The National (Poll)

I only got into this band's recordings well after they'd become successful and kind of absorbed them all simultaneously and I really love Sad Songs most of all

right now my standings are

Trouble Will Find Me
Boxer
High Violet
Alligator
I Am Easy to Find
Sad Songs
Sleep Well Beast
s/t

I decided to poll this because, for me, boxer, high violet and trouble will find me are equally essential. I’m not even sure which one i like best!

Vanderlyle, Crybaby Geeks can get the tears going but so can Pink Rabbits and so can Anyone’s Ghost

Nothing I've head by this band has been as good as that song used in (or possibly done for) the video game 'Portal'. Can someone tell me what to head for for stuff that sounds like that?

1. i am easy to find: album is an emotional gauntlet for me at this point, perfectly-framed anxiety and mourning for a disappearing world
2. trouble will find me: also makes me cry but just mainly at the end ("pink rabbits"->"hard to find"). every song is like the ultimate national song, each seemingly constructed from band interplay, all these neat little ideas curving into and away from each other, the drumming always awesome
3. boxer: great songs and they finally figured out production
4. alligator: great songs and they hadn't figured out production
5. sleep well beast: uneven but when it's good it's astonishing
6. high violet: great songs but they're hitting the wall of their production
7. sad songs: idk
8. the national: idk

Interesting! The new one at #1. I need to spend more time with it. I loved a few of the tracks on my first go around but it’s hard to compare to albums that have been essential listeninf to me for 5-10 years

In grad school i had a radio show and played mr november once and a friend was pretty interested i remember—asked me what it was. I don’t sleep on alligator

it's pretty easily I Am Easy to Find at #1 for me, idk how i'd rank the rest except that the s/t is at the bottom obviously as the rest of their albums all have pretty obvious flaws but in different ways. i'd probably put the Cherry Tree EP at #2 and High Violet close to the bottom though.

i haven't listened to Sad Songs in forever so will have to revisit.
Alligator has some of their best songs but it's a bit inconsistent and doesn't hold together that well, and as brad says the production's not great.
Boxer is maybe their most solid front-to-back but it's also just a bit boring in how restrained it is overall. they're good at what they do on it but i don't really ever want to listen to it these days.
High Violet is one of their weakest, the songs aren't as strong as the previous two ("Anyone's Ghost" and "Lemonworld" are pretty weak especially) and the production ends up really muddy, it's not really clean-sounding enough to work with all the orchestration i think.
Trouble Will Find Me is a weird one with all the unusual time signatures and song structures, but it's probably one of their strongest. "Fireproof" and "Heavenfaced" don't do much for me but the rest is all good to great.
half of Sleep Well Beast is their very best work and the other half is as boring as they've ever been so idk what to make of it overall

I am struggling with the new one, I know it's all serious and mature and superbly crafted but it's just not grabbing me emotionally. Can't decide between High Violet and Trouble; can't say I've noticed the bad production on HV and the songs on each are equally strong. If this were a poll of all their tracks I'd probably vote for Bloodbuzz Ohio (and Lemonworld is great!)

Nothing I've head by this band has been as good as that song used in (or possibly done for) the video game 'Portal'. Can someone tell me what to head for for stuff that sounds like that?

It's good but it doesn't sound out of place for its era, I'd give High Violet a go, especially the last two tracks.

There are better songs on the other albums, but Boxer is the best collection of songs they've put out, and the only album with no weak tracks.

"Anyone's Ghost"... is) pretty weak especially

!

it's just so plodding without anything interesting happening and the melody is pretty dull

The new one IS their best, followed by High Violet, Boxer, Trouble Will Find Me.

It is and will probably always will be 'Sad Songs' for me, with 'Trouble' a close second. Not cracked the new one yet.

