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Narrow Stairs | 
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| Artist: Death Cab For Cutie
Label: Warner
Category: Music
List Price: £9.99
Buy New: £7.03
You Save: £2.96 (30%)
New (30) Used (3) from £7.03
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 20
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 075678994654
EAN: 0075678994654
ASIN: B0017I1RH4
Release Date: May 12, 2008 (New: This Week)
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| » | Bixby Canyon Bridge | | » | I Will Possess Your Heart | | » | No Sunlight | | » | Cath... | | » | Talking Bird | | » | You Can Do Better Than Me | | » | Grapevine Fires | | » | Your New Twin Sized Bed | | » | Long Division | | » | Pity and Fear | | » | The Ice Is Getting Thinner |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Death Cab for Cutie- Narrow Stairs Review (6/10) May 14, 2008
Secretly, nobody likes change. It's inherent in Humans to gravitate towards our comfort zones. But who knows where the world would be if it's residents didn't evolve, grow, move on and move out. Death Cab For Cutie understands this well enough. Scenesters still decry this once-loved Indie guitar-pop band for turning their backs against the underground and entering the major-label studio. But ultimately, two of Death Cab's most financially and critically successful works (Transatlantacism and Plans) came from this career trajectory. So for a band whose style (and gross income) has benefited so much from change, you'd think they'd be happy to welcome it back with open arms. But Narrow Stairs shows that, in reality, Ben Gibbard and co. are as apprehensive towards transformations as the next person.
The common consensus is that this is Death Cab's "experimental" album. But if you've grown attached to their current stream of OC-friendly guitar pop, you don't have to worry. Narrow Stairs' perceived experimentalism is more obvious in idea than in practice. "I Will Possess Your Heart" is probably the main source of the talk. It opens with 4 instrumental minutes of Can-esque jamming and spacious atmosphere led by a soulful bass riff. Also, "No Sunlight" and "Long Division" carry dense, intricate guitar-play and driving Neu!-style rhythms that distinguish them from typical Death Cab fare, yet still fit perfectly with their sing-along qualities. Even though "Pity and Fear" falls flat in it's attempt at traditional tabla-driven Indian music, Narrow Stairs' boldest tracks point to what could've been a spectacular new chapter in Death Cab's career.
But the biggest problem of the album is that the band seems so resistant to make the full-fledged leap into the unknown, even though they clearly have the capabilities. Too many tracks hide behind the same AM pop territory they hinted at with their last two albums. In particular, the mid-section spanning from "Talking Bird" to "Grapevine Fires" settles into a lazy lull of humdrum hooks. Even after getting back on track with the slinking beauty of "Your New Twin Sized Bed", "The Ice Is Getting Thinner" prevails as a completely underwhelming closer, filled with lifeless cliche that leaves the listeners asking themselves, "is that it?".
Any way you look at it, Narrow Stairs is a polarizing album. Death Cab's experiments are exciting enough to get previous detractors on board, but those people will undoubtedly be let down by the straightforward interior. Inversely, those who jumped on board with Transatlantacism and Plans probably won't welcome the new influences very nicely. And ex-fans of their first few albums, will probably fall in love with "Cath..." (which strongly recalls Something About Airplanes) but will be unimpressed with both their typical tracks and their new jams. If Death Cab had just applied to a single mode, they could've retained the focus that makes all of those aforementioned albums so great. Instead, what we have is a strange transitional work that offers small snapshots of the band's strengths and wide-scale landscape photos of their fears. (Aron Fischer)
For fans of: Built To Spill, Fleetwood Mac, Postal Service, Pedro The Lion, Menomena, John Vanderslice
Up there with their best! May 13, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I suppose it's only right to start this review of "Narrow Stairs" by mentioning all the hype that surrounded the album's supposed departure from Death Cab For Cutie's usual sound and style. The album was said by the band to be "a really polarising record", and something of a "curve ball". Hell, they even mentioned being influenced by heavy metal and synth-punk bands, as well as recording using a live-in-the-studio approach, so you can't blame the fans for expecting something completely different from the Death Cab we all know and love. So, the question now is, does "Narrow Stairs" live up to this promise?
