Editor Reviews:

Album 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

Rating : - The Arcade Fire

Neon Bible, produced by Arcade Fire, resonates with its profound lyrics. I particularly enjoyed the various musical instruments that accompanied the large band, and how the instruments, such as the pipe organ, contributes to the mood and theme the band is attempting to convey. The themes expressed in the songs reflect issues that are prevalent in society today, such as the impersonal nature of a materialistic lifestyle and the hypocritical nature of figures in authority.

In a musical environment brimming with shallow and syrupy pop songs, it is incredibly refreshing to hear music that deals with issues that are more important than the typical teen romance. I can sense that the songs were derived with legitimate emotion and concern for the impending society. Although the themes are for the most part dark, they strike me as very real, with the metaphors and imagery illustrating messages that everyone involved in societal issues can relate to.

If you are looking for cd produced for merely commercial benefits, then do not purchase or listen to this cd. This work of art is meant for deep thinkers, who enjoy musical talent accompanied by soulful lyrics. The unification of this band, which consists of many members led by Win Butler, is striking. Neon Bible is an indie production that is sure to please music lovers looking to be enlightened and inspired.