Best album of the decade so far.... Or tied with The Moon and Antarctica - Modest Mouse, anyway.

Arcade Fire's debut, Funeral, is automatically in the same category as The Stone Roses, Marquee Moon, and Is This It as one of the great debut albums in Rock history.

Not since Turn on the Bright Lights have I been so obsessed with an album

Amazing. Just amazing. A band to look out for in the 00s.

Makes you want to be French.

I saw Arcade Fire perform on stage in Guelph. I must say; their performance was great, when they played Wake Up, the entire floor started to move and groove with the rythym. The song just sounded amazing live. I experienced hearing loss for a day, but I didn't mind!

Absolutely packed with some of the most uplifting, beautiful, life-affirming music I've heard. Not only is every track an asbolute gem but the album is greater than the sum its parts which, I think, is the sign of a truly great album. I have given it a 10 but I don't do this lightly, this is (unfortunately) as close to a perfect album as I'm ever likely to hear.

Best Album of the Year by far

simply the best CD you can buy this year

I've had it about a week, and it's just about all that I've listened to. It's the type of album you force on your friends. And you can't really say anything except "good", and you don't have to.

One of the best albums of the last decade.

A friends suggested this album...my first intro to The Arcade Fire and i'm blown away. It's just stunning.

This Cd is simply amazing beyond belief. There is at least one song on there to fit every mood.

A rambling and reckless album... the beauty and pain burst restlessly from the seems. The songs barrel along like a freight train going to fast around a turn, ready to spill its contents out onto the hillside as it careens off of the tracks. Wow, a little dramatic, but Funeral is quite a ride. The dramtic highs are exilarating, lows are aching, and it's very difficult to let go. Pop music can be a clunky, retarded beast, and in the hands of the music industry's chosen purveyors, it tends to be, but The Arcade Fire show how beautiful, intelligent, and truly emotional a simple song can be... And that's the hardest thing of all. This is an excellent album and definitely one of the best of 2004.… Expand

amazing!!!

A beautiful and promising start, but then the album ambles mighty close to Bright Eyes territory. Some nice moments, but the gushing praise this album has received would suggest limited experience with 'beauty' and 'originality' on the part of the gushers.

Tremendous album

The best Pop-Wave album of the decade.

Only had itn three days but im already researching this band every whilst i sit here and do nothing at work. Pisses all over all these shite NME hyped bands such as Kaiser Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand and The Others (truly awful). Beautiful, engaging music. Overtaken Interpol as my favourite band.

This record is one of those infrequent masterpieces. A novel yet familiar sound, mixing atmosphere with thought provoking lyrics and accessibility. A gem.

Wow!

From beginning to end, this is an album of engrossing emotion, nearly all the songs are brilliantly orchestrated, if not simply amazing. The lyrics at first may seem too dramatic, but end up creating a sense of awe in it's deep anthems.To me this is the best debut album made, if not the best in recent years.

Sick album!!! Every track is hot!!! and as a whole, the album is a complete package. These guys can actually play...unlike most crap bands...holla at ya boi!

What an amazing record. Funeral is glued in my CD player! I cant stop listening to it. Gripping songs take you on a journey with great melodies and wonderful drum rifts. BRILLIANT!

THERE ISN"T ONE BAD SONG ON THIS ALBUM! Even if I love a band there are always songs that I dislike on an album. NOt this one somehow. The songs are also epic too. Best Album of 2004.

A masterpiece that will be amongst the albums of the decade, let alone the year. Thrillingly original, this really does reaffirm your faith in music.

This album finds beauty in a time of grief, the most amazing album i have heard this year. Each song is perfectly crafted to depict a different emotion, 10. 10. 10

Arrrggghhh! So good. So powerful. Each song is complex, and beautiful. You just have to listen to it do understand.

this album is rated way too high for something so bad

First, I hated it. Unlistenable. Then I realised all the nuances and violins and guitars and that majestic little solo burried in the third neighborhood and those last few lines from Régine. What an album.

I am keeping this album in my headphones and my headphones on my head just incase I have a near-death experience I can be pulled back to earth where Heaven truly exists thanks to the The Arcade Fire.

This really does top off the year. It's been on repeat for a while now. Just do yourself a favour and buy it. This is one of those times when the hype isn't unwarranted. I've heard that these guys are amazing live, although I haven't had the privilege of seeing them on stage.

Incredible beyond belief. The Arcade Fire is a breath of fresh air that will take your breath away.

