"Neon Bible lacks Funeral’s immediate pop appeal, but this album is no less intriguing.
On 2004’s Funeral, the Montreal group turned what could’ve been a depressing effort into a serious- but joyous- rumination on both death and life. And while it was predictably 80’s-influenced, the band managed to forge its own identity outside of Win Butler’s obvious appreciation for Bowie and Byrne-like vocals.
In an attempt to transcend the Funeral hype, Arcade Fire have created something quite different (their agnostic album?) that is abounding with negative references to the Church and Bible. Neon Bible is weird, dark, and perhaps even more influenced by New Wave.
But is it a step backwards? I don’t think so.
Butler now restrains his emoting in accordance with the rise and fall of the music, and he doesn’t sound so much like Bowie as early Goth now, which (all implications aside) is an improvement. The music has also taken on a much darker edge, at times sounding downright tuneless, but just as listeners will begin to wonder what the Hell is going on, the melody arises and it’s all good again."
'keep the car running'
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