Funeral (album)

Funeral
Studio album by Arcade Fire
Released	September 14, 2004 (2004-09-14)
Recorded	August 2003 – early 2004 at the Hotel2Tango
Genre	Baroque pop, indie
Length	48:12
Label	Merge
Producer	Arcade Fire
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Blender link Robert Christgau (A-) link Cokemachineglow (90%) link musicOMH.com (positive) link Pitchfork (9.7/10) link Stylus (A) link The Guardian link Playlouder link Rolling Stone link Yahoo! Music link
Arcade Fire chronology
Arcade Fire (2003) Funeral (2004) Live EP (Live at Fashion Rocks) (2005)
Singles from Funeral
"Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" Released: June 20, 2004 "Neighborhood #2 (Laïka)" Released: March 28, 2005 "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" Released: May 23, 2005 "Rebellion (Lies)" Released: September 12, 2005 "Wake Up" Released: February 16, 2006

Funeral is the critically-acclaimed debut album by Arcade Fire. It was released on September 14, 2004 by Merge Records. As the title of the album suggests, much of Funeral is about death, but in a way that is cautiously optimistic rather than gloomy, dark or depressing. The album is noteworthy for the way in which it deals with loss and the eventual passing of time. The album is heavily instrumental and orchestral, with a prominent use of strings throughout. It was given this 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. Preliminary recordings for Funeral were made over a week in August 2003 at the Hotel2Tango in Montréal, Quebec, and the recording was completed in the winter of 2003. Funeral was released to wide critical acclaim and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2005 for Best Alternative Music Album. It was ranked eighth in Bob Mersereau's 2007 book The Top 100 Canadian Albums.

Track listing

All songs written by Arcade Fire.

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

Personnel

• Sarah Neufeld – violin
• Owen Pallett – violin
• Michael Olsen – cello
• Pietro Amato – horn
• Anita Fust – harp
• Sophie Trudeau – violin on "Wake Up"
• Jessica Moss – violin on "Wake Up"
• Gen Heistek – viola on "Wake Up"
• Arlen Thompson – drums on "Wake Up"

Awards

• #35 – Amazon.com's Top 100 Editors' Picks of 2004
• #1 – Pitchfork: Top 50 Albums of 2004
• #45 – Pitchfork: Top 100 Albums of 2000-2004
• #6 – Village Voice's 2004 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll: Top Albums of 2004
• #11 – Stylus: Top 50 Albums of 2000-2005
• #10 - Stylus: Top 40 Albums of 2004
• #1 – Rate Your Music: Top 100 Albums of 2004
• #9 – Rate Your Music: Top 100 Albums of 2000-2006
• #8 – Planet Sound's 2005 Albums of the Year
• #2 – NME's 2005 Albums of the Year
• - Unranked list, The Ticket's best album of 2004
• #1 - Uncut's #1 Album of the Year
• #6 - Blender Magazine: 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever

In popular culture

In the NBC TV series Chuck, Chuck (played by Zachary Levi) refers to "Arcade Fire's first album" as an "auditory aphrodisiac". He also claims that the length of this album is 42 minutes and 15 seconds. This would be incorrect if he were referring to Funeral—the album runs for approximately 48 minutes.