Funeral

2/5. Basic easy listening.

Sounds like Arcade Fire. Pleasant and forgettable.

Idk not bad but it’s just kinda been background noise

More less.

third arcade fire album in a week, it really feels like i am being punished for something. or this list is trying really hard to prove me that arcade fire has something more than just repetitive, meandering songs.

rape allegations

I would rather have not listened to this album.

DNF. Just mindless electronic noise.

2000s indie , fine for what it is but I find it dull Canadian Coldplay

I have to say five stars. This is so amazing, when it was released it felt like nothing I'd ever heard before. In my travelling years, I saw a lot of these guys live and it was always euphoric. Wake up is an all time anthem. What a record

Of course it's a perfect album! It's a shame Will Butler is a douchebag. It used to be my favorite album. It's been a long time, but I still love it, it's too perfect to be hated. Yes, it's a popified version of post-rock, but you gotta be a monster to not get into it. It's perfectly crafted, joyful music pieces.

Big meh. Only one song I liked. 2 star

I thought it sounded nice but wouldn't say any of it has stuck with me

Really annoying voice one of which is linked to an incredibly shitty person. The instrumentals were a little fun at least.

Tuesday, 21 October, 2026 Great album. A few dud tracks, but the hits are amazing.

I forgot how much I love this album. Its from a specific time of my life. But the Neighborhood #3 Power Out still kills it no matter the time of life.

I like their instrumentals and sound a lot but I feel like their songs would be better without vocals. Like their lyrics and singing don’t add anything to what would be really good music.

Made me sad and nostalgic but in a good way. I always thought the arctic monkeys and arcade fire were the same but I’m glad I know better now

more whiny boys who can't sing being propped up by better instrumentals and melodies than they deserve

Decent.

Iconic debut album, sounds so massive. Outstanding

The album was fine. Nothing great that stood out to me but wasn't bad in any way. Nice to have on, just nothing that I'd be coming back to for more. Firmly in the middle.

10/10 - So good, peak mid 2000s indie/alternative music. Not forcefully different, just hits home as it should. Also unlike other albums from the period, not overly long, just the perfect storytelling album

I feel like I should have liked arcade fire more than I actually do. They remind me of a mix between Bloc Party, Modest Mouse and Interpol which are all bands I love. But idk, it is just sounds like a watered down version of them, and one step removed from stomp, clap, hey. And then there is the allegations... I never really cared about Arcade Fire, but now I really don't. Their music isn't good enough to separate the art from artist. Low 1 (it would be a high 3 without the allegations)

Funeral from Arcade Fire is a 2000s indie classic, many of the tracks high on my rotation list.

Arcade Fire arrived with a fully-formed sound and delivered their most cohesive and emotional album in one fell swoop. “Funeral” is easily one of the most influential albums of the 2000s, with every band from Florence + the Machine to Black Country, New Road being indebted to its powerful songwriting. Its influence has not been all positive; the likes of Mumford & Sons and Of Monsters and Men may have never broke the mainstream if it was not for Arcade Fire. However, this does show the deep resonance of Arcade Fire’s climactic style, as even taking their basic formula without approaching the writing or performance skills or the virtuosity of the band could bring mainstream success. And ultimately, Arcade Fire execute their formula better than anyone else, giving us a number of the best indie anthems of the 2000s (“Neighborhood #1 (Power Out)”, “Neighborhood #3 (Tunnels”, “Rebellion (Lies)” and “Wake Up”), only punctuated by beautiful ballads like “Haiti” and “Une Annee Sans Lumiere”.

Liked it a lot more than Neon Bible.

О, а вот это по-настоящему любопытная и разнообразая пластинка. Немного не то, что я обычно слушаю, но это точно стоит того, чтобы послушать. Лучшая песня: Neighborhood #2 (Laika)

It's really weird to think I was completely aware of this album at the time of its release but could just never find a physical copy or a quality album torrent at the time. Still sounds really great years later

Great album, although they probably don't deserve as many in the list and this is sufficiently inconsistent that I'd drop it. The great songs are as good as anything they've done, but there are a couple of songs that are a bit of a drag

It's okay. Not my favorite.