"lemonworld" is the best song on hv

Otm

xp to self meant HV instead of 'Trouble'

"lemonworld" is the best song on hv

and one of their best full stop!

summer lovin' torture party :)

i just listened to the new one for the first time today, not sure about it yet.

i'm a Boxer fan but will try all albums before voting.

co-signing the lemonworld love, high violet is probably the national album that i've spent the most time with, but alligator has always been my favorite. trouble will find me and i am easy to find are stiff competition too.

the national are a good band.

Alligator, with Boxer and High Violet close seconds.

I'm not a massive fan, but my wife is, so I've heard all the records (bar the first two - neither of us have ever gone back pre-Alligator) and seen them live several times.

Boxer is my favourite, followed by High Violet and then Alligator. After that they get slightly too restrained and ornate for me. I still like them, and there are songs on each subsequent album that I think are really good, but it's definitely Boxer. Concise, punchy, strong songs all the way through, becoming more sophisticated but not yet too much filigree.

Lemonworld is very good, though I never got what it means. But that's not unusual.

I'd rate High Violet more if the opening track wasn't the most horrific sonic artefact I've ever come across. Really like the song, love it live, but the album version gives me a headache inside seconds. Don't know wtf they were doing with it.

They released an alternate version that was much better

Funny how that is still one of the main criticisms of High Violet... I just thought they were going for a lo-fi thing?

Don't know wtf they were doing with it.

― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, June 13, 2019 5:59 AM (forty minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

feel like it's an extreme case of getting attached to the demo

Gotta go with High Violet--for me their most consistent set of songs, and the muted production gives off a cozy floating-in-amniotic-fluid vibe.

"England" remains my favorite of their closers. It sounds like a lost John Cale ballad.

England is a thing of loveliness, but it's not the closer...

neither recorded version of "terrible love" really works unfortunately. the album version is a mostly just lo-fi a demo when it should really sound huge, being one of their anthemic songs. the alt version is a lot better but doesn't quite get the fuzzy guitar in the intro right, which is why they eventually just put the demo on the album iirc. idk why they struggled so much with that guitar sound though because in live versions they seem to get it right

xp yeah, i will not stand for this vanderlyle crybaby erasure

I have to live with an album for at least a couple of years before being bold enough to say it's my favourite of a band's catalogue. So, Boxer.

My favourite National closer is Lucky You off Sad Songs.

Boxer and High Violet came out when I was 17 and 20 respectively, so I guess I'm biased towards them because that's when I first discovered the band and I have tons of emotional luggage associated with these two records, for better or worse. I really like Alligator and Trouble Will Find Me, too. Haven't really delved properly into the new one yet apart from a casual listen or two, but what I heard sounded better than Sleep Well Beast which, apart from a couple of tracks, seemed a bit sedate to my ears.

I think Boxer might be a stronger record overall but High Violet perhaps has higher peaks and for that it takes the crown. (I also cheated and replaced the album version of "Terrible Love" with the alternative one in my music library, Spotify playlist, car CD etc.)

high violet from bloodbuzz to the end definitely devastated 20-year-old me, and it still hits me pretty hard. i appreciated boxer, but never *felt* it in the way i did violet. alligator is a different story, cause they definitely hadn't quite figured out their thing yet, but the highlights from that album are still my very favorite songs in their catalog (abel, all the wine, mr november, and especially geese of beverly road)

slow show (on boxer) is such a powerful song

I bloody love Geese of Beverley Road. It's one of those songs that I kind of intuitively understood before finding out that the 'geese' in the title are car alarms. There's something ugly about the whole 'come be my waitress' coda but I've always given Berninger a pass because he's 'in character'. Christ, Soho Riots is on there too. Maybe it's Alligator after all.

you know i say i never *felt* boxer, but i certainly did feel 'start a war' and 'fake empire' and 'slow show'--maybe boxer is a little too stately for my ideal the national...gonna have to listen again

trouble will find me because it has pink rabbits

xp yeah, i will not stand for this vanderlyle crybaby erasure

― Jeff the grown man (voodoo chili), Thursday

lol my mind wiped that terrible title

“geese of beverly road” was a huge highlight of their set last night

None of you people have heard Sad Songs? It's very very good!

they say so much!

