People are always asking me..."so what do you really like right now"...musically speaking that is. Obviously this answer changes daily but there are those artists who rise above even mere pleasure.
One such would be
The Arcade Fire out of Montreal.
Canada has been a real hotbed of great bands over the past few years and I see no sign of this tapering off. The Arcade Fire have just released their second proper album,
Neon Bible. It may not surpass their debut, Funeral, in greatness but it comes darn close. The best one two punch I've heard from any band in the last 20 years or so.
If I were to venture a guess as to whether there will be another band to reach the heights of U2, I would place my money on The Arcade Fire.
If you are looking for music that is anthemic, uplifting, rocking yet contemplative with a true angst feeling then pick up both of these albums and join in the joyous chorus of believers like myself.
Here's a video of the band recently backstage in the dressing room. They then move to an elevator where they do an acoustic version of the title track, Neon Bible. Next, they walk out into the crowd to perform their first song, an acoustic Wake Up. The drawback is that the crowd claps on every beat instead of every other beat which rather dampens the urgency of the song.