Arcade Fire Neon Bible + Tour "Part Deux"

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UberBeaver said:
I can't get into Neon Bible. I tried and tried, but it just never clicked with me. :( There's some good moments for sure, but overall it just didn't move me.
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Thank God I'm not the only one here.

My musical tastes don't really lean towards anything indie or obscure -- not because I have a problem with either of those things, but because I don't really have the time and money to check out a lot of it. I think I have good taste in music, but I just don't have obscure tastes. (And yeah, I know that it's hard to call a band that's played SNL "obscure," but you know what I mean. The average person in America hasn't heard of them.) I wouldn't have known who they were if I hadn't heard about them opening for U2, not to mention all the praise they get on these boards.

I almost never buy albums without first hearing any of the material, but I figured if so many U2 fans spoke so highly of Arcade Fire, I'd give it a shot. So today I finally bit the bullet and bought "Neon Bible." I wanted to start with "Funeral" but Best Buy didn't have it.

Upon first listen... I don't really care for it. I don't think it's bad by any means, but I was expecting greatness and simply didn't hear it. I'll definitely give it a few more spins to see if it grows on me, but I just don't get it at the moment.

My biggest problem with it is Win Butler (I'll probably get run out of here with pitchforks for saying this.) So much of the music he's singing over is really gorgeous, and I just don't think his voice matches it. He sounds like a second-rate Robert Smith to me. I think the music deserves a better singer.

NB, to me, sounds kind of pretentious and forced.
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This is exactly what I was thinking. I really do want to like this album, but I'm not sure it's going to happen.
 
Zootlesque said:


I agree with this but still think he has done a good job. The music is of course excellent! :drool:
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he's not the best singer..but he gets the job done

:wink:


and for the record...

Funeral > Neon Bible :reject:
 
See, vocals have always been a deal-breaker for me when it comes to a band. The band can be amazing, but I want a good, solid singer up front. Otherwise it just ruins it for me. As far as rock singers go, I'd say Win is a little below average. I found myself rolling my eyes occasionally at his lyrics, too, though it may have been the delivery that annoyed me more than the content.
 
Allanah said:
See, vocals have always been a deal-breaker for me when it comes to a band. The band can be amazing, but I want a good, solid singer up front. Otherwise it just ruins it for me. As far as rock singers go, I'd say Win is a little below average. I found myself rolling my eyes occasionally at his lyrics, too, though it may have been the delivery that annoyed me more than the content.
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Nah, there are definitely a few clunky lyrics on Neon Bible, despite the overall awesomeness of the album as a whole. Win's delivery is generally pretty great, in my opinion. It's one of my favorite aspects of the band.

But yeah, if you like Neon Bible at ALL, make sure to get Funeral. It's BRILLIANCE -- BRILLIANCE I tell you.
 
Apparently critical darlings The National are opening a handful of Arcade Fire dates:


05-01 Atlanta, GA - Atlanta Civic Centre Theatre
05-02 Asheville, NC - Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
05-04 Washington, DC - DAR Constitution Hall
05-05 Upper Darby, PA - Tower Theatre
05-07 New York, NY - United Palace
05-08 New York, NY - United Palace
05-09 New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall (High Line Festival)
 
Allanah said:


Thank God I'm not the only one here.



My biggest problem with it is Win Butler (I'll probably get run out of here with pitchforks for saying this.) So much of the music he's singing over is really gorgeous, and I just don't think his voice matches it. He sounds like a second-rate Robert Smith to me. I think the music deserves a better singer.
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His voice matches the music on Funeral much better, you can feel him more on that album, probably because the lyrics are much more personal ("And if my parents are crying, Then I'll dig a tunnel from my window to yours" :drool:). Neon Bible lyrics drift towards bigger, semi-generic ideas. Funeral isn't musically as "big", it's almost a sort of punk-ish-rock. It's faster, and more cohesive, and EVERYTHING fits perfectly. NB sounds, to me, like, "Hey, I got a pipe organ....Let's write a song!.....Hey, I got me a hurdy gurdy....Let's write a song." I give them credit for not writing Funeral 2, but I'm not a huge fan of their new direction. I think I might like the EP better than NB at this point.

I think you should DEFINITELY check out funeral. I don't like the Cure, but I WORSHIP disentegration. I think it's gonna be like that with with Funeral.
 
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inmyplace13 said:
Apparently critical darlings The National are opening a handful of Arcade Fire dates:


05-01 Atlanta, GA - Atlanta Civic Centre Theatre
05-02 Asheville, NC - Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
05-04 Washington, DC - DAR Constitution Hall
05-05 Upper Darby, PA - Tower Theatre
05-07 New York, NY - United Palace
05-08 New York, NY - United Palace
05-09 New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall (High Line Festival)
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:ohmy:

What I would give to be at one of these shows..
 
Win has updated his scrapbook on the website.

