The National

Indymisanthrope said:
I mean how do you listen to this song and come away with your only comment about it being that it's "Wilco-like trad-rock?"
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Yeah that as a summation does not remotely do it justice. Also...I don't hear Wilco in it at all.

Also considering he put the late night debut of Terrible Love on the list, I'd say the live version of About Today from The Virginia EP needs to go in the studio version's place. It's miles better.
 
Bennnnn said:
Yeah that as a summation does not remotely do it justice. Also...I don't hear Wilco in it at all.

Also considering he put the late night debut of Terrible Love on the list, I'd say the live version of About Today from The Virginia EP needs to go in the studio version's place. It's miles better.
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I know I posted this before back in that other place but this is my favorite version of Terrible Love. Bryan's drumming is so good.

 
AngryVal said:
Taking it one step further than the album ranking... are you ready peeps?

Top 40 The National songs, ranked.

uproxx.com

The National’s 40 Best Songs, Ranked.

Before the release of ’I Am Easy To Find,’ we list our favorite tracks by one of modern indie’s greatest bands.
uproxx.com uproxx.com

Let the games begin!
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Geese of Beverly Road at 22, nope. That is a top 10 National song at worst.
 
Midway spinning the CT version - it sounds pretty darn good. Like the live CT compilation, it sounds great, so Imma ask The National only press their albums via the Cherry Tree club going forward...

Yeah, the outer is like the High Violet outer except it has printing directly on it as well as a hype sticker (plus a sticker inside separately). A little underwhelmed by the colorway in real life (and blank centre labels are a bit lame) but it sounds good enough to still work for me! My Disc one is slightly dish warped - notice as playing side A you can see slight raising from the platter but then not on Side B.

Overall a release day delivery IN CANADA is pretty spectacular I find, so overall a win in my books.

666

p.s. It is nice to have a full booklet for lyrics as well
 
Memo said:
Also, here's a little something I wrote in another thread about my first concert experience with The National.
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Fell in love with them spring 2007... then I was lucky to catch them pre-Modest Mouse/R.E.M. in 2008 and then again at Lollapalooza.

Another 7 shows later, 2xClogs, and 2xEL VY... this summer will be show 10 and 11 (TN proper) at Rock The Garden in Minneapolis and then in Portland.

Fuck, I love this band.
 
chrb98 said:
I am very much not on the National train - nothing against them, I don't actively dislike them, but I've always felt as if I'm missing something with this band. I joked on my Instagram last week that I'm 10 years, 4 glasses of wine, and 1 divorce too young for them. I could recognize the quality in a lot of the individual pieces that make up their music, but as a whole, it never really "clicked" for me.

This new album though. I'm starting to get it. I've heard other people describe why they like The National so much, and I really didn't get it at the time, but I'm starting to feel about the new album the way y'all feel about all their stuff. Holy fuck is Not In Kansas an amazing track. I've never been so sucked in to Berninger's lyricism as I was with this track. It perfectly paints a picture of a melancholic reflection on the dizzying state of the world, where one fits into it on an individual basis, and how to reconcile such impossible changes. Dust Swirls In Strange Light is compositionally gorgeous, with some absolutely HEAVENLY vocal arrangements going on. It's rare to hear a track so accurately sound like what the title is :p Where Is Her Head sounds nothing like any National song I've heard before and whoever the female vocalist is on that track killed it. Hell, all the female vocalists on this really added a unique dynamic to the whole thing. Maybe that's why I feel myself getting this album more than others? But that being said, Not In Kansas and Light Years are two of my favorite tracks and they're very Berninger-centered, so maybe I just needed something to fully throw me in.

I've only listened to it once. I'm sure I'll have some more structured, non-scatter-brained thoughts once I let it sink in a bit more. I'm still not fully on the National train yet, but I feel like I have a boarding pass in hand for it
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My wife hated the National until one day This is the Last Time was playing and she looked at me and said "I like this." Now, she's a die hard ride or die National bro.
 
swamp jazz box set said:
My wife hated the National until one day This is the Last Time was playing and she looked at me and said "I like this." Now, she's a die hard ride or die National bro.
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Same deal with my wife. I would put any album on pre SWB and she hated it. I gave up hope from trying to get her to enjoy them, but one day Dark Side of the Gym came out on a playlist I had and she loved it. I now play any other album and she totally gets it now, and sometimes asks for a specific album for me to spin.
 
My girlfriend thinks they sound too much the same, and too sad.

But, this album was the first she’s been intrigued by them. Must be the harmonies/choirs. She’s a sucker for folk rock-ish stripped down stuff and pretty female vocals.

