Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (Merge)
With their second release, Neon Bible, Arcade Fire returns with their massive anthemic indie rock orchestration, colored with church pipe organs, a Hungarian choir, and enough brass to arm a military parade. Where their previous album navel-gazed at the tension swirling within their community (Funeral took its title from the passing of several family members), Neon Bible directs a bitter eye outward, peeking out from under the limiting black veil. Not that Neon Bible is a torturous affair of doom and gloom. Their dark cloud of melancholy is encapsulated by regal crescendos that topple over into complete grandiose stadium-filling boisterousness. From the early surge of opener “Black Mirror” and “Keep The Car Running” to the Springsteen vocalized “(Antichrist Television Blue)”, Neon Bible revives the lesson of album listening over single shuffling. While it may not captivate as instantly as their debut, each repeated consumption rewards with Arcade’s Fire-brand of triumphant theatrics.