The operation went well and he's recovering at home, expected to start singing again next week. He says that he and Regine have even started working on news songs :hyper:
 
inmyplace13 said:
Apparently critical darlings The National are opening a handful of Arcade Fire dates:


05-01 Atlanta, GA - Atlanta Civic Centre Theatre
05-02 Asheville, NC - Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
05-04 Washington, DC - DAR Constitution Hall
05-05 Upper Darby, PA - Tower Theatre
05-07 New York, NY - United Palace
05-08 New York, NY - United Palace
05-09 New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall (High Line Festival)
Click to expand...

YES!! this news absolutely made my day.
 
Canadiens1160 said:
Win has updated his scrapbook on the website.

The operation went well and he's recovering at home, expected to start singing again next week. He says that he and Regine have even started working on news songs :hyper:
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Great!!! I'm so glad the operation went well!

And they're starting to work on new songs:dancing:
 
North American Tour Openers
Friday, 13 April 2007
Almost all of the opening acts for Arcade Fire's upcoming North American tour have been finalized and are as follows:

04/26 San Diego, CA - Spreckels Theatre - TBD
05/01 Atlanta, GA - Civic Center - The National
05/02 Asheville, NC - Thomas Wolfe Auditorium - The National
05/04 Washington, DC - DAR Constitution Hall - The National
05/05 Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theatre - The National
05/07 New York, NY - The United Palace - The National
05/08 New York, NY - The United Palace - The National
05/09 New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall - The National
05/10 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre - TBD
05/12 Montreal, Quebec - Arena Maurice Richard - St. Vincent
05/13 Montreal, Quebec - Arena Maurice Richard - St. Vincent
05/15 Toronto, Ontario - Massey Hall - Handsome Furs
05/16 Toronto, Ontario - Massey Hall - Handsome Furs
05/18 Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre - St. Vincent
05/19 Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre - Electrelane
05/20 Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre - Electrelane
05/24 Burnaby, BC - Deer Lake Park - St. Vincent
05/27 Portland, OR - Schnitzer Concert Hall - Electrelane
05/29 Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre - Electrelane
05/30 Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre - Electrelane
06/01 Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre - Electrelane
06/02 Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre - Electrelane
 
The National is an amazing band. Definitely the best choice for an opener. Everyone should check out the Boxer album. Can't wait for the ATL show!
 
I like Win as a singer, and especially as a frontman. He's got this edge to him, and a character that I think makes him stand out over music that would drown out a lot of other singers. He may not be perfect in terms of his singing technique, but in my opinion he more than makes up for it with... 'it' if that makes any sense.

I always get a kick out of him offstage too, on all the video I've seen of the band, plus seeing and hearing them live. He's pretty hilarious and he seems to have a pretty self confident and spontaneous drive. I don't think the Arcade Fire would be half of what they are without him.
 
Have the arcade fire said whether or not they will play more dates in North America? This list seems pretty limited.
 
thetitans2k said:
Have the arcade fire said whether or not they will play more dates in North America? This list seems pretty limited.
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No they haven't...if they do it won't be til the Fall as they are doing a whole slew of festival dates in Europe from the last week of June through last week of August. But it's sounding like they may be touring through at least March 2008, so chances are very good that they will be doing more N. American dates.
 
Just as long as they dont come to Australia in August (Splendour in the Grass). I am out of the country (in Montreal funnily enough) and would DIE if I missed them!!
 
thetitans2k said:
Have the arcade fire said whether or not they will play more dates in North America? This list seems pretty limited.
Click to expand...

I hope they discover Florida someday.
 
thetitans2k said:
Have the arcade fire said whether or not they will play more dates in North America? This list seems pretty limited.
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The assumption on the AF boards is that they're coming back to the U.S. in the fall.
 
martha said:
I can't decide whether to go to one of the LA dates or not. I'm not in love with Neon Bible and the NPR show I downloaded was a little...slow...and...unexciting. :reject:
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There are some boots by other artists that sound slow and unexciting but when seen live blow your socks off.

For me, Arcade Fire was one of those bands. Prior to seeing them for the first time open for U2 in Ottawa I had downloaded some live boots of them in U2. Good but not great. However, the Ottawa performance was good but in Montreal they literally had the crowd in the palm of their hands by the end of their set.

My opinion of them as a live band was enhanced after seeing them in a small venue in February. Truly extraordinary. I'm not very eloquent in describing such things, but suffice it to say, they touched me like very few bands have in the past—including my beloved U2.

Again music is subjective so you'll only have to see them before you can form your own opinion. As for the NPR broadcast, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I agree, they weren't "ON" that night. That can be attributed to many things, one of which could be they were nervous about being perfect for the listening audience around the world.

All I'm saying is don't judge a book by it's cover. If you can't get into Arcade Fire, great, at least you tried. But give them a chance, at least live. They are fantastic.
 
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