quote:

Originally posted by mymindsblank:

quote:

Originally posted by outis:

quote:

Originally posted by JGlass:

quote:

Originally posted by Haunted Goathouse:
Even though I've warmed to it, I still simply cannot understand how anybody could put Neon Bible in a top 10 for 2007. I'd say it was over-hyped.

I concur.

Ditto.

Double ditto.

As for In Rainbows being overhyped? I only know that it is much better than HTTT

I simply cannot understand how anybody could not put Neon Bible in a top 10 for 2007. They are one of the best bands putting out music today. Funeral and Neon Bible are number 1 and 8 on my 2000's list, respectively. Their EP, while not on my top 50, is another solid effort. I suppose everyone has different music tastes, but I find Arcade Fire is one of the best as well as most original bands around today.

If Funeral didn't exist I think people's perspective of Neon Bible would be extremely different.

quote:

Originally posted by Sinister:
I simply cannot understand how anybody could not put Neon Bible in a top 10 for 2007.

I concur.

No Age's Weirdo Rippers sounds like it was recorded through an SOS pad, but it'll be on several indie lists to be sure.

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Originally posted by FragileKidA:

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Originally posted by Sinister:
I simply cannot understand how anybody could not put Neon Bible in a top 10 for 2007.

I concur.

Ditto.

(Someone complete the pattern!)

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Originally posted by thefanste:

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Originally posted by FragileKidA:

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Originally posted by Sinister:
I simply cannot understand how anybody could not put Neon Bible in a top 10 for 2007.

I concur.

Ditto.

(Someone complete the pattern!)

Double Dito?

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Originally posted by Shadrach:
If Funeral didn't exist I think people's perspective of Neon Bible would be extremely different.

I agree with that statement, Funeral is amazing, Neon Bible is good just not great...to me. I would bring up my the Springsteen ripoff argument (woops too late), but then we would be going in circles, like the double ditto.

Agreed about Funeral, still I think if this were their debut album, while it wouldn't make them super-famous like Funeral did, it would be pretty well received/liked.

I definitely think that "Neon Bible" was overhyped, but it is still a damn good album. NB was supposed to revolutionize "indie" rock music (whatever that may be) with its innovative use of an actual pipe organ and other such excessiveness. But alas the musical landscape seems to be basically the same as it was pre-February 2007.

The album that was really overhyped was The Shins "Wincing the Night Away" which was supposed to single-handedly bring indie music into the mainstream. WNA barely produced one hit, "Phantom Limb", and was a very mediocre rock album overall. So much for flooding mainstream radio with the likes of Bon Iver and The Hold Steady.

I agree 100% with the Shins album. Just a mediocre album without a single standout song, yet it got far more publicity than either of their first 2 albums got. Goes to show what a high profile movie plug can do for you I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by Sinister:
I simply cannot understand how anybody could not put Neon Bible in a top 10 for 2007.

And I simply cannot understand how anybody could not put Drums and Guns in a top 10 for 2007.

Oh, wait, that's everybody but me. All of you jerks have poor taste in music.

Low's album isn't close to top ten for me either, I don't get the appeal.

I think if any band has a debut album as good as Funeral, they'll need to release a near perfect sophomore effort to live up to the hype. It's unfair because Neon Bible was an amazing album. Too many people were expecting Neon Bible to be a Funeral No.2 and hence disappointed when it wasn't. I still think, however, that if Arcade Fire had made something like a sequel to Funeral, that'd have been the bigger disappointment for me - it's almost impossible to successfully rehash an album as good as it.

I like how they've developed and reinvented their sound with Neon Bible and I can't wait for their 3rd album in the near future. Anyway, Neon Bible is definitely on my top 10 list for 2007, right up there with In Rainbows.

In Rainbows, Volta, The Reminder....all are albums that actually sounded worse after each listen. I usually have three distinct categories every year:

- Albums I listen to once and delete (about 65% of what I bother to seek out)

- A handful that I think are good, not great. These usually feature a few kickass songs, so I give them plenty of listens and then say goodbye forever (the above).

- And then about thirty or so that will more than likely stick around until I die.

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Originally posted by RavingLunatic:
I agree 100% with the Shins album. Just a mediocre album without a single standout song, yet it got far more publicity than either of their first 2 albums got. Goes to show what a high profile movie plug can do for you I guess.

?????????????????????????????????

