# Why does Arcade Fire have two drummers?



## Captain Howdy (Feb 14, 2011)

Seriously. Plus, who the fuck are they? I've asked around a bunch of pop-culture people, and they can't provide me more than, "Dunno" or, "Some band from Canada".

But as far as their drummers go - Is one of them just mimicking, or something? There's no way that's purposeful in studio, and unless their microphone set up sucks, does nothing for them live either. 

Seriously, give one of them a triangle or a tambourine, and 100% more useful.


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## STB (Feb 14, 2011)

I like that one song they did..

And doesn't Slipknot have like 5 drummers?


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## Takun (Feb 14, 2011)

Why does metal have two guitarists?

Seriously. Plus, who the fuck are they? I've asked around a bunch of metal-culture people, and they can't provide me more than, "Dunno" or,  "Some band from Norway".

But as far as their guitarists go - Is one of them just mimicking, or  something? There's no way that's purposeful in studio, and unless their  microphone set up sucks, does nothing for them live either. 

Seriously, give one of them a violin or a cello, and 100% more useful.


tag: Your Thread Title Sucks


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## Captain Howdy (Feb 14, 2011)

Takun said:


> _*Why does metal have two guitarists?*_



If you're seriously asking that, you don't listen to music...Let alone metal. 



STB said:


> I like that one song they did..
> 
> And doesn't Slipknot have like 5 drummers?


 
They have one drummer, and a bunch of percussionistds, of which basically consists of banging on random objects (sometimes they give them a tom or snare). Which is technically effective, I suppose, since if you can bang on it - It can be a percussion instrument, but ehh, the clown takes an aluminium bat to an empty beer keg quite often- Take that for what it's worth.


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## Corwin Cross (Feb 14, 2011)

Arcade Fire's awesome enough to get away with 2 drummers


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## LLiz (Feb 14, 2011)

They can have as many drummers as they want. 
As long as the keep churning out the tops as tunes.


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## TakeWalker (Feb 14, 2011)

Twice drummers = twice grammys? :V I dunno, they suck and their album is crap.


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## Lobar (Feb 14, 2011)

The Grateful Dead had two drummers too, but I think they were just so high all the damn time that they never noticed.


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## The Anarchectomy (Feb 14, 2011)

The Arcade Fire won album of the year at the Grammies. Over Lady Gaga, Eminem, Rihanna, Katy Perry, and someone else I think.

So they MUST suck.


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## Takun (Feb 14, 2011)

Lastdirewolf said:


> If you're seriously asking that, you don't listen to music...Let alone metal.
> 
> 
> 
> They have one drummer, and a bunch of percussionistds, of which basically consists of banging on random objects (sometimes they give them a tom or snare). Which is technically effective, I suppose, since if you can bang on it - It can be a percussion instrument, but ehh, the clown takes an aluminium bat to an empty beer keg quite often- Take that for what it's worth.


 
If you are seriously asking this, you don't listen to music... Let alone classical.  

:durp:


But to give you a serious answer, they are all multi-instrumentalists.


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## Endless Humiliation (Feb 14, 2011)

because theyre just SO ROCKIN


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## Willow (Feb 14, 2011)

I'm still trying to figure out how they won the Grammys. That still confuses me.


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## Captain Howdy (Feb 14, 2011)

Willow said:


> I'm still trying to figure out how they won the Grammys. That still confuses me.


 
Did you hear the hostess when she announced them?

"And the grammy for best album of the year goes to...Arcade...Fire...?" And she looked at the host all confused xD


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## Willow (Feb 14, 2011)

Lastdirewolf said:


> Did you hear the hostess when she announced them?
> 
> "And the grammy for best album of the year goes to...Arcade...Fire...?" And she looked at the host all confused xD


 Indeed I did. It was seriously one of those lolwut moments.


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## Endless Humiliation (Feb 15, 2011)

why were you watching the grammys you fucking dork


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## greg-the-fox (Feb 15, 2011)

Takun said:


> Why does metal have two guitarists?


 
Are you fucking kidding me?