Well actually, it doesn't really. The band does experiment a little more than usual, it's true, like with the hypnotic 8-minute lead single "I Will Possess Your Heart", or the Beach Boys-style production on the short but sweet "You Can Do Better Than Me", or even the India tablas in the sinister rocker "Pity and Fear". And yes, they do rock out harder than they have done in a few years on the aforementioned track, as well as during parts of the superb opener "Bixby Canyon Bridge" and the excellent "Long Division". But looking at the album as a whole, I can't help thinking that they have been exaggerating a little, for it's certainly not the major departure that it could have been.
But it's important to stress that I don't mean that in a bad way. Far from it, in fact. After all, Death Cab For Cutie are an amazing band, and sticking with their signature sound can do them no harm at all. In my opinion, the modest level of experimentation on this record was the perfect amount....enough to give this album it's own distinct identity in the band's impressive back catalogue (and to make it a much livelier affair than their rather ballad-heavy previous album, "Plans"), but not so much as to completely lose their identity (and possibly a lot of fans in the process).
But anyway, the most important thing to know about "Narrow Stairs" is, of course, whether the songs are any good....and, unsurprisingly, they are indeed. There's not really a bad track in sight, in fact, and a few of them may even rank up there with the best of Death Cab's output. Ben Gibbard's lyrics are as brilliantly refined as ever, if a little more straightforward and easy to interpret than on past records. And is it just me, or are Death Cab possibly the greatest in the world when it comes to sequencing an album? They always seem to get the flow just perfect, and this record is no exception.
We kick off with a stand-out track, "Bixby Canyon Bridge", as Gibbard's angelic voice floats over an ethereal backing, singing lyrics that aren't so much inspired by Jack Kerouac as they are about being inspired by Jack Kerouac. After a couple of minutes, the song jumps up a notch, eventually building to a chaotic climax as Gibbard's voice echoes out again into nothingness. "I Will Possess Your Heart" then fades in to begin it's lengthy stay.....possibly too lengthy, I must admit. I admire the band's chutzpah for making an 8 minute song and then releasing it as the lead single, but it doesn't really lend itself to too many repeated listens. The instrumental phrases are lovely, but Gibbard's chorus is a just a little too repetitive (though that does seem appropriate for conveying the insistence of the song's obsessive lyrics, which border on the stalker-ish).
"No Sunlight" provides some welcome relief, with it's brevity and upbeat pop melodies, which contrast with the song's death-of-optimism lyrical theme. This leads into "Cath...", another stand-out track, and one which seems destined to become a Death Cab classic. Featuring heart-wrenching narrative lyrics, a great melody, and some inventive drumming from the always excellent Jason McGerr, this is one you'll almost certainly want to go back to.
"Talking Bird" is a much slower affair, with a sparse production and yet more emotive lyrics from Gibbard. "You Can Do Better With Me" seems almost like a brief interlude, being under 2 minutes in length and featuring a very atypical arrangement that's very reminiscent of "Pet Sounds"-era Beach Boys. The song seques seamlessly into the brilliant "Grapevine Fires", which features probably Gibbard's best lyrics on the whole album. The song grooves slowly along on an insistent drumbeat and mellow electric piano chords, complete with some choral-style backing vocals.
There's another irresistable groove to be found on "Your New Twin Sized Bed", with plenty of interplay between the guitars and Nick Harmer's inventive bass lines. Gibbard's lyrics are once again unusual but extremely touching, and the melody is lovely and poignant too. The hard rocking "Long Division" follows, featuring sinister verses leading to big sing-along choruses (with some great high harmony vocals from guitarist-producer Chris Walla). This one should be stuck in your head for days.
"Pity and Fear" is up next....and it's not one of the album's best tracks, despite it's unusual tabla intro and crashing outro jam. Closing track "The Ice Is Getting Thinner" is also a little disappointing.....maybe I was too used to hearing the live piano version of this song that Ben Gibbard played live a while ago, but it definitely sounded better that way. On the album version, the piano is switched for a clean electric guitar, which would be fine, except the chords get changed around a bit so that the vocal melody seems to contrast rather awkwardly with the backing (though it comes together better in the middle section). The vocal melody is nice, as are the lyrics, but the final song is a little duller than it should have been.
