All right, I admit it. I might have been a little too hard on Arcade Fire. Yes, their latest Reflektor is listenable, maybe even their best since Funeral. It’s just been difficult for me to accept the band ever since they went full-on mainstream. Not only did they win a best album Grammy for The Suburbs, they performed live on the show with some lame BMX riders like a bunch of jackasses.

After that disgraceful display, I disowned Arcade Fire, a band I’ve been supporting since way before anyone ever heard of them. I remember watching them perform in a tiny poutine shack outside of Montreal back in 2003 and thinking, “these guys and girls got it.”

And then they lost it, as the band got too big for their own good.

But now the reviews are rolling in for the new album and they’re thankfully mixed! While it’s received raves from Pitchfork and Rolling Stone (blah!) several critics have called out Reflektor for being bloated and over-indulgent. Nice!

Did the band really need to make this a double LP with the majority of songs over five minutes, and throw in a useless “hidden” track for good measure? No. But I’m glad they did. Now that Arcade Fire aren’t the industry darlings they once were, I can feel comfortable embracing them once again.

Boy does that feel good!

What are your thoughts on Arcade Fire’s new album? Let us know in the comments below!