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Narrow Stairs | 
| Artist: Death Cab For Cutie
Label: Atlantic
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $9.99
You Save: $8.99 (47%)
Rating:  88 reviews
Sales Rank: 54
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 452796
UPC: 075678994654
EAN: 0075678994654
ASIN: B0017I1RH4
Release Date: May 13, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Promotion: Save $5.00 when you spend $25.00 or more on Qualifying Items offered by Amazon.com. Enter code BMLSAVES at checkout. Terms and Conditions
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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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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| Editorial Reviews:
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
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 83 more reviews...
 Quick and short review September 8, 2008
D. Dollahite (Long Island)
Forget all these long and boring reviews. Here's all you need to know. I'm a huge DCFC fan... have most of the albums. Was very excited when this came out. Other than "I will possess your heart" (which is marginal at best) there is nothing memorable on this album. I hate to say that, but it's true. If this is the next direction of DCFC, they've lost me. There are no melodies that stick in your head. The vocals are too clear and painfully point out weaknesses in Ben's voice. The songs are boring. And they're extremely repetitive (even for DCFC). After my mandatory 3 listens to be fair and give it time to grow on me, I'll likely never play this album again. If you're a DCFC fan, you'll probably get this album anyway just to have it. But if you're new to DCFC, pick something else like Plans or Transatlanticism and you will be much, much happier. I'm not counting them out, and hope the next album will be back to their usual very high standards.
 Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs September 5, 2008
S. D. Mason (Greenville, NC)
Narrow Stairs (2008, Atlantic) Death Cab For Cutie's sixth studio album. ****1/2
I'm not sure that it really matters if Narrow Stairs is of the same caliber as Transatlanticism. What matters is that on its own, Narrow Stairs is a fantastic album, certainly one of the best of 2008 thus far. The tone is very clear, and never does its message of loneliness and wanting, the darkness of unrequited love, get lost in even the upbeat and inspiring music.
"I Will Possess Your Heart" is easily a strong point in the album, but by no means is it the only memorable tune. It's almost too long, for the four-minute instrumental introduction is not necessary at all. But once Ben Gibbard's vocals come in, the undeniable beat of his voice is imposible to ignore. The indie rock and alternative pop/rock quirkiness is fluent throughout the next several tracks; "No Sunlight" is very upbeat, having a quicker tempo and seemingly sunny lyrics. But like everything else, it is almost drenched in lyrics of the attitude that love is not what it seems. "Cath" is a truly frightening song, about the dangers of settling when there appears to be nothing else, and its address to a named person makes it act like a Ben Folds song.
The album's shortest song "You Can Do Better Than Me" is just under two minutes, again about two lovers who stay together due to its comfort. And yet in tragic fashion, Gibbard laments how his lover is superior to himself. With the laid-back "Your New Twin Sized Bed," Death Cab is able to make a very light groove to sit the defeated tone of lines like "What's the point of holding on/To something that never gets used?"
Narrow Stairs is a tightly themed, paced, and sounding album, with no weak points and no lagging. There's no filler, just the best that Death Cab for Cutie could come up with, and they've done a fantastic job. While Narrow Stairs isn't the new Layla, it's about as close as we may come. The powerful beginning of "Bixby Canyon Bridge," with rolling riffs and commanding vocals, all the way to the pitiful ending of "The Ice is Getting Thinner," the end of a tale of two people. With the end, it begs the question of whether the time spent together - even though it was doomed from the beginning - was well worth it for the connection they had, for the fond memories, or if it was merely a waste of time in the journey for the right person. I can't answer the question, but I imagine the Death Cab crew did at some point during the making this record. Outstanding, brilliant, heartfelt. (I Will Possess Your Heart, No Sunlight, Cath, The Ice is Getting Thinner)
the best! August 19, 2008
Andrew Kruczek (Dearborn, MI)
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 vocals he would exhibit on random love-lorn covers and tv appearences.. but this album is totally a masterpiece. I usually start with "You Can Do Better than Me" and my favorite song on the album, "Grapevine Fires." Then I start back from the beginning. The album might be a grower and not as big as "Plans" because their lead single has a 4.5 minute intro that some of the teenybopper fans don't want to sit through, but it's a solid album. Put it on in the background. One day you'll be hooked and realize they've surely outdone themselves here.
Grows on you, one bad track August 9, 2008
Nicholas P. Pfeiffenberger
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 your heart," the quality of the cd went up 10 fold for me personally. After Bixby leaves you just wanting another great song, you're put into the boring and tedious 2nd track. It feels more like a secret type song that is put 5 minutes of silence past the last track.
Just got Better... August 9, 2008
C. Conard (Denver, CO)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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, it was a sad affair that nearly beat out Transatlanticism.
Then comes Narrow Stairs with its unexpectedly artsy fartsy lead single "...Possess Your Heart", and was clear that Death Cab had reinvented their own personal musical wheel.
Let's get one thing clear, I really only love about half of the album. "Bixby Canyon Bridge" has all been done before, "No Sunlight" seems almost like self-mockery, and "Pity and Fear" and "The Ice is Getting Thinner" are just flatout boring. And "You Can Do Better Than Me" is meant to be a joke, right? Ha ha.
Anyways, now for the songs that will be playing in my mind until I am an old decrepit geezer. "Cath..." has the best blues influence you'll likely ever find on ANY indie album, and it is also the track that has been generating the most steam. Best of all, I HATED this song the first few times I heard it. Then something happened, I think I payed greater attention to the guitar, which made the song for me.
"Long Division" is absolutely one of the catchiest songs I've ever heard. But catchiness doesn't matter. A guitar riff that starts on the half rest, plodding its way through a song that it feels like it doesn't even belong in, like an Ewok at a Cannibal Corpse concert. Okay, bad analogy. But it doesn't feel right, but yet it's awesome. An amazing tune.
And for my favorite song of 2008, at least until Underoath comes back around, is "Grapevine Fires" Oh, geez, what a SONG!! I swear I cried when I heard it. You will too. It has the most hauntingly off-kilter and beautiful melody just about ever, and it will never leave my mind. A great way to cap off my freshman year of college. This song made 2008 for me so far. The lyrics obviously pertaining to the Governator's wildfire crisis, are so down to earth and warming it feels like the song is actually conversing with you. Amazing!
Many people have disliked this album. Yes, it has flaws. Some parts are Death Cab or perhaps even all of indie rock at their most mature, while others are just silly. But the four or five good songs on the album warrant it a classic, they really are that good. I'm pretty sure every Death Cab fan in the world has heard this album by now, but if new to the band, it's not a bad place to start, even if after it the other albums sound like a transgression.
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