(t5!) Heroes Of The Zeroes Albums: #11: Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004)

Arcade Fire picked the title Funeral for their debut more to eulogize the then recent deaths of several family members than to suggest any kind of concept, but what’s weird is instead of the album being mournful and forlorn (what a funeral feels like), it’s actually a glorifying, emotionally abundant, and life affirming celebration (what a funeral should feel).

The lyrics of Win Butler, the man up front, are written like random excerpts from a diary, letting their peculiar but often heartfelt thoughts to reach their audience more instantly. In “Neighborhood #2 [Laika]” and “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out”, he sounds eccentric and commanding, manic and powerful. He turns opener “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”, a tale of youth love persevering in a wintery world, could’ve potentially been an emotional tidal wave but it was saved by Butler, selling it fantastically with his yelp, inflating the moment with his grandiloquence. “Spread the ashes of the colors over this heart of mine!” wails on top of frantic piano stomps and scraping violin strokes. It’s like Bright Eyes fronted by 80’s Bono.

What is it about Canadian bands in the zeroes having overpopulated rosters? In Arcade Fire, fifteen musicians are counted—Butler and wife Regine Chassagne, the think tanks of the band play six instruments each. Four of the members appear exclusively on “Wake Up”, a song that blitzes you with emotions and sheer power via rapturous orchestration. It’s not a shock that the Montreal collective sound their finest at their most turgid; they are most victorious when they overwhelm. Arrangement this crowded could sound pretentious and overly theatrical. But bands like Arcade Fire are scarce in rock music—they happen to be scholar musicians but they also happen to sound like they’re just having fun. It’s one of the reasons why follow-up album Neon Bible was not as triumphant (along with the foreseeable backlash from the tastemakers): their agendas changed from enjoying their accordions and peculiar percussions to critiquing Middle America.

When a track in Funeral doesn’t grab you from the start, stick with it and a cataclysmic crescendo or a chord change will reward you for your patience. If you do like a track from the very first note, I’ll guarantee you that it’ll carry you along for a very action-packed ride, leaving you catching your wind. It’s the most magnificent quality about this album: it’s so luxurious that there’s a moment for every taste. The ten songs here of thunderous and winsome pop made Arcade Fire hotter than what their name illustrates in 2004. However, as big as they are, they didn’t spawn any followers to their steamrolling, immaculately constructed style. There’s not many other artists that came along in the zeroes with enough talent and/or ambition to even shoddily rip this off.