Highly Recommended: The Arcade Fire - "Funeral"

[sxesven]

First off, I'm terribly sorry for bumping this old thread (and yes, I realize it's old), but as it never took off and since I felt like commenting on it pretty much a year after its release, I chose to kick this thread back up.

Anyway, first off, to anyone who missed this recommendation the first time round: here's your chance. Seek this album out, it's worth it. As for what I wanted to comment on: I must begin to say that this album still manages to amaze me every time I listen to. It's easily one of my favourite records of 2004 and I still listen to it very regularly. What often surprised me though when reading reviews and especially user comments on sites such as Amazon, was the fact that many people considered Crown Of Love and Wake Up to be the highlights of Funeral.

What? Now, don't get me wrong: I think both Crown Of Love and Wake Up are exceptionally great songs--however, whereas most of Funeral is highly original and very refreshing, these two songs are probably the most conventional of all. As such, I found it odd that people singled out these tracks and referred to them as the stand-outs. In fact, I consider all other eight tracks to be astonishingly great and think a little less highly of both Crown Of Love and Wake Up--they are great songs, they are, but like I said before, they don't seem to represent what (imo) sets The Arcade Fire apart from other bands.

Anyway, I'll leave it at this - just curious if anyone else who heard this album agrees or has different viewpoints (I'd love to hear any opinion). Thanks in advance!