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## Endless Humiliation (Feb 15, 2011)

greg-the-fox said:


> Are you fucking kidding me?


 
whoosh

hahaha i thought you were in college dude

whats your excuse


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## Captain Howdy (Feb 15, 2011)

Willow said:


> Indeed I did. It was seriously one of those lolwut moments.


 
Even the entertainment/pop culture news is barely covering their win. They'll go "And Arcade Fire won Album of something or other, BUT HOW 'BOUT THAT GAGA." 

Not even winners can be winners, hah.


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## Hir (Feb 15, 2011)

year of no light have 2 drummers and they rule

SO THERE~


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## Smelge (Feb 15, 2011)

Because drummers are so incompetent that it needs two of them for them to actually count as a real person.


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## Dyluck (Feb 15, 2011)

Lastdirewolf said:


> If you're seriously asking that, you don't listen to music...Let alone metal.
> 
> They have one drummer, and a bunch of percussionistds, of which basically consists of banging on random objects (sometimes they give them a tom or snare). Which is technically effective, I suppose, since if you can bang on it - It can be a percussion instrument, but ehh, the clown takes an aluminium bat to an empty beer keg quite often- Take that for what it's worth.


 
Knowing this much about SlipKnot while not knowing who Arcade Fire are indicates that you are the one who does not listen to music.


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## Glockypaws (Feb 15, 2011)

This thread is so full of ignorance that it's not even worth commenting abou---

Damnit D:


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## Captain Howdy (Feb 15, 2011)

Dyluck said:


> Knowing this much about SlipKnot while not knowing who Arcade Fire are indicates that you are the one who does not listen to music.


 
Great non sequitur.


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## Endless Humiliation (Feb 15, 2011)

this whole thread smacks of mad


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## Ben (Feb 16, 2011)

TakeWalker said:


> Twice drummers = twice grammys? :V I dunno, they suck and their album is crap.


 
What a well thought out post, good job!

But no, Arcade Fire definitely deserved to win, and I'm kind of surprised there's so much hubbub about no one knowing who they are, considering they've had two chart-topping albums, have headlined at countless music festivals, made multiple SNL appearances, and received buttloads of critical acclaim over the last 7 years.

Here, let's educate ourselves. Neighborhood #3 from their first album _Funeral_, which is generally considered their best.

[yt]0ozdCLrTrtA[/yt]


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## Takun (Feb 16, 2011)

Ben said:


> What a well thought out post, good job!
> 
> But no, Arcade Fire definitely deserved to win, and I'm kind of surprised there's so much hubbub about no one knowing who they are, considering they've had two chart-topping albums, have headlined at countless music festivals, made multiple SNL appearances, and received buttloads of critical acclaim over the last 7 years.
> 
> ...


 

[yt]X4dNz5nIQhA[/yt]


c:


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## HyBroMcYenapants (Feb 16, 2011)

Why does rap have 2 rappers?

Who the fuck are they?


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## Volkodav (Feb 16, 2011)

The real question is "why does arcadefire suck??"


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## Captain Howdy (Feb 16, 2011)

That song (Powerout?) Was terrible. I've heard less whiny vocalists and more complex music out of emo bands. But was on par with the shit song they played at the Grammy's that had two drummers for what has so far been determined as no reason at all. I also heard they carry around all their instruments...So they carry around a fucking heavy ass second complete drum set


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## Endless Humiliation (Feb 16, 2011)

Lastdirewolf said:


> That song (Powerout?) Was terrible. I've heard less whiny vocalists and more complex music out of emo bands


 
y wer u listnig 2 emo bands

lul


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## TakeWalker (Feb 16, 2011)

Ben said:


> What a well thought out post, good job!


 
All right, mister, here's the tl;dr, copypasta'd from my review notes:

I'm not a big Arcade Fire fan. As indie albums go, "The Suburbs" is pretty damn boring. "Rococo" is a terrible song. It's followed by "Empty Room", which I actually kind of like. Maybe it's just a reaction to the awfulness of the preceding track. I'm going with that explanation, because I also like the next track, "City With No Children". It's like the first four songs numbed my brain completely, and now I'm too complacent to know what's good anymore. Clever girl, Arcade Fire. After that three-track slice of goodness, the album goes back to being boring and I can feel a little more vindicated. Why was this voted best album of 2010 by NPR listeners? Because they have horrible taste in music. And the same goes for the Grammies, because this won album of the year. It must be feel-good material for music snobs. Remember, this is the same Grammy academy that gave Eminem two for his horrible fourth album. 5.5/10

So I've definitely heard worse.


