Neon Bible

Might be more boring than the actual Bible. Well done

Talented hipster bullshit. The sense of self-importance is palpable.

Being AF the greatest band of our generation, there is an ongoing discussion about which is their best record. This one, the second of their “holy trinity” has many adepts and you can see why. I read a boomer once, in a review of this record saying he did not get Bowies fascination with the band, for him they were too dramatic and not that gifted when it came to interpreting, I found that quite funny because to me, our beloved Bowie was always more about artistry than virtuosity, to me, the connection he found is quite evident. I love this record and it is a 5/5 even If it only suffices for a third in the rank (which tells you something about the other two) but, who could resists those magnificent transitions, all that palpable emotion? They do know (or at least did back then) how to turn songs around and explode with raw emotion and feels. I think the record starts a bit slow but from the moment Intervention breaks in, it is just one magnificent song after the other, I think I was brought to tears the first time I heard that song, and it happens a lot during the length of the record, that indomitable escalation in the song with those mariachi trumpets in Ocean Of Noise is something I will always get caught up. I’m glad this was part of the soundtrack of my youth, we did know a place were no cars go back then. I think this record was recorded on an abandoned church, I guess that’s how they managed that gigantic sound in My Body is a Cage, I think we will keep finding that song in movies and tv whenever they want to musicalize the climax.

Man… why’d Win Butler have to go and be an abusive asshole? The first three Arcade Fire records are perfect.

I like Arcade Fire, don't love them. Intervention is my favorite song on this album, and I like that the whole album sounds like it should be played in concert in a church or cathedral. They did a great job capturing a certain ambience. Probably a 4.5 but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt here.

Dull. Rubbish band.

DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING the parts with an organ were ok

One of my favorite albums from my college days. Such an amazing album. It was the first time I'd ever listened to them and I couldn't get enough. Hearing these songs takes me back to college and listening on my iPod while walking around campus. Every song is good on this album and I haven't hear an album of theirs that hits as hard as this one. Instant 5 for me.

Whiney and dull

I am not really an indie fan, but this album was fantastic. The Springsteen-esque lyricism and delivery came out strong with the very interesting style of rock, fast in tempo, heavy in synth and guitar effects, with a underlying folk style as well. Production is clearly indie but the album is scaled at something much larger. 5/5!

A classic.

the songs really got me. they are all really catchy and artistically pleasing.

Arcade Fire's first three albums are a holy trinity of indie rock music, and while I couldn't definitively say which is my absolute favourite, "Neon Bible" stands out as the most grandiose. It's bleak but beautiful, orchestral but modern, has something important to say but doesn't drown you in its message - a skill Arcade Fire has unfortunately lost in their more recent releases. There isn't a bad song on this album; in fact, there isn't even a song that is merely 'good'. Every song is either great, or total perfection ("Keep the Car Running", "No Cars Go" and "My Body Is a Cage", to name just a few of the latter). Along with "Funeral" and "The Suburbs", I still listen to this album very often, and I suspect that won't change for as long as I continue to enjoy music. Standout tracks: Every single song on this album is a standout. There's nothing here worth skipping, from start to finish.

A classic.

As a big arcade fire fan I played this a lot when it first came out, but to be honest since suburbs I have only listened to this a handful of times apart from the main hits (no cars go, my body is a cage). Was really good to listen back to this it really is a great album, but just doesn’t quite match up to Funeral or Suburbs, and I would probably rank reflector above it too. But that’s just my personal opinion, great band great album just not their masterpiece, maybe harsh but a solid 4 star album. Such a shame Win Butler turned out to be a sex pest.

Never listened to a full Arcade Fire album before. I quite liked this. Good energy and vibe troughout the album.

I'd really like a little more time with this album, but I have to move on. I'm familiar with the band, but only form 'Funeral', which I picked up soon after it was released. 'Power Out' from that album was so good the first time I heard it that I picked it up immediately. The album is very good, but didn't make it into my permanent rotation and I think of a narrow slice of time if I hear anything from it. Neon Bible is 100% new to me. It's good, not great. There are some amazing songs throughout. But more that come up short. I can't hear 'Keep the Car Running' without also hearing Eddie and the Cruisers, and it ruins the song for me. The middle of the album, from Black Wave to Windowsill, stall out. But Black Mirror, Intervention, No Cars Go, My Body is a Cage...all fantastic tunes. Love the rich, layered sound, the dynamics, the raw emotion in the lyrics. All very beautiful and worth of coming back to.