Splitting hairs but more like a 3.5 for me. I already had strong time and place associations with this album but it's been a while since I heard it front to back and I forgot which tracks were on it. Not my favorite arcade fire album but all the elements that I love them for show up here and there.

It’s fine… there was a time this was a great album but now it’s fine, it brought with it too much annoying music also fuck the singer

Word to Dan Patrick

Это был самый слушабельный из трех альбомов Arcade Fire, что попались мне в первые 78 дней (!). Тем не менее предыдущие два поставили столь поздний низкую планку, что преодолеть ее было довольно просто. Данный рейтинг позволил мне понять, что музыка этой группы в подавляющем большинстве мне совсем не заходит, хотя раньше казалось, что они ничего

Very good album.

This album is so good. A non-skip album

Preferred the songs when Reginé was lead vocalist compared to Win Butler - both this and the instrumental was too droning for my taste in the latter case. Added 'Haiti' and 'In the Backseat' to my liked songs, the former in particular was a pretty song, nice melody.

I will admit that this album pretty much sums up Arcade Fire for me. By which I mean while I think Arcade Fire has some pretty good songs I also find a lot of their songs to be pretty meh. This album was no different. A few songs were kind of cool and the rest didn’t do much for me.

7/10

For me, Arcade Fire are one of the few consistently interesting bands still going today. Terrific debut album!

Arcade Fire is a band that I should love but I only tolerate. Their big hits are huge, but I find them quite mediocre. Again, I should love them, but it's a hard one. This was a solid album that I'll forget, outside of that one Walter Mitty song. And that's kind of a shame.

4 - not a big fan of his voice. Music is ok.

Fattar inte riiiktigt grejen, men verkligen inte hemskt heller

Toppen, med flera av deras bästa låtar.

Kanske egentligen väldigt bra, men det finns också nåt lite irriterande över det.

det är nära 5!

I've had only limited experience with these guys. I didn't mind some of their singles. This album is really something special though. Cohesive and complete, it really comes together well. You can tell already after the first few songs. Every other album I've pulled on this list described as "chamber pop" has royally sucked, but this is very good. 5/5

Usually I'm into this kind of indie-rock. But here is nothing to really hook me. Weak three stars for this funeral. 2,5

One of the best debut albums of the century, eh? I love “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out),” but the album is strong from start to finish.

Meh

Kina boring tbh

Having heard some more of Arcade Fire’s recent music, I was excited for this album. Wow, no idea how or why this made this list, but the real question is how did they continue a career in music after this?

Pretty awful from start to finish.

in my review for the last arcade fire album i talked about how the title perfectly described my feelings for the album, likening boring and monotonous life in the suburbs to the equally boring and monotonous music. i think this album manages to accomplish the same feat with the name by making me wish it was my funeral so i wouldnt have to hear this drivel

A top 50 favorite.

This was a massive hit and was fairly influential. The band definitely already has their sound at this point. I heard someone compare it to an indie version of what Bruce Springsteen was expressing with Born to Run, a soaring and anthemic sound. It isn't a bad description and it works pretty well here. There are some quieter moments as well, but they largely work to set up those soaring and anthemic moments. I can really see why folks like this, but it never connected to me as much. It's good, but I probably won't revisit it.

i like

Peak mid 2000s indie. I prefer NB and The Suburbs slightly, but this is a great introduction to the genre. 4/5.

Good

it's (annoyingly) pretty enjoyable. diet sufjan. 3.5

уже писала

Great record, good band.

Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004) On Day 281, this album proved to be an immensely captivating and transcendent experience. What immediately stood out was how genuinely complex and unpredictable the arrangements felt the dense, multi-instrumental layering almost evoked the intricate precision of math rock, yet it remained remarkably accessible, dynamic, and fun to listen to. The atmospheric production worked to brilliant advantage on tracks like "Wake Up," where the surging guitars and massive, communal vocal chants elevated the entire record into something monumental. Closing out with the sweeping, emotional elegance of "In the Backseat" solidified the journey. A masterclass in balancing intricate chamber-rock textures with pure, heart-on-sleeve catharsis. A definitive 5/5.

Was alright !

Owned this album in about 2012. Never really clicked with it then when I wanted to and relistening now felt similar. Feels very indie, almost as if the lead singer could be singing on one knee with a fist clenched for the entire album. 'Wake Up' is ok, but then it's about the only song that doesn't sound melancholy on the whole album.

This isn't my favorite album of theirs, but it's still good. I completely forgot about Wake Up, so that childhood throwback was like someone poured a bucket of ice water over my head. 3.5 rounded up to 4. Favorite tracks: Crown of Love ; Rebellion (Lies) ; In the Backseat

I’ve noticed that a lot of the “top” reviews that basically bash every album on this list are from 2021. I get that COVID was a hard time for many people, and that we were all stuck at home with little to do, but this album didn’t strike a chord with people then? To me, it’s almost the perfect album for capturing existential despair while still holding on to the hope to keep fighting. I’m a sensitive guy. I discovered this album just before I started college in 2008, after years of listening to classic rock and punk, when I wanted something that captured my own generation with a sound of its own. This delivered the emotional goods. I guess you had to be there, or at least be paying attention at the time, but in the mid-2000s, music felt pretty dismal. We needed something with a revolutionary sound. This album was a catalyst of sorts, bringing bombast, passion and intensity back into rock (even if its approach was more anti-rock). Not that it was Merge Records’ first effort in that direction: they had already released iconic albums like Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea six years earlier, and they’ve kept putting out incredible records ever since. This was a quiet revolution in the DIY music scene. Suddenly, attention and money were flowing into non-arena rock, along with a renewed effort to challenge listeners’ tastes. Before long, these guys were playing major festivals. Some people may see this as “selling out” indie rock’s brand, but that’s total nonsense. “Indie” (whatever that means) has always evolved from one generation to the next, and this was just another way it kept pushing forward. Again, NOBODY sounded like this when it came out, no matter how many imitators followed. It all makes sense: soaring melodies, explosive vocal chants, and themes everyone could relate to (love and loss, isolation, and hope in a modern society that often didn’t make much sense). The internet was beginning to connect people in ways we’d never experienced, and in turn, we started realizing we weren’t alone in our hopes and dreams. Quite a lot of the band's members had lost loved ones leading up to this recording (hence the album's title) but also meaning that they were dealing with some very real shit at the time. Then-husband-and-wife duo Win Butler and Régine Chassagne sing and scream with such raw, honest passion that they practically dare you to join in. Montreal has always been an exciting city for music, and the range of influences here is huge: folk and rock, yes, but also orchestral and experimental arrangements. Pianos, strings, marching-band drums, reverb-drenched guitars: everything comes together to create something that feels both intimate and enormous. They pound on their instruments with real intensity and emotion. There are also incredible contributions from violinists Owen Pallett and Sarah Neufeld, both of whom went on to successful solo careers. The homemade, DIY feel blends surprisingly well with the huge sound they were aiming for. It felt like, if we put our heads together, any of us could start a band like Arcade Fire, and so many of us did, carrying on that same DIY spirit. I’ve always believed in the importance of this album and in just how monumental it sounds. This band gets in touch with their emotions, and they still allow us to do the same. Giving this 5 stars, and many of you should consider doing the same. Wake up.

One of my favorites

Lekkere nummers. De zang laat wel wat te wensen over voor mij, dus ik vind de nummers die minder op zang leunen de beste.

