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album: Neon Bible
artist: Arcade Fire
label: Merge / 2007
score: 83
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by Tim Mathiesen
How does the Arcade Fire meet expectations on a sophomore effort following the sudden stardom, thanks to their debut album, Funeral? In 2004 and 2005 through word of mouth and sporadic appearances in magazines, talk shows, and music blogs, the Arcade Fire slowly grew in popularity to the point of topping most year-end best album lists.
So how do they meet the high expectations? On Neon Bible, the Arcade Fire turn inward to the spiritual struggle with the responsibility of being an artist, entertainer and a regular human being living in a dark world. How do you balance your spiritual convictions with fan expectations? How do you weigh the importance of family versus the church? How do you stand on your own while carrying on the religious traditions of your father? These are the questions and struggles that I hear while listening to this very mature album by this young and promising band.
I love the line on "Black Wave/Bad Vibrations." "Stop now before it's too late / Been eating in the ghetto on a 100-dollar plate / Nothing last forever that's the way it's gotta be / There's a great black wave in the middle of the sea." The image in the second line may have been inspired by Lars Von Trier's The Five Obstructions, but this song challenges our ignorance towards the poverty in the world and especially the poverty in our own back yard.
This band has done what TV on the Radio did last year with their sophomore album. They not only exceeded expectation, but matured in the process and created a very tight and meaningful package with Neon Bible. Whether it's a better album than Funeral may continue to be debated, but I'd like to congratulate the Arcade Fire on a guaranteed spot in most of the year-end top 10 lists, again.
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