Top 5 band of the last 25 years. This album is a classic, nearly perfect and it's not even their best album. (Antichrist Television Blues), Intervention and No Cars Go are monumental and the closing track My Body Is a Cage is the perfect finish.

Så bra album? ett s.k. pangalbum!

'Indie rock' can't quite describe grandiose of this music

Love this with all my heart. Thanks Will Butler for ruining Arcade Fire

Solid album. Standouts for me: Intervention, (Antichrist Television Blues), Windowsill, No Cars Go. Antichrist was by far my favorite track after the first listen.

I love Arcade Fire. They had a great run of records. This being one of them.

I would have gone NUTS for this in college, and I’m still kind of a sucker for this big, orchestral style of pop rock. The lyrics are painfully simple and on-the-nose at times but I really enjoyed the sound of this album.

For me this isn’t up there with The Suburbs or Reflektor which I adore. Kind of want to give it a 3.5

Great album. I had not listened to this all the way through in quite some time! It’s really good, cohesive. Of course my favorites are Keep the Car Running and No cars Go.

man there is a part of me that really genuinely likes arcade fire's music. has it become super cliche of this era of indie music? yeah probably. is it insufferably pretentious? yeah probably. idk there's something about it that just draws me to it. but then also, win butler is an asshole. and fuck win butler.

I saved the last song from this album on Spotify, thats a first for any of the albums we've listened to so far! Overall this was ok. I wasn't wishing for it to end the whole time

Black Mirror was a little boring, but I liked the piano melody. Keep the Car Running is one of my all-time favorite songs. Neon Bible felt similarly boring, kinda just repeating the same thing over and over. Really like the grandiosity of No Cars Go. Intervention has a great sense of progression, love the way it builds up.

-never heard of this album or band! -i like the bits of french in the first song -i do like the lead singers voice its very nice -this is definitely not something i would choose to listen to on my own -i do like the more rock leaning stuff on this album -most of the songs sound different from each other but its all the same vibe -not a bad thing! just not obsessed -overall its a pretty average album to me. the songs are nice to listen to but i don’t really like them

Not bad… consistent… reminiscent of U2 without the edge.

más corny de lo que recuerdo

AF is too pretentious for me to be a big fan but I do appreciate the effort they put into making whole albums. This isn’t my favourite but it gets better as it goes along and “keep the car running”is a banger

Best Song: Keep The Car Running. I like when a song's lyrical themes match well with the feelings imparted by the music itself. Here, both the lyrics and music give a feeling of haste and urgency that works really well. Worst Song: My Body is a Cage. Overly whiny, verging on Smashing Pumpkin's "despite all my rage..." Overall: Extremely well-produced, but still lacks the soul I'm looking for. Everything feels very polished, well-thought out and constructed, but lacks some internal something necessary for me to actually care about it.

Nr. 4/1001 Black Mirror 1/5 Keep The Car Running 3/5 Neon Bible 2/5 Intervention 3/5 Black Wave 2/5 Ocean of Noise 2/5 The Well and the Lighthouse 2/5 (Antichrist Television Blues) 1/5 Windowsill 2/5 No Cars Go 3/5 My Body is a Cage 2/5 Average: 2,09 This was just kinda boring for me

Now this is interesting, a bad indie rock album. Or maybe it's just me. Apparently their third best, after the debut and "The Suburbs". I already heard the latter and I thought it was decent, just a bit colorless. I described it as a plain rock album dressed up with nostalgic sounds. It's pretty neat. I also learned that Arcade Fire is a pretty popular band. I agree that this album is worse than "The Suburbs", but I don't think it's that great. It doesn't have the melancholic atmosphere of "The Suburbs". So the sound is there, in its pure, plain form. But not without special toppings though. This time, they put so much synth it turned into an '80s pop album. Not my vibe, I'm afraid.

Hipster butt cheeks

First time I've listened to an Arcade Fire album since the revelations about Win Butler. Has really changed how I hear them. The songs are great but the emotional response I had to them has gone. Really sad about it.

All time great album... lots of hits and the album cuts are top notch. Really wish I would've seen this band in concert around this era. Not a bad song on this album.

