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Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

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Johnny C:

--- Quote from: Spinless on 18 Mar 2007, 08:54 ---But I kinda like all you guys. So I'm gonna give this album a second chance to grow on me. Otherwise I'll go back to that old small sounding EP. The one that reminded me of being a child.

--- End quote ---
I was almost certain that the universal consensus on the EP was "crap." I mean, "No Cars Go" and "My Heart Is An Apple" were both good, and I don't really like the re-recording of the former song either, but I still think Neon Bible is better.

People calling this one "Album Of The Year," be warned: Low's new record is really damn good.

TheFuriousWombat:
Quick side question on that note: anyone know how good Low is live? They're playing nearby in April or May.

JediBendu:

--- Quote from: TheFuriousWombat on 19 Mar 2007, 14:45 ---Indeed good sir, I'd say it does. In all seriousness though, the new MM is pretty good. It's just not Arcade Fire. And Dashboard makes me cringe every time I hear it. Literally cringe.

--- End quote ---

I actually kind of like Dashboard, but to each his own. But saying something like "It's just not Arcade Fire" frankly just doesn't even really mean anything to me.

They have one full-length album (edit: before "Neon Bible" that is). One. That doesn't exactly gaurantee that anything they come out with will be absoloutely godly. That's like comparing some new album to "A Bigger Bang" and saying "It's just not The Rolling Stones." I mean. Sure, "Exile" and "Let It Bleed" are absoloute classics, but just because it's the Stones doesn't say much about "A Bigger Bang."

Or say, whenever Foo Fighters came out with "One By One" and somebody might have said (And probably did say) "Well, it's Foo Fighters" just because the first three albums were pretty good. Even though that album was complete shit.

Basically, what I'm saying is, those two bands actually have more of a reason to have that assumption made. While Arcade Fire is really still a mostly untested and young band. Granted, I think "Neon Bible" passes the test. But still, going into "Neon Bible" and thinking "It's Arcade Fire. That's all there is to it." might be the wrong way to go about it.

So really... maybe I should be saying "Well... 'Neon Bible' is good, but it's just not Modest Mouse. And 'My Body Is A Cage' makes me cringe everytime I hear it."

See what I'm saying? In a very long manner?

Spinless:
Okay. I'm back.

This sounds exactly like the arcade fire, they haven't changed or developed their sound at all.
If they had, the new recording of No Cars Go wouldn't work. It does.

Not all the tracks are particularly very interesting, but the (majority) that were are just as good, if not better than the songs on funeral.
The album is lacking the intensity in the performance that funeral had. This makes it feel more subdued. Imagine Win Butler belting out these songs live you'll soon forget about funeral. Nobody can argue that funeral was bad. Nobody sane anyway. But a perfectly good argument is that it wasn't very interesting. Simple songs, simple lyrics for the most part. Songs that have been written a thousand times before. This would be a bad thing if the arcade fire didn't perform them so well.
I prefer this new arcade fire album to funeral. I still think the best track on funeral is the acoustic one that everybody hates.

If you loved funeral, and don't like this as much, that's because you're just disapointed that the band isn't tearing their voices to shreds to sell it to you.


The Arcade Fire EP sounds awful. But I love it. JC, you forgot to mention 'headlights look like diamonds'. The best songs from that EP are the Arcade Fire's best songs. Save for that light one from funeral. It's worst tracks are no worse than the worst tracks from the full length albums.
The main weakness, perhaps the only weakness of that EP is that the production makes some perfectly good songs sound a little like filler.

EP: Some great songs, some okay songs, shitty production ruining it.
Funeral: One big block of simple rock songs that would be boring if anybody else was playing them. Impressive as a whole.
Neon Bible: Some great songs, some filler. Great songs better than Funeral's. Lacking in the intensity that funeral had.

Merkava:
I think their sound has changed a lot. Funeral, I've grown to enjoy, but I still feel they rely a bit too much on bombast. On Neon Bible, it seems like they have chilled out a bit, but still find a way to make their music powerful. Win doesn't need to risk snapping his vocal chords in his higher register, and not all the songs explode into your ears. The organ can be a bit much at times, but I'm getting more and more used to it. It /really/ works on "My Body is a Cage", but its a little overwhelming on "Intervention".

Also, I really love the kind of feelings the name Neon Bible evokes. It's that beautiful hollowness and darkness, or a perversion of something that is considered sacred that can inspire some really good art. And it has here.

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