Upon release, "Neon Bible" garnered universal acclaim, receiving an 87—the seventh highest score of 2007—from review aggregator Metacritic. "NME" reviewer Mark Beaumont commented the album "is a climactic monolith of a record in the grand tradition of melodic transatlantic clamour rock." "The A.V. Club" reviewer Kyle Ryan interpreted the album as a commentary on the post-9/11 American world, saying that "the band is seemingly sending a beacon to other reasonable people forced underground by the world's insanity." Stylus contributor Derek Miller saw the album in similar terms, saying that while the album touches on "violence, paranoia, the falsity of simple labor, the war-call of organized religion—a what's what of indie turmoil after 2003" the band go further to the point where its "thematic threads bind the songs." Robert Christgau gave the album a "A+" grade, saying that Butler and co. "thud rather than thunder. But what a loud and joyous thud it is."