Album Rating: 4.0

IAETF was a slovenly, overcrowded mess, but they still managed to cram at least two top-tier National tracks into it with "Quiet Light" and "Rylan". There's not a single track on the new one that will get promoted to my regularly rotated playlist.

Album Rating: 5.0

Hm, didn't vibe the first track really, my first thought upon hearing that bland ass opening arpeggio (if that's what it is, excuse my lack of precise music terminology) was "oh no"

Album Rating: 4.0

Opening track, 'New Order T-Shirt', and 'Greasy Hair' or whatever are the only three above-average songs here, and when I say that I mean slightly above-average.

Album Rating: 4.0

The National - Yoko Oh No

Album Rating: 5.0

and yeah, IAETF has Quiet Light, Rylan, and Light Years which are all classic tier tunes, Tropic Morning is the closest this gets but that's prob a 4/5 or 4.5/5 tune at best.

Album Rating: 4.0

Closer might be the single worst track in their entire catalog tbh.

Album Rating: 4.0

the last three songs here were one turd of a tail off

Album Rating: 5.0

New Order is pre good yeah as well as the Grease of Beverly Road. Kinda dug Eucalyptus too.

Album Rating: 4.0

'the Grease of Beverly Road'



heh

Album Rating: 5.0

And yeah last three were prob the worst overall. Closer manages to rip the main piano line from the IAETF title track almost exactly but made it worse.

Album Rating: 4.0

There's an 'acceptable' EP of material on there and that's it, it's that level



It is very unified though and there's the novelty of a Taylor Swift love song popping up so i do still think it's an album that'll find an audience



A smaller audience don't get me wrong, but an audience

Album Rating: 5.0

The first two songs and Your Mind Is Not Your Friend were the only tunes I really liked on first listen, even if nothing was truly terrible

Album Rating: 5.0

Kinda dig Alien too if only because the back half of that is one of the only times Bryan gets to do anything halfway interesting.

For all this I’ll probably still end up rating it at least a Stockholm syndrome 3/5 after I subject myself to 10 or spins.

Album Rating: 5.0

The Taylor song is fine for what it is but as Johnny pointed out it is a Taylor song not a National song.

Album Rating: 4.0

I just pretend anything after sleep well beast doesnt exist

Album Rating: 4.0

I'm listening to the new album now. First couple songs got my hopes up but it's gotten progressively more boring.



SWB was fantastic and would have been a great career capper.

Album Rating: 3.5

SWB had its flaws and a load of tracks I doubt I'll ever return to, but it felt erratically inspired in a way that pretty much everyone seems to q rightly respect - and what ace highlights!!

Everything since has been palliative

Album Rating: 4.0

sleep well beast is good but it was the beginning of the end. still has some of their classic songs w/ system, guilty party, carin, dark side of the gym

i knew this new album would be ass after i saw them perform like 1/3 of it live last summer and all the songs were duds.

hoping they don't play any more than that when i see them next month

Album Rating: 5.0

yeah, I'm seeing them live next month and I really can't imagine any of these new songs aside from Tropic Morning News being decent in the live setting. That is unless they reimagine them as actual "band" songs which maybe they're forced to do in that setting?