Hailing from Montreal, the Arcade Fire produce songs with some of the best instrumental accompaniments going. Their lush, orchestral sound benefits from the wide range of instruments played by members and this prevents things from ever getting stale. This orchestral sound is taken further with soaring choral choruses and lends Funeral a real cinematic quality. I'm pleased to report that the band had very healthy album sales for this release - with a core membership of 6-7 and far more musicians involved on their tours, I suspect that they need the money! Funeral was released in 2004 as the groups' first full-length release and sold particularly well, based on ...  Read the complete review

Arcade Fire created one of the most memorable albums of the noughties when they released Funeral. It is truly unique in its sound which is saying something for an album released in the last ten years. The key to its success lies in the marriage of lush, varied instrumentals with the haunting vocal styles of husband and wife members, Win Butler and Regine Chassagne. The musicianship on display is impressive and sets the album apart from the vast majority of chart releases, listen out for the viola, French horn, mandolin, harp and even a hurdy gurdy! What is created are energetic and genuinely moving songs. This is in no small part down to the vocals, Win ...  Read the complete review

Arcade Fire are the first band in years to bring me back to the wonderful state where music makes you cry with it's sheer beauty and cinematic exuberance. Arcade Fire are quite simply, incredible. Funeral is their first album. At the outset it seems to be a sad story; one of lover's betrayal, divorce from the eyes of a child, destroyed communities, living without loving... But at the exact same time, it is full of the kind of hope that shakes you to the bone and make you grin, look up to the sky, close your eyes and sing very loudly. The romantic violin work perfectly complements the shaking, drum like guitar riffs & wailing backing vocals. ...  Read the complete review

I find more and more often that in today’s musical landscape, it has become increasingly difficult to find an album that really possesses a unique cathartic quality. Thus, when I had the luck of stumbling upon Arcade Fire’s “Funeral,” I was delighted. In one 10 song album, I had the pleasure of listening to an array of emotion, instrumentation, and, overall, wonderful music. The 10+ members of Arcade Fire have managed to perfect the gentle art of what I like to call the “build-up.” By this, I mean that each of the songs on “Funeral” starts off somewhat subtly, slowly adding layers of lyric and melody, until they bloom into a mini-production, complete with a grand ...  Read the complete review

Funeral, as a debut album, could do no more. It was 'the' album of 2004 - every song being an absolute gem. The album grew from the band's collective experiences with recent deaths in their respective families. These themes of regret, of trying to remember those deceased is etched into every song. Their sound is quite unlike anything else. Although they have spawned a few imitators, and anything half decent that now springs from Montral is hailed as the 'new Arcade Fire', they are the band that performs their multi-instrument, multi-layered style the best. The first part of the album is dominated by the Neighborhood tracks. That they choose to draw ...  Read the complete review