Funeral (2004)

There are a lot of cooks in the Arcade Fire's kitchen — more than a dozen musicians contributed to this debut—and at times the album's splendid sprawl tumbles into overreaching chaos. But for the most part, Funeralis a lovely, uplifting, and often pleasingly grandiose whirl through a panoply of sounds — from the Flaming Lips-style eccentric majesty of ''Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)'' to the Modest Mouse-like herky-jerky melody of ''Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)'' and the dense, Björk-esque balladry of ''In the Back Seat.''

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