Album of the Week #29: "Neon Bible" by Arcade Fire

John

So far I've only seen the sleeve and heard a couple of songs on the radio, seems good enough. What be the opinions of the unwashed masses?

yevveh

Was more a fan of Final Fantasy (Owen Pallet's side project) than the original Arcade Fire album but to be honest never gave them too much of a chance. I'll check this out as it's been getting 5 stars and lots of "omg omg arcade fire!!!1" reviews. Plus there's no shortage of people speaking highly of them.

Zapp Brannigan

Final Fantasy is brilliant!

The album, its a grower. Wasnt too impressed my 1st listen but since then I'm liking more and more songs.

tywy

Neon Bible is excellent! You're right it is a grower, after about 3 listens I was hooked!

Nick_oliveri

No cars go, listening to this now. What a song. Completley hooked me. Rest of the album is a bit meh but im working on it!!

conZ

Wasn't too impressed by it to be honest. One or two tracks that I gave 4/5, but certainly no "Tunnels" on it.

Sinfonia

Bought it yesterday, chewing it at the moment. I hope it is a grower tbh, because it hasn't completely blown me off my feet and i really wanted and want to adore this album. I like it a lot, but I wouldn't marry it yet, as i would Funeral.

Also the arcade fire EP and Funeral had to grow on me (except Tunnels which is one of the few songs ever that I immediately loved and still continue to get great pleasure out of listening to), and i love them both.

I agree there probably is no 'Tunnels' on this album, and i think i prefer the original No Cars Go but if i'd heard the new one first i'd probably say the opposite.


The songs are getting better as i listen more, but im starting to think it's not going to live up to my expectations

Garret

an excellent album

Brian Capture

If I want to listen to that sort of music I'll stick on The Black Crowes.

Sweetleilani

Bought it when it came out here in NA. I love it, and they are from my home and native land Canada! I love the whole album, no cars go is a favorite, upbeat!:D

MikeHoncho

Considering no cars go was on the Arcade Fire Ep and is the best song on Neon Bible im not overly impressed to be honest. A couple of good songs but it's not even close to Funeral which was just quality from start to finish. Dont get me wrong its a good album.. just not a great one.

Jonny Arson

Good album, but not a great album like Funeral.

Stargal

I think the fact that it isn't Funeral Mach II has thrown a lot of people who liked the first album. I love it - I think it's incredible. It's dark and subtle and paints a really bleak picture of the world without being preachy or dull. I've been listening to it pretty much non-stop for the past two months (interspersed with a lot of Funeral and the EP) and keep finding new things to appreciate throughout it.

I did this review of it for college, which is a bit generic but basically sums up my thoughts on it.

Arcade Fire have grown up.

If their massively successful debut album, 2005’s Funeral, was a paean to how life was so much simpler and better when they were children, then their sophomore effort, Neon Bible, shows the world as a much darker place; the Funeral kids have grown up, taken a look at the world around them and aren’t happy with what they see.

Pop culture has gone to hell (“MTV, what have you done for me?”), America is entrenched in Iraq (“I don’t want to fight in your holy war”) and pushy parents are desperately trying to make stars out of their kids (“I need you to get up on that stage and sing for me, honey”).

At a time when guitar bands playing sweet pop tunes (The View, The Kooks, The Killers) are battling it out with over-produced, slick American hip-hop for supremacy, Arcade Fire appear to be reading from a different script to everyone else. There are no flashy producers, no guitar solos, no over-hyped guest appearances by rappers in the middle of songs.

Instead, there’s a mish-mash of 8 supremely talented musicians, who play every instrument short of a church organ. Sorry: including a church organ. It introduces the magnificent Intervention with something that sounds suspiciously like a riff from an old disco track. Knowing Arcade Fire, it could be just that.

They throw together a hurdy gurdy, choirs, the odd accordion solo, elaborate strings, inventive guitars and bass, keyboards, and anything else they can get their hands on, all underlined throughout the album by frantic percussion. Lead singer Win Butler alternately howls, cries and whispers his way through his disillusionment with the world, all the while backed by this incredible sound, remarkable for its scale, technical ability and sheer gall.

It shouldn’t work. In theory at least, their music should be ridiculously unfashionable and fuddy-duddy. But somehow it does. The state-of-the-nation lyrics all but command you to sit up and pay attention to them. It’s elaborate and imaginative but it’s also poignant and just a little bit heartbreaking.

Funeral was no fluke. The kids have got it right.

PS: Was glad to see it went in at #1 in Ireland (their first no. 1 anywhere) and # 2 in the UK and the US.

qwertplaywert

personally,ive never seen arcade fires appeal.....imo there aint 1 good song on either album

Stargal

Try listening to Tunnels, Laika, Rebellion (Lies), Haiti, Antichrist Television Blues & Keep the Car Running, and then come back to this thread

cerebis

how come this is album of the week ?? Album for the bin tbh ?

iFight

Still cant get enough of this. Brilliant album, prefer Funeral but

lordgoat

No way. This is a poor album. People have this notion that because it says arcade fire next to it, it must be great. There is nothing like a classic song anywhere on this record. It is such a far fall from funeral. Bruce Springsteen comparisons are so weak are the songs that sound like him are too cheesy. I've listened to this album alot and i've seen them live and the gulf between the songs on both albums is huge.

