Rolling Stone (p.173) - 4 stars out of 5 - "FUNERAL aches with elegiac intensity....FUNERAL captures the agony and even ecstasy of surviving death all around you."

Rolling Stone (p.141) - Included in Rolling Stone's Top 50 Records Of 2004 - "[W]ith lavishly orchestrated, emotionally stunning tales..."

Entertainment Weekly (p.81) - "FUNERAL is a lovely, uplifting, and often pleasingly grandiose whirl through a panoply of sounds..." - Grade: B+

Uncut (p.104) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Their songs strike out at unexpected angles, bringing to mind a morbidly romantic 19th-century Radiohead."

Magnet (p.100) - "[A] compelling debut....FUNERAL deals with grief by obsessing over new relations and future births, decorating each lost leaf in brilliant fall colors."

CMJ (p.38) - "Putting the 'fun' back in FUNERAL, the debut disc from Montreal indie-pop sextet Arcade Fire exhumes instrumentation extinct since third-grade music class and sets them ablaze in anything but a macabre fashion."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.58) - Ranked #2 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2005" - "[T]he Montreal orch-rock sextet's debut was fervent and uplifting."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.59) - Ranked #60 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "Joyful, original and sweet."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.96) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Echoes of Wire at their mid-'80s jackhammer funk zenith abound on 'Rebellion', while yearning cellos frame a breathtaking turn from Chassagne on 'In the Backseat'."

Clash (Magazine) (p.78) - "Few albums of similar emotional intensity have had the same staying power as FUNERAL..."