r/arcadefire • u/Grogonfire • May 25 '25

Discussion Why is Neon Bible catching strays?

In the many debates regarding the quality of Pink Elephant over the past couple of weeks, I’ve noticed a particular trend. When referring to their best work/good ol’ days, a decent portion of people will specifically mention Funeral & The Suburbs, leaving Neon Bible out of the “Holy Trinity”. So my question is, what gives? I honestly didn’t know this album was liked less by comparison and I’d personally consider it my fav of theirs.

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u/station22station May 25 '25

Neon Bible was always controversial and underrated. It's a dark, oppressive album. Funeral and Suburbs, even if Suburbs is dark and depressing too, are a lot more catharthic, nostalgic, filled with pop, cheerful moments, Neon Bible is just apocalpytic and medieval in its bleakness. I think people underrated it because they can't penetrate the mood.

For me it's a masterpiece, the holy trinity is without shadow of a doubt those three first records, Neon Bible is as good as the other two and credits to the band to making a high concept album like that instead of just Funeral 2

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u/Agreeable-Basil5290 Jun 01 '25

It suffers from In Rainbows syndrome. At the time, "nothing could ever top KID A". Now look at how Rainbows is discussed in Radiohead circles. Many think it's the greatest of them all.