Arcade Fire Songs Ranked
Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, along with Win’s younger brother William Butler, Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. The band’s current touring line-up also includes former core member Sarah Neufeld, percussionist Tiwill Duprate and saxophonist Stuart Bogie. All the band’s studio albums have received nominations for Best Alternative Music Album at the Grammys. The funeral is widely considered by music critics to be one of the greatest albums of the 2000s. The band’s work has also been named three times as a shortlist nominee for the Polaris Music Prize: in 2007 for Neon Bible, in 2011 for The Suburbs, and in 2014 for Reflektor. Here are all of Arcade Fire’s songs ranked from worst to best,
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20. In the Backseat (Funeral, 2004)
“This is my personal favourite Arcade Fire song, due to the fact that it’s also the second best track with female vocals ever made, slightly behind Björk’s Jóga. It also made me cry at the 4 minute mark on my first listen. Regine’s hyper-emotional performance in addition to its hyper-emotional instrumental makes it their most sensitive and emotive song to date.”
19. Crown of Love (Funeral, 2004)
“This song is incredibly beautiful, the emotion you hear when Win sings “You gotta be the one, you gotta be the way, your name is the only word that I can say” is so epic. And I absolutely love the transition into the upbeat part!”
18. Haiti (Funeral, 2004)
“Simply heartbreaking. Although it’s not the only Arcade Fire song that mixes the lyrics from both French and English, Haiti’s lyrics just flow in their own way and the language change seems to take place every time when it’s more beautiful to say the particular line in the other language. Don’t even get me started on the instrumental and the music video.”
17. My Body is a Cage (Neon Bible, 2007)
“This is definitely their best song. It’s perfect. Constantly building throughout the song, raw emotion, great use of the organ and amazing drumming that keeps the song moving once the full sound comes in. Win is amazing in this song too. Lyrics are definitely their best as well.”
See more: Arcade Fire Albums Ranked
16. We Don’t Deserve Love (Everything Now, 2017)
“Everything now wasn’t their best album, but this song is absolutely fantastic. I’d put it in the top ten. The chorus and the last two minutes of this song are phenomenal”
15. Neighborhood #2 (Laika) (Funeral, 2004)
“I used to hate this song. I would skip it while listening to Funeral. But then I listened all the way through… and it hooked me. It features the best use of accordion (albeit some of the ONLY use of accordion) in any rock/indie/alternative song of recent years.”
14. Here Comes the Night Time (Reflektor, 2013)
“Amazing construction. There so much energy, it’s just make me feel happy. A really great song with a great interaction of a lot of instruments judiciously used. My favorite one on Reflektor.”
13. Suburban War (The Suburbs, 2010)
“The song has so much feeling and emotion. Should be much much higher. Having said that though all the above are awesome to. Haven’t heard an arcade fire song that I don’t like yet.”
12. Speaking In Tongues (The Suburbs, 2010)
“Absolutely beautiful guitar and killer bass with some of the most intense lyrics and vocals the band has ever produced! Great hook. Fun to sing along to.”
11. Reflektor (Reflektor, 2013)
“Arcade Fire is such a unique band, and every song they produce is a complete masterpiece. The band is made up of a lot of people, against the usual four or five members. I’ve noticed that most of their songs use the same song format, then they go on for a long time with amazing melodies and just pull you into their world. This song, Reflektor, is mysterious and almost creepy in a way, but it’s super catchy and the kind of song you find yourself dancing to at your bedroom mirror. The singers have great voices, and I find it really cool that part of the song was sung in French.”
10. No Cars Go (Arcade Fire, 2003)
“I first heard this song from it’s 2003 original version and I was amazed. When I heard it’s re-recording for Neon Bible I thought to myself that Arcade Fire are just setting the bar so high. It’s gonna be almost impossible to make music better than this guys, on the studio AND on the stage. ‘Cause on the studio they make you believe in life itself yet they still manage to combine it with the other songs of the album and their meanings. On the stage they lead you to an imperial cavalcade of emotions and you find yourself bursting out in tears with it’s amazing Outro”
9. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) (Funeral, 2004)
“Arcade Fire showing that they also know how to rock n roll and to make you feel alive. Energetic and beautiful at the same time, one of the best of their songs. Definitely their most high soaring, lively song. Fantastic energy in it and the lyrics are quite powerful.”
8. Afterlife (Reflektor, 2013)
“Every time I hear this song I like it more. I know for a fact it’s the percussion, and I’ve memorized the symbol crashes by now, but man it’s just bizarrely invigorating with every new listen. Especially at night.”
7. Intervention (Neon Bible, 2007)
“This is one of the best song I’ve heard in my life. The instrumentation, the lyrics, the delivery are just perfect. It has so much meaning, politically and religiously speaking. I think we should all learn from the band’s message in this song… a powerful chorus that make us better people, couldn’t ask for more.”
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6. Ready to Start (The Suburbs, 2010)
“The intro and the first few lines are permanently embedded in my head to the point where I subconsciously start dancing to it and singing it under my breath. It’s infectious.”
5. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) (The Suburbs, 2010)
“This song is gorgeous. It’s stunningly beautiful. From the heavy synths to Reginé’s very high, almost shrill (which is not a bad thing) voice, it creates such an epic story. It almost feels as though her voice carries a panicky tone like she will be trapped inside the “sprawl” with no way to escape, but at the same time it’s so anthemic that one can only derive a sense of hope. It’s simple amazing.”
4. The Suburbs (The Suburbs, 2010)
“One of the coolest indie song of our time. The music catchy & pretty awesome. The lyrics are just brilliant. Good chord progression, lyrics, instrumentation, vocals, really good vibe. Really there are no faults with this song. It’s fantastic.”
3. Rebellion (Lies) (Funeral 2004)
“Unlike others songs from Arcade Fire, this song ends in sadness, a violin-whistling induced sadness and it’s beautiful. Since the beginning of the song you are like taping your feet, finding freedom in its strong rhythm and then you end up singing this no-lyric kind of chorus and everyone around you is singing with you in a perfect connection with the band on the stage. There’s no words to describe the feeling”
2. Wake Up (Funeral, 2004)
“We can all agree that this music has the best change of tempo ever. Whenever they finish the line with “reaches and touches my hand” I can’t contain myself, it’s so much joy and I end up in tears every time. I wish everyone had the opportunity of hearing this tune live. Trust me, it’s a life changer”
1. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) (Funeral, 2004)
“The first time I heard this I had to listen to it again right after to be sure I heard it correctly through the trance it put me in. By all logic this song should not work; its tempo fluctuates, its note precision is shoddy, but in the end, that’s the point. Raw emotion so powerful that it doesn’t just interpret the music, it rewrites it. Definitely Arcade Fire’s most impressive piece and deservedly at the top of this list. And I haven’t even mentioned the lyrics or the live performances. I’ve never looked at music in the same way after this piece.”