Arcade Fire - 2004 - Funeral

I don't know why I feel compelled to say this about a band that I am featuring as the authors of one of my favorite albums, but I don't really care all that much for Arcade Fire. I don't feel like I need to elaborate on the reasons why not...

But the reason why I am featuring Funeral is simply that it is a masterpiece. It holds up. As I listen to it as I type this, I find myself pausing. 

I am not a lyric guy. Tone is everything. I have no problem listening to music in a language I don't understand... I mean, the Cocteau Twins are amazing, and I don't think they are even singing in a real language.

The first time I heard this album, their debut, I had just gotten a really good job after some years of treading water and Oakland was definitely not gentrified, but I was living there. A co-worker, Heather, I had taken to the Merritt Diner after taking her to the IKEA in Emeryville (and no, I didn't love her), and as we drove down Broadway, she put this CD, then brand new, into my car stereo. It was like a bit of a gut punch.  Even now, I can see the dim street lights of poorly lit Oakland reflecting off of my windshield.

Not a lyric guy, that's what I was saying, but there is talk of a world in which tunnels connect children looking for a better world, escaping death and other harsh realities. I don't know. Not a lyric guy, but the impression is there, the feeling.

It is a truly beautiful album. In 2004, one of my favorite albums came out... William Shatner's Has Been.. but I could never honestly say it was my favorite album of the year.

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