No song comes close to rebellion or wake up. You can say it's a grower and try as hard as you want to listen to it, but after a few months crawl back to funeral. That's where it's at.

eclectichoney

lordgoat - gotta second everything you say there. it's just so bland and offers nothing special at all, im amazed ppl are praising it so much!

Stargal

lordgoat wrote:

There is nothing like a classic song anywhere on this record. It is such a far fall from funeral.

The biggest critics seem to be the ones who were expecting Funeral II, and got something completely different.

You seem to be saying that because there's such a 'gulf' between it and Funeral that it simply doesn't measure up (feel free to correct me there btw), but judge it on its own merits. Listen to that drum in My Body is a Cage; the slide into Win's part of Black Wave/Bad Vibrations; the chorus of voices at the end of No Cars Go. While I don't think it quite adds up to the sum of its parts (Windowsill, for all its worthiness and strong lyrics, drags a bit) it's still an exceptionally strong album and shouldn't be dismissed out of hand just because it may not measure up to its predecessor.

The big difference I find between the albums is that while Funeral was about small things happening in the world of the narrators, Neon Bible is about assessing the world today and feeling angry and powerless at what's going on -and this is what makes it more difficult to relate to the songs, or even to feel the same passion or understanding for them as for Funeral. Part of what I love about Power Out, Laika and Tunnels is how they reminds me of being a kid and how crazy and full of potential the world seemed; Neon Bible just makes me think of how dark and bleak things can get.

In that way I agree with you about the songs being weaker overall, because you're right, I'm not sure that there is something to measure up to something like Rebellion. And since Funeral is probably my favourite album of all time (hell, I got my nick from one of their songs :P) I didn't honestly expect anything that could top it. But I think with Neon Bible, they've come pretty damn close.

I've listened to this album alot and i've seen them live and the gulf between the songs on both albums is huge.

They've been playing the Funeral songs for over 2 years now, plus the crowd are more familiar with them than the NB stuff, so it's understandable if these songs seem more polished or get a better reception. I saw them live a couple of weeks though, and thought they did a great job with the Neon Bible tracks.

lordgoat

If there was no funeral to compare it to it would still be a rather dull album, i'm not trying to have an argument but i give music a fair chance. If you honestly believe in 2 years time these songs will get as good a reception as Wake Up or Rebellion you have got to be kidding.

I was hoping for an album that was different from Funeral but still had an edge, i think these songs are just a bit pedestrian and maybe time will show that there are classics on this album but i don't think it'll happen for me.
And i'm ok with that!

delta_bravo

I never listened to funeral so I cant compare it to that. I thought that Arcade Fire were just some overhyped indie band but after listening to "Intervention" just hooked me to the album. great stuff

Blackpitts

I'm sorry if this post has been already written by someone else in the past but I did some search and I couldn't find any.

BTW, any comment about this album? it seems different from their debut and I'm get into it slowly, but I like it.

ciao

The_Op

Dare i be a desenting voice against the mega hype machine that is arcade fire.

All i can say is m'eh...i dont get it.

lordgoat

The_Op wrote:

Dare i be a desenting voice against the mega hype machine that is arcade fire.

All i can say is m'eh...i dont get it.

I loved Funeral but this was and still is a huge disappointment. Some songs have grown on me but overall meh

Schlemm

Thought they were fairly mediocre and then 1 day it just clicked and now I love their 1st album, still haven't listned to Neon Bible enough tho.

ttasty

its a tough one to get in2 but when u do its great. Love antichrist television blues! Funeral is prob a better album on the whole though if ur just gettin in2 them tho:)

bowsie casey

Already discussed in this forum as Album of the Week here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055061827

Haven't a Clue

It starts off pretty poor with the first three songs all being a bit meh. It picks up big time from "Intervention" on with nearly all the songs for the rest of the album being good in their own wee way. "No Cars Go" and "My Body is a Cage" are two great songs to finish the album on.

Bubs101

It's kind of weak that one of the four good songs on the album, no cars go, was released years ago. Intervention is an amazing song though.

Dregon

Yeah, i think it's not as good as Funeral, and it takes a bit longer for the songs to grow on you but it has some great songs( the only song i didn't like was Neon Bible). Well worth a listen imo

John

Threads merged. As you were...

bowsie casey

lordgoat wrote:

If there was no funeral to compare it to it would still be a rather dull album,...If you honestly believe in 2 years time these songs will get as good a reception as Wake Up or Rebellion you have got to be kidding.

I was hoping for an album that was different from Funeral but still had an edge, i think these songs are just a bit pedestrian.....

I agree completely. There are a couple of good tunes there, but the album doesn't blow you away the way Funeral did.....

Arthurdaly

I thought the album was excellent, and not that far behind funeral.
Alot better than many of the current releases! Mainly Artic Monkeys, who's new album is a pile of ole tripe!

crybaby

took me a few listens but think it is a fantastic album, main qualm being that the first two tracks are very mediocre in comparison to the rest of the album

No Cars Go and Body is a Cage are as good as anything on Funeral methinks