Funeral

You can google about this album from a music perspective. Its a great album musically.From a vinyl record perspective I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the press considering this is the cheaper version to buy. This record has little to no surface noise/crackles, and no pops due to factory defects, and sounds very dynamic and warm. It should be noted that I always vacuum clean my records before first listen. The gatefold sleeve is just average, with very little frills. There are no liner note inserts, and the record is in a white paper sleeve.

This is a very interesting album, partly because of the influences that I think I hear in Arcade Fire's songs. The songs are nearly as varied as those influences, which include David Bowie, Roxy Music, The Cars, Brian Eno, and others, but they're distinctively their own. I think this is an album that will grow on me and that won't end up languishing on the shelf.

The copy I received, and presumably all copies that Amazon has in stock, matches up with a copy that received bad reviews on discogs, and i experienced everything that was complained about regarding this record.It is quite visibly warped, and the sound is terrible, possibly off center, just not good all around. I wouldn't mind the warping if the sound quality was acceptable and in this case it is not. I'll be seeking out the well received 180g reissue of this, and you should do the same.

The first time I was introduced to Arcade Fire, I was hesitant to buy into the hype that they "are one of the 5 best new bands since 2000," according to a few sources. I heard a few songs, and was impressed, but just didn't understand the hype. Then I listened to Neighborhood #1.From the first track on Funeral, I was hooked. It's beautiful, and to this day, will still bring a tear to my eye. I learned that, as with many great albums, it is important to listen to it in entirety. Splitting it up will ruin the experience. The songs, while great on their own, are made magnificent when played back to back.Some will call Arcade Fire an overly dramatic band, and point to Funeral as a prime example for good reason. It is a very dramatic album to the point that some will find it pretentious. To me, it's that very human emotion that is woven throughout the album that I love. It's a postmodern take on the human condition and emotion.Regardless, I wholeheartedly recommend the Vinyl edition of Funeral. It sounds wonderful, has some of the best packaging I've ever seen (thank you for poly sleeves... why can't more artists use these) and you will not regret it.

This is a short review of the vinyl album and not the music (hopefully you already know it's great if you're looking at a vinyl version). This is a beautiful, heavy vinyl format of perhaps one of the greatest Arcade Fire albums. The album art is also gorgeous and even if you don't have a record player, it looks great on your wall in a 12x12 frame. I highly recommend this and, as a bonus, you do get a full digital download of the album to take with you.

Few albums have been released that have grown on me as much as "Funeral." Admittingly I didn't see what all the commotion was about when I listened to the album the first time, even the second time. But something snapped in me and I realized the genius of the repetition, the gradual building up of instrumentals, the aching, beseeching vocals of pain and suffering. Each song is crafted brilliantly and for the patient listener you're rewarding with deep lyrics, epic breakdowns, and soaring choruses. If heaven could sound like anything, I'm sure Funeral would be playing right after you enter the pearly white gates. There's a ton of heart, emotion, and a fear of growing older deeply embedded in this album. Even in the angst is there a child-like quality, a playful, crazy attitude of rebellion in the vocals. This is Arcade Fire at it's finest.

I discovered this album late, so it's interesting to now read the various reviews from Amazon members. The vast majority love it for being so unique, refreshing, uplifting, insightful, tragic, emotional and downright inspiring. My rating of 5 stars confirms that I'm a member of that majority.Although I certainly respect contrary opinions (the eye of the beholder), it's amazing to me that so many people have slagged this album simply because of the "obvious" influences with insinuations of mere copying and pasting. Every musician from Bowie to Jeff Buckley to Radiohead to Lou Reed is quoted as an influence. Basically, just about every significant musical act of the last 30 years. In response to that, I say....so what?Name a musician working today who hasn't been influenced by the past? In fact, I challenge you to name a musician who is considered to be an "innovator" of music (i.e. Chuck Berry, Rolling Stones, Beatles, etc.) who wasn't in some way influenced by Mozart or Beethoven, whether they knew it or not.What I'm getting at here is that it shouldn't matter if you hear the sounds of older music in the music of today. To some degree it has to be expected - either as an ode to the greats of yesterday or as an unintentional inspiration.As for Arcade Fire, do you honestly think they sat around and consciously mapped out a plan to take pieces of all the greats with hopes of hitting the big time? It sounds ridiculous just writing it. I suspect these guys are naturally gifted musicians with their own inspirations and they came up with this beautiful music on their own.Enjoy it for what it is. In an age of over-synthed, heartless music with no soul, this shines through like a beacon of hope.A true sign of a great album is that it gets better with every listen. This album does so for me, and for those of you out there who have yet to buy the album, I encourage you to do so in the hope that you will experience the same.Rock on.ebhp==UPDATE (6/26/05)I had to post an update to this review, having just seen The Arcade Fire perform at the Hollywood Bowl. Opening for the legendary David Byrne, they simply blew the roof off the place, which is a good thing since there isn't a roof on the Bowl. I have to hand it to David Byrne for signing this band up, because he had a hard time matching the energy they created in the sold-out performance with 18,000+ screaming fans. He could have signed up a marginal band that would have made him look that much better, but instead he exposed this magical band to all of Los Angeles.The Arcade Fire consist of a nine person band, but that wasn't enough. They had to bring on 6 additional violinists/cellists to create the symphonic wall of sound captured on this amazing album. Some bands try to be weird just to be weird, and at times I thought they were heading down the same road. Case in point - at one moment of the show two band members wearing gold/black motorcyle helmets from the 70's were wrestling each other on the stage, hitting each other with drumsticks. This could have detracted from the music, but to our surprise it didn't. Seeing this band live is like watching a carnival of freaks setting themselves on fire at the expense of entertaining the crowd, but when it's all said and done they walk away unharmed, having left behind a mass of people simply amazed at the beauty and sheer power of their music. This band rocks.ebhp