Instantly familiar, yet undefinably original. I've been addicted to this album since halfway through my first listen. I wish I got to see them when they toured with the Unicorns--I hear both put on excellent live shows. The only reason I haven't given this album a 10 is that I have not owned it long enough to be sure its beauty won't fade.

So many of these new bands can't seem to manage putting out a totally good album. I can name the bands that have on one hand. The Arcade Fire would be my pinky then. They are a band that is totally open to everyone, without fashion constraints (and hopefully indie snob constraints too). Either Funeral or Antics (Interpol) is the best album of the year thus far. I like them both so I will let someone else decide. Hopefully they sound this good in concert and continue to sound this good on their next album. I'll be there. … Expand

If you don't get it by buying or downloading it, I feel sorry for you. If you don't get it once you have it, I feel even worse. Outstanding.

This record is going to endure. There's more here than a just a collection of amazing songs amazingly executed. You'd be hard pressed to find many other bands producing such mature lyrics at such an early stage. The art is phenomenal. Never a dull moment. Not just a great debut, but probably one of the best records of the past 5 years.

darn good. you should probably get this cd. if you're wondering what it sounds like, i don't know. i guess at times some of the stuff reminds me of bright eyes (mainly the instrumentation and artwork), and a bunch of people are probably gonna yell at me for saying that. but i don't even like bright eyes, this is just sort of... in that vein i suppose. it's really sincere and honest, and, yes, emotional (i don't know why, but so many people automatically get scared away by the "emo" label... that stuff can still be good. i guess if you wanted to call this "emo," it would be the best emo ever). there's a lot of folky elements on this cd, but all that is mixed in with some very danceable beats and some rock n' roll guitarwork. it's just a really beautiful album with awesome orchestration and rock and vocals and all that. so yeah, definitely get it.… Expand

I really hate hype, especially when I come across it on a site like this. I'd never heard of the band, but just heard so many wonderful things all at once, so I decided to check it out. It really is an amazing album. Definitely in my top 20 of the year (I listen to over 1000 albums a year, so that does mean something). My advice is just to do what I did: go out and listen to this thing.

weirdos, great and awful all at once

Most of the tunes drudge along, hinting at some great melodic swing without ever acheiving anything to make a track truly shine, with the exception of 'wake up' and 'in the back seat'. It tries to be inspirational but falls flat too often.

hands down the best album I've ever heard

An instant classic. At the top of my list for 2004.

this is the best album i've ever heard. they are even more incredible live.

AWEsome

There is no reason this album shouldn't be a 10 it is by far the best album of 2004 and possibly one of the greatest indie rock albums of all time and one of my favorite album of all time

Probably one of the best albums I've ever purchased

Can't stop listening to it. Driving my girlfriend nuts!

I have a big fat crush on Butler

I have to say that I agree with all the professional reviewers and the others who have written in about this album and this band. I have heard a number of the songs on the internet and saw them live on Conan the other night. Everyone mentions how moving and profound their music is, and I agree, it is moving alright, in the same way taking a shit is moving...when its over, you feel better, and there's a nasty smell in the air. Arcade Fire stinks!… Expand

Absolutely magnifiicent....uncut said the album would be reminiscent of a 19th century-style radiohead...which sounds about right.

The best album I've heard in Indie Pop/Rock for years. I can't stop playing it.

amazing!!!

An absolutely breathtaking and passionate debut.

Absolutely the most beautiful thing I have heard in ages. It grow better with every listen. Makes me feel the power that really great music does have- the power to really make me- feel.

Gorgeous

I - like many other listeners - upon first hearing this album, insisted I hadn't been so excited about a new band for ages. Without question one of the greatest debuts albums ever. Highly original. Combine the Talking Heads and early Bowie with Pixies, then throw in strings, piano and an accordion for good measure - and you merely scratch the surface. Been listening for a good 3 months now... still astonishing. Easily the best album of 2004 - a year filled with goood releases.… Expand

It's probably the best album i've heard this year...and we are in april!!! It's been a while that i've been shivering listening music. For a debut album, i have one word: SOLID! My disc player is having a rough time these days because of this CD... it's really addictive. Bravo!!!

Very amazing songs except maybe the slowest ones. Both complex and emotional, hard to find a better album this year.

what can i say absolutely heart stopping beautiful it brings tears to my eyes every time i listen to it

Absolutely superb. It gets better with every play and combines passion and rawness with lush arrangements and immaculate songwriting. Every single song is great. Nothing better will be released this year. Fact. (UK)

Very torn with this album becuase the songs that work, which is most of them, are some of the best songs I have ever heard (Neighborhood #2, Crown of Love). Still, this is definetely one of the ten best releases of 2004 and more proof that canadian indie rock is catching up with american indie.

