Album Rating: 3.0

weakest spot for me since SWB is the drumming, it used to be so integral to the sound and now it sounds phoned in and there for their own sake

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

the drumming has been relegated to 'just another layer in the mix'

Album Rating: 4.0

yeah anat, I see that as one of the bigger symptoms of the shift to a more 'producer'-like approach to composition.

Album Rating: 1.5

Their best yet

Album Rating: 3.0

Smoke Detector is already one of my songs of the year

Album Rating: 3.5

3.5 seems about right for this. space invader and smoke detector do a lot of the heavy lifting but yeah but even the least essential material here feels head and shoulders above most of iaetf and frankenstein

Album Rating: 4.0

This will very likely wane to a 3.5, but for now I'm enjoying the revival of "worthwhile National".

Album Rating: 3.0

Substantially better than FRANKENWHATEVER but still at the bottom of Ntl's discog with the likes of s/t and EASY. Enjoyable overall but nevertheless a bit disappointing. I'm starting to realize that 'Spade Invaders' is uncharacteristically good for this "era" of the band.

Album Rating: 2.5

I am in agreement that if you take the positives from this and Frankenstein (almost entirely Tropic Morning News lol), you'd get a pretty alright album that I would probably take over I Am Easy to Find.



I think if you were to take the best songs from this, Frankenstein, AND I Am Easy to Find, you'd get an album worthy of the band's impeccable run, even if it's on the lower end.



I think part of the charm of The National at their prime was how effortless and true their material felt. Now that it's seemingly very difficult for them to pen a good song, it kinda loses its luster a bit and the blemishes that would maybe be hidden with an album full of quality songs kinda stick out like sore thumbs here. Just a very puzzling direction that this band has taken

Album Rating: 4.0

Yeah, I wish they'd gone more in the trajectory of a band like Wilco where you know anything they release is not going to be on the same level as their classic material but you also know that it's going to be reliably solid and it'll never feel forced. Like, I know this isn't the case but somehow I find it hard to imagine the National guys actually enjoying making music together all that much these days.

Album Rating: 2.5

That's a good point.



It's one thing that making a GOOD song feels like such a herculian effort for them, although possible, but it's another that they feel completely uninterested in their own material and going through the motions.



It oddly feels like a formality that they are together at all with everyone being fairly prolific elsewhere. Like it's something for all of them to fall back on and call their own

Album Rating: 3.0

Oblivions and Smoke Detector are comfortably their best songs since TWFM imo. I still put that album above anything since, and IAETF above this

Album Rating: 4.0

Here's my (tentative) playlist for their last two albums: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/21Qo5QxpuxVUDLyh69xtoF. It's based on the songs I personally like the most, so I don't expect it to be an agreeable "these are the 10 best selections" but I enjoy how it sounds and flows.



I didn't include IAETF because, at least to me, that feels like its very own separate thing/vibe. But if I did, Quiet Light has always been my favorite and would be my priority must-add.

Album Rating: 3.5

Quiet Light is the song I come back to the most from that

Album Rating: 3.0

The best 12-track configuration I can come up with from the last three albums:



1. Once Upon a Poolside

2. Quiet Light

3. Rylan

4. Deep End

5. Oblivions

6. Coat on a Hook

7. Light Years

8. Smoke Detector

9. New Order T-Shirt

10. I Am Easy to Find

11. Grease in Your Hair

12. Space Invader



Something like that.

Album Rating: 4.5

Been lurking for 15 years. Came on to say this is easily their best album since TWFM (my favorite of theirs). A late career absolute highlight that opens up on repeated listens in a way they haven't pulled off since TWFM. Was totally lukewarm on FTPOF. This feels like stepping into the light with the world behind you in contrast to that album's hermetic seal. I saw the FTPOF tour and thought maybe it was the end of the road for me with one of my favorite bands, and this album has completely restored my faith in them. Strongest lyrics from Matt in a great many years, and not in going back to his old style, but in growing into the new, more personal style he's adopted. National albums always opened up over time, and from SWB on that stopped for me (even though I liked SWB a lot, and IAETF somewhat). This album does it, it does that National thing. It's gentler than the past, but the magic is there on this thing for those willing to give it the time.

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

'Been lurking for 15 years.'





impressive

still using that ugly ass album cover smh

Wait what, didn't even know they were putting a new one out lol

Album Rating: 4.0

It was a surprise release.