Album Rating: 4.5

"honestly Fake Empire is a little overrated I think Tropic Morning News is a better song"



i like tropic morning news more than most seem to but whoaaaaa

Album Rating: 5.0

Openers

S: Fake Empire

A: Terrible Love, Secret Meeting, Cardinal Song

B: Nobody Else Will Be There

C: I Should Live In Salt, Beautiful Head

D: You Had Your Soul With It



Closers:

S: Gospel, Mr November, Light Years (one of the 3 good songs from that album)

A: Lucky You, Hard to Find

B: Sleep Well Beast

C:

D: Anna Freud

F: Vanderlyle

Album Rating: 4.5

an F for vanderlyle? really?

Album Rating: 5.0

yeah i really don't like it

Album Rating: 4.0

low key mr november is the worst on alligator



pang i waited 29 years for u

Album Rating: 5.0

that would be all the wine



i did too phero but now we found each other 💖

@Phero
i like Mr. November, but I’ve always loved every other song on Alligator more too. “City Middle” is the real closer in my heart

Album Rating: 5.0

'Vanderlyle' is the only National closer that really does the perfect job of a closer for me - it closes the same curtain 'Terrible Love' opened. It could only be the closer, and only on that album. An ESSENTIAL part of the album and also one of their only closers they seem to play live all the time (Mr November too ok, but that didn't HAVE to be a closer imo)



'Sleep Well Beast' is the second best at being a thematic/stylistic closer.



'Lucky You' is the best 'standalone song' closer they've done though (sorry Mr November)

Album Rating: 5.0

Mr November is great y'all crazy. The whole of Alligator is excellent but I count 6 songs I'd miss less than Mr N

Album Rating: 4.0

pang *love heart eyes*



city middle is my fav national song MoM on fire

Album Rating: 5.0

Vanderlyle is ok but I don't really get the massive love for it, it's a little bit overdone in places. It is true the Lucky You is a bit underrated.

Album Rating: 5.0

Also, not sure how Gospel and Mr November are not 'fitting' thematic closers, but maybe that's just me

Album Rating: 4.7

Vanderlyle is cheesy gaff and heavily spotlights some of Matt's all time worst lyrics, and Light Years is snoozy autopilot Dessnershit and would be C-tier on any other album

Gospel and Mr November are defs fitting thematically, the latter just happens to also be a middle of the road rock 'banger' for inept beanie-as-personality tossers

Album Rating: 5.0

maybe i do overinflate light years because it's one of the only competent cuts on that album



and vanderlyle is already pretty bad on its own but just the fact that a fabulous album like high violet ends on that wet paper towel of a song makes it much worse

Album Rating: 5.0

"Vanderlyle is cheesy gaff and heavily spotlights some of Matt's all time worst lyrics"



Yep I've grown a little more accustomed to the song but i feel like high violet marked the start of the lyrical quality dip that has steadily gotten worse

Album Rating: 5.0

I'll explain everything to the geeks

Album Rating: 5.0

'Yep I've grown a little more accustomed to the song but i feel like high violet marked the start of the lyrical quality dip that has steadily gotten worse'



Not true, 'Alligator' boasts a large chunk of the bands most clunky lyrics whereas 'TWFM' easily has some of their best

Album Rating: 5.0

Yeah I’ve landed pretty confidently in the opinion that TWFM has the best lyrics of all.

Album Rating: 5.0

''Not true, 'Alligator' boasts a large chunk of the bands most clunky lyrics whereas 'TWFM' easily has some of their best''



i love alligator but i agree with this

Album Rating: 5.0

I think the National's lyrics are always a little clunky, but Alligator and Boxer navigate that inherent clunkiness the best and in the most endearing way, and make it somehow a net positive.