Arcade Fire Neon Bible + Tour "Part Deux"

[LemonMelon]

I think Windowsill is becoming one of my favourites on this album. the imagery in the song and the way it builds is so - worthy

MTV, what have you done to me...
Save my soul, set me free...

 

[LemonMelon]

I'm thinking of doing some cheap acoustic guitar covers of Arcade Fire tomorrow. Any requests? Windowsill is a must, but what else? I can play (on an acoustic)...

Une Annee Sans Lumiere
Kettles
In The Backseat
Keep The Car Running
Neon Bible
Intervention
Ocean of Noise
Windowsill
No Cars Go
My Body Is A Caae

 

[AtomicBono]

I'm glad you agree that Windowsill is a must

I think a stripped down Intervention could be interesting. and Neon Bible works naturally for acoustic. My Body is a Cage could be really beautiful acoustically too...

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

I bought this today. The regular version. Listened to it on the bus back up to 'Intervention', which was the only song I heard prior (and which I like because of all the soldier references).

So far it's not been as great as the first few tracks of Funeral, but apparently most of the really really awesome stuff is towards the middle and end, so I'm looking forward to that. I'm bringing this to camp.

 

[Bono's shades]

I've listened to it twice so far. I don't think any of the songs are as good individually as "Wake Up" but as a whole it might be even better than Funeral. I think it has better lyrics.

 

[LemonMelon]

I think it has better lyrics.

I disagree.

Let's take a look through the lyrics of each song, and dig out some clunkers:

"The black mirror knows no reflection
It knows not pride or vanity
It cares not about your dreams
It cares not for your pyramid schemes
Their names are never spoken
The curse is never broken
The curse is never broken"

I've never cared much for this verse. The curse part sounds really melodramatic and cheesy, and the pyramid schemes line fails to resonate.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall
Show me where them bombs will fall"

Even Pitchfork noted how crappy this line is.

"Every night my dream’s the same
Same old city with a different name"

Cliche.

"The same city where I go when I sleep
Can’t swim across a river so deep"

Neon Bible is OK, and Intervention's lyrics are fantastic...

"Stop now before it's too late
Been eating in the ghetto on a hundred dollar plate"

Not good. Not good at all.

Ocean of Noise is solid, and Well & The Lighthouse is a great narrative.

In general, I really don't care much for Antichrist Television Blues' lyrics. It would take me too long to point out the weak lines.

Windowsill has some sort of cheesy lines, but it's pretty good lyrically. No Cars Go is way too simplistic to even be critiqued with the others, plus it's an old song anyway. It does the job, but there's not much greatness there, IMO.

I love My Body Is A Cage's lyrics. Very good stuff. It makes the song even better once you know the lyrics by heart.



In contrast, Funeral's lyrics just hit me in the chest every time.

"You change all the lead
sleepin' in my head to gold,
as the day grows dim,
I hear you sing a golden hymn,
the song I've been trying to sing.
Purify the colors, purify my mind.
Purify the colors, purify my mind,
and spread the ashes of the colors
in this heart of mine."

Laika is decent, but throwaway, and the same goes for Une Annee Sans Lumiere, though I do love "Your old man should know, when you see a shadow, there's something there". The song has great imagery.

"And the power's out in the heart of man,
take it from your heart put in your hand.
And there's something wrong in the heart of man,
Take it from your heart and put it in your hand!"

7 Kettles is just breathtaking.

"Time keeps creepin' through the neighborhood,
killing old folks, wakin' up babies
just like we knew it would. "

"They say a watched pot won't ever boil...
Well I closed my eyes and nothing changed...
Just some water getting hotter...
In the flames..."

"It's not a lover I want no more,
and it's not heaven I'm pining for,
but there's some spirit I used to know,
that's been drowned out by the radio"

"They say a watched pot won't ever boil,
you can't raise a baby on motor oil,
just like a seed down in the soil
you gotta give it time."

There isn't anything anywhere near that good on Neon Bible, unfortunately.

"They say it fades if you let it,
love was made to forget it.
I carved your name across my eyelids,
you pray for rain...I pray for blindness."

Wake Up is so good I might as well just paste all of the lyrics here. It touches my heart.

"Somethin' filled up
my heart with nothin',
someone told me not to cry.

But now that I'm older,
my heart's colder,
and I can see that it's a lie.

Children wake up,
hold your mistake up,
before they turn the summer into dust.

If the children don't grow up,
our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up.
We're just a million little god's causin rain storms turnin' every good thing to
rust."

Haiti is mostly in French, so I can't understand it. I don't really get much from Rebellion, it's mostly how the lyrics feel when you hear them (much like how it is with Power Out) rather than how they look on paper.

In The Backseat is a mixture of feeling and beautiful poetry.

"I like the peace
in the backseat,
I don't have to drive,
I don't have to speak,
I can watch the country side,
and I can fall asleep.

My family tree's
losing all its leaves,
crashing towards the driver's seat,
the lightning bolt made enough heat
to melt the street beneath your feet.

Alice died
in the night,
I've been learning to drive.
My whole life,
I've been learning."

Damn.

I think I've made my point. While it is more important to feel the lyrics rather than critique them, good lyrics are good lyrics, and bad lyrics are bad lyrics. Neon Bible is excellent in many ways, but to compare it to Funeral is silly.

 

[Needle_Chill]

I also agree with Windowsill being one of the strongest on the album. The lyrics are incredible, and the build up is epic, leading up to:"The Windows are locked now, so what'll it be, A house on fire or rising seas?" ...(Brass comes in)... Why is the night so still, why did I take the pill? Cause I don't want to see it at my windowsill."

