11 Years Later: Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Over ten years ago, a somewhat obscure band created what can still be considered one of the greatest records ever recorded. Though the record wasn’t initially monetarily well received, it has gone on to sell over 100,000 copies, and has influenced a great number of artists including Franz Ferdinand, Danger Mouse (who was actually friends with the band), Okkervil River, Bon Iver, The National, Deer Tick, The Decemberists, and Arcade Fire just to name a few.

Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea plays like a 40 minute book of short stories, each telling a different tale pertaining to the overall theme of the story. Lyrically, singer Jeff Mangum sings of childhood, religion, angst, sex, and Anne Frank, whom he was said to have felt strong compassion and sadness for- which rings out in his stretched and often haunting vocals. The album opens with King of Carrot Flowers part 1, a short acoustic overview of nostalgic youth but without the idealism that comes from it. His gritty honesty comes almost instantly in the second stanza: “And your mom would stick a fork right into daddy’s shoulder, and dad would throw the garbage all across the floor, as we would lay and learn what each other’s bodies were for.” A college professor of mine actually had us dissect this song for his writing class, if that is any indication of Mangum’s lyrical abilities.

The album actually plays straight through with almost no interruption. Whether it be a lingering horn, feedback from a guitar, or a swelling accordion; there are few breaks between tracks as one note gives birth to the opening chords of the next song as if the whole album were one continuous track. One of the most noteworthy songs on this album is In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, for which the album is titled after, which has gone on to be covered by artists like Matt Pond PA and Jesse Lacey (of Brand New) to name just a few. The song appears as track 3 on the album, rather than putting their obvious choice for a single as track 1 as so many artists were doing at the time of this album’s release. This lovely arrangement begins as an acoustic melody, before featuring a soft roll of drums and opening up to a singing saw, then breaking to a horn solo.

This album is rich with instruments, and at a time when it was uncool to sing about obscure, awkward love over a blare of trumpets. This full length makes it hard to choose choice tracks as they all seem to find their place within the mix and would be difficult to imagine the album without any one of them. From the acoustic anthem of Two Headed Boy, to the instrumental breaks of The Fool and Untitled; to the Low-Fi peaks of Holland, 1945, there isn’t a low point to this album, just breaks in the story. One of the major accomplishments of this album is the chilling vocals that grate over an acoustic guitar for over 8 minutes in the late Oh, Comely- which is quite simply breathtaking. It is said that the album could easily be a well versed love letter to Anne Frank, which is best stated by Mangum himself in this song, “and will she remember me fifty years later? I wished I could save you in some sort of time machine. Know all your enemies.”

Perhaps one of the most tragic things about this record is that lead singer, guitar player, and singer Jeff Mangum hasn’t recorded an album since. In fact, he has said that he is unsure that he ever will. Like so many great artists, perhaps we should be thankful that Mangum has given us something so beautiful, with so much time to reflect on it. It is uncertain whether the magic of this album could ever be recreated, with the genius arrangements of Neutral Milk Hotel. After eleven years of steady growth and influence, it is safe to say that In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is one of the greatest pieces of music that has ever been recorded.