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Narrow Stairs | 
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| Artist: Death Cab For Cutie
Label: Atlantic
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy Used: $7.84
You Save: $11.14 (59%)
New (55) Used (23) from $7.84
Rating:  93 reviews
Sales Rank: 76
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
Availability: Usually ships in 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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| 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 88 more reviews...
 The Culmination June 12, 2008
P. Petterson (Kansas City, MO)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I'm pretty sure I own every DCFC recording. In this album I can hear pieces of all the others, even "Chords", arranged in the perfect package. Ben's lovelorn lament turned out to be the perfect catalyst for the culmination of a lot of ideas they have shared with us over the past several years. This album is heartbreaking, reflective, inspiring, brilliant.
Mark Kozelek's recent release is a breathtaking composition where lyrics and melody are seamless. A true gift reflective of his talent. For me this album is right there if not better on that score. The best part is that one can tell this is not just a Ben and Chris joint. Jason and Nick clearly influenced this album more than any others - you can just hear it.
This is probably my album of the year so far, and far better than releases from some other indie stalwarts (don't buy this packaged with MMJ before you read the reviews - and do yourself a favor and read Pitchfork's). Thank you, baby Jesus, for DCFC.
Just got Better... August 9, 2008
C. Conard (Denver, CO)
1 out of 2 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.
Very unique band September 16, 2008
PAC MAN (NEW YORK)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This band is unique. This isn't music I would blast in my car because most people would think I'm gay, but I enjoy it a lot. It's a guilty pleasure. This band is talented and this is a great album.
Things do change, don't they? June 6, 2008
D. Stinson (Atlanta, GA)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Okay, okay, I admit it. I am a musical purist of sorts. I have always respected DCFC as a band since I first heard of them a few years past, and still feel the same now. But the nostalgia I feel when I listen to their earlier works, especially The Photo Album, makes me realise that I do feel slightly alienated by the band's later collections. Plans was a change, but it grew on me. This album felt like too much at first, but now I'm a bit closer to actually considering buying it. People go through changes, and many a fan forget that this goes for artists, as well. Ben Gibbard, through virtue of age, is surely not the same man he was in '98. So why should we expect his lyricism to be so? The sobbing fans of the old DCFC will very well feel put off by this album, but I invite you to see the band as a collection of individuals whose life influences change just as ours do, and at least give their new sound a chance to grow on you. I give them five because they are truly awesome, but will still pull out their old material when I wish to ruminate upon my younger and blissfully naive days.
YEAH! July 21, 2008
CongoBongoBadAss (USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Come on. Anyone who can whine about this album after the last several more and more BORING ones is nuts. Narrow Stairs does manage to give a nod back to We Have the Facts..., still one of the finest albums since The Queen is Dead and still sound fresh. I started with Death Cab upon the first release and unlike REM they didn't have to wait 20 years to put out something great once again.
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