Let’s face it: Funeral is probably one of the greatest
albums of all time. It’s a stone-cold modern classic, melding pop hooks with
incredible emotion and a unique, baroquian atmosphere. Nowhere is this better
showcased than in the opening song, Neighborhood
#1 (Tunnels).
As soon as those piano
notes fade in, you know you’re in for something special and the way the song
builds up from there is just simply magical. Win Butler’s strained vocals might
not be the best from a technical standpoint but the emotion they carry is on
another level completely. His voice mimics the gradual intensifying of the
music, starting out hushed and solemn and ending on a near-scream just before
the final, triumphant chorus.
The whole band, though,
puts in a terrific performance and despite Arcade Fire’s many successes since,
they’ve never managed to recapture the unbelievable atmosphere of Tunnels. In fact, the song is so
perfectly captured that it sounds as though the band were caught up in a moment
greater than themselves... it sounds like a religious experience, and that’s
about as good as music gets.