I really enjoyed Funeral their debut album, listened to it as it was in the NNE top 100 albums of all time. Neon Bible was a pleasure to listen to my favourite track was Intervention, I loved the pipe organ introduction and haunting lyrics.

I must admit, I started this album expecting a really bad, cringy, Imagine Dragons like band. Although it had some of that Imagine Dragons sound (you could tell Imagine Dragons were influenced by these guys), this album must have been ten to thirty times better than anything Imagine Dragons have ever put out. I especially liked Keep the Car Running, Intervention, Ocean of Noise, and My Body is a Cage. Overall, a surprisingly good album from a genre I've mostly ignored, and band I hadn't heard until now.

This album is great. No duds. I don't know what most of the lyrics mean but they sound cool.

Really good. Go and see them live if you get a chance.

Good album

It is one of the best albums by one of the most influental bands from the past 20 years. Neon Bible is the one from their holy trinitiy (Funeral, Neon Bible, The Suburbs) that I've listened to the most in the past few years. I love the more grandiose, somewhat darker and heavier sound of this album compared to their other releases. None of the songs stand out that much here, but the strength of the album is that it's very well rounded from start to finish. It close to a perfect album so I'll give it a 5.

Third Arcade Fire album and once again it has exceeded my expectations

Dark, nostalgic, dense.

stand out track - all of them

This is a good album featuring a solid array of Arcade Fire work; I would stop short of calling it a great album, but there's much more going on here than in the extremely morose Radiohead effort we had to suffer yesterday. My personal rating for this would be four stars, but I'm giving it five instead to correct the group average which has been ranked by tasteless messrs Robert and Mouldy Mike. More of this, please!

What a shitty day I'm so sorry

Hieno bändi. Lyriikoissa on jotain Nick Cave -tyylistä voimaa ja nasevuutta, vaikkei nyt sen tason solistia olekaan. Ja mikä parasta, levyt on eheitä kokonaisuuksia ja hieno kaari tässäkin (okei bändin uusimmista levyistä en tiedä). Varmaan tämmöisen kliinisoundisen nollari-indien terävin vetonaula. Ei ihan bändin paras levy, mutta annetaan silti 5/5, kun tätäkin on elämässä tullut tyytyväisenä kulutettua. 4,5/5 ehkä lähempänä.

My favorite AF record

I'd heard of Arcade Fire but couldn't name you a song to save my life. I was absolutely missing out, but I don't know if I would have got on with this if I had heard it back at release, or even more than a couple of years back. But my tastes have definitely moved towards adoring this sort of thing. It's an indie rock album with the power of an orchestra behind it. It just sounds huge - Often the songs build up into these swelling crescendos, and it just feels absolutely amazing. Despite this, it still has somewhat of an acoustic simplicity to its feel, and at times it does know when to strip back the orchestra and take on that simplicity, but everything feels like it has its purpose. It never feels too overproduced or crowded, and contrary to some of the more critical reviews I didn't ever find it too pretentious either. This was just a wonderful album that kept me intrigued and inspired throughout, and it's fair to say that I really enjoyed it. Favourite: No Cars Go

It's a fantastic album, not sure how often I want to listen now we know what Win Butler has been upto.

A sad album - Keith Also something about a 30ft hotdog Average day but good talks, feeling a little wobble. Great run.

Solid

I loved it! I find it very interesting how the television series 'Black Mirror' was inspired by the song. Probably my favourite on the album! Et le chanteur chante en français ! I like the violins. The unconventional instrumentation (organ, hurdy-gurdy and mandolin, according to Wikipedia) is also very interesting and sets Arcade Fire apart. The organ is quite clearly heard on 'Intervention'. Definite 5/5. Favourite tracks: all of them! French again on 'Black Wave/Bad Vibrations'! Excellent orchestration on 'Ocean of Noise'! The end almost sounds like jazz. 'The Well and the Lighthouse' is the song that sounds most like pop so far. Classical-influenced pop, I would say. '(Antichrist Television Blues)' seems to be dance-rock, like Franz Ferdinand or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Probably my favourite album that I have discovered through this project (aside from 'The ArchAndroid') I LOVED IT. 10/10.

