Funeral (album)

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Funeral
Studio album by Arcade Fire
Released September 14, 2004 (2004-09-14)
Recorded August 2003 – early 2004 at the Hotel2Tango
Genre Indie rock, baroque pop
Length 48:02
Label Merge, Rough Trade
Producer Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire chronology

Arcade Fire
(2003)		 Funeral
(2004)		 Neon Bible
(2007)
Singles from Funeral
  1. "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)"
    Released: June 20, 2004
  2. "Neighborhood #2 (Laïka)"
    Released: March 28, 2005
  3. "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)"
    Released: May 23, 2005
  4. "Rebellion (Lies)"
    Released: September 12, 2005
  5. "Wake Up"
    Released: November 14, 2005

Funeral is the debut album by the Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on September 14, 2004 in North America by Merge Records and on February 28, 2005 in Europe by Rough Trade Records. It was given its title because several band members had recently lost members of their families: Régine Chassagne's grandmother died in June 2003, Win and William Butler's grandfather (swing musician Alvino Rey) in February 2004, and Richard Reed Parry's aunt in April 2004.[1]

Preliminary recordings for Funeral were made during the course of a week in August 2003 at the Hotel2Tango in Montreal, Quebec, and the recording was completed later that year all in an analogue recording format.

The album produced five singles. The most successful, "Rebellion (Lies)", peaked at #19 on the UK Singles Chart. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2005 for Best Alternative Music Album. It received wide critical acclaim and topped many year-end and decade-end lists. According to the website Metacritic, the album had the second most appearances on end-of-decade Top 10 lists, only behind Radiohead's Kid A.[2] In the updated version of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, it was ranked at #151.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 90/100[2]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [3]
Drowned in Sound (10/10)[4]
NME (9/10)[5]
Paste [5]
Pitchfork (9.7/10)[1]
PopMatters (Favorable)
Robert Christgau A−[6]
Rolling Stone
Tiny Mix Tapes [5]
Uncut [5]

Funeral has received almost unanimous praise from music critics, and is hailed as a modern classic. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 90, based on 30 reviews. It is listed at number 24 on Metacritic's list of highest scored albums of all time.[7] AllMusic reviewer James Christopher Monger gave the album a rating of five stars out of five. He described it as "brave, empowering, and dusted with something that many of the indie-rock genre's more contrived acts desperately lack: an element of real danger."[8] Rock critic Robert Christgau gave the album an A−, saying that Funeral was "...too fond of drama, but aware of its small place in the big world, and usually beautiful."[9] Pitchfork Media gave the album a 9.7 out of 10 rating, and ultimately ranked the album #2 on their Top 200 Albums of the 2000s list, after Radiohead's Kid A.[10]

Drowned in Sound also highly praised Funeral. Reviewer Jesus Chigley called the album "...empowering and hopeful and euphoric all at once", saying that "it says everything there is to say about mortality and it does it in 10 tracks."[11] Stylus's Josh Drimmer gave Funeral an A, calling it "celebratory, emotionally rich and life-affirming".[12] Tiny Mix Tapes gave the album five stars out of five; "Funeral," the reviewer wrote, "is like nothing you've heard before, and altogether familiar."[13] Dave Simpson of The Guardian called it "one of the year's best already, by a mile."[14] Zeth Lundy of PopMatters complimented Funeral on its eccentricity, calling it "bizarre at turns and recognizable elsewhere, equally beautiful and harrowing, theatrical and sincere, defying categorization while attempting to create new genres."[15] Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, "Funerals are generally somber affairs, but the Canadian indie rockers' emotionally charged 2004 debut mostly just made us smile. And, okay, mist up a little."[16]

The album was also listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Consequence of Sound US Top Albums of the 2000s[17] 2009 2
LAS Magazine US Albums of the decade[18] 2009 1
Mojo UK The 100 Greatest Albums of Our Lifetime 1993-2006[19] 2006 60
NME UK The 100 Greatest Albums of the 2000s[20] 2009 7
Paste US Top 50 Albums of the 2000s[21] 2009 3
Pitchfork US Top 200 Albums of the 2000s[22] 2009 2
Rolling Stone US Top 100 Albums of the 2000s[23] 2009 6
Rolling Stone US 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 2012 151
Slant Magazine US Top 250 Albums of the 2000s[24] 2010 4
Spin US 125 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years[25] 2010 66
Under the Radar US Top 200 Albums of the Decade[26] 2009 1
Q UK 250 Best Albums of Q's Lifetime[27] 2011 19
NME UK The 500 Greatest Albums of the All Time[28] 2013 13

