Arcade Fire - Funeral (instrumental, debut album, albums, review, tracks) - Music Banter Music Banter

Go Back   Music Banter > The MB Reader > Album Reviews
Register Blogging Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
Welcome to Music Banter Forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with over 70,000 other registered members. After you create your free account, you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 1,100,000 posts.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-21-2009, 12:30 AM   #1 (permalink)
The Great Disappearer
 
Davey Moore's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: URI Campus and Coventry, both in RI
Posts: 462
Default Arcade Fire - Funeral



I guess we'll just have to adjust.


Death is a hell of a thing to deal with. It's something we're never ready for and try our whole lives to escape, only to have that reaper come knocking at your door, coming to take you away. So how do you adjust? How do you deal with the loss of someone who means a whole lot to you?

I'm sure as little kids a lot of you lost some random relative. For me, it was my mom's aunt. I was about three years old. When she told me, tears were streaming down her face. I felt nothing. I was a little sad, but that was really only through obligation. I never went to the funeral.

The first time I really dealt with death was two years ago, though. I say it is the first time because this was a person I knew and interacted with frequently. He was a senior in high school, I was a sophomore. We were in the same guitar class(we called it instrumental workshop at our school.)

This is how he died: a friend of his, a sophomore who went to the high school in the town next to ours, did a stupid thing and was drinking and driving. He crashed into a telephone pole. He died there. Hours after it happened, by many accounts, my friend was grief stricken. It was 3 o'clock in the morning and he decided to do his own sort of tribute to his fallen friend. In the dead of night he went to the telephone pole where his friend died, acoustic guitar in hand, and sang dirges into the night.

He was struck by a drunk driver while playing his guitar. He was killed instantly. Pieces of guitar were scattered all across the road. The driver panicked and left the scene. To this day(roughly two years ago), the driver still hasn't been found.

Why ramble on about my experiences with death? Why not? Arcade Fire did it. The album is simultaneously a celebration and a dirge. An embrace of life and of death. The melodies soar into the stratosphere, yet beneath them there is an undercurrent of tragedy. It's almost a bittersweet resignation, an acceptance of the inevitable.

Consider the opening of the album, the song 'Neighborhood #1(Tunnels)', upbeat yet sad. The best example could be the song 'Wake Up', with the joyous chorus singing to the heavens.

Despite all the window dressings, it doesn't disguise the fact that death is a hell of a thing to deal with. I guess we'll just have to adjust.

8.5/10
__________________
The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.
Davey Moore is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2009, 06:33 AM   #2 (permalink)
Forever young
 
4ZZZ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 608
Default

I always enjoy your writings Davey Moore and I have enjoyed this explanation as to a life's event that affected you as much as anything that you have ever written before.
4ZZZ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2009, 02:13 PM   #3 (permalink)
five years
 
jacklovezhimself's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,248
Default

damn...
__________________
jacklovezhimself is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2009, 02:43 PM   #4 (permalink)
Music Addict
 
JJJ567's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 120
Default

One of my favorite albums. I absolutely love it.
__________________
http://www.last.fm/user/JJJ567
JJJ567 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-25-2009, 02:46 PM   #5 (permalink)
 
Zer0's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Ireland
Posts: 3,792
Default

Funeral is still in my opinion the greatest debut album of this decade, and definatly one of the best albums of this decade. It's one of the most complete albums you'll ever hear, there's not a hint of filler, every track is just as great as the previous track. The track sequencing aswell is top notch.

It's impossible to pick a standout track but the tracks that hit me the most are the opening track Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels), Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out), Rebellion (Lies) and In The Backseat.
__________________
Zer0 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-25-2009, 10:12 PM   #6 (permalink)
Unrepentant Ass-Mod
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 3,921
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Davey Moore View Post
This is how he died: a friend of his, a sophomore who went to the high school in the town next to ours, did a stupid thing and was drinking and driving. He crashed into a telephone pole. He died there. Hours after it happened, by many accounts, my friend was grief stricken. It was 3 o'clock in the morning and he decided to do his own sort of tribute to his fallen friend. In the dead of night he went to the telephone pole where his friend died, acoustic guitar in hand, and sang dirges into the night.

He was struck by a drunk driver while playing his guitar. He was killed instantly. Pieces of guitar were scattered all across the road. The driver panicked and left the scene. To this day(roughly two years ago), the driver still hasn't been found.
Holy f*cking irony.
__________________
first.am
lucifer_sam is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2009, 08:29 PM   #7 (permalink)
five years
 
jacklovezhimself's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,248
Default

no kidding...
__________________
jacklovezhimself is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2009, 08:31 PM   #8 (permalink)
Groupie
 
iamnotacamera's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Montreal, Canada.
Posts: 16
Default

Nice review. Really good album too.
__________________
Self promotion is not permitted on Music Banter.
iamnotacamera is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2009, 12:42 PM   #9 (permalink)
Groupie
 
edwardbroadway's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: montreal
Posts: 20
Default

^I wouldn't call that a review. It is a really good album though.
edwardbroadway is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2009, 08:00 PM   #10 (permalink)
The Great Disappearer
 
Davey Moore's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: URI Campus and Coventry, both in RI
Posts: 462
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by edwardbroadway View Post
^I wouldn't call that a review. It is a really good album though.
Also you're a d*ck.
__________________
The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.
Davey Moore is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Similar Threads



© 2003-2024 Advameg, Inc.