Straight to the top of my pile without a doubt and now I'm trying as hard as possible to convert others to T.A.F. Get them over for a UK tour NOW

Definetly the best album I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.

The economy in which The Arcade Fire describes how it's not always a given that there's going to be a tomorrow in the chorus for "Rebellion(Lies)" is absolutely brilliant. The arrangement for this song is the best I've ever heard in the genre called indie rock. It also might be the best song about death ever recorded. The final go-around on the chorus is incredibly moving, and the musical backing suggests they're trying to bring the dead back to life by playing with passion and utter commitment to the whole notion of music as therapy. I think "Tunnels" is the other major track on this truly beautiful record. Superchunk was, and still, a great band, but the student has become the teacher. Merge Records rule!… Expand

Arte; o poder da criação humana

Sound like a ton of bricks. A wall of emotion.

amazing!!!

My best album ever

There is a sense of urgency and freshness that the rest of indie rock just can't manufacture, Makes Coldplay and U2 sound uttery irrelevant and bloated. Best album I've heard in 10 years.

The album that drew me in to indie music. The only album that plays in myhead threwout the day like a soundtrack of my life. It is and will forever be my favorite album.

Such a fresh sound, yet hints of the Taliking Heads in their glory!

Rich. More proof of Canada's amazing talent pool.

Best Album of 2004. No question. (2005 was Picaresque). I would kill my best friend just for a solid release date on their follow-up to Funeral.

It's so emotional and brilliant. Funeral is one of the best albums I have ever heard.

Amazing album.

Simply filled with amazingly addictive, albeit unorthodox, hooks. Only a few tracks fall a little short, but even the songs that aren't incredible still have little somethings that make them fun. A great album in general, even if Win's voice is a little banshee-ish at times.

Got this album a fair while back, still regular listening, and still as beautiful as ever.

The first album/band since Radioheads OK Computer to really make me sit up and say "wow". Ther's a sublety and originality that the over hyped likes of The Artic Monkeys and awful Kaiser Chiefs can only dream of; Just listen to "In the back Seat" with its dips and climaxes and complex arrangement. Not every song is great and it may take you a few listens but no other band around at the moment combines great melody with artestry and raw emotion like "The Fire".… Expand

luv it, luv them

Deeper and more complex than anything released yet this decade, rivals OK Computer in some ways.

A masterpiece...pure and simple. I would definitely argue that Arcade Fire are the most powerful and brilliant indie pop band since Neutral Milk Hotel. The lyrics, the melodies, the varied and precise instrumentation, the messiness, the honesty, the emotion...Arcade Fire makes the kind of music that can make you weep if you let it, and you should.

Imaginative, emphatic, catchy and inspiring. And a debut? The best album of the year, hands down.

Simply beautiful. This is one of the few albums where every song is worth listening to multiple times. Incredible...this is easily one of my favorite albums.

Pure Class!! Will never go out of date a classic!

It has that kind of music you've been waiting all your life to hear.

Sensational. Amazing. Phenomenal. No words can simply describe this album. Rebellion (Lies) will sum up the entire record for you, but expect a lot more sounds. This is truly original and fresh.

An amazing brilliant album that has you wanting to jump for joy, dance, sing and cry all at the same time!! Highlights included; Almost every track You need this album in your life.

This is just fantastic all the way through, more original than just about everyone.

One of the best albums of our generation.

This album surpised me. I'm an avid elbow fan and was searching through the web for bands who "sounded like them." After long hours of searching, I came across arcade fire. One word - mesmerising!

Simply the best Indie rock album of the decade, if not ever! Every song beautifully orchestrated, and the album provokes every emotion humanly possible!

sincere poignant and resonating

Absolutely packed with some of the most uplifting, beautiful, life-affirming music I've heard. Not only is every track an asbolute gem but the album is greater than the sum its parts which, I think, is the sign of a truly great album. I have given it a 10 but I don't do this lightly, this is (unfortunately) as close to a perfect album as I'm ever likely to hear.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say this album, and this band, is reminiscent of the best of E.L.O. Good stuff...

it was amazing

Oh. My. God. Best. Band. Ever.

I was an instant fan. I think this is the very best of the Canadian music I have heard so far this year....Maybe the best I've heard from a band this year, period, regardless of nationality. I'm just counting the days until this band explodes onto the national scene. They certainly deserve to be there, if they play their cards right. It's only been 24 hours since I heard this band for the first time, and I can't stop talking about them.… Expand