I thought that Arcade Fire's first two albums were great, and I haven't cooled on either over time. Although I must admit that I haven't listened to either album all that often. One of the ramifications of the size of my music collection now is that nothing is ever in particularly heavy rotation.

As I write, I'm listening to the new album, and it sounds good to me. Nothing has grabbed me the way that "Neighborhood 2 (Laika)", "Antichrist Television Blues", "Wake Up" or "No Cars Go" did, although I'm not entirely sure that any of those emerged as favorites on the very first listen either. This album seems to offer a nice mix of different sounds and instrumentations, some interesting dynamics, intriguing lyrics, and good melodies. Solid songwriting and a style that is recognizably ArcadeFirean. So far, I am pleased!