Amazon.com: After relentless touring, performances on Saturday Night Live, and appearing on the cover of Spin and Paste Magazines, Death Cab for Cutie brings us Narrow Stairs. Following up their DVD collection, Directions, which sold over 30,000 copies and their platinum selling album, Plans, was no easy task but Narrow Stairs has already been praised by MTV.com as the band’s most daring and adventurous effort to date.
Amazon.co.uk: Narrow Stairs might be the first album recorded by Death Cab for Cutie since Ben Gibbard's former solo project went unexpectedly stratospheric, but Gibbard hasn't let it go to his head. Oh, OK, maybe a little: lead-off single "I Will Possess Your Heart" is an eight minute jam that speeds off on one long, luminous curve before Gibbard's distinctive vocals swing in, sweet and plaintive as ever. Even when indulging their grander visions, though, Death Cab for Cutie are still familiar as the same band that wrote those fragile, winsome songs back before teen drama The OC came knocking. Never knowingly overstated, built from driving rhythms, flourishes of piano and intricate melodies, Narrow Stairs builds grand, emotionally loaded narratives from small, subtle parts. "Your New Twin Sized Bed" hides a deftly articulated tale of heartbreak and loneliness amidst soothing tangles of guitar, while "You Can Do Better than Me" is a sweet miniature that's part Pet Sounds orchestration, part wistful Dear John. This isn't, as Gibbard would previously hint, a dissonant or especially adventurous album. It proves, however, that Death Cab can extend their scope without diluting the pathos or energy of their music, and it not only sounds great, but bodes well for the future. --Louis Pattison
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - the best!
As a fan from the "Something about Airplanes" days, I have no problem labeling this the best Death Cab album yet. I was a bit worried after the post-Plans emo-crush on lead singer Ben.. and the breathy ... Read More
Rating: - Grows on you, one bad track
At first I thought this cd was a step back from previous efforts from Death Cab, but after a while it grows on you. Many of the songs run together very well, and I can say that after I removed "I will possess ... Read More
Rating: - Just got Better...
Transatlanticism. Wow! Masterpiece! I've never heard a better indie album! It is surely untoppable!
Then Plans comes along. Full of insanely awesome, yet very discreet hooks, and pitch-perfect songwriting, ... Read More
Rating: - Narrow Music
It says a lot when the most striking and original thing about an album is the artwork on the liner notes. Unfortunatly, this is the case with Narrow Stairs. Although it is very similar to the poppy Plans, it has ... Read More
Rating: - Good melodies, but...
I wouldn't call myself a fan of Death Cab, but I picked this album up off Amazon because I wanted to go see their concert when it was in town. It definitely has some excellent vocal melodies which are memorable, for ... Read More
- the best!
- Narrow Music
- Good melodies, but...