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Arcade Fire, with help from Josh Deu on tracks 1 and 3. 
No. Title Length
1. "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)"   4:48
2. "Neighborhood #2 (Laïka)"   3:33
3. "Une année sans lumiere"   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"   5:39
8. "Haïti"   4:07
9. "Rebellion (Lies)"   5:10
10. "In the Backseat"   6:21
Bonus disc (Japan only)
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "My Buddy" (Alvino Rey Orchestra)  2:35
2. "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" (August Session)Arcade Fire 5:35
3. "Brazil"  Ary Barroso 3:56
4. "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" (Live at the Great American Music Hall)Arcade Fire 5:57

Personnel

Arcade Fire

Additional musicians

Production

  • Arcade Fire – producer, string arrangements, engineer, recording
  • Ryan Morey – mastering
  • Tracy Maurice – cover art
  • Hilary Treadwell – photography, insert
  • Mark Lawson - recording, engineering
  • Thierry Amar - recording assistance

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Moore, David (2004-09-12). "Album Reviews: Arcade Fire: Funeral". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2013-07-14. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Best Albums of the Decade: A Roundup of Critic Lists - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 January 2013. 
  3. ↑ Christopher, James (2004-09-14). "Funeral - Arcade Fire". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-09-02. 
  4. ↑ Chigley, Jesus (2005-01-27). "Arcade Fire - Funeral / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Retrieved 2011-09-02. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Critic Reviews for Funeral at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2011-09-02. 
  6. ↑ "CG: The Arcade Fire". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2011-09-02. 
  7. ↑ "Arcade Fire:Funeral (2004): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2009-03-19. 
  8. ↑ Monger, James Christopher. "Funeral". AllMusic. Retrieved 2008-08-04. 
  9. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Funeral". Retrieved 2008-08-04. 
  10. ↑ Moore, David (2004-09-12). "Pitchfork: Album Reviews: Arcade Fire: Funeral". Pitchfork Media. 
  11. ↑ Chigley, Jesus. "Arcade Fire:Funeral". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 2008-08-04. 
  12. ↑ Drimmer, Josh. "Funeral". Stylus magazine. Retrieved 2008-08-04. 
  13. ↑ WYATT. "Arcade Fire, Funeral". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 2010-07-18. 
  14. ↑ Simpson, Dave (2005-02-05). "Arcade Fire, Funeral". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-08-04. 
  15. ↑ Lundy, Zeth (2004-09-14). "The Arcade Fire: Funeral". PopMatters. 
  16. ↑ Geier, Thom; Jensen, Jeff; Jordan, Tina; Lyons, Margaret; Markovitz, Adam; Nashawaty, Chris; Pastorek, Whitney; Rice, Lynette; Rottenberg, Josh; Schwartz, Missy; Slezak, Michael; Snierson, Dan; Stack, Tim; Stroup, Kate; Tucker, Ken; Vary, Adam B.; Vozick-Levinson, Simon; Ward, Kate (December 11, 2009), "THE 100 Greatest MOVIES, TV SHOWS, ALBUMS, BOOKS, CHARACTERS, SCENES, EPISODES, SONGS, DRESSES, MUSIC VIDEOS, AND TRENDS THAT ENTERTAINED US OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS". Entertainment Weekly. (1079/1080):74-84
  17. ↑ Moses1221. "CoS Top of the Decade: The Albums « Consequence of Sound". Consequenceofsound.net. Retrieved 2011-09-02. 
  18. ↑ "Albums of the decade". Lostatsea.net. Retrieved 2011-09-02. 
  19. ↑ "The 100 Greatest Albums of Our Lifetime 1993-2006". Mojo. 2006. Retrieved 20 February 2011. 
  20. ↑ "The Top 100 Greatest Albums Of The Decade". Nme.Com. Retrieved 2011-09-02. 
  21. ↑ Evans, Janile. "The 50 Best Albums of the Decade (2000-2009) :: Blogs :: List of the Day :: Paste". Pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 2011-09-02. 
  22. ↑ By Pitchfork, October 2, 2009 (2009-10-02). "Staff Lists: The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 20-1 | Features". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2011-09-02. 
  23. ↑
  24. ↑ "Best of the Aughts: Albums | Music". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2011-09-02. 
  25. ↑ "125 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years". Spin Magazine. 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2011. 
  26. ↑ "Top 200 Albums of the Decade". Under the Radar. 2009. Retrieved 2011-09-02. 
  27. ↑ "250 Best Albums of Q's Lifetime". Q. 2011. 
  28. ↑ http://www.nme.com/photos/the-500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-100-1/324644/1/1#88

External links

Arcade Fire
Studio albums
EPs
Live releases
Singles
Other songs
Films
Related articles
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