The National - First Two Pages... & Laugh Track Album • Page 36

You Had Your Soul With You. Top 15. Just beautiful.

 

Quiet Light

 

I'll Still Destroy You, without a doubt

 

I think “Where is Her Head” was the best version of what they were going for on the last record, I really love that one.

 

Chronologically? I think probably "Not In Kansas", but as an overall album I think Sleep Well Best is stronger than I Am Easy To Find, but IAETF has some incredibly high highs.

 

quiet light still floors me, just a perfectly gorgeous and devastating song

 

i think it absolutely sucks

 

did someone quote me? I got a notification but don't see anything?

 

I almost forgot that Not In Kansas is almost 7:00 lmao. I remember it feeling long, but jesus.

 

The first song that came to mind was I'll Still Destroy You, although Light Years floors me in sort of a different way

 

And I believe Matt Berninger mentioned that it was even longer at one point and got trimmed down. Think about what could have been!!!

 

The follow-up to the MoMA "Sorrow" performance.

 

I went to the short film screening/IAETF full album concert they did pre-album release, so the last time I was floored by a ‘new National single’ was hearing Quiet Light live for the first time.

I don’t like the intro effects and the verse melody of You Had Your Soul with You. It gives me a visceral teeth-grinding/nails on chalkboard feeling. The bridge is beautiful though.

 

my hot take is not in kansas isn't great

 

Agreed

 

I feel personally betrayed.

 

“so far so fast” is the most recent national song to hurt my feelings

 

The Pull of You, Not in Kansas and Light Years

 

Not in Kansas feels like someone parodying the national

 

Haha. Accurate re: Kansas. Hadn't thought about it that way.

 

The line about REM, lol yeah I get that

 

I agree with this, and yet I still absolutely love the song.

Objectively I see all of the complaints people have but subjectively it just hits all of my buttons for The National and I love it. I genuinely would love to hear the ridiculous 15-minute version even though I can see why a lot of people think it's already 7 minutes too long as it is haha

 

I Am Easy to Find (the song)

the synth dropping out for the backing vocals around 3:30 might be literally number 1 moment in the whole discog for me, amazing song

 

I feel like maybe songs about relationships just aren’t my jam that much anymore. If i think about my favorite lyrics-based bands, the songs aren’t often about family or significant others or w/e these days. So it’s not the National’s fault, but it does represent a forking of the path on my long relationship with this band.

 

I feel torn on this one a bit. I love Matt's lyrics, and how rambling and verbose he's being (and how vivid they are). And the song itself is nice and it's pretty catchy and I generally like it. But, there's just something off about the production or something to me in these newer songs (including Weird Goodbyes); it just sounds so poppy or something, like the band has been neutered to some degree, it's hard for me to pinpoint exactly what it is but someone else in the thread mentioned "soft rock" and I get that. It's like something you'd hear in Old Navy or something, the thing that really saves it from being super generic sounding is Matt's weird idiosyncratic lyrics, that's about it. Other than that, it sounds like it could be any other band making this music. Idk, I feel like along the way Aaron's production career for other artists has bled into The National and they don't sound like a unique band anymore to me. Also for what it's worth, I agree it's great to hear Bryan's drums a bit more but it still doesn't just sound like drums, there's still other shit in there and the real drums still sound buried or something.