Not to go all sad Berninger on her, but... in over 12 years. I’ve had three steady girlfriends and yet, only one favorite band; so.
 
Twentytwo said:
I still think High Violet is top to bottom better than any of other their records. I know I am probably in the minority there.
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It’s towards the bottom for me honestly, but I still love it. They’ve never made an outright bad album. Self Titled is probably their weakest track for track, but there’s still some great stuff in it
 
My 3LP set was supposed to come Monday but it was waiting for me when I got home from work. I won't get a chance to listen to it for a bit because I'm busy tonight and tomorrow but it looks beautiful. My only complaint is that the outer sleeve mine came in is suuuuuper wrinkled. Everything else is in perfect condition though so I guess I shouldn't complain.

I was holding off listening to the album until I got my record but I might have to break down and give it a listen tomorrow.
 
Speaking of shows, is anyone going to the one in Atlanta next month. I’ll be going alone, even driving there alone, and it’d be nice to have someone to hang with. But I understand there’s probably no one here going to that one.
 
Antsman41 said:
My girlfriend thinks they sound too much the same, and too sad.

But, this album was the first she’s been intrigued by them. Must be the harmonies/choirs. She’s a sucker for folk rock-ish stripped down stuff and pretty female vocals.
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Sounds like you may be engaging in some pre-marital partner appreciation of the National.

Bennnnn said:
It’s towards the bottom for me honestly, but I still love it. They’ve never made an outright bad album. Self Titled is probably their weakest track for track, but there’s still some great stuff in it
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There seems to be very very subtly different camps of National fans. IMO, High Violet's bombastic, epic sound made me nervous for the band and whether they'd fall off the Coldplay ledge. I thought TWFM and SWB were much welcomed corrections to that momentary flirtation with making everything very SHINY and BIG. But there is a notable group of people who love High Violet more than anything else. I respect those fellow National fans but I'd rank HV at the bottom of their Alligator and beyond records.
 
swamp jazz box set said:
Sounds like you may be engaging in some pre-marital partner appreciation of the National.



There seems to be very very subtly different camps of National fans. IMO, High Violet's bombastic, epic sound made me nervous for the band and whether they'd fall off the Coldplay ledge. I thought TWFM and SWB were much welcomed corrections to that momentary flirtation with making everything very SHINY and BIG. But there is a notable group of people who love High Violet more than anything else. I respect those fellow National fans but I'd rank HV at the bottom of their Alligator and beyond records.
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I think it's too 3 overall for me...hmm, I might just have to have a think and rank them.
 
swamp jazz box set said:
Sounds like you may be engaging in some pre-marital partner appreciation of the National.



There seems to be very very subtly different camps of National fans. IMO, High Violet's bombastic, epic sound made me nervous for the band and whether they'd fall off the Coldplay ledge. I thought TWFM and SWB were much welcomed corrections to that momentary flirtation with making everything very SHINY and BIG. But there is a notable group of people who love High Violet more than anything else. I respect those fellow National fans but I'd rank HV at the bottom of their Alligator and beyond records.
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Yeah, too me High Violet (while great additions to their live show) was a sound miss-step to Boxer.

But, like how TN>Sad Songs>Alligator made Boxer.

HV>Trouble Will Find Me>SWB made I Am Easy To Find.

It was worth it, overall... in the end.
 
Received mine today ...was it supposed to have a sticker included? I don't have a sticker...I want a sticker...:(
 
Also,

Gospel, Lucky You, Light Years, Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks, Mr. November, Anna Freud, Hard To Find, Sleep Well Beast.

Sort of as songs... but mainly ranked in emotions for a closer, respectably to the songs preceding them.
 
High Violet was a peak in how their sound moved. It was the most rockiest (if that's even a word) of their sound. Trouble Will Find Me and SWB just speak so much more to me. It's like picking your favorite kid. They each have a uniqueness that I love. High Violet was one that I kind of passively listened to when it was released. I dove wholeheartedly into TWFM. That and Random Access Memories were the A and B of what I listened to that year. It wasn't until after Sleep Well Beast came out and frankly you guys in the forum that I dove back into High Violet. Now it's constantly on rotation when I go out to grocery shop or work around the house. What's interesting is the latter 3 albums have really pushed the first two (at least in my awareness of The National starting in 2005) to the background. There was a time when Boxer was my favorite. Now, I'm not sure. I think it's Trouble Will Find Me. Maybe I just have a better connection to it than the previous ones.
 
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