*REVIEW* "Neon Bible" by Arcade Fire
This album bothered me the first 3 times I listened to it and I couldn't quite put my finger on what irked me so much about it until the fourth listen when I decided to pull up lyrics for the songs and read them as I listened. It was then that I detected a distinct sense of...negativity...towards Christians, the Bible, and God in the lyrics to significant number of the songs. Did I sense bitterness? Perhaps. Resentment? Probably. Anger? I don't know...but whatever it is...the album is saturated with it. Lyrics on the title track are a prime example of what I noticed: "A vial of hope and a vial of pain, in the light they both looked the same. Poured them out on into the world on every boy and every girl. It's in the Neon Bible, the Neon Bible. Not much chance for survival if the Neon Bible is right."
An even more blatant expression of anti-Christian sentiment can be found in the track "Intervention": "Working for the Church while your life falls apart (your life will fall apart). Singin' hallelujah with the fear in your heart (the fear is in your heart). Every spark of friendship and love will die without a home."
Am I reading too much into the lyrics? I don't know...they seem pretty obvious to me. The thing is...I tend to give artists a free pass on this a lot of times. I feel that many churches don't teach Christianity as they should and as a result a lot of people get a completely wrong picture of Christ. Still, I can't help but be unsettled by this album, as it's just loaded with this sentiment and I can't relate to it.
Surprisingly, I was able to enjoy a number of tracks based on the merit of their instrumentation alone. And although I don't agree with Arcade Fire's agenda, I try to view the album as a snapshot of someone's thoughts and feelings captured in music and judge it on its musicality as well as its message. Based on its music, I'd probably give "Neon Bible" 4 stars. Based on its lyrics, I'd give 3 stars or less. Therefore, I give this album 3.5 stars out of 5. Colin didn't review it as I didn't think it was appropriate for him to. ;)
P.S. Sorry this review is so short, but honestly, this album is a drain on me. I don't think I'll listen to it for a long time.
Labels: Arcade Fire, Neon Bible, review
