Laugh Track
by The National
The National bestography
Laugh Track is ranked 9th best out of 18 albums by The National on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by The National is High Violet which is ranked number 122 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 10,494.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Laugh Track on YouTube
Laugh Track track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Laugh Track rankings
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Laugh Track ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
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).
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Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 96 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03/30/2026 12:25 | Exist-en-ciel | 9,737 | 70/100 | |
| 03/25/2026 19:58 | patmull | 568 | 75/100 | |
| 02/25/2026 12:58 | cicadelic | 12,822 | 73/100 | |
| 02/23/2026 20:22 | Map | 501 | 81/100 | |
| 12/29/2025 16:54 | mutant | 1,671 | 56/100 |
Rating metrics:
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 8% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.0/100, a mean average of 74.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 75.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 11.3.
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Laugh Track comments
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Album Rating: 80.25
(963/12)
18.09.2023
The National (US): Laugh Track
1.Alphabet City 77
2.Deep End (Paul's In Pieces) 75
3.Weird Goodbyes 84
4.Turn Off The House 76
5.Dreaming 79
6.Laugh Track 70
7.Space Invader 83
8.Hornets 81
9.Coat On A Hook 81
10.Tour Manager 78
11.Crumble 85
12.Smoke Detector 94
A welcome second release this year from arguably one of the best current bands… I’m digging ‘Laugh Track’ so far, it’s like the feistier little brother to ‘First Two Pages of Frankenstein’ XD
Much more colourful and varied than it's companion album, and their best release since 2017's Sleep Well Beast.
HoldenM 09/18/2023 05:28 | #299152
Look, I love First Two Pages of Frankenstein. It's a record that took time for me to appreciate, but that I love like pretty much all of The National's discography. But Laugh Track? The band is COOKING.
Where the band's songs from High Violet on became bedded in moody textures, and even their smallest songs could not help being cinematic, Laugh Track is their least precious collection of songs in the best way possible. The immediacy and warmth recalls Alligator or Boxer, although the refined performances are more akin to the latter. There's an easiness to Laugh Track that The National has only shown off sporadically, but that drives this record, going their hardest this consistently for the first time in over a decade. Hell, "Smoke Detector" is the first genuinely upbeat closer the band has put on an album since "Mr. November." There's still dense instrumentation, but all of it sits perfectly together--Aaron Dessner really going for the most tasteful aesthetic possible. Lyrically, there's a longing which is far less forlorn, but no less poignant. Matt Berninger still has it. I'll still need some time to really dig in there.
But on the whole, if you've found The National to be a bit too slow and sleepy the last few albums, Laugh Track is a formidable and firm rebuttal.
lleon79 09/18/2023 04:35 | #299151
What a turnaround. I wasn't that much into "First Two Pages of Frankenstein", but I dig this waaaaaaaay much more.
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