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## Ben (Feb 16, 2011)

TakeWalker said:


> All right, mister, here's the tl;dr, copypasta'd from my review notes:
> 
> I'm not a big Arcade Fire fan. As indie albums go, "The Suburbs" is pretty damn boring. "Rococo" is a terrible song. It's followed by "Empty Room", which I actually kind of like. Maybe it's just a reaction to the awfulness of the preceding track. I'm going with that explanation, because I also like the next track, "City With No Children". It's like the first four songs numbed my brain completely, and now I'm too complacent to know what's good anymore. Clever girl, Arcade Fire. After that three-track slice of goodness, the album goes back to being boring and I can feel a little more vindicated. Why was this voted best album of 2010 by NPR listeners? Because they have horrible taste in music. And the same goes for the Grammies, because this won album of the year. It must be feel-good material for music snobs. Remember, this is the same Grammy academy that gave Eminem two for his horrible fourth album. 5.5/10
> 
> So I've definitely heard worse.


 
Why do you find it so boring? I'm giving it another listen, and I find it pretty engaging. It kind of goes up on Track 2, down on 3, and back up on four in terms of intensity, but I don't think the roller coaster effect is nauseating here. What qualifies at boring by your standards exactly? I mean, I think Funeral and Neon Bible are better albums, but this is still a pretty solid piece of work. I'd say the same about Eminem's fourth album-- I would only consider Relapse and Recovery to truly be "bad." But anyway, what do you consider good albums, if this one is mediocre?


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## Ley (Feb 16, 2011)

More drums = more awesome. Duh.


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## Willow (Feb 17, 2011)

Ben said:


> What a well thought out post, good job!
> 
> But no, Arcade Fire definitely deserved to win, and I'm kind of surprised there's so much hubbub about no one knowing who they are, considering they've had two chart-topping albums, have headlined at countless music festivals, made multiple SNL appearances, and received buttloads of critical acclaim over the last 7 years.
> 
> ...


That was painful to listen to.


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## Ames (Feb 17, 2011)

TakeWalker said:


> Twice drummers = twice grammys? :V I dunno, they suck and their album is crap.


 
Well, I wouldn't say that they completely suck (they were much better than all that other crap), but yeah I didn't really see anything special about them.  When I first heard their album, I just thought of it as average run-of-the-mill hipster compost.  Nothing great, but it wasn't exactly abysmal, either.


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## Ben (Feb 17, 2011)

Willow said:


> That was painful to listen to.


 
I swear, you people.

[yt]83KR_UBWdPI[/yt]
[yt]wjxef8AfVQg[/yt]


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## Captain Howdy (Feb 17, 2011)

I'm now starting to think having a secondary useless drummer is the least of their worries. That vocalist is awful in a not-even-funny way, and harmonizing? Sweet baby jesus. Put a guy with a less whiny voice, and more passion, instabetter.


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## STB (Feb 17, 2011)

[video=youtube;5iWxD0GZVVk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iWxD0GZVVk[/video]


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## Ben (Feb 17, 2011)

Lastdirewolf said:


> I'm now starting to think having a secondary useless drummer is the least of their worries. That vocalist is awful in a not-even-funny way, and harmonizing? Sweet baby jesus. Put a guy with a less whiny voice, and more passion, instabetter.



The song Neon Bible comes right after the 2nd track on the album, which is considerably more energetic.

[yt]GEZockGkEyY[/yt]

I'm not really sensing a dire problem with his voice that requires immediate replacement.


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## Captain Howdy (Feb 17, 2011)

Ben said:


> The song Neon Bible comes right after the 2nd track on the album, which is considerably more energetic.
> 
> I'm not really sensing a dire problem with his voice that requires immediate replacement.


