Editing Arcade Fire (section)

===2004–2006: ''Funeral''===
{{Main|Funeral (Arcade Fire album)}}
''[[Funeral (Arcade Fire album)|Funeral]]'' was released in September 2004 in Canada and February 2005 in Great Britain. The title of the debut album referred to the deaths of several relatives of band members (prominently the Butlers' grandfather, composer/arranger [[Alvino Rey]]) during its recording. These events created a somber atmosphere that influenced songs such as "Une année sans lumière" ("A Year Without Light"), "In the Backseat", and "Haïti", Chassagne's [[elegy]] to her homeland.<ref>{{cite news|access-date=April 28, 2008|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6D71231F93AA3575AC0A9639C8B63|title= The Listings: Sept. 9 – Sept. 15; ARCADE FIRE  |work=The New York Times|date=September 9, 2005|author=Sinagra, Laura }}</ref>

It received widespread critical acclaim and topped many year-end and decade-end lists. According to the website [[Metacritic]], the album had the second most appearances on end-of-decade Top 10 lists, only behind [[Radiohead]]'s ''[[Kid A]]''.<ref name="metacritic.com"/> In the updated version of [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]], it was ranked at No. 151.

The album was critically and commercially acclaimed. It appeared on many [[Record chart|top ten]] album lists for 2004 and 2005 (due to delayed international releases), with [[Pitchfork Media|Pitchfork]], ''[[Filter (magazine)|Filter]]'', No Ripcord, and The MTV2 2005 Review crowning it the album of the year. ''[[NME]]'' named ''Funeral'' second<ref>{{cite news|access-date=April 26, 2008|url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1656637,00.html|title=NME defends album of year poll|work=The Guardian |date=December 2, 2005|author=Dickson, Andrew | location=London}}</ref> in their list of 2005's best albums. NME also named "[[Rebellion (Lies)]]" the second best track.
By November 2005, ''Funeral'' had gone gold in both Canada and the UK, and sold over half a million copies worldwide,<ref>{{cite web|access-date=April 26, 2008|url=https://www.nme.com/news/the-arcade-fire/21461|title=Exclusive&nbsp;– Arcade Fire duet with Bowie released|work=NME |date=November 8, 2005}}</ref> a very large number for an independent release with minimal television or radio exposure. The album became [[Merge Records]]' first in the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] chart<ref>{{cite news|access-date=April 26, 2008|url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/May/08/il/il22p.html|title=Pitchfork e-zine tells indie fans what's hot and not|newspaper=Honolulu Advertiser|date=May 8, 2005|author=Kot, Greg| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080421195044/http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/May/08/il/il22p.html| archive-date= April 21, 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> and the label's biggest selling album to date, surpassing [[Neutral Milk Hotel]]'s ''[[In the Aeroplane Over the Sea]]''.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=April 28, 2008 |url=http://blogs.newsobserver.com/beat/index.php?p=8186&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 |title=On the Beat: David Menconi on music |work=[[The News & Observer]] |date=February 22, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823192310/http://blogs.newsobserver.com/beat/index.php?p=8186&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 |archive-date=August 23, 2007 }}</ref>

[[File:Arcade Fire - May 15, 2005.jpg|thumb|Arcade Fire performing in May 2005]]
The band booked small clubs for their 2004 tour, but growing interest forced many venue changes, far beyond the band's expectations, and the tour continued into mid-2005 throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, the SummerSonic Festival in Japan, and the Hillside Festival in [[Guelph]]. Taking much of the summer of 2005 off, the band made key festival appearances at the [[Halifax Pop Explosion]], [[Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival]], the [[Sasquatch! Music Festival]], [[Lollapalooza]], [[Vegoose]] Festival, [[Reading and Leeds Festival]] in the UK, [[Electric Picnic]] in Ireland and the [[A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise|Lowlands Festival]] in the Netherlands.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

