Album Rating: 5.0

Humiliation is a classic live

Album Rating: 4.5

Humiliation is a classic live [2]

Agreed it was a treat.

And yeah, the transition into Murder Me Rachel was pretty awesome. Took me a few seconds to even realize they made the switch, like "hey this doesn't sound like Humiliation anymore..."

Kinda neat to see they don't totally neglect SAD SONGS tracks. Not terribly upset about the omission of I AM EASY TO FIND songs, either.

Album Rating: 4.5

I also think System Only Dreams translates really well to a live audience. The whole "I can't explain it" part just gets everyone's juices flowing. Nice stuff.

Album Rating: 5.0

Murder Me Rachel is an absolute belter.

Album Rating: 5.0

Tectac - both those songs I do rate as 5 stars on their respective albums but I’d also agree both translate even better live

Album Rating: 4.5

Yeah that setlist was pretty darn good actually, they clearly realised the need to get all the new shit out of the way

Album Rating: 4.5

Indeed.

Let's knock out 4 right away and then dive into the crowd pleasers. Throw in two somewhere later in the set for good measure. And lead off the encore with one more.

I'm okay with that.

Despite thinking the new album is mostly ass, the show never became a bore. Would've been much worse if they flip-flopped between new/old the entire way through the set list.

Doof - yeah, helps that I love both of those songs regardless, but Matt had a ton of energy on stage and the crowd was feeding off of that, too. Even made his way down into the crowd a few times. Did not expect that from him quite honestly. Only seen these guys one other time and the show was much more low-key, the guys were very quiet and restrained. They sounded great, but there's wasn't much in the way of intimacy with the crowd. This time, however, they looked like they were having a great time up there. Moving around a lot, Matt belting out lines, cracking jokes and talking with the crowd between songs. Acoustic Vanderlyle singalong to end the show was icing on the cake.

9/10 would see again even after mediocre album release.

Album Rating: 5.0

So glad I saw them on the SWB tour, first concert so the band were probably at peak excitement and energy. Great mix of older stuff and newer, more energetic songs. I don’t think they played Vanderlyle tho.

Album Rating: 5.0

So are The National a legacy act now? Seems like they haven't done anything worthwhile in 6 years (and it will be longer by their next album), and most of the stuff fans want to hear goes back to Alligator --> TWFM. Did they officially, finally lose "it"? Or is this just the first ever lull in their discography and they'll one day come back just as good as ever?

Album Rating: 5.0

They don’t have time, they started late - I think they’re done. I’m really surprised they haven’t split up, but I think they still enjoy touring.



Doesn’t sound like they majorly enjoy recording.

Album Rating: 5.0

Not sure; I mean despite all the problems with IAEtF it’s still a great record, just subpar by their previously high standards and cluttered with too many guest singers, a few lame songs, and some unnecessary interludes with a not great track order in general. The new one is worrying tho, and not to offend the Swifties, but their involvement with her really diluted and sanitized their unique sound too I would guess.

Album Rating: 5.0

It's two bad ones in a row...and a third of 'SWB' was subpar too.



Definite established trend there for me.

Album Rating: 4.5

Calling 33% of an album that you gave 4.5/5 “subpar” seems a little harsh, or the remaining 67% is the best damn album ever created.



Agree with the generalized sentiment that these guys have been going steadily downhill since TWFM, though - the point where they’d previously been heading steadily uphill.

Album Rating: 4.0

i liked high violet a bunch but i felt that there was already a noticeable drop from boxer, and TWFM seemed to continue in that vein for me.

Album Rating: 4.5

For me, BOXER’s highs are higher than HIGH VIOLET’s by a slim margin, but HIGH VIOLET is consistently better /overall/. Both amazing albums, of course.

Album Rating: 4.0

Yeah I guess for me there are no lows on boxer, consistent throughout, but there's stuff on high violet I don't really care about, with some big highs

Album Rating: 5.0

I frequently sorta rate albums on the best 8 or so songs



My ratings are generally an accumulation of good. Problems arise when there’s a lack of good rather than a few rough spots.



So a 12 song two thirds excellent album (like SWB) is in a strong position for me 💪



I’m definitely not an ‘average quality across the album’ rater - which I know confounds most people here

Album Rating: 4.5

"Calling 33% of an album that you gave 4.5/5 “subpar” seems a little harsh, or the remaining 67% is the best damn album ever created."



this describes swb to a tee for me actually hahaha

Album Rating: 5.0

Yeah, it doesn’t ruin the album for me - I find it really easy to ignore a few average tracks

Album Rating: 5.0

SWB is amazing aside from a few songs yeah. I actually prefer it to TWFM overall, even tho Trouble has like 6 of the band’s best songs.