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Funeral is the first album by The 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 Butler's grandfather in March 2004, and Richard Reed Parry's aunt in April 2004. There is a certain irony in the name of the album: in much the same way that a funeral is intended to mark the passing and eventual acceptance of death and the subsequent moving on, Funeral is reminiscent of the emotions felt after a funeral.

Preliminary recordings for Funeral were made over a week in August 2003 at the Hotel 2 Tango in Montréal, Quebec, and the recording was completed in the winter of 2004.

Funeral was released to wide critical acclaim and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2005 for Best Alternative Music Album. It made many best of 2004 lists and even some best of the decade.

Track listing

(All songs written by The Arcade Fire)

1. "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" – 4:48
2. "Neighborhood #2 (Laika)" – 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. "Haiti" – 4:07
9. "Rebellion (Lies)" – 5:10
10. "In the Backseat" – 6:20

Artists

• 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 – Pitchforkmedia: Top 50 Albums of 2004
• #45 – Pitchforkmedia: Top 100 Albums of 2000-2004
• #6 – Village Voice's 2004 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll: Top Albums of 2004
• #11 – Stylus Magazine: Top 50 Albums of 2000-2005
• #1 – Rate Your Music: Top 100 Albums of 2004
• #3 – 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

• Debut albums
• 2004 albums
• The Arcade Fire albums