7/10

Meh not for me

Para ser un debut, es magnífico. Es como escuchar una orquesta. No presté mucha atención a la lírica del álbum, pero musicalmente me parece muy tranquilizador y entretenido. Lo reescucharía.

Interesting to get this a few weeks after "The Suburbs." In my head "Funeral" was easily inferior, but I'm quite enjoying it today. I don't consider this among my favorite albums; it's got the internal connotation of being the most hipstery indie album ever made, a little too artsy-fartsy for me. And yet...it's really good on a re-listen. Am I becoming more artsy-fartsy as I get older? Yikes. Part of me wants to immediately go listen to some nu-metal or something, and part of me wants to see what Arcade Fire has done in the past decade since I stopped following them. Maybe I'm just getting more tolerant as I get older. Yeah. Tolerant. Open-minded. Let's go with that. I'd be surprised if I ever got to the point where I legitimately enjoyed new wave or shoegaze, but I've certainly broadened my tastes in the few years since starting this project. Anyway, I don't really want to give Arcade Fire a second 5-star rating, but this was good. The orchestration is fantastic. 4.5

Hard to fully escape the millennial cringe moments but it is a classic no doubt.

Nah, that's a pass. Bland and boring.

C'est un peu inégal mais certains titres s'écoutent très bien (Neighborhood #3 et Rebellion (Lies) en particulier).

I'm the girl that told your friend I like it.

very much okay

4/5

From the moment it dropped, this album became an all-time favorite for me. Wake Up is a song very, very close to my heart. I've not heard much of their catalog after this, but I don't think they ever got anywhere near this again. But this, this is special.

This is almost great, the vocals feels very touching and close to heart, and I like the dynamics of the album. Best track "Wake Up".

2/5 Another band I don't understand the hype they get. Doesn't help I don't really like the singers voices.

Very nostalgic vibe that felt more 70s/80s than 00s. Enjoyed a lot, especially the final track 'In the Back Seat'.

Big fan honestly some notable songs I knew but listened all the way through and liked which normally I don’t do

Played it on repeat when it came out. A blast!

Different, cool, and fun to listen to. Their sound was super creative and I liked it!

It's a shame that at the pace of one syllable per 4 beats, it doesn't give them time to actually get out meaningful volume of lyrics to make their stories and sentiments make sense. They also have the downside of needing to repeat every lyric 5 times. Really unfortunate box they're forced into. Maybe the next album completes their thought, but I won't be confirming that unless the website makes me.

Started ok but got boring. The mix was off. Meh..

This whole thing was nice to listen to. "In the Backseat" was powerful, and its lyrics are immensely cool. That awesome song lifts it for me meh-good to quite good.

2/5

little big planet music (affectionately)

I really liked the strings. I enjoyed how varied the instrumentation was. I liked the album but I do think it struggled to hold my attention at times. Might be one that needs more time to grow on me. Fav song: Wake Up Least fav: Une Annee Sans Lumiere

According to Rolling Stone's 500 best albums of all time list- this is the 500th best album of all time! I really love how they create a feeling throughout their songs and their lyricism. I don't like it quite as much as the other Arcade Fire album we've had (The Suburbs) but for a debut it's gorgeous. Also Haiti lead me to read about Duvelier and the singers family being massacred in the Jérémie Vespers, what a beautiful song about something so tragic. Favourite song: Crown of Love Least: In the Backseat (I don't love her voice on this song although I still really like the imagery of it and the metaphor of learning to drive being growing up)

zzzz

Listening session: september 28th, while getting ready in the morning Listened to before: no Thoughts: this album feels like the soundtrack for a 00s movie but not in a bad way Favourite tracks: Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels), Neighborhood #4 (Kettles) & Rebellion (Lies)

I was a huge fan in my younger years. Some of the magic of the band died for me.

millenial slop but its just too classic, directly responsible for all the “ho hey” stomp and holler garbage of the 2010s, for that its a 4.5

nice

Nostalgia at it's best. This album hit at such an important time in my life. It is solid from beginning to end.