Neon Bible review

Arcade Fire's commercially successful second album, which was mostly recorded in a church in Quebec. The album cover and title are excellent, but can the album live up to them? More importantly, can it live up to Funeral?

Tracks:

1. Black Mirror: 8/10 pretentious and sometimes dull, this will nevertheless make you think and the instrumentals, specifically the sound mixing, remains as excellent as ever.

2. Keep the Car Running: 8/10 a hard hitting crescendo of a song, this needs some patience but it will certainly be rewarded.

3. Neon Bible: 5/10 you shouldn't need to research so that you know what a song is saying and it's pretty boring, but it's still refreshingly mature and its understated nature is somewhat effective.

4. Intervention: 9/10 this may not be a jolly song at all, but with its swelling crescendo, incredible organ music and mesmerising lyrics, this isn't so much a song as a missile blasting up through the atmosphere.

5. Black Wave/Bad Vibrations: 8/10 intense and unpredictable, the image of a black wave in the middle of the sea sums this song up pretty well.

6. Ocean of Noise: 8/10 a quieter and melancholy piece which still maintains the album's epic feel, although the album's tone is becoming repetitive.

7. The Well and the Lighthouse: 9/10 this skilfully written song is divided intelligently into 2 instrumental parts and both work well.

8. (Antichrist Television Blues): 6/10 this offers little in the way of variety but plenty in the way of thematic depth.

9. Windowsill: 8/10 it fails to distinguish itself from anything else on the album and doesn't hit a peak, but it's still very good.

10. No Cars Go: 8/10 this one is a leap from pretentious lyrics to grating simplicity but this fast paced, catchy and energetic song is one of the best on the album.

11. My Body is a Cage: 9/10 an underrated and rather brilliant conclusion. A moving and intense meditation on anxiety which contains That crescendo which serves as a stunning and haunting ending for a stunning and haunting album.

Best song: My Body is a Cage
Worst song: Neon Bible

Summary: Ever since The Empire Strikes Back was released, sequels have had to be bigger, darker, raise the stakes and explore new thematic ground. That Neon Bible certainly does, but is it The Empire Strikes Back of albums? Not quite, since it's not as good as Funeral and most of the songs are inferior to those on Funeral. It's brilliantly played, moving and complex, yet it's also overdone at times and is pretty depressing at times so you need to be in the right mood for it. It does become repetitive but ultimately this is a successful album that'll provoke thought and win approval from most. It's an 8, but a very high one.

Final rating: 8/10