Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

I don't know why I sometimes tend to resist records that I should embrace. I bought this album when it came out and was, for inexplicable reasons, terrified to listen to it for five years. Now I feel like an idiot for putting it off so long.

While Funeral was an album that stretched and attempted to be more than it was, Neon Bible is the full realization of something amazing. It's a crazy amalgamation of pipe organs, symphony orchestras, and the standard Arcade Fire indie rock hodge podge. Neon Bible is Wagnerian in its grandiosity and near-operatic approach. It's a never-say-die bombastic affair that is riveting from the word "go." I really should've listened back in 2007 when everyone was telling me how good this album is. The difference between the version of "No Cars Go" on Neon Bible and the one that appeared on the band's debut EP tells you everything you need to know about how this band has matured into something great.

Baleeted? No. Quite the opposite. I'll be spinning this one again soon.