"Geese" is wonderful. I find Alligator a little patchier than most seem to, though.

the lyrics of "geese" are perfect

i used to think alligator was a little patchy but every song grew on me over a weirdly long period of time

the run from "all the wine" until the end is so good

I haven't listened to Sad Songs in... probably ten years? I need to give it a spin.

Also, shout out to the Cherry Tree EP in general and "About Today" in particular.

agreed, those are five of my favorite national songs.

xp

None of you people have heard Sad Songs? It's very very good!

― flamboyant goon tie included, Thursday, June 13, 2019 9:05 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Do you have me kill-filed? It's my favourite! Mundane choice because it's my first love. I saw them sweating it out on that tour, for an audience of about 300 in Amsterdam, and it was a tough night for them, but they won over the audience. And me. The record: the songs are the most timeless out of their whole oeuvre. But I'll immediately admit this is a way too personal view on their discog. But I can't see it otherwise. I was there, then, and 'Sad Songs' etched into my brain and remains there and I don't hear it often now but I love it.

I love Alligator and Boxer equally. I almost consider them of a piece. Things become more scattershot after, imo. Sometimes brilliantly, sometimes just OK. Rarely (if ever?) terrible.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

alligator it is

Alligator is one of my favorite records by anyone ever.
I think the rest of their records are OK but Alligator is very special to me.

I'm so sorry but the motorcade'll have to go around me this time

Boxer then High Violet

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

amazing

TWFM robbed!!!

I would've voted for Trouble Will Find Me.

it's the best one except for i am easy to find

alligator and boxer tying is still hilarious

I guess maybe I should go back to IAETF, it didn't leave much of an impression with me.

Alligator and Boxer are their twin peaks, yeah, with High Violet a close third. The rest of their discography leaves me indifferent save for I Am Easy to Find, which I actively disdain.

it's long and often slow and i can see and have seen it slide off of people but "so far so fast" and "not in kansas" are just incredible peaks in their catalog xp

I Am Easy to Find is their best.

I wish the female singers on IAETF got more to do than sing typical Berninger vocal lines and lyrics

alligator is still my go-to album of theirs, and 'geese of beverly road' is still my fav national song.

I’m with jaymc, probably need to revisit the last one, I indeed remember Not in Kansas being one of the greatest things I’d ever heard from them but very little else stuck with me.

"you had your soul with you" is the best song they've ever done and "so far so fast" is incredible too. it's a long and slow and gloomy album but that's somehow less of an issue for me than with all their previous work

Had no idea they (essentially) did the soundtrack to the new "Cyrano" movie (or, for that matter, that it was a musical).

i used to think alligator was a little patchy but every song grew on me over a weirdly long period of time

the run from "all the wine" until the end is so good

― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, June 13, 2019 2:13 PM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Their best song on their best album

Oh, and apparently in other National news:

Speaking at his copyright trial in London's High Court, @edsheeran says he recently wrote 25 songs in the space of a week with @Aaron_Dessner of The National.

— Mark Savage (@mrdiscopop) March 7, 2022

I think the only response is that the National should use some of Dessner's Swift and Sheeran money and hire Max Martin.

Forgot about these guys for a second, and didn't even notice they released a new song a couple of months ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcII2C6yh0A

"weird goodbyes" was unfortunately pretty underwhelming considering their last album was the best of their career, hope the rest of the album (out sometime next year) will be better

imo where they should have gone next is pushing the sound of the last album even further until they end up making their homogenic

otm

They may yet. An interview I saw with Bryce Dessner (when I was doing a quick "what are they up to" google this morning) implied lots of new material in various states of flux, changing all the time. Which is sort of the risky U2 approach. You've got to know when to stop spinning the wheel and eventually settle on something, and where you stop determines whether that something is interesting but underbaked or solid but boring.

I really like Weird Goodbyes. Still in my current playlist two months later.