 
That is your definition of energetic? A song has to breach triple digit bpm for me to even conceive of it being energetic :v

And actually yeah, replace both drummers, and the vocalist. The more I listen, the worse they sound - And I take back the "heavy drum" part, because all they use is snare and bass drum (at least, as far as these songs have gone).  

The rest of them are okay though, I guess. The competition at the grammy's wasn't exactly powerful (and lets be frank, it's _the grammys_, purely made for gossip mags) - Being what, almost all of them were just singers?


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## Corwin Cross (Feb 17, 2011)

I like Arcade Fire. From the songs that I've heard on The Suburbs, my favorite song is Modern Man. Ready To Start was my favorite, but it gets overplayed. Neighborhood #3 is an awesome song. It's better than the other Neighborhood songs by far. The Month Of May song they played at the Grammies was pretty good too. And, yeah, Win Butler has a whiny voice, but I don't mind much. His wife's voice on the other hand, is terrible. Exactly why I don't listen to Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains).


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## TakeWalker (Feb 17, 2011)

Ben said:


> Why do you find it so boring?



I can't elaborate without hearing it again, unfortunately. :/ That's why I write these down. I usually say things like that, though, when the individual songs do not stand out to me (single-style) or stir me in any way. I mean, the songs can all sound the same and blend together so long as they create an interesting sonic landscape, but all too often when a band goes that route, it just means an album of one song repeated ten times. This is not the case with Suburbs, I'm just sayin'.



> I mean, I think Funeral and Neon Bible are better albums



I'm fairly certain I agree with this, though I don't remember precisely what I thought about either album.



> I'd say the same about Eminem's fourth album-- I would only consider Relapse and Recovery to truly be "bad."



That album to me felt strained, like he had no idea what he was doing anymore and was making a record based solely on other peoples' perceptions of who he is. I said in my review that it was just a pop culture reference followed by a swear word, repeated ad nauseam. It was a parody of his career, which I have followed for whatever reason, despite not really liking him all that much. All three of his previous albums were tremendously superior, in my opinion.



> But anyway, what do you consider good albums, if this one is mediocre?


 
Best album of last year? Santana's "Guitar Heaven". An amazing collaborative cover album that, with minor exception, really let him show off while paying tribute to the great songs of classic rock (and a few newer tunes, inexplicably). My tastes trend towards pop-ish music, rock, metal, electronica aside. Occasionally, I like bizarre things, like Matt & Kim or the Avalanches. I like indie music, which is to say that I have liked numerous indie bands, but from looking at what I do like versus what I don't, I think I tend to prefer indie when it's less experimental, more sure of itself, and, doubtless, when it conforms closer to my established tastes. That said, every now and then something will come along out of left field and blow me away, like Sigur Ros' "()", which is what I consider the greatest album of all time. Suburbs just was not in that category for me.


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## Ben (Feb 17, 2011)

TakeWalker said:


> That album to me felt strained, like he had no idea what he was doing anymore and was making a record based solely on other peoples' perceptions of who he is. I said in my review that it was just a pop culture reference followed by a swear word, repeated ad nauseam. It was a parody of his career, which I have followed for whatever reason, despite not really liking him all that much. All three of his previous albums were tremendously superior, in my opinion.



Wait, we, are talking about Encore right? This sounds more like Relapse, so I just want to make sure.



> Best album of last year? Santana's "Guitar Heaven". An amazing collaborative cover album that, with minor exception, really let him show off while paying tribute to the great songs of classic rock (and a few newer tunes, inexplicably). My tastes trend towards pop-ish music, rock, metal, electronica aside. Occasionally, I like bizarre things, like Matt & Kim or the Avalanches. I like indie music, which is to say that I have liked numerous indie bands, but from looking at what I do like versus what I don't, I think I tend to prefer indie when it's less experimental, more sure of itself, and, doubtless, when it conforms closer to my established tastes. That said, every now and then something will come along out of left field and blow me away, like Sigur Ros' "()", which is what I consider the greatest album of all time. Suburbs just was not in that category for me.


 
I like Sigur Ros, Matt & Kim, and the Avalanches, so fair enough I suppose. Never heard the cover album though.


