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436 of 473 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A stunningly brilliant debut album, November 20, 2004
Only five years ago I was somewhat despondent about the state of rock music. Relatively little exciting new music was being produced compared with previous decades in the history of rock. But the past few years has seen an explosion of really fine bands from all over the planet, not merely from around the U.S. and England, but in every area of Europe and, as in the case of Arcade Fire, Canada. Most of these bands tend to fall into either of two categories: back to roots bands (usually European, where they go back almost to garage roots, and bands that synthesize much of the history of rock to create their own unique mixture. Arcade Fire clearly belongs to the latter. Like a band like Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire constantly reminds you of other bands. Most frequently I'm reminded of the Pixies and Talking Heads, but almost as often I hear echoes of Roxy Music, Joy Division, or even David Bowie and Brian Eno.
As anyone knows who has heard anything at all about this album, it was produced shortly after members of the band suffered the deaths of several family members in less than a month. This clearly gives the album not merely its title, but a lot of its urgency and focus. The album doesn't, however, deal with death (like Lou Reed's LOVE AND MAGICK does, for instance) but with love and life. The heart of the album is the quartet of the songs that share the title "Neighborhood." They take up four of the first five tracks on the album, and each one is utterly splendid in its own way. I might have a slight preference for the first one, subtitled "Tunnels," but if you ask me on a different listening I might opt for another. The album hardly slows down after that quartet of songs is finished (and for the record, the 3rd cut, "Une Année Sans Lumière," is one of the stronger cuts on the album, and the one that immediately follows the final "Neighborhood" song, "Crown of Love," is another amazingly strong number. If the album fades at all (and compared to most other recent rock albums, even good ones, it doesn't), it is near the end. But even then, the next to last cut on the album, "Rebellion (Lies)," is as good as anything the album contains.
One thing that marks nearly every song on the album is the wonderful way that they employ contrasts. Most songs build rather slowly, to build up to a glorious, powerful crescendo. Many of the songs have a kind of majesty that many heavy metal bands, for instance, strive for, but rarely achieve. One thing, however, that sets them apart from many of the bands I mentioned as possible influences is that they have a very powerful, dynamic rhythm section. I absolutely adore the Pixies, but they almost intentionally submerge the rhythm section in the music. In Arcade Fire, despite all of the musical trappings, the drums and bass propel the song forward, and in the many songs where the tension and tempo build, they always lead the charge. Just listen to "Rebellion (Lies)" and watch how the rhythm section controls the song.
This is easily one of the best debut albums in recent years, and I eagerly await their next album. As I write this review, I am only a few days away from seeing these guys live in Chicago at the Logan Square Theater.
Note: Big thanks to my brother for calling my attention to these guys.
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205 of 233 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wild, mad and beautiful, September 14, 2004
Every now and then, a truly original, groundbreaking band surfaces amid all the bland pop and rock. Montreal's Arcade Fire is one such band. In their glorious full-length debut "Funeral," Arcade Fire spins elaborate art-rock full of passion and atmosphere.
Rather than trying to hook you the way most songs do, Arcade Fire builds up their songs to a musical (and emotional) crescendo. The album opens on a four-song cycle called "Neighborhood," which deal with daydreams, neglect, fighting in a family, and just sitting around waiting for life to happen to you. All four things are pretty clearly considered disastrous -- don't waste time, make life happen!
Certainly that get-off-your-bum-and-make-things-happen attitude carries over to the wild "Wake Up," a howling anthem with an ever-evolving beat, and the well-named "Rebellion," where Win sings, ""Sleeping is giving in/no matter what the time is/Sleeping is giving in/so lift those heavy eyelids." You'll be emotionally exhausted when it reaches the wrenching finale, "In the Back Seat." And it does all this while making you dance too.
Most pop or rock songs are focused on "He/she left me/cheated on me and I'm miserable" or "I'm so in love." Don't expect anything so obvious from the Arcade Fire. These are about living life in general, not just one part of it. Why's it called "Funeral"? Partly the fear of dying without having accomplished something.
Musically, it will make your head spin. There's a blend of post-punk, rock, art-rock, pop, folk, classical, and much more -- like a punkier version of Neutral Milk Hotel or Modest Mouse. Woven together are xylophone, shimmering strings, swirling keyboard, piano, violins, and accordians. And they're all set to epic, crashing art-rock and disco rhythms.
And Win Butler is about as laid-back as his music. He can belt out tormented vocals like few can, shout, wail, whimper, and just sing. And his wife Regine offers equally angsty backing vocals. Which is a good thing, because it takes good vocals to do justice to brilliant songwriting like "The neighbors can dance in the disco police lights."
The Arcade Fire's "Funeral" is certainly a contender for "Best of 2004." At the very least, it's a polished and wrenching debut, and likely to get you off your butt and out living life. If joie de vivre had a sound, this is what it would sound like.
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I don't know much about "cool", but I know what I like., May 25, 2005
My impression of many of the negative reviews of this album - and some of the positive ones - is that folks are too caught up with how this band fits into a "scene", or making fine distinctions of cool and meta-cool (e.g., independent music that isn't detached and ironic enough should be derided).
Me, I'm some guy in my mid-30's who hasn't a clue what is cool anymore, or cooler-than-cool, but just tries like heck to search out interesting music by browsing the Web and trading suggestions with friends. And "Funeral" - which I only heard about a year or so after it came out - is one of my favorite finds in recent years.
This is passionate, beautiful, rich, yet catchy-as-all-heck pop music. It has touchstones in the past (to me, I hear Talking Heads and Sugarcubes, but this is richer and warmer music) but sounds fresh and forward looking. The lyrics interleave melancholy and regret with passion and hope so finely that the differences among these are obliterated. Check out "Haiti" - the only song with any overtly political level to it: "All the tears and all the bodies bring about our second birth" - and this is set to some of the catchiest, slinkiest, and most sensual rhythms you'll hear in pop music.
It's rare to hear such sustained inspiration on an album, much less a debut album. It actually brought tears to my eyes!
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