Every inch of sky's got a star and every inch of skin's got a scar

Continuing my trip back through the 2017 album charts.

11/08/17 : Everything Now - Arcade Fire


This is our fourth visit with them crazy Canadians - I've generally quite liked them, but not as much as I feel I should, so let's see if that form continues here.

Well, I really liked the opening title track - it's surprisingly immediate for AF. The rest of it isn't quite so immediate, but it's still pretty enjoyable and dials down some of their (imho) unnecessary quirk so it feels like it would be a grower. But that title track man - bam, it's good!

We're at #3 in the charts this week on their second week of an eleven week run which is very pleasing because it starts at #1, features a drop in every week and finishes at #99! The rest of the top five were Ed Sheeran, Glen Campbell, Rag'n'Bone Man (it's coming soon!) and Lana del Rey, with the highest new entry being Black Grape (#15). 

Wikipedia tells us this is their fifth album and they used an interesting collection of guest producers including Thomas Bangalter (half of Daft Punk), Steve Mackay (Pulp's bassist) and Geoff Barrow (of Portishead). There's a surprising amount on the album promotion, which was possibly interesting if you experienced it first hand, but does not make for fascinating reading nine years later. The critics were mixed on the album, with some loving it because it was different from their previous stuff and some hating it - for precisely the same reason. Commercially though, it did pretty well globally, getting to #1 in Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Portugal and the US.

discogs.com tells us you're going to have to spend three quid to get a decent version but if you want a copy of the blue translucent vinyl limited edition you're going to have to spend £50. Interestingly, I also learned something which Wikipedia completely glossed over - there are also limited edition versions called Tudo Agora, Alles Jetzt, Wszystko Teraz, Tutto Adesso, Tout Maintenant, Всё Cейчас,  সবকছুি এখন, 지금 모든 것 and at least seven other translations (complete with appropriate album covers), which I must say I quite like as a marketing gimmick. And I also quite like this album as well - it feels like that, of all the AF albums I've met so far, this is the one I have most chance of actually growing to love, which is high praise indeed!

18/08/17 - A nice sentimental listen

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