The National

I think my favorites right now are

Deep End, Turn Off The House, Dreaming, Hornets, Tour Manager, Smoke Detector. I don’t dislike anything.

Weird Goodbyes also did grow on me, and it works in the album but at the same time it sticks out cause I’ve heard it so much more than everything else.

Tour Manager doesn’t seem to be getting much love, but I adore the softness of Matt’s singing and the melody of it, plus those twinkling guitars. I think this sound is what something like Ice Machines was trying to do, but they nailed it even better here.
 
I am assuming the white labels are only shipping now if you checked out with no other pre-order items, yes?
 
I think my favorites right now are

Deep End, Turn Off The House, Dreaming, Hornets, Tour Manager, Smoke Detector. I don’t dislike anything.

Weird Goodbyes also did grow on me, and it works in the album but at the same time it sticks out cause I’ve heard it so much more than everything else.

Tour Manager doesn’t seem to be getting much love, but I adore the softness of Matt’s singing and the melody of it, plus those twinkling guitars. I think this sound is what something like Ice Machines was trying to do, but they nailed it even better here.
"Tour Manager" along with "Coat on a Hook" are my least favourite songs on the album but maybe they'll grow on me 🤷
 
feelings right now...

boxer > i am easy to find > trouble will find me > sleep well beast > alligator > laugh track > f2pof > ssfdl > debut
love to find another I am Easy to Find fan. I think it's a stunning album and probably only rank Boxer above it based on nostalgia. my list after those top two will certainly vary (and include High Violet :)), but I put Boxer and I am Easy to Find in a tier to themselves.
 
Alright, through 2 listens. I think it's all pretty solid except Coat on a Hook and Crumble. I feel like Alphabet City is a fairly weak opener compared to the bulk of their albums' openers. Smoke Detector is one I want to hear done live right meow. I liked FTPOF a lot so this just feels like a bonus. To me, FTPOF spoke a lot to me about needing to heal and move on from the collective trauma of the past 3 years. That album saved the band and made this album possible.
 
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Alright, through 2 listens. I think it's all pretty solid except Coat on a Hook and Crumble. I feel like Alphabet City is a fairly weak opener compared to the bulk of their albums' openers. Smoke Detector is one I want to hear done live right meow. I liked FTPOF a lot so this just feels like a bonus. To me, FTPOF spoke a lot to me about needing to heal and move on from the collective trauma of the past 3 years. That album saved the band and made this album possible.
You are spot on. FTPOF is the kind of album that I can understand criticisms of, but it speaks to me and my own dumb experience during the pandemic. For that reason, it is a calm for me - despite being pretty much a downer. Laugh Track is like the expansion on the ideas, with more refined energy. Can say I did see Smoke Detector live last month and remember it sounding like a full on noise fest - in a good way. I couldn’t understand anything that was going on, but it was the loudest I think I’ve heard them in concert.
 
I think we got a lot of cool stuff from FTPOF that we couldn’t get if they turned the contrast up like they did on Laugh Track. I also think 20 songs that sound like the 9 non-Alphabet, non-Goodbyes, non-Smoke tracks on Laugh Track would have diminished the whole set of songs. Stepping away from their brighter, punchier sound let them come back to it beautifully, IMO. Sorta reminds me of the last Twin Peaks season where we got Dougie and Mr. C for the majority and then it made Dale Cooper’s return even that more awesome.
 
I didn't take a lot of photos at Homecoming, just now starting to look at them and this one made me smile. Matt was onstage watching Pavement during a good part of their set.

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I'm only really on Facebook for several different groups I'm in about different bands, TV shows, other random things for the memes and discussions. In The National FB group, it seems everyone and their uncle needs to express their opinion that "these two albums should have been just one album! And here is my combined tracklisting:" :rolleyes: It's getting tiring seeing this opinion. I think fans should be grateful to get 2 albums in one year. I previously said I'd rather they wait until next year to release but I'm loving this new album so far. Plus combining these 2 albums feels weird. I think they're very discinct and different. It would be if you combined Boxer and Sleep Well Beast. The songs just don't feel right being combined.

For sure, neither album is as good as some of their previous albums but it is what it is. You take what you can get. There's a lot to like from both Frankenstein and Laugh Track. The media has been churning out "Are the National boring now?" peices over the past year and I think this is starting to seep into people's subconscious. 'I can't possibly like these two albums if everyone is telling me that they're not that good.' seems to be the minor consensus in the FB group and elsewhere.
 
I'm only really on Facebook for several different groups I'm in about different bands, TV shows, other random things for the memes and discussions. In The National FB group, it seems everyone and their uncle needs to express their opinion that "these two albums should have been just one album! And here is my combined tracklisting:" :rolleyes: It's getting tiring seeing this opinion. I think fans should be grateful to get 2 albums in one year. I previously said I'd rather they wait until next year to release but I'm loving this new album so far. Plus combining these 2 albums feels weird. I think they're very discinct and different. It would be if you combined Boxer and Sleep Well Beast. The songs just don't feel right being combined.

For sure, neither album is as good as some of their previous albums but it is what it is. You take what you can get. There's a lot to like from both Frankenstein and Laugh Track. The media has been churning out "Are the National boring now?" peices over the past year and I think this is starting to seep into people's subconscious. 'I can't possibly like these two albums if everyone is telling me that they're not that good.' seems to be the minor consensus in the FB group and elsewhere.
eh...those same people have also sent money to a Nigerian prince and think the elite are immortal because they consume the blood of children.
 
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