High Violet

Instrumentally there’s some cool stuff but I don’t care for the songs. They’re all slow and kind of monotonous.

I’m a casual fan of the singles so I knew Bloodbuzz, but not the rest. I really like their sound.

The National are a natural class with The Antlers, Wilco, Band of Horses, and other bafflingly popular hipster artists I never got into. Oh, and Sufjan, who's in the background on one of these tracks. Here is their one and only chance to win me over!!

Nah, they didn't do it. If only they could convey one (1) emotion when singing. Otherwise they're fine. Keep 'em in the Grey's Anatomy background.

Highlights: 'Sorrow', 'Afraid of Everyone'

A bit boring, and not even the safe kind of boring. I would have given it a 3 if it was somewhat pleasant to listen to, but I can't even remember a single song from it

fine

Very nice and cozy.

I know about the National cause Aaron Dessner worked with Taylor Swift during her indie-folk era, but this is the first time I've listened to his band. I realize this kind of music is not for me. I don't hear a lot of melodies, hooks and chord changes, so it's not personally captivating. It's as if the music is just settling, like soda after the fizzle. (2.5-3)

Back in 2008, I bought tickets to see R.E.M., Modest Mouse, and the National. I was mainly interested in Modest Mouse, but I knew a couple R.E.M. and National songs, so I was fairly excited for all three. It turns out the National were by far the best band on stage that night, which ignited an obsession that lasted a few years.

High Violet isn’t my favourite National album, but it is up near the top. Probably top 3 at least. And it has some of my favourite National songs on it like Lemonworld and Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks. I still think Alligator or Boxer would have been a better pick for this list.

High Violet has been in my collection for a couple of years - I bought it whilst on my travels on a complete whim, as similarly to the Pixies record, The National were a band I'd seen being praised widely and that had been recommended to me incessantly by friends and pub-goers alike.

When I got home from my staycation, I gave it a spin and ultimately was left wishing I'd asked the cashier for a receipt. I thought it was moribund and one of the most thoroughly dull albums I'd ever heard, so it sat on my shelves collecting dust until fairly recently. From what I can remember, I'd had a bit of a crap day and wanted to see if an album that I'd dismissed as being too morose for me would reveal itself further whilst I was in a more compatible headspace. In some ways, it did provide a suitable soundtrack for my woes, but I still wouldn't be able to reel off too many discernible, standout features about it.

Vocally, Matt Berninger has that somewhat "apathetic" style which doesn't allow his vocal passages or lyrics to really endear themselves to me. The music very much follows a similar vein - the album kind of just floats around and fills a hole whilst it's on, without being particularly memorable. High Violet will most likely be joining my clearout pile and collecting copious amounts of dust again for the foreseeable future.

I really really can’t stand the National; pretentious morbidity, want-to-be dark poets. Godawful.

I kind of go back and forth on The National. Berninger has an excellent baritone voice, but sometimes it doesn't sit 100% right with me; it's almost too good. Overall, I like this though; it's at least a strong three, and there are days I'd give it a four.

Honestly, it sounds like a more monotone version of Interpol's stuff from 5 years before. This doesn't shatter my earth but it's a solidly ok album... Very whelming.

It's so fucking dull. It's just some sad-sack sounding bloke mumbling into a microphone. Every song sounds the same, and they all bleed into one another.

I actually like a depressing album if it invokes some kind of feeling in me, but this sounds like he's struggling to pull himself up from the sofa. There's absolutely zero edges to this, it's just one monotonous, boring slump of an album.

didn't catch me

First track I wasn’t overly fussed on this. I found the vocals a bit boring. By the third song though I was starting to really enjoy it. I don’t know if it was just a case where I needed a couple of songs for them to click with me. Overall a great album I’ll definitely be keeping it saved to revisit later.

Top Tracks - Runaway and England

Warm, cozy-toned but drivenly-paced indie rock album filled with some of the most cryptic and abstract lyrics juxtaposed with much more straightforward lines

More of a consistent overall-feeling album than a highs-and-lows one, although I was familiar with Bloodbuzz Ohio before I listened to the album and it's still a standout

Surprisingly good

jako dobro! najdraža stvar i dalje lemonworld, al i ostale su jako dobre

A little bit for nostalgia, but still a masterpiece

Este grupo me gusta, no me entusiasma, pero me agrada escucharlo y siempre espero sus discos. Este ya lo había oído y solo tenía en favoritos Bloodbuzz Ohio. Me he quedado igual, tienen discos mejores que este.