2017. So, there you go.

From lleon79 08/12/2020 04:05

I haven't listened to this album in full for a long time now, but I still think some of these songs are pretty great and get a bad rep. "Everything Now" is such an anthem and I wish it would've made more of an impact. "Creature Comfort", "Good God Damn" and "Electric Blue" are three songs I enjoy and like to listen to on a regular basis, and of course, the last two songs (I'm talking about "Put Your Money On Me" and "We Don't Deserve Love") which I'm pretty sure would've gotten much higher reviews if they had been on another record, becuase that's how things work I guess...

Somehow, Everything Now is an album that's worse than I remember but also much better than everyone gives it credit for. Just my opinion. Let's see what Arcade Fire brings in the future.

From LebowskiRams 04/08/2020 18:22

Some great songs are overshadowed by some of the band's worst music to date. A complete misstep but not without its moments. That makes the album all the more frustrating.

Good songs: Everything Now, Put Your Money On Me, We Don't Deserve Love, Good God Damn

Bad songs: The rest

Awful songs: Chemistry and Peter Pan

It's not that bad. It's just too inconsistent. The big downhill respect from their older stuff is the lyrical content.

Don't understand the hate all around this. Ok it's not their best album, but it's a solid record with interesting sound effects and melodies.

They lost their originality, their beautiful lyrics and the happy/sadness of their songs. A little too much disco. some tracks are so bad that it makes it almost funny.

It's obviously their worst album, but that is not an insult when it's compared to four masterpieces. I still like it, I just consider it as a normal album. It has solid openers and closers despite the fillers in the middle.

standouts: Everything Now, PYMOM, We Don't Deserve love
personal favourite: Electric Blue