First Two Pages Of Frankenstein
by The National

From HoldenM TOP 100 COMMENTER 04/28/2023 06:28 | #296454 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

I had quite a bit of trepidation going into FTPoF. The singles were a bit mixed for me, and even my favorite of the bunch ("Your Mind Is Not Your Friend") probably wouldn't crack my top 15 or 20 National songs. Not to mentoin the early reception for this one has been somewhat tepid. So, I'm happy to report that I'm quite won over by this. FTPoF is fueled by a nakedness and fragility that we haven't really seen before from the band. It's far less hopeless and angry than is typical for The National. It's a warm and longing record whose stakes are so much more introspective--complemented further by how comparatively stripped down this one is, although it's not without its louder moments. Yeah, it's sardonic and searching as you might expect, but also loaded with sentimentality.

It's taken a few listens, the songs released in the lead-up are much easier to enjoy in context with the album, and I have yet to really find the ceiling, but I love this record. FTPoF may very well be the weakest record the band has made in about 20 years, but that mainly speaks to the consistency and high quality of The National's work up to this point.

I, like a lot of others, came into this album with a lot of apprehension. The National have gradually become a candidate for my favourite band over the years, but none of the singles really hit me particularly hard. Each one feeling like something they’d done better in the past.

I’m very happy to say that the album lives up to their reputation, being a much more gentle album representative of what Matt appears to have been going through these last few years. The singles themselves find a home on the album, being integral to the gentle, slow flow that the album finds - one which probably won’t be to everybody’s tastes.

In all, I’m really enjoying the album, and while I think it slumps somewhat in the 3rd quarter, most of it is a really enjoyable, tender ride that I’m sure will sit comfortably in my record collection very soon.

Was expecting it to be average after the last two national albums but this is brilliant, sounds perfect having a beer with it playing on vinyl so chilling , aoty for me so far

First listen and loving it. A real return to form for one of my favourite bands.

I wasn’t really a fan of the last two studio albums and although this isn’t up there with boxer or high violet, it’s on a par with alligator and that’s not bad company to keep. Album of the year so far

I like big expensive sounding albums with A-star features so this was a real box ticker for me !! Feel it could be a little sharper in places after a first listen but this doesn’t stop it being another treat from The National !!