The explosion of brass at this point is my favorite part on the album. I tear up every time I reach it. The song is so cynical, but at this point the brass for me just conjures up images of the sun coming through the clouds -of their being hope left. The song finishes on this tone and it's just amazing IMO.

 

[Canadiens1131]

The strings get me actually, as far as the end of Windowsill.

 

[Zoots]

I bought the limited edition because there was only one copy left at Best Buy and that was it! Just 3 bucks extra so I didn't care. But does it not have much extra? No 2nd CD or DVD. Only found a couple of flip books (the one with the bible is pretty cool). Does the regular edition have the lyrics like this one does? Great album. Not much of a limited edition though.

 

[LemonMelon]

Does the regular edition have the lyrics like this one does?

Yes. It's one of the highlights of the packaging.

 

[Jack In The Box]

probably lyrically "Funeral" is a little better, but musically "Neon Bible" it's much, much better

the strings sections are just awesome, and put in the right places, the drums have improved a lot, and... well, it sounds darker and mature, even considering the main topics here and the main topic on "Funeral"

I love Owen Pallett... I know Win & Regine are the brains here, but I'm a Pallett fan

ltd. ed. is

 

[LemonMelon]

I will concede that Neon Bible is musically more versatile and complex than Funeral.

Now that might not = better, but it's definitely a positive.

 

[bono_man2002]

The Arcade Fire have taken over last Fm!

http://www.last.fm/charts/

 

[LemonMelon]

The Arcade Fire have taken over last Fm!

http://www.last.fm/charts/

Dayum!

 

[bono_man2002]

Dayum!

I Know!

Not Only that, they're the second most PLAYED artist of last week, behind the Beatles, even though It shows they are 6th (Number of listeners Vs Tracks Played)

 

[LemonMelon]

I Know!

Not Only that, they're the second most PLAYED artist of last week, behind the Beatles, even though It shows they are 6th (Number of listeners Vs Tracks Played)

Arcade Fire is the hottest band in the world right now.

The internet has spoken.

 

[U2inUtah]

I know I contributed to that on Last FM, I've probably listened to Neon Bible 20 times in the last week.

 

[Irishteen]

The Arcade Fire have taken over last Fm!

http://www.last.fm/charts/

They actually have taken over the entire top 10, Black Wave and Windowsill would be there if they were all tagged properly, so all hail our new over lords

Number 6 in the last.fm charts, all 10 positions in the track charts, number 2 in the UK album chart, number 1 in Ireland, this band rule

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

The strings get me actually, as far as the end of Windowsill.

Strings make almost anything better...

I'm coming late to this discussion so forgive me if this has already been mentioned (I'm too lazy to check ) but does anyone else notice the "Springsteen-esque" sound of Keep The Car Running and Antichrist Television Blues?

 

[phanan]

Mentioned before, but who cares - those songs are incredible.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Mentioned before, but who cares - those songs are incredible.

Good, I'm glad I'm not the only one.

I the way that Antichrist just ends... No fade out, nothing just a screeching halt...

I find that incredibly refreshing...

 

[prisz25]

Good, I'm glad I'm not the only one.

I the way that Antichrist just ends... No fade out, nothing just a screeching halt...

I find that incredibly refreshing...

OMG I LOVE THAT TOO! It is awesome. I am loving Black Wave/ Bad Vibrations!! IT is so amazing! The music is so great. I've listened to the CD so much in the past week. I can't get enough of it.

 

[Roland of Gilead]

I'm coming late to this discussion so forgive me if this has already been mentioned (I'm too lazy to check ) but does anyone else notice the "Springsteen-esque" sound of Keep The Car Running and Antichrist Television Blues?

Totally! I can't help but think of Flowers (the Killers) being heavily inspired by the Boss on Sam's Town. I am imagining him listening to this and being comepetely floored by these songs, especially ATB. Arcade Fire capture that urgency of early Boss perfectly. Not that the Killers didn't do a great job on their follow-up. They just didn't nail it like this.

 

[*Ally*]

Having listened to it for a full week, I can now say that I really love Neon Bible. Every single song! Funeral had a few stand-out tracks for me, but all of NB is excellent (in my opinion). It really works as an album- the tracklisting really sets a certain mood.

Also, I love that "Antichrist Television Blues" is about Joe Simpson...

 

[Roland of Gilead]

Also, I love that "Antichrist Television Blues" is about Joe Simpson...

Holy Cow! Where does this info come from? I was just listening to this song again last night (I think its my fav off Neon) and I pictured in my mind one of these parents that are milking their kids for all their worth.

 

[Lemonchick]

I'm seriously addicted to this album.

and the flip books.

 

[LemonMelon]

I'm finally starting to love My Body Is A Cage.

 

[U2Man]

seeing them in 13 days

 

[FitzChivalry]

Also, I love that "Antichrist Television Blues" is about Joe Simpson...

I heard the same thing. Don't know if it's true, but that's what I heard.

 

[FitzChivalry]

I like "Neon Bible" a lot. It's definitely more consistent than "Funeral" and pretty much every song is very good, but for me, I don't think there is anything on it that reaches the same heights as the best songs off "Funeral". For me, "Black Mirror" comes the closest.

I think I need to give it a few more listens, but it doesn't sound as diverse or as varied as "Funeral" does to me. I think it's really good, I just don't think it's great.


That being said, I am still excited to see them on June 2nd, because I've never seen them before and I hear they are amazing live.