Arcade Fire was featured on the April 4, 2005, cover of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''{{'}}s Canadian edition. On May 1, 2005, the band performed at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=April 28, 2008|url=http://media.www.slccglobelink.com/media/storage/paper442/news/2007/03/19/News/Spreading.Like.An.arcade.Fire-2781758.shtml|title=Spreading Like an 'Arcade Fire' |publisher=[[Salt Lake Community College]]|date=March 19, 2007|author=Batman, Joseph W. }}</ref> In May 2005, the band signed a short-term publishing contract with [[EMI]] for ''Funeral'', and in June the band released a new single, "[[Cold Wind]]", on ''[[Six Feet Under, Vol. 2: Everything Ends]]''. The [[BBC]] used the track "[[Wake Up (Arcade Fire song)|Wake Up]]" on an advertisement for their autumn 2005 season, and the tracks "Rebellion (Lies)" and "[[Neighborhood 1 (Tunnels)|Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)]]" on adverts in January 2006.{{cn|date=February 2025}} On September 9, 2005, the band appeared on the British/US television special "Fashion Rocks", on which [[David Bowie]] joined them for "Wake Up". This recording, as well as recordings of the band's collaboration on Bowie's "Life on Mars" and "Five Years", were made available on the [[iTunes Store|iTunes Music Store]] in a virtual live EP. The same trip to New York City took them to the ''[[Late Show with David Letterman]]'' and a concert in [[Central Park]]. The Central Park show featured a surprise appearance by Bowie. On September 11, 2005, Arcade Fire appeared on the long-running BBC music series ''[[Top of the Pops]]'', performing "Rebellion (Lies)". The band also performed to a TV audience in Paris for [[Canal+ (French TV channel)|Canal+]], and the show was later screened on the British television's [[Channel 4]]. The band scored two number one songs on [[MTV2]] (UK) ''NME'' Chart Show, with "[[Neighborhood 3 (Power Out)|Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)]]" and a three-week run with "Wake Up". This success followed [[Rough Trade Records]]'s last-minute decision to release "Wake Up" only on 7"
vinyl.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=July 17, 2008|url=https://www.pbs.org/klru/austin/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=128&Itemid=327|title=Episodes: Arcade Fire|publisher=PBS|archive-date=September 23, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923060057/http://www.pbs.org/klru/austin/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=128&Itemid=327|url-status=dead}}</ref>

"Wake Up" was played immediately before the Irish rock group [[U2]] started their concerts on their 2005–06 [[Vertigo Tour]]; Arcade Fire subsequently opened three shows for that tour, and at the third in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, appeared on stage during U2's encore to join in a cover of [[Joy Division]]'s "[[Love Will Tear Us Apart]]".<ref>{{cite web|access-date=July 17, 2008|url=https://www.nme.com/news/the-arcade-fire/20826|title=Arcade Fire invited for U2 tour support |work=NME}}</ref> Additionally, ''[[The Dan Patrick Show]]'', a daily national sports talk show in the US, plays the song as a lead-out every Friday to signify the end of their show. The song was also heard numerous times during the Super Bowl telecast on February 5, 2010.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

''Funeral'' and the single "[[Cold Wind]]" were nominated for [[Grammy]]s in the [[Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album|Best Alternative Rock Album]] and [[Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media|Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media]] categories (''Six Feet Under, Vol. 2: Everything Ends''), respectively. On April 2, 2006, in [[Halifax Urban Area|Halifax, Nova Scotia]], Arcade Fire received the [[Juno Award]] for Songwriters Of The Year for three songs from ''Funeral'': "Wake Up", "Rebellion (Lies)", and "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)".<ref>{{cite web|access-date=April 26, 2008|url=http://www.junoawards.ca/06_2006_nominees.php#songwriter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427191030/http://www.junoawards.ca/06_2006_nominees.php#songwriter|archive-date=April 27, 2006|title=Songwriter Of The Year (sponsored by SOCAN)|publisher=[[Juno Awards]]}}</ref> The band was nominated for three [[BRIT Awards]]: Best International Group, Best International Album, and Best International Breakthrough Act.<ref>{{cite news|access-date=July 17, 2008|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/293967|title=Arcade Fire, Feist, Buble earn Brit Award nods |work=Toronto Star | date=January 14, 2008}}</ref>

Arcade Fire made an appearance on the BBC show ''[[Later with Jools Holland]]'' on May 12, 2005, performing "Power Out" and "Rebellion (Lies)".{{Citation needed |date=April 2011}} On October 22, 2007, ''Funeral'' was ranked No.8 in [[Bob Mersereau]]'s book ''[[The Top 100 Canadian Albums]]''.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=April 26, 2008|url=http://www.bumpershine.com/2007/10/22/the-top-100-canadian-albums-of-all-time.html|title=The "Top 100" Canadian Albums of "All Time"|publisher=Bumper Shine|date=October 22, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509003059/http://www.bumpershine.com/2007/10/22/the-top-100-canadian-albums-of-all-time.html|archive-date=May 9, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> In late 2009, Pitchfork ranked the album No.2 in their list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s, behind [[Radiohead]]'s ''[[Kid A]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pitchfork: Staff Lists: The top 200 albums of 2000s|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7710-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-20-1/|publisher=Pitchfork.com|access-date=October 28, 2013|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083650/http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7710-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-20-1/|url-status=dead}}</ref>