Funeral (album) by Arcade Fire

Absolutely a good album, but in my opinion heavily overrated.

From Timestarter 05/29/2020 17:15

Fav. Tracks: Neighborhood #1-4 (Tunnels, Laika, Power Out, 7 Kettles), Wake Up, Rebellion (Lies).

Great album!

One of the best of 21st century.

It's tough to review this album knowing that it's top 10 on this site. Top 10?? Why? I get that it's a very good track and explores some interesting themes with community, death, and gives some nice orchestral layers to its overall sound, but it's not like it's indie rock's defining moment, nor is it even groundbreaking within the genre. Saying it is disregards Spoon's "Girls Can Tell" and "Kill the Moonlight", Neutral Milk Hotel's "In The Aeroplane Over the Sea", The Shins' "Oh, Inverted World" and "Chutes Too Narrow", and The Strokes' "Is This It?" and "Room on Fire", all of which are arguably better albums and all of which came out before "Funeral". Is it because this was a debut album from a band that came out of nowhere, because that also shouldn't carry the complete weight of a top 10 album. It's not even the band's best work (The Suburbs is a more eclectic and substantial work).

Don't get me wrong, this is a very good album. But it isn't devoid of subpar songs. 7 Kettles, Une Annee Sans Lumiere, and Haiti are very skippable (a demerit that shouldn't be synonymous with a top 10 album), and there are other times that the album lingers. I don't know, I just felt it could've been tighter.

However, "Wake Up" is a 10/10 song, and "Power Out", "Backseat", and "Tunnels" are damn good as well. They're all sung with power and such passion and raw emotion, which makes me want to connect with them. They just aren't good enough to rectify the lesser songs to raise my overall score.

Great album, just not as prolific as everyone says.

Favorite Tracks: Neighborhood #2 (Laika), Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), Haiti

Absolutely a good album and some wow tracks, but Top 10? I don't think so, Top 40 is OK. Indeed, for this album to surpass Doolittle, Nevermind, Pet Sounds and Led Zeppelin IV makes it so so overrated. I think Régine Chassagne should have sung more tracks than Win Butler; she has a better voice and better vocal abilities.

I've accepted I'll never understand the hype around this one. I enjoy Tunnels, Power Out, and Wake Up okay, but everything else is annoying to sit through. This drummer is not good, and while I enjoy Régine Chassagne's vocals, she's not on the album half as much as Win Butler, whose vocals I just can't get behind. One of those "emotional" vocalists that way overdoes it, at least on this album, and I'm not hard to persuade with these kinds of vocals.
Giving a 60 because I enjoyed a few of the songs, the strings are nice, and I understand the impact it had on the indie scene. Otherwise really disappointing, I guess you had to be there in 2004 to "get" it.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great album, with some monster standout tracks, but top 10 all time....nah, I don't think so. Seems like quite a love affair is going on with this album. That's ahead of Zep 4, nevermind, pet sounds, doolittle, london calling, the queen is dead, highway 61, the doors, the wall, rubber soul, the bends.....I don't see how that's possible. Definitely needs a re-rating. One of the greatest indie albums of all time - it would be in the top 40, maybe even 30, but top 10? I can't get behind that.

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