High Violet
by The National

Album
High Violet by The National
Year: 2010
Release date: 2010-05-11
Overall rank: 120th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 1,355 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 2010 (3rd)
Award Top 10 albums of of the 2010s (10th)
Award Top 200 albums of all time (120th)

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The National bestography

High Violet is ranked as the best album by The National.

The National album bestography « Higher ranked
- This album (120th)
High Violet Lower ranked (147th) »
Boxer

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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High Violet track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 85 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Terrible Love
Average Rating: 86 (326 votes)Comments: View 2
2.
Sorrow
Average Rating: 85 (292 votes)Comments: View 2
3.
Anyone's Ghost
Average Rating: 85 (311 votes)Comments: View 1
4.
Little Faith
Average Rating: 81 (265 votes)Comments: View 1
5.
Track pick (860 - 302 votes)
Afraid Of Everyone
Average Rating: 86 (302 votes)Comments: View 1
6.
Track pick (900 - 390 votes)
Bloodbuzz Ohio
Average Rating: 90 (390 votes)Comments: View 5
7.
Lemonworld
Average Rating: 82 (268 votes)Comments: View 2
8.
Runaway
Average Rating: 83 (270 votes)Comments: View 2
9.
Conversation 16
Average Rating: 86 (292 votes)Comments: View 1
10.
Track pick (860 - 294 votes)
England
Average Rating: 86 (294 votes)Comments: View 4
11.
Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks
Average Rating: 85 (265 votes)Comments: View 3

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

High Violet rankings

High Violet rankings summary
Overall rank: 120th | 2010s rank: 10th | 2010 rank: 3rd  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 6 hours ago)

High Violet collection

High Violet ratings

Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 1,355 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 3 ratings for this album.  | Show all 1,355 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
100/100
 !		4 days ago dronjack  Ratings distribution  3540/100
 
90/100
 !		5 days ago willowen9  Ratings distribution  1,05569/100
 
95/100
 !		09/13/2026 03:56 tyleraepps  Ratings distribution  48483/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 81.6/100, a mean average of 79.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.4.


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High Violet favourites

Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite  | Show all 242 members

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Forum mentions

This album has been referenced 164 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From BestEverAlbums 09/12/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5433): By Johnnyo
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Johnnyo () 1. by (1978) 2. by (1971) 3. by (1968) 4. by (1971) 5. by (1975) 6. by (1970) 7. by (1973) 8. by (2004) 9. (2005) 10. by (1991) 11. by (1975) 12. (1991) 13. (1988) 14. by (1969) 15. by (1967) 16. by (1969) 17. (1976) 18. by (1989)…”
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From BestEverAlbums 08/27/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5417): By Tamthebam
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by Tamthebam () 1. by (2017) 2. by (2016) 3. by (2015) 4. by by (2016) 6. by (2015) 7. (2011) 9. by (2016) 10. by (2010) 11. (2015) 12. by (2019) 13. (2012) 14. by (2016) 15. (2016) 17. by (2012) 18. by (2014) 19. by (2010) 20. (2019) 21.…”
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From BestEverAlbums 08/09/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5399): By chisholm.matt
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by ) 1. by (2011) 2. (2014) 3. by (2017) 4. by (2011) 5. (2004) 6. by by (2016) 8. by (2021) 9. by (2015) 10. by (2003) 11. by (2006) 12. by (2005) 13. by (2009) 14. by (2002) 15. by by (2018) 17. by (2014) 18. (2002) 19. by (2004) 20. by…”
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High Violet comments

Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 97 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
Rating:  
95/100
From 06/13/2023 20:10 | #297581
Mkre restrained than Boxer but I think it's for the best. Feels like it's less grand, more mature.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Rating:  
90/100
From 04/05/2023 18:34 | #295804
A consistently great listen with every track having some form of quality too it. The dark and depressing atmosphere they create on here is simply amazing. The music has so much depth and is so full of layers that it seems like a mess when you first hear it but after revisiting it a few times I started to unravel the music a bit more and I was amazed by the beauty I found. The peak of this for me is Runaway which is one of my favourite ever songs by the National. They utilise such a diverse array of instrumentation on here as well which leads to the sound possessing a grand and important feel to it that I love. Every single instrument intelligently adds to the soundscape as well which results in this phenomenal concoction that is so pleasing to my ears. Vocally, it is very strong and the lyrics are interesting and fun to explore. Overall, this is the National's most consistent release and I absolutely love the style they explore on this record as they do it in such a brilliant way which makes for an elite level album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Rating:  
85/100
From 01/17/2023 10:28 | #292960
The album that proved that The National were still going to have importance in a new decade and so it has proved. High Violet shows that a new direction of introspection and different instrumentation allows the band to connect with our emotions once more.
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Rating:  
100/100
From 10/29/2022 13:28 | #290885
Album Rating: 88.09
(969/11)


1.Terrible Love. 89
2.Sorrow. 93
3.Anyone's Ghost. 86
4.Little Faith. 85
5.Afraid Of Everyone. 96
6.Bloodbuzz Ohio. 85
7.Lemonworld. 71
8.Runaway. 93
9.Conversation 16. 95
10.England. 79
11.Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks. 97 (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (0 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
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Rating:  
80/100
From 08/31/2022 03:47 | #289152
Solid album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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