Yes, I can be positive.

Okay, so far, the more anticipated releases of 2007 have been...less than stellar in the eyes of many (Even if suburban teenage girls still throw their money at anything bearing the name of the Shins). Now, we have been handed the second album of The Arcade Fire, whose picture appears when one looks up "hype" in Webster's Dictionary. Their debut, Funeral, became famous through intense word-of-mouth promotion until they were the most popular cult band in the world, drawing the attention of David Bowie and opening for the majority of U2's American tour. Their second album, Neon Bible, should theoretically be reviled; no matter how good it is, critics and their fans won't regard it as highly as Funeral, and members of a wider audience won't get what the big deal is. Destined for failure, right?

Wrong. Dead wrong. Not only does Neon Bible meet the expectations of their fans and critics, but it may be the best album released in this decade so far. Musically, The Arcade Fire have grown, but they haven't tried to make a completely different sound when compared to Funeral. What Neon Bible does is take the best elements of their acclaimed live shows-impassioned vocals, loose playing, and a penchant for the big statement-and put them on record. Some of the overblown rock cliches (a children's choir on first single "Intervention", for example) are here, but hearing them doesn't make a listener groan in disgust.

The real stars of the album, however, are Win Butler's lyrics. Aside from album closer "My Body Is A Cage", the lyrics on Neon Bible are nothing short of brilliant. In a period of popular music when every song written is about personal feelings and general whining, Butler demonstrates a desire to tear the hypocrisy of society down; religion, global politics, and pop culture are all fair game for his acidic prose. In short, he's mad as hell, and he'll tear the world to pieces rather than let it remain like this.

Neon Bible may be the only rock album since Radiohead's Kid A that can truly be regarded as a classic. It seems destined to be underappreicated in its time; a friend of mine who heard the album declared it to be "too weird." It may be weird for some; Win Butler's voice has always been an acquired taste. But why should anyone let that stop all this brilliance from entering your ears?