I've just ordered my second copy of this album, because I've worn my first one out by playing it so much. Like all great albums, it just gets better and better with repeated listenings, especially when you've left it for a while since the last time. It initially took a few plays to get me hooked 2 years ago, but its grown on me more and more ever since. It is one of those albums you want to really listen to and concentrate on, it can't just be 'background' The magical opening chords of Tunnels give me instant goosebumps, and a warm glow, which rarely lets up through the duration of the album.They are a band that famously do things theor own way and do little to publicise themselves. With music this special they don't need to. Word of mouth has made them a big favourite with genuine music lovers and their breathtaking live shows have become the stuff of legend for those 'in the know.'Funeral is an album to treasure, they may never surpass it, its that good. Taking its influences from amongst others, Talking Heads, Heroes era Bowie, Born To Run era Springsteen, with elements of punk, folk, rock all thrown in, it is an album which wears its influences on its sleeve but has carved and shaped them into something unique and special.The songs are beautifully crafted with layers of guitar, piano, strings, rhythm, and passages of full band vocals (which often act as an extra 'instrument') combining and interweaving, and the production is clear and precise without ever being glossy or slick.The deaths of various family members 'inspired' the title and some of the material (In The Backseat) yet the music is equal parts mournful and utterly euphoric, (most empahtically summed up in the massive vocal chorus of the magnificent epic Wake Up)There is an almost naive romanticism and yearning in songs like Tunnels and Crown of Love ('I'll dig a tunnel from my window to yours' / 'You've got to be the one, you've got to be the way/ your name is the only word I can say') And yet there is also a wiser more world weary cynicism in the unbelievably intense Power Out ('Nothings hid from us kids you ain't fooling nobody with your lights out') and the superb momentum building Rebellion (Lies)('Every time you close your eyes Lies! Lies!')In the series of 'Neighbourhood' songs, the lyrics come from a kind of fairy tale world, where they use imagery of a neighbourhood buried by snow or without electricity, and many of the songs are sung from the perspective of children which gives them a certain charm and innocence.Win Butlers vocals are emotional and urgent without ever going over the top, and the frequent full band vocal sing alongs add a warmth and depth, from the almost ghostly 'woo oo oo's of Tunnels to the rousing 'Woah-oh's of 'Wake Up' and the big instrumental and vocal crescendo of Rebellion (Lies). The best thing of all is they sound like they mean it, no hint of fake or manufactured emotion, no posturing or pandering to expectations, just thoroughly joyous heartfelt music, which is exactly how they also come across live.I could go on but the best thing is to hear this album for yourself if you haven't already. 99% of current music pales by comparison, its one of my top 5 of all time. Completely, utterly wonderful.

This is music reminiscent in its power, melodies, fantastic lyrics and absurdly good, headily (even recklessly) driving ensemble playing, of the good old days of the 60's and 70's, when there was a bit of real craziness about! You have the feeling these guys really had no choice but to make this music, and the best art comes from necessity. I am reminded of Jefferson Airplane in the funkiness; Paul Simon by the extraordinary lyrics; yes, of course, Talking Heads by the wonderful strangeness and surrealism, and even, on account of my wanting to play some of the songs over and over again, of the thrill of discovering the Beatles in my early teens. These young men and women have given us back a bit of the joy of our beautiful youth in those far off days, and we can even profit from our (increasingly rare) good hifi rigs to get the most out of this densely active and engaging music with its unusual instrumentations and passionate declaration. What a great discovery - if you love music you will adore this band. Friends, too, are falling like ninepins for this stuff, at once mad, wonderful, funky as hell, touching, tuneful and lovely.

2007's 'Neon Bible' was certainly an exciting event in the year'smusical calendar.Two years earlier however the appearance of 'Funeral'caught The Wolf's attention like a small light in a dark place.There are artists in every decade whose ability to deliver music of exstatic, transformative quality sets them apart from the pack.Arcade Fire's achievement here is both a labour of love and a manifesto.In composition and design; performance and production; driving energy and restraint, these ten tracks communicate an ambiguous, yearning, stirring and wholly believable passion.The integration of electric and accoustic instrumentation creates an extraordinarily dense, complex and varied soundworld.Mr Butler and Ms Chassagne's vocal contributions are both powerful and plaintive.There is something old and knowing in this strange music.Empty rooms; dusty shelves; half-remembered promises; broken dreams.Painfully personal. Ultimately uplifting. Quite a little wonder in fact.

I cannot give anything less than 5 stars as I love this album, but rough trade get NO stars. The "maxi" should actually say "mini" because you don't get the funeral leaflet that has all the lyrics in it and I'm no convinced of the quality of the LP.So I'm sending this back and getting the 180g US Import version from my favourite auction site.I don't know why they've fobbed off the UK audience with an inferior re-release and Amazon should make it clearer that this MAXI version does not come with the leaflet and is far inferior to the US rerelease.Disappointed in everyone but arcade fire.

I discovered Arcade Fire quite late and bought all their back catalogue. So far, this is my favorite. The sound changed quite a bit on subsequent albums. Interesting vocals by 2 different lead singers, in EN/FR. This album filled with interesting songs that never meander and manage to surprise you time after time, holds your attention for quite a while I think.