Thur Aug 18

Before they journeyed down through the suburbs, reflecting on their statuses whilst questioning the pervasive consequences of technology on life, love, society and families, Arcade Fire were looking down the neon bible, plotting one foot in the mainstream and one foot out of the increasingly acknowledged indie world. In an age where earnest, bombastic rock was seen with a sneer and some eye rolling, Neon Bible sees the band unapologetically wear their hearts on their sleeves and make the move to become the most ambitious band of their generation. Could either be the peak of the bands career or the near-peak.

you know, i've noticed all these albums have had 11 tracks so far. i wonder if that's some kind of standard for this site or if it's just very common. first album i've gotten from after the year 2000 so we're in for a very different vibe with this one track 1, Black Mirror: oh i can all but feel the discontentment in this one. very nice 7/10 track 2, Keep the Car Running: you gotta be ready to go at a moment's notice. 8/10 track 3, Neon Bible: quite chill vibes, 7.5/10 track 4, Intervention: been working for the church while your life falls apart. augh. 8.5/10 track 5, Black Wave/Bad Vibrations: it's funny because the vibes are AMAZING on this one. dark, but good. 8/10 track 6, Ocean of Noise: it's not conventionally ocean-y but the instrumentation on this one does give me the feeling of floating on an ocean, the last of the light disappearing over the horizon and tipping into night. 7.5/10 track 7, The Well and the Lighthouse: a good change in feeling midway through, from the well to the lighthouse. 8/10 track 8, (Antichrist Television Blues): i can't parse the lyrics but the feeling hits me REALLY hard. would actually listen to this one again 9.5/10 track 9, Windowsill: another banger with very nearly corporeal discontent, 8/10 track 10, No Cars Go: is that ACCORDION? excellent. 10/10 track 11, My Body Is a Cage: title is already a hard mood. set my spirit free. 9/10 overall 8.3/10 -> 4/5, but i'm pushing that up to a 5/5. take the time to feel out this album, it's worth it

I love it. I used to think it was one of their worst albums but it has really grown on me

Funeral was good, but Neon Bible was, and still is, my favourite Arcade Fire album.

Dramatic and immersive, this totally grabs me.

Funeral and Neon Bible are something else

An old favorite, absolutely love nearly every track.

Well if there's one thing I've learned from this website it's that I'm an Arcade Fire fan. This is the 3rd Arcade Fire album I've heard on this list and I've really enjoyed all of them. For this album my favourite tracks are Keep the Car Running, (Antichrist Television Blues), and No Cars Go.

Neon Bible is an unfair old favorite, probably the best-paced Arcade Fire record though, I realize now, sequenced just off-perfect. I've had one listen so far in a positively evil register; That puts a different gloss on the experience. All else equal I think this is the band's best, even as I disagree.

Stunning 4.5+/5

Amazing album.

Had a surprising amount of passion and lament in it, balanced by the music arrangement. Felt like elements of Springsteen?

5* stonking album Always assumed it predated Funeral. Cover art 3/5

I had listened to a fair amount of this one before but it was nice. Very classic Arcade Fire but a sound I am familiar with. It didn't gutpunch me.

According to my stats, I listened to this album quite a bit between 2009-2011 and then just stopped listening to it and didn't play a single song from it since then. I have no idea why. The songs all came back after listening to them a few seconds. Definitely should put Arcade Fire back into the rotation.

Het wordt niet beter dan dit!

Abso-fucking-lutely glorious album. It has that Phil Spector Wall of Sound feel about it.

Love Funeral, love Neon Bible, hate Win. Simple as.

cool

a thing of beauty, a masterpiece.

Arcade Fire is a classic indie band, so I was excited to get one of their albums (already heard Funeral before, so being one I hadn’t was also good). Fun fact: The Suburbs was released the day I was born. But anyway, Neon Bible is a great album, with the songs on it being amazing. I don’t have much to say, but I really enjoyed it.

