Funeral
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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
The fact that the music is so paradoxically life-affirming and euphoric makes it much easier to write, what now feel like, trite hyperboles.
100
Funeral is like nothing you've heard before, and altogether familiar. Funeral comforts and cares, marches and dares, and towers over us with its anthemic choruses and orchestral arrangements.
100
These are songs that pump blood back into the heart as fast and furiously as it's draining from the sleeve on which it beats
100
Everything is delivered in Flaming Lips cinemascope, which would mean nothing without lyrics to melt the heart.
100
The scorched soul of these 10 songs shines like a winter sun, bright against the gloom of the loss that inspired it.
100
The Montreal indie squad use forms rooted in tradition, from violin-drenched waltzes to dusty acoustic folk, from doo-wop to calypso, and give them a theatrical pomo twist.
100
This is the debut of the millennium, and I cannot describe just how much you need it in your life.
97
It's taken perhaps too long for us to reach this point where an album is at last capable of completely and successfully restoring the tainted phrase "emotional" to its true origin.
90
Funeral, is so fresh and exciting it's hard to believe they are operating in an old and potentially stale form. Not only are the songs uniformly excellent, they also show a mastery of the art of controlled dynamics, of tension and release, that most young bands ignore to pursue the catharsis of sustained intensity.
90
With airy production and sweetly innocent vocals a la My Bloody Valentine, the album feels like a fairy tale happening under the jaded eye of grown-ups.
90
Funeral ... is a realization of what they'd set out to practice with Arcade Fire, and is a resounding success on all levels -- the group clearly able to make something incredible out of the familiar, and something inexplicably moving out of one emotionally draining year.
90
The band has created an unquestionably sincere and autobiographical work of art, no matter how coded the lyrics prove at times.
90
For those of us who still believe in music’s power to redeem, ‘Funeral’ feels like detox, the most cathartic album of the year.
90
The mix of funk, psychedelica and down the line college rock comes through just as strong on record as it does on stage. Stand out 'Neighbourhood #3' being a prime example.
5mo
83
For the most part, Funeral is a lovely, uplifting, and often pleasingly grandiose whirl through a panoply of sounds.
80
The band could have gone for a less direct title, but even then it would have been crystal clear: Funeral captures the agony and even ecstasy of surviving death all around you.
80
With Funeral, they have expanded their sound beyond the narrow sonic precincts of their EP and begin to make a name for themselves in the sphere of multi-instrumental indie rock.
UUUHHHH OOOOOOH
Unsurprisingly, this was one of the first indie albums I listened to and quite a lot! Over the years its grown off me quite a bit. The best moments have a lot of heart and paint vivid imagery of intamacy in my head. Especially 'Neighborhood #2' and 'Une année sans lumière' which may be some two of my all time favorite songs ever recorded! After that I feel like I'm just tolerating Win Butler and melodrama in the lyrics. 'Wake Up' to me is just glorified millennial ... read more
Unsurprisingly, this was one of the first indie albums I listened to and quite a lot! Over the years its grown off me quite a bit. The best moments have a lot of heart and paint vivid imagery of intamacy in my head. Especially 'Neighborhood #2' and 'Une année sans lumière' which may be some two of my all time favorite songs ever recorded! After that I feel like I'm just tolerating Win Butler and melodrama in the lyrics. 'Wake Up' to me is just glorified millennial ... read more
Far and beyond on of the single most enjoyable musical experiences I have ever had! This is one of the most exciting and energetic indie rock records I have ever heard! Arcade Fire’s debut was a classic as soon as it came out and its not hard to tell why!
i think this album is faultless, its a beautiful full album debut, and live this band carry off the energy within the music on this record. a must for any music fan.
Funeral is the debut album of the band Arcade Fire. It is their best record in my opinion as it represents an ambitious, passionate, intense and poetic piece of art. It is extremely deep and emotional and I have to say, it touches me in a very personal way. The group itself influenced and influences indie and alternative bands. I'm a huge fan of Arcade Fire's music and I really like The Suburbs but this is... This is a MASTERPIECE. The instrumentation is almost symphonic, every layer is in its ... read more
stereogum.com
Listen: Arcade Fire – “Baby Mine” pitchfork.com
Arcade Fire Play 'Funeral' in Full pitchfork.com
Watch Arcade Fire Perform on “SNL” 
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MISC LISTS
| #2 | / | Consequence of Sound (2000s) |
| #2 | / | Pitchfork (2000s) |
| #2 | / | Stereogum (2000s) |
| #3 | / | Paste (2000s) |
| #3 | / | Pitchfork: The People's List |
More Lists
Track List
- Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
- Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
- Une Annee Sans Lumiere
- Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
- Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)
- Crown of Love
- Wake Up
- Haiti
- Rebellion (Lies)
- In the Backseat
