The liner notes to this exceptional debut from the Arcade Fire refer to the recent deaths of several family members — which explains why Funeral aches with elegiac intensity. Chilly imagery from this indie-rock band's native Montreal dominates the album: Characters stumble through the snow, shivering, to meet between their houses while their "parents are crying." "Crown of Love" builds from a mournful waltz to a bustle of choppy violin strokes as singer Win Butler pleads, "If you still want me/Please forgive me." Amid all the loss and breakups, the Arcade Fire manage to also be strangely joyous: Songs such as "Wake Up," which features a choir of voices and a fierce rhythmic stomp, burst with catharsis. The band could have gone for a less direct title, but even then it would have been crystal clear: Funeral captures the agony and even ecstasy of surviving death all around you.

“V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.”

Quite a few musicians have utilized initials for song titles -- Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T.," Abba's "S.O.S.," Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y.," etc. But the more curiously initialed tune has to be "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.," short for "Voyage to the Land of the Freeze-Dried Godzilla Farts." Fishbone's original guitarist, Kendall Jones, explained to Rolling Stone, "When Norwood [Fisher] wrote it, he introduced it to the band saying, 'Man, I've been hearing about all these Nazi right-wing groups on the news saying the Holocaust was staged. So what if America said it never dropped two atom bombs on Japan, that it was actually Godzilla popping a couple off?' Only Norwood would come up with something that out." The same year "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F." was released, the film Godzilla 1985 appeared in North America.