In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

One of the most underrated and beautifully unusual albums released in the last decade is without a doubt Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. The album is widely recognized among indie-music aficionados as among the most original albums of the 90’s, though most of the general public has never heard of it. The album, released in May 1998, is conceptually based on the life of Anne Frank, one of the most famous victims of the Holocaust in Europe, and on the unexpected beauty found in tragedies like hers. At times, the folksy melodies sound familiar; the rhapsodic sound of the acoustic guitar in the opening track, “King of Carrot Flowers Part 1,” could have come from any one of Dylan’s early albums or from one of Oberst’s tracks on his LIFTED album. Then, just as the listener begins to be lulled into comfortable inattention, lead singer Jeff Mangum’s somewhat abrasive voice cuts into the listener’s consciousness. He is later joined by what can only be described as a menagerie of musical instruments, including horns, organs, accordions, saws, banjo, and even a zanzithophone (though I haven’t the faintest clue as to what that may be).

Without listening to the lyrics, the album sounds like something of an indie music circus. Between Mangum’s nasal voice and the screeching of unidentifiable instruments accompanying him, it is easy to write the album off as a joke, and an ear-splitting one at that. However, by the time the third track rolls around, it begins to seem possible that maybe – just maybe – Neutral Milk Hotel has something bigger in mind. Maybe they’re trying to make a point.

Without a doubt, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is a lyrically driven album. Yes, the arrangements and instrumentalization are wildly inventive and brilliantly different and Mangum and his band certainly deserve credit for making one of the most original-sounding albums of the past 20 years, but the Mangum’s lyrics are what change lives. “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea,” the third track on the album, is arguably one of the most poignant and brilliant songs ever written. The musical arrangements are still inventive (three-part saw harmonies, anyone?), but what is most magnificent is the way that the aforementioned saw harmonies work in complete harmony with Mangum’s lyrics. The song is consistently muted, never reaching the intense climax that the listener expects, but when Mangum declares how “strange it feels to be anything at all,” it takes all the listener can do to hold in the surge of emotion that accompanies Mangum’s voice.

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is alternately lauded and bashed by critics and music buffs. However, when given time to fully absorb and process the quirky patchwork quilt that Neutral Milk Hotel has put together, the listener will surely feel himself wrapped up in Mangum’s achingly exquisite masterpiece.