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## TakeWalker (Feb 17, 2011)

Ben said:


> Wait, we, are talking about Encore right? This sounds more like Relapse, so I just want to make sure.


 
No, I'm talking about Recovery, his most recent album. :B Or has the internet misinformed me again?

I also want to mention, for the sake of whatever, that the NPR First Listen I heard right before Suburbs was "The Way Out" by the Books, a "sound collage" group. If you want different, you can't get much more different than that, and I rather liked the album. I try to analyze my music preferences, since I spend so much time talking about what music I like and don't like, I should really understand them. And there are certain genres that just sit better with me than others. My tolerance for pop music is increasing as I get older. But every now and then, like I said, something out of left field will just hit the right chord with me, and thus my horizons continue to expand.


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## Spatel (Feb 17, 2011)

Polyrhythms

King Crimson had two drummers (Bill Bruford and Pat Mastelotto) for a while in the 90s. Since then the second drummer has rotated.

Talking Heads had a number of percussionists on "Remain in Light" and the live tours that occurred during that time period.


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## Ben (Feb 18, 2011)

TakeWalker said:


> No, I'm talking about Recovery, his most recent album. :B Or has the internet misinformed me again?



Ah, okay. Thus far, he's had six studio albums: The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show, Encore, Relapse (there was a five year gap between those two albums) and Recovery (not to mention Curtain Call, the greatest hits album that produced When I'm Gone and Shake That).



> I also want to mention, for the sake of whatever, that the NPR First Listen I heard right before Suburbs was "The Way Out" by the Books, a "sound collage" group. If you want different, you can't get much more different than that, and I rather liked the album.



The Books? I'll check them out. Zune pass, initiate!



> My tolerance for pop music is increasing as I get older.



Well -that's- something you don't hear every day.


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## Nuketon (Feb 18, 2011)

I prefer vocalists who don't seem to be all there to the jocks with guitars. Win Butler is only slightly worse of a singer than someone like David Byrne in terms of 'chops' but his voice goes well with the desperate tone of the lyrics and music. 

Would you prefer a bass monotone vocalist singing the same words? It wouldn't have as much impact. That is, assuming you're listening to the words...


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## TakeWalker (Feb 18, 2011)

Ben said:


> Ah, okay. Thus far, he's had six studio albums: The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show, Encore, Relapse (there was a five year gap between those two albums) and Recovery (not to mention Curtain Call, the greatest hits album that produced When I'm Gone and Shake That).



Huhhhh... Despite the fact that I remember a couple singles from Encore and Relapse, I'm pretty sure I missed both of those. But at this point, I really don't care enough to go and find them.



> The Books? I'll check them out. Zune pass, initiate!



They're crazy, let me tell you. I'm interested to know what you think.


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## Takun (Feb 18, 2011)

I think this is the best song they've done.  I like all three, but I find The Suburbs to be the best album as well.

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## Captain Howdy (Feb 18, 2011)

Takun said:


> I think this is the best song they've done.  I like all three, but I find The Suburbs to be the best album as well.


 
That song? That song? Was night and day compared to the rest of their crap. The drummers realized they have more than a snare drum, the guitarists were a little more powerful, and the singer realized he has a shitty voice if he tries to sing louder than a normal talking voice ... Of course the middle/second half of the song turned back to the rest of the crap they have :v but hey, I can see that they _do_ have the ability...It's just kept very quiet, and buried.


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## Captain Howdy (Feb 20, 2011)

Spatel said:


> Polyrhythms
> 
> King Crimson had two drummers (Bill Bruford and Pat Mastelotto) for a while in the 90s. Since then the second drummer has rotated.



This _could_ be true, but the drummers both play the same notes. At least in a few songs that I've heard and seen.


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## Berton (May 11, 2015)

I know that this thread is quite old, but I've just discovered about Arcade Fire due to it and became very interested in this band. Why haven't I heard about them before? They sound just so good. I wonder, how much do they earn through their music? It's interesting as they were able to win Grammies in a compitition with such a perfomer as Lady Gaga whos net worth is $190 million (according to information here) and I doubt that their net worth is bigger...


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