The E Street Fire

A few weeks ago, The Arcade Fire released their highly anticipated second full-length album Neon Bible. Since I make a habit of keeping up with what music critics think is cool, I had purchased their debut album Funeral, which was widely hailed as the best rock record of 2004. Written in the midst of the deaths of several family members (three of the seven band members are related; front-man Win Butler and his wife Regine Chassagne, along with Win's brother Will), Funeral is notable for its unique instrumentation and is a highly emotive and personal recording that allowed for the catharsis of the band's personal grief and anguish during this period.

Neon Bible is a natural maturation from Funeral. Where Funeral seems oblique or obtuse both musically and lyrically, Neon Bible has a much wider appeal without compromising the unique sound of its predecessor. It is primarily directed not toward the personal themes of Funeral, but addresses the proverbial "big subjects" in life -- God, faith, the Iraq war (of course), Western materialism -- and is served up with a foreboding if not slightly cynical/melancholy undertone. My ears hear the musical influence of Boy-era U2 and Bowie. However, the biggest influence is perhaps the most unlikely considering the vast differences between their respective fan bases: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, who have their collective fingerprints all over Neon Bible.

Really though, the comparison between The Boss/E Street Band and the Arcade Fire isn't that much of a stretch; they really have their share of similarities. Both bands have close to double digits in group members, can come across as melodramatic and condescendingly self-important, have ridiculously high energy performances, and to use a cliche, attempt to break down the barrier between performer and audience. In fact, the Arcade Fire often begin their encores acoustically from the back of the venue. In recalling the Arcade Fire show I attended in the fall of 2005 at First Avenue in Minneapolis (where Prince shot Purple Rain), the band, to use a David Letterman term, blew the roof off the dump. After a shaky start, the final medley of "Wake Up"/Rebellion (Lies) was astounding. During one portion of the show, one of the band jumped up onto the balcony of the small theatre armed with a drumstick in hand, wailing away violently at anyone in the audience member who attempted to get close.

Now if you see Little Steven pull similar punches at the next E Street show -- it was no accident.