iLLuMentaL

Great review! You paint a soulful, striking picture that also happens to be an example of the depth you see in "Funeral", well done! And I agree that it is a phenomenal album.

debaserr

yea i would say it is my favorite from the 2000s so far. if i had to pick favorites it would be Neighborhood 2, crown of love, and in the back seat.

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Roygbiv

I think it's a surprisingly cohesive thematic album that is very much a classic of our times. Great review as always, but as always, too short.

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Grievous Angel

Great review man, this album was unbelievable to me when it first came out, I'd probably even give it a higher score than you gave it! Neon Bible was excellent too, but pales in comparison to this masterpiece

TheCellarTapes

Hope Davey Moore doesnt mind me stepping in and adding my thoughts to this quality album.

Arcade Fire - Funeral
(2004)



Tracks

1 Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) 4:48
2 Neighborhood #2 (Laïka) 3:32
3 Une Année Sans Lumière 3:40
4 Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) 5:12
5 Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles) 4:49
6 Crown of Love 4:42
7 Wake Up 5:35
8 Haïti 4:07
9 Rebellion (Lies) 5:10
10 In the Backseat 6:20

Formed in Montreal, Canada in 2003, Arcade Fire shot to prominence with the rather wonderful Arcade Fire EP released in the same year on the record label Merge. Demonstrating a real talent for mood creation, eccentricity combined with theatrical arrangement and performances, Arcade Fire were always destined to write a modern day classic. And so it was in September 2004, Funeral was released on the Merge record label.

Led by Husband and Wife team Win Butler and Régine Chassagne and backed by a group of fine musicians, the album became a worldwide underground success story whilst gradually snowballing into a complete monster.

Speaking from a British point of view, their success was down in some ways to their exceptional and powerful live performances in small venues. Thanks to gaining a real reputation through first hand experience and more importantly word of mouth, Arcade Fire gradually became the band of choice for many a young adult, with Funeral becoming the album to own in a post Is This It world.

The album begins with Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels), a rather beautiful song yet with undertones of love and loss, it contains all the hallmarks of what people now perceive Arcade Fire to be all about, with an almost Ian Curtisesque vibe running alongside splendid and complex musical arrangements, Indie but not as we know it for sure.

Neighborhood #2 (Laika) follows, a tale of adolescent frustration and of course desperation, the soundtrack and vocals are just as compelling as the lyrics, with its manic strings and almost bellowing theatrical vocals, yes the song could be described as “over the top”, but that’s the point surely.

One thing that Arcade Fire managed to do so unbelievably well with this release, is to walk that fine line between credibility and commerciality, something they do effortlessly with track four Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), its our first chance to see this talented band walk this fine line with triumphant results. The rhythm and the beat of this little number is truly outstanding, almost satisfyingly so.



After the wonders of Power Out, we’re brought back to earth with the gorgeous Crown of Love, with its layer upon layer of stunning mood creation song writing, as songs go it really is quite a remarkable achievement, especially with its rampaging finale.

Track 7, Wake Up, and Track 9 Rebellion (Lies) once again take us to Arcade Fire pop heaven, both songs would become the crowd favourites at many an Arcade Fire gig, with the latter normally involving a stage invasion from all angles by the audience, and Wake Up just becoming the anthem for 2004.

Not to be outdone, the wife of the partnership, Régine Chassagne, has two numbers on the album which to be fair are just brilliant songs. Haiti combines the avant-garde of Nico with the landscaping of a god, and as for the albums closer In The Backseat, well for me this is the albums finest moment.

Music at its best should stay with you always and should either reflect your mood or at least make you feel glad to be alive, but what Arcade Fire has created is an album for all moods; as gritty as it is beautiful, as dark and gloomy as it is joyful and pleasurable. It really is a flawless piece of song writing and musical creation, a modern day classic if ever there was one.

Davey Moore

HEY MAN I F*CKING MIND

Nah, . Btw let me revise my score and say this is the best album of the 2000's.

So a 10.

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The Cat

A great review(s) of one of my favorite albums, i find that Arcade Fire are a very under rated band...Shame

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Casimir

Good review, but best album of the 2000's? I think not. Neon Bible was a better album.

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The Cat

Sorry have to disagree with that one i think Funeral is far superior to Neon Bible!

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DeepDishBedPan

Neon Bible was probably catchier and perhaps even more memorable, but Funeral is a better overall album. The storytelling is superb and as a debut, marvelous!