Album Review: Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

YouMightBeInterestedToKnow

• This is my first exposure to this band fronted by Win Butler and his wife Regine Chassagne and... well if you really want a full background on the band check out Wikipedia.org. I did find it interesting that this album was recorded in what was once a church and that the themes from the album came from the band watching YouTube videos of a lot of TV preachers and get-rich-quick schemes.
• Released on March 3, 2007.
  
• Ranked at the top of many lists for Album of the Year in 2007.

Song-By-Song

1. Black Mirror - An upbeat, dark, piano driven song with an overall theme leaning toward lack of trust in the world and hopelessness. I really like the atmospheric droning created by the strings and female vocals. Pretty cool song.
   
2. Keep the Car Running - Reminds me of some really great 80's new wave, the kind with a real heart. I guess this song is about always feeling a fear and a sense of needing to get the heck out of town.
   
3. Neon Bible - Music is simple and beautiful with some incomprehensible lyrics.
   
4. Intervention - Huge church organ with acoustic guitar, brilliant! This is the type of song that really saddens me. The lyrics obviously point to some bad experience the artist has had with the church, and they attempt to cleverly sing about the stupidity of religion. Hopelessness.
   
5. Black Wave/Bad Vibrations - Female vocals lead off here then about halfway through male vocals return with a slightly different feel. Another song about hopelessness with lots of references to darkness and the ocean. Some cool choir stuff on this one.
   
6. Ocean of Noise - Incredibly slick intro with a laid back chunky piano comping throughout the song. A song about trying to cut through the distractions, or maybe just about the distractions. Very good song that bleeds right into the next one.
   
7. The Well and the Lighthouse - Kind a song of dual themes. Falling into despair and then seeing that there is hope beyond this imperfect world. A light and airy ending. Very thought provoking lyrics. Some Christian ideas in this one.
   
8. Antichrist Television Blues - Upbeat piano driven tale of a man who wants a daughter that can sing well to bring glory to God, or maybe just to himself. An interesting look at what may be the motivations of ungodly televangelists. Surprise ending. Maybe the best song on the album.
   
9. Window Sill - Acoustic guitar with great backing drums. Seems to be about the despair seen on TV and how affected we are by TV. Builds to a nice climax.
   
10. No Cars Go - Great drums fuel this whole song. Lots of energy. Nice blend of male and female vocals. A song about the emptyness "between the click of the light and the start of the dream". The only semblance of a solo on the album leads to the closing mantra. Lots of interesting sounds on this one.
    
11. My Body is a Cage -Slow moving with organ and light drums. This one explodes with horns and a full gospel choir. My favorite line of the album is here "I'm living in an age that calls the darkness light. " The album ends on a bittersweet tone.

Overall Impressions
I loved it. I sat captivated for the entire 46.9 minutes save 3:58 spent on Black Wave/Bad Vibrations. The many allusions on this album to the ocean and television were really thought provoking. I really enjoyed the juxtaposition of the natural with the unnatural. The ancient with the modern. This album seems to be about making some sense of it all despite the seeming darkness of this age.
Musically, it was very engaging and I can't wait to listen to the entire album again. I wouldn't really call this roadtrip music though. Best save it for a slow night alone.

Rating:

7/10