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Avg: 4.5 (1643 ratings)
- Date Released: April 12, 2005
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: Beggars Banquet
The sound of aging, regretting and moving on.
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We Say...
This Cincinnati-to-Brooklyn five-piece's third album continues its quest to capture the blue mood of eternal night. Once closer in line to the alt-country scene, the National have since combined Tindersticks, Nick Cave, Lee Hazlewood and Echo and the Bunnymen to achieve incredible musical and compositional growth. There's an epic quality to these songs. Singer Matt Berninger keeps a fatalist watch on that heart of his, and the downcast orchestration of "All the Wine," with its cascading notes of windblown raindrops, and the halting shuffle behind the elliptical melody of "Karen" only heighten the drama of his dark stories and soothing baritone. The voice is a natural come-on, but his tales are far too dejected, too paranoid (the album's opening line is: "I think this place is full of spies") to settle for being just another beautiful loser
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They Say...
The National may sound like a garage band turned down, but there's as much primal energy lurking behind Alligator as in any mop-topped group of city kids with bloodstained Danelectros in a dusty warehouse. While Matt Berninger's lyrics and conversational delivery rely heavily on the kind of literate self-absorption that fuels so much of the indie rock scene today, he never comes off as preachy or unaware that the world would manage just fine without him; rather, he uses metaphor and humor as bullet points for a profound sense of displacement and anger. Out-of-the-blue statements like "f*ck me and make me a drink," from the brooding but lovely "Karen," are effective because the listener is brought into the story slowly, almost amiably, before being led to the plank. Berninger's wry, filthy, and often eloquently sad tales of materialism, sex, and loneliness are augmented by the stellar duel-sibling attack of Aaron Dessner (guitar) and Bryce Dessner (guitar) and Scott Devendorf (guitar/bass) and Bryan Devendorf (drums), who flesh out each track with so many little creative flourishes that it takes a few listens to break them down into palatable portions. There are upbeat moments found within -- "Lit Up" and "Looking for Astronauts" -- but for the most part the National are content with playing the genial fatalists, and while "All the Wine" seems designed to serve as the record's desolate backbone, "Baby, We'll Be Fine," with its quick changes, lush orchestration, and winsome refrain of "I'm so sorry for everything" is, despite an elegiac delivery, Alligator's loneliest track, and like each part of this fine collection of city-weary poetry, it's as brief as it is affecting.
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| 01. |  |
Secret Meeting |
3:44 |
|
| 02. | |
Karen |
3:59 |
|
| 03. | |
Lit Up |
2:55 |
|
| 04. | |
Looking For Astronauts |
3:23 |
|
| 05. | |
Daughters Of The Soho Riots |
3:58 |
|
| 06. | |
Baby, We'll Be Fine |
3:21 |
|
| 07. | |
Friend Of Mine |
3:25 |
|
| 08. | |
Val Jester |
3:00 |
|
| 09. | |
All The Wine |
3:15 |
|
| 10. | |
Abel |
3:36 |
|
| 11. | |
The Geese Of Beverly Road |
4:56 |
|
| 12. | |
City Middle |
4:27 |
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| 13. | |
Mr. November |
3:57 |
|
13 Total Tracks, 47:56 Total Length
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Credits
- Greg Calbi - Mastering // Sarah Phillips - Clarinet // Peter Katis - Vocals // Peter Katis - Producer // Peter Katis - Engineer // Peter Katis - Mixing // Paul Mahajan - Engineer // Padma Newsome - Organ // Padma Newsome - Piano // Padma Newsome - Violin // Padma Newsome - Viola // Padma Newsome - Orchestration // Bryce Dessner - Group Member // Rachael Elliott - Bassoon // Matt Berninger - Group Member // Aaron Dessner - Group Member // Bryan Devendorf - Group Member // Scott Devendorf - Group Member // Nick Lloyd - Organ // Nick Lloyd - Piano // Nick Lloyd - Keyboards // An Lin Bardin - Cello // Carin Besser - Vocals // Nathalie Dessner - Vocals // Mathieu Saura - Photography
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