All in all, there's definitely enough great tracks on "Narrow Stairs" to make it a worthwhile purchase. Even the couple of lesser tracks are still worth listening to, and certainly don't ruin the album as a whole. Long time fans of the band won't be disappointed, and hopefully they'll win a lot of new ones as well. The critics seem to be universally pleased with the album too, so it looks like Death Cab are on to a winner with this one.
As for me, it doesn't beat "Transatlanticism", but then I imagine no album they make ever will. However, it's definitely a contender for the 2nd place position, and that's high praise indeed. I'd say "Narrow Stairs" was as good an album as I could have hoped for from Death Cab For Cutie, and I'd urge everyone to give it a listen.
Good But Not Great May 6, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Eleven years, seven albums and innumerable EP's in and you have to wonder how big Death Cab could have been if Ben Gibbard was possessed of a slightly more refined quality filter. Capable of breathtaking moments of genius, `Translanticism' anybody?, yet also too easily falling prey to blandness and this has probably held them back from truly global greatness.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan because when Ben and the boys get it right they really get it right, but they are prone to getting it rather mundane too and both sides of the band manifest themselves on `Narrow Stairs'.
Halfway through the opening track `The Ice Is Getting Thinner' I start to fear the worst, seldom has there been such a pedestrian opening to such an eagerly awaited album. However within the first few seconds of the next song, `Pity And Fear', my fears are allayed. Tabla and guitar lines entwine around each other and Gibbard's vocal sneaks in underneath, building to one peak after another, this is most definitely the sound of Death Cab getting it very, very right.
And thus the pattern is set for the next hour or so. Overall they come out with more ticks in the credit column than in the debit, but tracks like `Your New Twin Sized Bed' do not deserve to sit alongside gems like `Cath'.
Fortunately they go out with distinctly more vim than that with which they entered and the last two songs `I Will Posses Your Heart', the first single from the album, and `Bixby Canyon Bridge' are the band at their finest. Two slices of wonderfully epic, melodic songsmithery that leave the listener not only longing for more but longing for the band to hit this level more consistently.
All in all a satisfactory record that has all the necessary ingredients to ensure that this will probably be Death Cab's most commercially successful venture yet, but I can't help thinking it could have been so much better.
 New and Brilliant May 5, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Having listened to the entire album, I think I am safe to write a review.
`Narrow Stairs', being the follow-up to the highly acclaimed `Plans' amongst another 5 albums is of the same tremendously high quality of music as the band have managed to produce to date. Fans will be very happy with this album and newcomers will be blown away.
Having read a pre-review that warned of this albums `derailment' from its musical roots and warning that it follows a much darker path, I can happily say that although the album comes across as a much rawer sound, this is not the case.
Production values have been decreased, it is obvious from the outset the difference in style of the music - and can only be described as closer to their live work than previous album releases. Many of the songs time in at 3:30 - 4:00 - with the much longer single "I will possess your heart" ending on 8:35.
In typical DCFC style, the mixture of heartfelt melodies and lyrical genius are not hard to be found. I feel that there is bigger mix of songs on this album than in previous releases. Songs such as `The Ice Is Getting Thinner' and `Talking Bird' are very mellowed out with strong lyrical messages whilst `Your New Twin Sized Bed' and `Bixby Canyon Bridge' would be the sort of upbeat track that would be appreciated on a long sunny drive.
To summarise, Death Cab for Cutie are back in fighting form, proving that they have the same musical diversity as the likes of Radiohead or R.E.M. The pure talent, both instrumentally and lyrically is as clear as the effort and dedication noticeably put into each track.
Highly Recommended.
I have a copy of this album now! May 3, 2008
0 out of 10 found this review helpful
I have a copy of this album to sell......has all 11 tracks on it. Would anyone be interested in buying it? Also would I be allowed to see copies of an unreleased album on ebay/amazon by any chance??
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