We revisit the ‘suburban’ home Arcade Fire created for us in 2010 and understand the cultural wildfire it created.

Arcade Fire made the headlines in 2011 when their third album The Suburbs won a Grammy for Album of the Year. This was an important moment as Arcade Fire were the first indie band to smash through the blockade that artists have to be commercially successful to win a Grammy. People were baffled that they won a Grammy – in fact, there was outrage, outpours of praise and even studies were conducted.

How could Arcade Fire win despite being in a sea amongst ultra-famous nominees such as: Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars, Adele and Lady Gaga?

The Suburbs was released in 2010 and for many, including myself, it provided a new spark of excitement for ordinary life following Neon Bible.

Neon Bible was a moody, politically charged record that put Arcade Fire up there for many as it placed them in a hazy midst of commercial and non-commercial fame, whereby people knew of them but didn’t know who they were.

But, The Suburbs helped put them on the map as the band they are today. Arcade Fire also unintentionally put other indie artists on the Grammy radar too because they proved that musicians didn’t need commercial/chart fame, they only needed musical integrity.

Prior to the award fame, music critics were already on The Suburbs ‘hype’. Critics had seen what Arcade Fire did so eloquently, which was to get all the poetry from Funeral, ditch the excess anger on Neon Bible and create a perfect concoction of an album serving as an homage to our past in The Suburbs.

For critics and music fans alike – this was refreshing. This album felt nostalgic, current, charged and soothing – a perfect album of contradictions. You go through the motions with The Suburbs and this is exactly what the awards committee craved as ‘single’ culture was beginning to get rewarded in the mainstream, which completely obliterated the art of an album. Thus, Arcade Fire’s uncompromising approach to produce a coherent album was brave, but proved very fruitful.

Following The Suburbs, they were constantly rewarded. They won a BRIT, they started headlining arenas and their fanbase grew exponentially – all because people were curious to know, how did they beat Bruno Mars?

The Suburbs allows listeners to re-experience the warmth mixed with the adolescent energy/anger that allows them to be transported back to their teen years. When everything feels stale, this album adds intrigue and movement.

This is Arcade Fire’s Magnum Opus.

You may hum the lyrics, you may scream them, you may even cry when listening to The Suburbs – it’s the album to put on whenever and wherever because of its universality and home-like feeling.

This Grammy was well deserved and a moment of pride for Arcade Fire as well as other underdog indie artists. This award proves that it really only boils down to the music, you don’t need to be on the tabloids for your music to strike a chord.

Arcade Fire burning through the Grammys: Revisiting The Suburbs (2010)