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Neon Bible
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Neon Bible
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Price | New from | Used from |
MP3 Music, March 5, 2007
"Please retry" | $9.99 | — |
Audio CD, October 13, 2017
"Please retry" | $5.80 | $3.50 |
Vinyl, December 22, 2017
"Please retry" | $25.98 | $38.57 |
Additional Details
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Track Listings
1 | My Body Is A Cage |
Editorial Reviews
Product 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.
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
Product details
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- Product Dimensions : 4.92 x 5.63 x 0.55 inches; 4.37 ounces
- Manufacturer : MERGE RECORDS
- Item model number : 2099070
- Date First Available : January 28, 2007
- Label : MERGE RECORDS
- ASIN : B000MGUZM0
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #264,142 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #344 in Baroque Pop
- #5,278 in Indie Rock
- #23,935 in Alternative Rock (CDs & Vinyl)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
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- Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2007Although I thought Arcade Fire's previous album, "Funeral," dragged a bit in places ("Crown of Love," "In the Backseat") and suffered from some tempo changes that sounded forced, it contained some of the most heartfelt songs I had heard by anybody in a long time, especially "Neighborhood #1" and "Rebellion (Lies)." This was clearly a band that was a cut above almost everyone else, and I eagerly awaited their follow-up. I'm happy to report that "Neon Bible" grabbed me immediately, and hasn't let me go. The Bowie/Byrne/U2/Springsteen comparisons are all very apt, but the songwriting is strong enough to give this band an identity all its own.
For me, "Neon Bible" is part three of an accidental trilogy, in which part one was Radiohead's "OK Computer" and part two was Wilco's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." In the distant future, these three albums will tell people a lot about what the end of the 20th century, and the beginning of the 21st, felt like for those who lived it. "OK Computer" looked back on the ghosts of the 20th century (who mostly take the form of space aliens) and "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" captured that claustrophobic moment right around the time of the 2001 terrorist attacks, which it eerily foreshadowed with its "twin towers" album cover and a song called "Ashes of American Flags." (The album was slated to be released on September 11th, but delayed due to problems with the record company.)
And now we have "Neon Bible," which looks straight ahead into the murk of the 21st century. The cover art, with its depictions of children on a stage playing trumpets and reading from big, important-looking books, captures the feeling perfectly: Collectively, we are like those children, making grand gestures but not really knowing what we are doing. Yes, that includes you, Mr. President. The album has been criticized by many for lyrics that they claim are too obvious and music that is too grandiose for its own good, but we need an album like this once in awhile. We need musicians who don't always hide their feelings behind wordplay (which is so often a smokescreen for not having anything to say anyway). Win Butler walks a fine line here, with lyrics that spell out the major themes of the album but still provide plenty of subtlety and mystery for those who care to look for it.
The songs themselves are outstanding from start to finish. The opener, "Black Mirror," is all doom and gloom, set to a thumping beat. Win Butler sounds like a crazed preacher who is calling for damnation to rain down upon us all, because maybe we deserve it. But the mood lightens with the second song, "Keep the Car Running," and from then on, the album alternates darkness and light in a manner that is reminiscent of Love's "Forever Changes." "Antichrist Television Blues" completely lives up to its title, and "Intervention" is another Big Statement that does not disappoint. A more subtle favorite is "The Well and the Lighthouse," which is sort of a parable set to a beat that is like a speeded-up version of "Black Mirror," but this time moving toward a much more hopeful conclusion.
Many listeners will hear "Neon Bible" as a tremendous downer, but then, there are those who say the same thing about Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon." Largely it's just a matter of taste whether you like these albums or not, and that's okay. Although they have little in common musically, they are similar in a way. The beauty of the music overcomes the angst expressed in the lyrics, and the end result is exhilarating, and yes, even hopeful. The children pictured in the "Neon Bible" CD booklet may not know what they are doing, but they are still children. It's not too late for them to be saved.
[Note: I have the "deluxe packaging" version of this disc. It comes in a little box that has a pretty cool hologram on the cover, in which the pages of the book appear to turn as you look at it from different angles. Inside, there is a lyric booklet with the pictures I've mentioned, which is probably also contained in the standard version of the CD. There are also a pair of little flip books, one of which depicts a book that is flipping pages (kind of ironic for a flip book, now that I think of it), while the other depicts the synchronized swimmers from the CD booklet splashing in the water. Honestly, I don't see the point of the flip books, but if you want the hologram, the deluxe version may be worth the higher price.]
- Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2007This album was given to me by a friend and it is now one of my favorite albums. I find myself listening to "Neon Bible" over and over again. I wish I could write a more coherent, thoughtful review than this in order to justify 5 full stars. However--as some other reviewers have pointed out--this group has a sound that's a hard to describe. It's certainly not for everyone and I'd definitely recommend that one should listen to at least 3 or 4 tracks before plonking down cash for it. I'm not nearly as crazy about "Funeral" as I am "Neon Bible". Anyway, the reason I love it is that it manages to be very complex and layered without bogging down. It's also extraordinarily unique (to my listening experience anyway). If they are copying someone I've never heard the definitive source material. I suspect they have a wide diversity of influences ranging from Roger Waters, U2, and Morrisey to who knows what. I found the album immediately appealing and accessible on the first listen...yet complex and interesting enough to have staying power for me. The lyrics are saturated with emotional images when read on paper...yet somehow sort of understated in the songs themselves (melodramatic content without overly melodramatic delivery...if that makes any sense). I've read them and listened to them many times and still haven't quite figured it out what it all means. I don't think they lyrics are intentionally vague I'm probably just too dumb to pick up on all of the deeper meanings about religion and this post-industrial existence most of us struggle to wrap our brains around. The lead singer demonstrated some obnoxious antics on at least 2 TV performances (smashed his guitar on one, smashed a studio camera on another). I for one could do without that sort of juvenille crap. Is this supposed to impress us with his "intensity"? Or shock the audience? It doesn't... it just looks narcissistic and stupid in my opinion. Regardless, back on point: in spite of that nonsense, there is a definite musical genius at work here somewhere in this band. It appears on the surface to be a fairly egalitarian group. The whole band seems to be chock full of talent, not just the apparently bratty front man.
Top reviews from other countries
- MariaReviewed in Canada on January 20, 2022
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Vinyl
It's a superb album, haven't seen it on vinyl for quite some time. 3 sides, 4th side has engraved "neon bible" art all over it. Sound quality is great, the cover is super cool and opens to a funky black, white and 3D coloured interior. Worth it to hear My Body is a Cage alone.
MariaGreat Vinyl
Reviewed in Canada on January 20, 2022
Images in this review
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CicéronReviewed in France on December 28, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent album
Remarquable écriture et composition. Probablement mon album préféré d’arcade fire.
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José Luis Camacho SánchezReviewed in Mexico on April 21, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Envío rápido y el producto cumple con la expectativas
recomiendo ampliamente el producto.
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GilazzaReviewed in Italy on October 18, 2019
5.0 out of 5 stars Top album
L'album più riuscito degli arcade, pezzi memorabili, "no cars go" e "keep o the car running" su tutti.
- David KReviewed in Australia on November 29, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
Came in a jewel case (as all CD's should) and was everything i expected this to be .