The National - First Two Pages... & Laugh Track Album • Page 55

I like them both but I’d lose the first Phoebe song if I had to cut a song.

 

To Steven Hyden's point in his Uproxx review, the songs here that are just the band with no guest vocals or anything are really great

 

I liked the Phoebe songs a good amount. I liked The Alcott too, but it does sound a lot like a Taylor song because of how she writes her backing vocal parts, I get the opinions that say it sticks out, I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing though.

 

just finished. I do feel like it could do with one more uptempo song after YMINYF and I think perhaps that Tropic and Eucalyptus could have switched places but in terms of the actual content of the album I'm absolutely in love. They did it again.

 

Enjoyed my first listen. Eucalyptus still slaps

 

Grease in Your Hair and Ice Machines b2b is just unfair

 

This is kinda mind-boggling to me. I like IAETF enough, but having lived with it for a few years now it feels to me like a National album for people who don't like The National, almost like they were embarrassed to just make the damn album. Even "Not In Kansas" - ostensibly the most Matt Berninger being Matt Berninger song on the album, almost to the point of self-parody - takes time out for other people to just come in and sing a different song altogether.

 

Man who cut onions

 

Ode to Joy is great though and really interesting sonically. I can’t say either of those things about this, still feels like more diminishing returns, their floor is high so some good songs though.

the semi muted response to Ode to Joy when it came out still boggles the mind.

 

Love this album but this Indigo De Souza album is going to be getting a lot more spins than this in the next few weeks.

 

I think IAETF is the band at their best as songwriters and performers, even if the songs they’re writing aren’t in what one would call their favorite style of National.

I think this album is similar in how well it’s executed but different in that it’s more cohesive and less experimental (not as in genre but with all the different things they tried). What remains to be seen is if the restraint comes off as assuredness and this becomes one of their tightest records (pairs nicely next to SWB in that regard) or it comes off as pulling too many punches on its way to being that focused.

I really don’t think it’s a matter of running out of ideas or creative energy. The songs seem deliberately presented this way as a creative choice, not as a “well, this is the best we could come up with and we’re focused on our other individual projects so here’s what you get” sort of way. I think being slim and cohesive in reaction to IAETF’s bloat and many tricks up it’s sleeve was at top of mind for them.

 

Casually name dropping Cowboy Junkies in “Eucalyptus” = yes

 

I like Alien today.

 

Grease In My Hair is solid

 

how is this?

listening now.

 

We need non-National-heads who stumble upon this thread to listen and leave us their review.

 

it’s good

 

i'll be the judge of that

 

Hot take:

This is probably third favorite of theirs. May end up being 2nd with time. This is exactly what I needed.

 

This is the first time since i discovered the band (high violet) that a release was anything less than a 9/10 for me. This is like a 7.5. I agree with the sentiment that nothing reaches the highs of the last album like Quiet Light, Rylan, Light Years.

 

don’t listen to sheriff

 

But yea it’s good

 

It’s ok

 

I think IAETF is a hard one to discuss at face value because there are definitely some things about it that don't work or at least don't work as well as I imagine the band intended them to. So from a like, how good of an ALBUM is it? perspective I can understand why people tend to rank it lower. It's long, the interludes are fluff, the guest vocals are polarizing, there are moments that feel like self parody like you said. But there are imo inarguably several absolutely classic National tracks, some of which are the most vibrant songs they've done since at least TWFM if not all the way back to Alligator. They sound fresh and energized and are just flat out good songs in a bunch of cases.

Some of it's personal taste - as good as they do the sad thing, if I were to top 20 National songs list I'd be heavier on the ones that lean pop. First listen I think this record is just boring as hell, I was on like track 4 the first time I couldn't wait for it to be over so I could put on something else. It's a tighter album than IAETF, but if none of the songs do half as much for me as Rylan or the title track or Quiet Light that only goes so far (for me).

 

IAETF is great but also didn't need two six-minuters b2b. So Far So Fast being the superior of the two in my imo