Track Listing

1. Black Mirror
2. Keep The Car Running
3. Neon Bible
4. Intervention
5. Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
6. Ocean Of Noise
7. Well & The Lighthouse, The
8. Antichrist Television Blues
9. Windowsill
10. No Cars Go
11. My Boby Is A Cage

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3707 in Music
• Released on: 2007-03-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Special Edition

Amazon.com
For their second full-length, the Montreal-based seven-or-eight-piece Arcade Fire show themselves capable of Big Rock, as original, and as potentially marquee-topping as TV on the Radio and Sigur Ros. Regardless, the intentional murkiness of these pleasantly anthemic New Wave dirges makes it sound as if the music has already reverberated through a crowded cement stadium. Named after cult author John Kennedy Toole's first novel, Neon Bible is smart and subtle enough to present itself as a personal discovery for every listener, every word to be pored over by fans (as with those of Tori Amos, Pavement, and Radiohead). Surely, lines like "The sound is not asleep/ It's moving under my feet" have already been scribbled onto the margins of countless textbooks. Such words are delivered with less intensity this time, but no less import. For vocal influences, lead singer Win Butler seems to have traded his '80s Bowie in for an '80s Springsteen, at least on the songs "Antichrist Television Blues" and "Windowsill" (though "Intervention" sounds an awful lot like '80s era Go-Betweens). The kitchen sink arrangements include the use of an Eastern European orchestra, pipe organ, hurdy gurdy, and a military choir. --Mike McGonigal

Album Description
The second album from Montreal's Arcade Fire exceeds all expectations. With string and orchestral arrangements by two of the band members, "Neon Bible" is full of both half-assed punk rock mistakes and meticulously orchestrated woodwinds. Processed strings and mandolin. Quiet rumbles and loud rumbles. But mostly just eleven songs that the band thinks are really good. The deluxe CD version is packaged in a hinged box with two 32-page flip books designed by the band. The LP is double 180-gram audiophile quality with three sides of music and an etching on the fourth side. The LP also includes a coupon for a free MP3 download of "Neon Bible". Arcade Fire's 2004 debut "Funeral" has scanned over 300,000 copies and is certified platinum in Canada.

Customer Reviews

amazing
Great album. Was not into it right away, but then again I could not get into Funeral right away either.

melodramatic hogwash
Funeral was an infectious album fueled by youthful angst and unbridled enthusiasm where nearly every track proved anthemic. The choruses were rousing and the percussion monsterous. Though the lyrics left something to be desired, it was difficult not to get caught up in the group's enthusiasm, especially with their killer live show. Critics unanimously hailed the album as one of the best of the year -- quite a feat for a debut album.

So of course Neon Bible has a lot to live up to.

I wasn't expecting them to top Funeral, and really, Arcade Fire don't attempt to with Neon Bible. This album goes in a pretty different direction. Sort of a goth-rock indie hybrid, Arcade Fire go for a darker sound with Neon Bible and come off melodramatic. They sacrifice the personal for the political in the songwriting, which would be fine if they had the lyrical chops for it, but sadly they fall far short. Instead of the youthful intensity of their debut, most of the tracks on this album intend to be moody and introspective, but just lack content. There are exceptions: namely, "Keep the Car Running", which is just as good as anything off Funeral, "Intervention", with its driving organ part making up for the silly lyrics, and "No Cars Go", despite that it sounded better on their debut EP.
Arcade Fire had good intentions with Neon Bible, but I think they bit off more than they could chew with this album, and the product comes off as pretentious. I can see it pleasing a lot of younger fans, but those with more mature musical taste will probably detect the poor songwriting. And even with those who like it, I doubt it will have the staying power as Funeral. "My Body is a Cage" is a strong contender for worst track of the year...
I hope with their next album Arcade Fire tone down the melodrama and theatrics and focus on writing solid rock songs.

I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY...
One day before I embark to go see Canada's incredible Arcade Fire in concert, I ask myself: Why rate this album lower than Five Stars? What you get with their sophomore effort is not a sophomore slump at all. You get music that somehow, someway, speaks to you when you close your eyes late at night, when you awaken early in the morning, when you're off doing your own thing in this vast world. A world in which most music nowadays, especially rock music, is full of the same boring stuff that gets recycled over and over. I've read a couple of one to three star reviews here and I will have to disagree with all of them. Yeah, yeah, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but when you're not open minded and can care less about genuine, solid music, you will just not understand a band like the Arcade Fire. This is a different kind of band, a band that will open your mind to music that is rare in these modern times. So close your eyes and be ready to be transported elsewhere and have your breath taken away.