Pitchy gives Neon Bible a 10.0

[dorkfish]

I meant 8.4. Sorry, typo.

Pretty fair review and score: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/articl...ire_Neon_Bible

I figured they'd either go with the overly high or overly low score. It's surprisingly not that verbose: the craziest word I noticed was "malevolent" (which he uses twice...oddly).

[dorkfish]

oh and fnirt.

[TomAz]

Is it The Arcade Fire or just Arcade Fire? I've seen both. I can't stand inconsistency and ambiguity. It must be eradicated. I need clearcut defintions. I need everything to be black and white. I voted for Bush.

[fortydollarsworthofmeat]

it's a messy, exciting burst.

nice review. i agree with their opinion that it should have ended on 'no cars go' as opposed to 'my body is a cage', but tev.

[hangthedj112]

Is it The Arcade Fire or just Arcade Fire? I've seen both. I can't stand inconsistency and ambiguity. It must be eradicated. I need clearcut defintions. I need everything to be black and white. I voted for Bush.

Yeah, even on ticketmaster there's a listing for The Arcade Fire and Arcade Fire, irks me.

[J~$$$]

I gave it a 5.

[fortydollarsworthofmeat]

tom - they've said in interviews that they don't really mind either. jeremy signed something recently as "the arcade fire - jeremy". on SNL they were introduced as "arcade fire".

doesn't matter.

[TomAz]

I haven't heard the new album yet. I am waiting for its official release. I'm old school you know.

[dorkfish]

if i knew what those cyllinders that played the first recorded music were actually called, i'd totally make a mean-spirited joke referencing them.

[TomAz]

by mean-spirited you actually mean good-natured, right?

and I think they were just called cylinders.

[TomAz]

oh. I forgot to tell my story.

Last night I was in my car and had on sports talk radio, some national show. And the host was playing "Wake Up" as the bumper music and he went on and on about how much he loved the song, that he didn't know any of the band's other 'work' but that "Wake Up" was the best new song he'd heard in years. This on sports talk radio, not exactly a welcome refuge for indie hipsters.

This made me realize that what someone said on another thread may well be true: AF may become really huge someday, like U2-huge.

[Yablonowitz]

I agree that they should decide on the article issue. It causes tagging problems and library confusion, especially if you have a menu that includes the "The" in a band's title. You either have to look for it in the way up top part of the library and scroll your ass all the way down to the "t's". Is it too much to ask for clarity?

[breakjaw]

Is it The Arcade Fire or just Arcade Fire? I've seen both. I can't stand inconsistency and ambiguity. It must be eradicated. I need clearcut defintions. I need everything to be black and white. I voted for Bush.

I voted for The Gore.That must have been it.

[dorkfish]

it's just "Arcade Fire." all of their albums say "Arcade Fire." They refer to themselves sans "The"

[arbouler]

like, The Ohio State University? tOSU? or OSU?

[dorkfish]

you mean THE Ohio State University.

OSU = Oklahoma State, for what it's worth.

[C DUB YA]

oh. I forgot to tell my story.

Last night I was in my car and had on sports talk radio, some national show. And the host was playing "Wake Up" as the bumper music and he went on and on about how much he loved the song, that he didn't know any of the band's other 'work' but that "Wake Up" was the best new song he'd heard in years. This on sports talk radio, not exactly a welcome refuge for indie hipsters.

This made me realize that what someone said on another thread may well be true: AF may become really huge someday, like U2-huge.

I disagree, its very hard for anyone to be that huge these days. Artsits have no time to slowly build their careers with a label anymore.

Arcade Fire have lined up a stellar year, this was all depending on Neon Bible though - while good - I don't think its a mass appeal kind of record like a U2 release, they will not be that big. Bigger, yes, U2 big, no.

I have listened to Neon Bible a few times through now (got a promo copy), and I must say its a wee bit disappointing, but the expectations were and are so very high - it was bound to happen, I give it a 7.5 out of 10. Pitchfork's review of it is pretty good though.

[TomAz]

Arcade Fire have lined up a stellar year, this was all depending on Neon Bible though - while good - I don't think its a mass appeal kind of record like a U2 release, they will not be that big. Bigger, yes, U2 big, no.

AF is already much bigger than U2 was at this point in their career in the 80s. Both are talented charismatic bands. No telling what might happen.

[mob roulette]

AF is already much bigger than U2 was at this point in their career in the 80s. Both are talented charismatic bands. No telling what might happen.

agreed. clearly the best band out there right now. AND so young. i feel like this is what it must have been like when springsteen hit. only cause i can't think of a better analogy. but U2 is not a fair comparison. i don't think they were that big until War. and i don't remember arcade fire type hype until the unforgettable fire and then the tipping point was the joshua tree. in any case, arcade fire is clearly more popular earlier in their career than U2 were, even though arcade fire is clearly benefitting from better content delivery systems (read: the internet). hipsters with computers broke this band. now it's anybody's guess what happens from here.

also, i just used the word "clearly" three times in one paragraph. ouch. clearly time for more coffee...

[TomAz]

When Boy came out it was listened to all the time by us college radio types. There was definitely a buzz, but they weren't on the cover of Time or anything.

[C DUB YA]

You're right, but the U2 records that followed say, October were amazing - the music matched said buzz through and through, when they rolled out the very likeable Joshua Tree, everything clicked, it didn't matter what album number it was. Artsits careers stat and stop at different points, some earlier (like many debut records) and some very far along in their careers, others even have a re-birth of buzz (Johnny Cash). I was pointing out that AF's time is now, in this era of short attention spans and record labels folding like houses of cards. The buzz is extremely tipped in their favor, I personally don't think the album is as good as the press that proceeds it. Thats all. Its still a good record.

This doesn't mean that they won' shock us all next time out and make their "own", Joshua Tree or OK Computer.

[C DUB YA]

Compared to Pitchfork, Playlouder didn't have many nice thing s to say about Neon Bible.

http://www.playlouder.com/review/+neon-bible/

[mob roulette]

neon bible=the bends

[TomAz]

AF's 3rd album won't come out for another couple years. The 3rd album seems to be what makes or breaks the true greats. War, London Calling, Born to Run, Fear of Music, OK Computer, etc.

[C DUB YA]

AF's 3rd album won't come out for another couple years. The 3rd album seems to be what makes or breaks the true greats. War, London Calling, Born to Run, Fear of Music, OK Computer, etc.

VERY TRUE - good point.

Like I was saying, this age of downloading and the like, the industry has sped the cycle up though, hopefully next album will match what everyone's hopes are.

Acutally to stay ith the U2 comparision:

If Neon Bible is a little of a dispointment then they are right n track. October was a disppoinment in many a fan/critics eyes. For those of us that can remember that far back. Next album could be their WAR (maybe)

[dorkfish]

I'd really like to see a list of third albums, now.

[bmack86]

I was thinking of them in terms of Talking Heads. This album, while good, seems like "More Songs about Buildings and Food" which the heads acknowledged as simply more of their trademark style. I'm excited to hear their Fear of Music.

[ghettojournalist]

public enemy "fear of a black planet"
the smashing pumpkins "mellon collie"
prince "dirty mind"
bob dylan "times they are a-changin'"

[dorkfish]

The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night

[PotVsKtl]

It's not a very good album. The lyrics are trite, the bombast is overwrought, when they're not blasting the overwrought bombast it's just boring. They're anything but "clearly the best band out there right now." I get the sense they ate their own hype and thought they could make an "important" record.