"Sleeping Lessons"?
"Phantom Limb"?
"Red Rabbit"?
"Turn on Me"?

I can't imagine how someone could not respond to the sheer melodic perfection of these songs. "Sleeping Lessons" is just thrilling: the celestial opening that gradually builds, instrumental layer upon instrumental layer, to the ecstatic leap into the stratosphere at 2:25 to 2:40 ("just put yourself in my shoes"). It sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it. There are moments when one is just overwhelmed with how transcendant a pop song can be, and this is one of them.

"Mediocre"????????????????????????

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Originally posted by Peewee:

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Originally posted by RavingLunatic:
I agree 100% with the Shins album. Just a mediocre album without a single standout song, yet it got far more publicity than either of their first 2 albums got. Goes to show what a high profile movie plug can do for you I guess.

?????????????????????????????????

"Sleeping Lessons"?
"Phantom Limb"?
"Red Rabbit"?
"Turn on Me"?

I can't imagine how someone could not respond to the sheer melodic perfection of these songs. "Sleeping Lessons" is just thrilling: the celestial opening that gradually builds, instrumental layer upon instrumental layer, to the ecstatic leap into the stratosphere at 2:25 to 2:40 ("just put yourself in my shoes"). It sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it. There are moments when one is just overwhelmed with how transcendant a pop song can be, and this is one of them.

"Mediocre"????????????????????????

Agree.

quote:

Originally posted by Sideshow Bob:

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Originally posted by Peewee:

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Originally posted by RavingLunatic:
I agree 100% with the Shins album. Just a mediocre album without a single standout song, yet it got far more publicity than either of their first 2 albums got. Goes to show what a high profile movie plug can do for you I guess.

?????????????????????????????????

"Sleeping Lessons"?
"Phantom Limb"?
"Red Rabbit"?
"Turn on Me"?

I can't imagine how someone could not respond to the sheer melodic perfection of these songs. "Sleeping Lessons" is just thrilling: the celestial opening that gradually builds, instrumental layer upon instrumental layer, to the ecstatic leap into the stratosphere at 2:25 to 2:40 ("just put yourself in my shoes"). It sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it. There are moments when one is just overwhelmed with how transcendant a pop song can be, and this is one of them.

"Mediocre"????????????????????????

Agree.

Double Agree (about Sleeping Lessons being awesome)

quote:

Originally posted by Casper:
In Rainbows, Volta, The Reminder....all are albums that actually sounded worse after each listen. I usually have three distinct categories every year:

- Albums I listen to once and delete (about 65% of what I bother to seek out)

- A handful that I think are good, not great. These usually feature a few kickass songs, so I give them plenty of listens and then say goodbye forever (the above).

- And then about thirty or so that will more than likely stick around until I die.

If I followed your philosophy, I'd have dismissed some of my favourite albums of all time after only a cursory listen. One listen is never enough for me to guage the quality of an album. Ok, occasionally music really is that bad, but there are literally dozens of albums I've hated initially, only to grow to love them on repeat listening.

Not dissing your ears... merely urging caution.

I still don't understand the hype around In Rainbows but I'm in the minority here. I gave it about 10 listens if not more, and I hated it at first initially was just "meh" after the 10 listens.

I probably would change a lot of the grades I gave out on my blog though.

quote:

Originally posted by mymindsblank:
i think that the first arcade fire album was brilliant, but Neon Bible was facing expectations it could never meet and when i finally heard it...it sounded like a springsteen derivitive : slow brooding music, political lyrics, a general heavy emotional weight, singing style, all of it.

i'm not saying it wasn't good, just not what the hype promised

a band could do worse than ripping off springsteen, but arcade fire are about 15 years late in doing so

Although I completely agree that Neon Bible is fairly heavily Springsteen-influenced, I don't see why this is a negative, or how the Arcade Fire are "15 years late in doing so." Some of the best albums of the past couple years, including The Hold Steady's "Boys and Girls in America" and The National's "Boxer" (as well as some lamer ones, like The Killers' "Sam's Town") have drawn more or less heavily on Springsteen. I haven't heard anyone complain that The Clientele, The Shins, or Spoon are just "ripping off" The Beatles, or that Panda Bear is just a Brian Wilson rehash. The point is that a band should be judged by how they use their influences, not by whether those influences are easily identifiable, and I think the Arcade Fire did some pretty amazing things on "Neon Bible" when they channeled Springsteen.