I’ve bought this on iTunes when it came out. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to the whole thing through, but I’ve heard every song before just from shuffling. This doesn’t hit the heights of Funeral, but it is more even throughout. Approaches some of the nostalgia that they master on The Suburbs. Doesn’t have a ton of songs they play live still. It’s kind of the forgotten middle child between one of the most important rock debuts and a surprise Grammy winning record. This is still really good annd I would rank it aMing the best of the 2000s. Intervention just goes, I don’t get why it’s not a live staple for them. Windowsill is amazing. Two observations about the context of this album. - I didn’t realize how Springsteen this one is. Also strange considering at the time The Killers had their second album Sam’s Town which also went pretty Bruce. I can’t place why The Boss was in the zeitgeist in 2006/7? -This was also Arcade Fire at the height of their cultural relevance with established bands. I remember Coldplay trying to make themselves more like Arcade Fire for Viva La Vida. U2 was always playing Wale Up before they came on stage. And the Foo Fighters covered Keep the Car Running. I don’t know where this band goes from here though. They barely finished the tour for WE with their support dropping out. They’ve done a couple of festival slots where they have done amazing. A real shame given this was our best Canadian rock act going.

I’m continuing to enjoy my voyages with Arcade Fire. This has such an interesting sound.

Lead singer is not a good person but if we separate the art from the artist, this album is perfect. They recorded most of it in a church and the sounds of the pipe organ juxtaposed to cautious lyrics about religion is executed brilliantly. It’s the best Canadian album about how fucked up America is.

My Body is a Cage and it's Ready

5/5. When I first had this album, I only had the first four and last four songs. Not sure if it was a computer glitch, but it was still a repeated listen for me. Knowing now many years later there were 3 more songs that add to the aesthetic and concept of the album, while also sounding great, makes me love it even more. There is not a bad song on here, one of my favorites for sure. Best song: Intervention, (Antichrist Television Blues)

This might be pompous and overblown but it's pompous and overblown in a way that tickles my fancy. Very cohesive as an album, and with some absolute bangers. Fave tracks - "Intervention", "No Cars Go" and of course "My Body Is A Cage", even if I have a slight preference for the Peter Gabriel version...

Canadian crunk

170 albums in, this is the one I’ve heard the most. This is imo Arcade Fires best album. It’s the gothic undertones that really wins me over on this one. There really isn’t a miss on Neon Bible, it starts strong with Black Mirror and never lets up, they really are masters of the anthems. There are the obvious hits but Antichrist Television Blues is an underrated jam. Fuck you, this is gray 5 stars

The album is an absolute favorite, and recently. Their careful blend of music and vocals achieves the kind of balance that makes for a complete experience. To say this is a perfect album would be a bit much, but it does have a sense of delicateness where if you add more of a single element, or take away some of another, this balance quite obviously would be disrupted somehow. The completeness is the real draw here, a supreme satisfaction at the end of a listen.

5/5 Bester Song: my body is a Cage Sehr Strong Gibt mir richtig gute vibes

This is great. Win Butler may be an arsehole (and some) but there's no denying AF's 2000's output

Fantastisch album.

Hard to be unbiased when I've already heard and liked the album, but it's a great one in my opinion!

This is the album where I first took note of Arcade Fire. I love its bombast. The first time I saw Arcade Fire perform was in support of this album and the songs were great live. Love this album!

I've listened to the album alot since it came out. It's pretty amazing.

The list actually has Arcade Fire's first album, Funeral as the one to listen to. Unclear why Neon Bible is included on the list... Regardless, I am familiar with both. Funeral and Neon Bible both are 5/5. NB marks the tipping point to the steep decline of interest in their output as every subsequent release was vastly subpar compared to these two albums.

really good obviously I liked Funeral more but this is still pretty great 9/10

oh, wow. i really liked this! neon bible was beautiful, especially whenever unusual instruments popped up. "my body is a cage" utilizing the organ took the album's end to such heights. the lyrics can be moody (typical of indie music in the aughts!) but heartfelt. the album's theme was an interesting focus; i'm not sure if there's another album that covers television preachers like this. "neon bible" and "(antichrist television blues)" drive arcade fire's point home. if the album is to have any weakness, most songs do blend into one another. but i find it hard to mind when the album is breathtaking. i struggled to write this review, but i didn't mind listening to this album over and over.

It's a shame that Win Butler turned out to be a bad guy, but I try to separate the artist from the art. I still distinctly remember the first time Arcade Fire showed up on my radar. I was watching Later with Jools Holland, must have been 2005, and suddenly there's this big group that looked like a bunch of nerdy high school band kids and they started playing this majestic cacophony of beautiful, chaotic music. It blew me away. Neon Bible is one of their best albums, along with the other two of their first three albums. It's just so unique and yet so listenable. 5 stars.

Great album! It was full of some surprises! I love the indie feeling of the album!

Cracking