Funeral is the debut studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on September 14, 2004 by Merge Records.

Its lyrics draw upon themes of death, change, and the loss of childhood innocence, inspired by the recent passing of several bandmates' family members during its production.

The first half of the album, dubbed the 'Neighborhood' suite, centres around a town struggling with a power outage in the middle of winter, based on personal experience during the North American ice storm of 1998.

[9] The artwork for Funeral was designed by artist and photographer Tracy Maurice, depicting a scrawling quill with foliage growing from its feathers, painted onto a piece of a wooden planter.

[11] The design was inspired by Maurice's own collection of antique photographs and early 20th-century illustrated books, as well as the aesthetics of Japanese woodblock prints and Donovan's album Barabajagal.

[13] A highly positive review from Pitchfork, which gave the album a 9.7 out of 10 rating, was frequently cited as a key factor that propelled Funeral into widespread recognition and commercial success.

"[19] Rock critic Robert Christgau gave the album an A−, saying that Funeral was "...too fond of drama, but aware of its small place in the big world, and usually beautiful.

"[22] Zeth Lundy of PopMatters complimented Funeral on its eccentricity, calling it "bizarre at turns and recognizable elsewhere, equally beautiful and harrowing, theatrical and sincere, defying categorization while attempting to create new genres.

"[32] Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, "Funerals are generally somber affairs, but the Canadian indie rockers' emotionally charged 2004 debut mostly just made us smile.

[36] Pitchfork's Stuart Berman saw Funeral change Arcade Fire into "instant indie-rock icons", helping the genre shift from "a fringe movement born of economic circumstance" to "an aspirational career model".