Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

I've listened to this about five times now, and I think it managed to live up to the hype. Black Mirror is a fantastic first single, and the album stays strong all the way through. Between this and the new Bloc Party, there are now 2 excellent albums of 2007. It took me a while to "get" Arcade Fire. I feel like I'm past the age where I can unquestioningly buy into that indie hype machine. I think the last album I bought for that reason alone was Ikara Colt's Chat and Business, which I ended up loving anyway.

So what is the age where you have to change your musical tastes? I feel like now that I have a kid, it might not be as appropriate to listen to Social Distortion or even something as tame as Supergrass. The easy listening does drive me a bit nuts sometimes. And then there's Delilah. Ugh. Four hours of horror six nights a week. Thank God for Saturdays.

But anyway, Neon Bible. As with Funeral, the album seems to get stronger as it goes on, which should be every band's goal, because it makes you listen the whole way through. Not that anyone who buys an Arcade Fire album will buy it "for that one song," but if I were making music, you can bet your sweet bippy that I'd want people listening start to finish. Unless you like Top 40 or electronic music and nothing else, I would recommend this album.

9/10