Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

My Radiohead ratings go from a 2 to a 5



My Metallica ratings go from a 1.5 to a 5



My Arcade Fire ratings go from a 2 to a 4.5



My Modest Mouse ratings go from a 2.5 to a 5



It happens all the time

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Lol but all those you stated have changed their sound drastically

I mean it's fine, to each their own. It's not blind loyalty, I wouldn't like this if there was actually that big of a drop in quality. Like how I hate Everything Now.

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

Every review is saying this is their most radical departure though, and the style isn't my favourite.



Mainly the song writing has fallen off a cliff, at least for my sensibilities. The album doesn't have a great chorus for one thing as far as I can work out after five listens. Most of the verses don't fare that much better, in that usually I'm really anticipating certain lyrics from Matt from an early stage.



I just really don't know with this one - and I really tried to be positive with the album before so it's not like I'm a harsh rater for bands I like as a habit.

Album Rating: 2.5

its as simple as I love the previous five but I don’t love this one

it’s definitely fascinating to watch bands age gracefully, and there’s no denying this is a graceful next step, but it doesn’t tickle my synapses. I wore out their other albums, this one is wearing me out

tree of life is my least favorite movie this decade. guess i should avoid the short film then

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

It's only a departure because of the female vocals

It still very much sounds like a National album and I guess idk, 2s and 2.5s from people who love their other albums is just confusing, but it's fineeeee

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

Well Flag I really didn't much like Empire Line and Destroy You from the previous one and maybe this album slightly reminds me of those too.



I'm taking four songs from 16 (14?) I like from this so it's not like I don't appreciate anything here - more it's the opposite of the last album where I took eight songs from a possible 12.

Album Rating: 2.5

it is fine, because i'm equally baffled by those who turn their nose up to SWB but are loving this one

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Fair enough. I do wish they completely shift their sound for the next album. I was hoping SWB would be more experimental than it was.

They lost me when they started crafting soundscapes instead of making music. Klap's point about them being a legacy act is right on the money.

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

Flag I was hoping a whole album mainly instrumental with spoken word like the SWB title track - maybe with some instrumentals being more orchestral and soundtrack-y

Album Rating: 4.5

gonna check at some point this weekend sleep well beast was great

Album Rating: 2.5

On first listen this is like a 3 but I'm sure that will grow.



I think my main gripe with this and swb is that the drums aren't as prominent and/or interesting. Bryan's drumming is what immediately hooked me when I first heard the band (bloodbuzz).

Album Rating: 4.0

Yeah, Bryan’s drumming peaked on Boxer and High Violet and has been becoming less and less important since then.

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

The drumming is really disappointing here yeah

Album Rating: 2.5

not greater than the summer-vits parts

Album Rating: 4.0

There are some decent drumming spots but there’s nowhere where they’re the best thing the song is doing at any given moment, which was often the case in older albums. I’ve always loved what Chan says about Bryan’s drumming in the opening paragraph of his Trouble Will Find Me review:

Even after the gradual softening of the band’s music over the last three albums, he is still capable of transporting songs to different realms, using his snare drum as a portal through which yet more beautiful plateaus stretch. Trouble Will Find Me gives him fewer chances to do so, but that only makes it all the more exciting when it happens, when he tears in half the many layers of The National’s music and redefines what we thought we were hearing.

Album Rating: 2.5

why must they have two albums with the word 'find' in the title like how DARE you

Album Rating: 4.0

Surprised Rudy picked “The Pull Of You” as a highlight, that one’s kind of a mess and the lyrics are really generic. Same for a lot of the ones Carin contributed to.

Album Rating: 4.0

"why must they have two albums with the word 'find' in the title like how DARE you"



sequel