Conversation 16 is probably in my top 5 National songs Terrible Love I’ve always been kinda indifferent about Sorrow is good Little Faith is one of the better songs on that album
Yeah, it’s the “Fireproof”/“Sea of Love”/“Heavenfaced” stretch for me. I don’t really dislike any of those songs, but I don’t find them super interesting or notable either. I adore the closing four, though, wouldn’t cut any of those.
I Should Live in Salt is a great opener and indicator that TWFM isn’t going to sound quite as punchy and immediate as what came before it.
every song on trouble will find me is so good and justifies its position there. “heavenfaced” has such a beautiful coda
Def being obnoxiously harsh but I’ve always heard Fireproof as sounding like the National v1 parodying themselves the way Weird Goodbyes sounds like the National v2 parodying themselves
I would simply not cut anything from trouble Will Find Me because it's their best album. Gun to my head, I suppose I would pick "Sea of Love" just because it's the only one I can't immediately recall right now, but when I listen to that album, everything falls into its perfect little place. Boxer is special in a scrappy way even if it isn't my favorite, but TWFM is pretty easily their opus imo.
Sea of Love, Cap, and Graceless are the best on that record. Demons, Salt, Hard to Find are all cool too. rest are whatever for me.
Trouble is probably fourth in my rankings. Used to be my number 1, but I've found myself more drawn to other National records over the years.
Let’s refocus this thread with some non-controversial statements that we can all agree on. 1. It is NOT ok to gatekeep new fans who only like the National because of their Taylor Swift collabs. 2. It is OK and highly encouraged to gatekeep all fans post-2011 who only like the National because of High Violet. 3. Bryan is the one who wrote and chose the electronic drums and samples on Tropic Morning News. We should respect that and stop hating on the drums. 4. By Bryan, I of course mean B.R.Y.A.N., the Bad Replacement Young Android National. Bryan is gone. There is only B.R.Y.A.N. now. Accept or be destroyed. Resistance is futile. 5. Yes. I Need My Girl is one of the band’s most popular songs. It is ALSO a very good song. 6. Unless I Need My Girl is that one that starts “Leave your home, change your name”, then, actually, you’re right that it is really bad. 7. No matter what era of the band is your favorite or what disagreements we might have over songs, it’s important to remember that we are all fans of the National and we have more in common than we have not in common and we all have the same goal: for Matt to learn the lyrics and timing to All the Wine so they can get through a full performance of it with stopping and restarting.