Artist: Arcade Fire
Album: Funeral
Genre: Indie rock, Alternative rock, Art rock, Baroque pop, Chamber pop, Post-punk revival
Release date: September 14, 2004
Description: An album of much success for this Canadian Indie-Rock Group. This being the first studio release of theirs, it gained critical acclaim immediately, with 5 total singles coming from this. The group saw success at number 19 on the UK singles charts from the track Rebellion(Lies). Being the unique group they are, Arcade Fire recorded this album at Hotel2Tango in Montreal, Quebec. This is a very interesting studio being that it is a 24 track all analog studio. They went for a very pure sound with their instrumentals on the album. With many of the band members losing family members within a little over a year of the album release, the name made so much sense for the release.
Favorite Track: In The Backseat
Reason: THE VOCALS! I can never say no to a good female vocalist. As the lead female vocalist for the band, Régine Chassagne has a wonderful range. The start of the song with strings and her voice just puts chills down my spine! The ominous beat of the drums in the back end of the piece draws you along with the melody of the piano. You then get the punchy guitar that comes on through within the first 1/3 of the song and elevates the whole song for just a brief moment before the strings and piano take over once again. Once you reach just about halfway through the song, the drums break into their edgy Alt-Rock style beat and the guitar starts its punchy crunch style sound to round out the entire ensemble of instruments. The strings keep moving, while all of a sudden the horn sneaks out from behind the massive cast of instruments to brings another layer of wonder to the song. Finally, the track starts to mellow out, with the strings ending the piece with a light plucky bounce that ends in a fade to silence.
The entire time I kept feeling more and more excitement along this wonderful recording! I was drawn to every little movement within it. The vocals caught me off guard right away. The classical sound of the strings and horn were a vibrant change of pace for the track. Then the heavy rock break in the middle of the song keeps the energy going. Finally, the song simplifies into a bare element of classical strings flowing through the melody until they switch to their light and plucky ending and then... silence.
Album Rating: 9.6/10
This album is one of my favorite early 2000s Indie-Rock albums. I've always found myself to be an Indie/Alternative Rock fan. It's a big part of what make me the musician I am. I can recount many times hearing tracks from this release and the feeling of excitement and uplift I get from them. I find the use of the strings within the songs so pleasant and exciting. With a great opening into what was a new and exciting time for music with this album and other's like it, this work of art brings the listener into a whole new style of punchy rock instrumentals mixed with elegant and exciting strings. The album makes you rethink the use of classical and Rock together in a new era for music in the 2000s. Overall, what brings me to rate this album as good as I do is the fact that not once with this album did I find a disappointing track at all. I'm still searching for the best album ever, but this certainly hits high on this guy's charts!
No comments:
Post a Comment