The National are a great band we should keep discussing.

[u2popmofo]

Clean or dirty?

In seriousness, I went with High Violet instead. That's right, I lied to you all. Lied on the internet! Can you believe such a thing?! Have you ever heard of someone NOT telling the truth on the internet?! I'm undoubtedly the first to do so, and you should all be in awe of my forward thinking and initiative.

 

[iron yuppie]

Strangely enough, Mr. November is my least-listened song on Alligator. Don't get me wrong - it's a tremendous song, but for whatever reason I do not gravitate toward it as often as the other songs from the album.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ibPhhye1xc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpa9LtunUcg

Picked that one out of a crowd, eh? Love both songs.

 

[Jive Turkey]

wait, are you saying they sound the same?

 

[LuckyNumber7]

wait, are you saying they sound the same?

You don't think so? The drum patterns, the drum styles, and even whatever synthy string that is they've got going... if you listen close enough to that.

 

[Jive Turkey]

I suppose there are some similarities. The tempo on Lemonworld is faster though. I thought you meant it was a ripoff. But ya, both good tunes

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Yeah, the tempo is definitely faster.

By no means did I mean ripoff though. But its a clear example of influence in music. Not that that wasn't already entirely obvious that they are hugely influenced by Joy Division/New Order (and particularly Ian Curtis' singing style).

 

[iron yuppie]

I was going to give High Violet, but assumed the first track wouldn't come across very well.

Reading back through this thread, I just realized I had a similar experience but in the opposite direction. I decided to get an album for someone who had expressed interest in the band. I was going to go with Boxer, but settled on High Violet, as one of the tracks on the former would have been far too transparent for our particular relationship.

 

[u2popmofo]

They unfortunately didn't enjoy High Violet anywhere near as much as we all seem to, sorta wished I'd done Boxer instead.

 

[LemonMelon]

I'll never understand why people don't like Little Faith. It's not one of Matt's finer lyrical efforts, but it's a powerhouse musically, with a buildup that reminds me a bit of Weird Fishes' excellent outro.

 

[cobl04]

Agreed, Little Faith is awesome. Cool little intro, great music, evocative vocals that mesh brilliantly with the music and a good chorus. It's far from my favourite on the album, but it's certainly not a bad song.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

I love Little Faith.

 

[bono_212]

Did you guys see that Grateful Dead collaboration some of the band did?

 

[nielsgov]

The ending of Little Faith is gorgeous.

 

[PhilsFan]

I have no issue with the song, but it was the only dud in the setlist when I saw them live. They didn't play it poorly, it just didn't really work. No one got into it.

 

[IWasBored]

It suffers from placement, being between two songs I like so much better. I know there are tons of songs on tons of albums that I never end up liking as much as I probably would had they not been sandwiched between two that make it pale a bit in comparison, or just after/standing between me and a song I absolutely love. Often, I'll figure out its really good after some time, but with that one I'm just not quite there yet. Hell, sometimes Afraid of Everyone suffers from standing between me and Bloodbuzz, and that song is awesome.

 

[LemonMelon]

I know what you mean about getting antsy during an otherwise good song because a great one is about to follow it...I like Runaway a great deal, but it precedes Conversation 16/England, which is my favorite stretch on the album.

As an aside, Runaway was a strange opener when I last saw them. It was a festival gig too, outdoors, with the sun still at least partially out, so it was especially awkward. The rest of the show was brilliant, of course.

 

[bollox]

Ew, Little Faith. First 30 seconds are awesome then it proceeds to go absolutely nowhere.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Ew, the first 30 seconds of Little Faith are the worst 30 seconds!

 

[djerdap]

Nah, they're the best 30 seconds. After that the song really doesn't go anywhere.

High Violet suffers from its tracklisting I think - songs like Sorrow, Little Faith and especially Runaway kill the flow a bit. The pacing is all over the place. Those are not bad songs per se, but I think the album would benefit a lot from You Were a Kindness, which is one of my favourites from that era.

 

[PhilsFan]

You Were a Kindness is filthy good. I know they didn't think it would have fit, but I think it could have.

 

[mikal]

You Were a Kindness is filthy good. I know they didn't think it would have fit, but I think it could have.

Yep. If it had been on the album, it would have ranked very high among the other tracks.

 

[bollox]

Nah, they're the best 30 seconds. After that the song really doesn't go anywhere.

High Violet suffers from its tracklisting I think - songs like Sorrow, Little Faith and especially Runaway kill the flow a bit. The pacing is all over the place. Those are not bad songs per se, but I think the album would benefit a lot from You Were a Kindness, which is one of my favourites from that era.

Yes. Sorrow/Anyone's Ghost/Little Faith is a rough stretch, especially after a great opener like Terrible Love (still think Runaway is great tho).

 

[u2popmofo]

I couldn't remember that You Were a Kindness song, didn't even realize I actually own it until I looked it up.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Yeah, I've heard You Were A Kindness maybe once, if at all.

Little Faith has always been my least favorite song on High Violet. I love all the other tracks.

 

[u2popmofo]

My least fav too. Not bad, just don't find myself wanting to listen to it much.

 

[PhilsFan]

If I'm in charge of that album, you end up with something like this:

1. Anyone's Ghost
2. Lemonworld
3. Afraid of Everyone
4. Little Faith
5. Conversation 16
6. Bloodbuzz Ohio
7. You Were a Kindness
8. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks
9. Runaway
10. England
11. Terrible Love (Single Version)

Sorrow ends up as a B-side or on some Red Hot charity jaunt or something.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Ha, I'm listening to You Were A Kindness and I'm way more familiar with it than I thought I was. I've definitely heard this a few times before. Thanks Spotify!

Also, Sorrow is a dope song. Love the drums, love the lyrics.

 

[PhilsFan]

I don't dislike Sorrow, but it's probably my least favorite on there.

 

[cobl04]

The alt version of Terrible Love sucks. I love the tracklisting as it is; if there's any album of theirs that could benefit from a different tracklist it's Alligator. I remember when I first downloaded it the tracks were in alphabetical order, and I liked that more...