Alligator (studio album) by The National

Alligator by The National
Year: 2005
Release date: 2005-04-12
Overall rank: 438th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 707 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 2005 (7th)
Award Top 100 albums of the 2000s (74th)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (438th)
Product Details
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The National bestography

Alligator is ranked 4th best out of 16 albums by The National on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by The National is High Violet which is ranked number 130 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 11,700.

The National album bestography « Higher ranked (295th) This album (438th) Lower ranked (631st) »
Trouble Will Find MeAlligatorSleep Well Beast

Upcoming concerts

Mar
28
Thu
20:30
*SOLD OUT* Beyond the Gate featuring Colin Stetson @ Bohemian National Cemetery
Bohemian Nat'l Cemetery Cathedral, Chicago, United States. United States
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Apr
04
Thu
00:00
National Symphony Orchestra
Kennedy Center - Concert Hall, Washington, United States. United States
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Apr
04
Thu
19:00
National Symphony Orchestra
Kennedy Center - Concert Hall, Washington, United States. United States
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Alligator track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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1.
Track pick
Rating: 87 (187 votes)Comments: 1
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2.
Rating: 83 (153 votes)Comments: 2
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3.
Rating: 84 (141 votes)Comments: 1
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7.
Rating: 80 (130 votes)Comments: 1
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8.
Rating: 77 (128 votes)Comments: 1
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9.
Rating: 84 (140 votes)Comments: 1
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10.
Track pick
Rating: 86 (174 votes)Comments: 1
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12.
Rating: 81 (131 votes)Comments: 2
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13.
Track pick
Rating: 89 (218 votes)Comments: 1
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Track pick Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Alligator rankings

Alligator collection

Alligator ratings

Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 707 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 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 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 707 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 Report rating
02/29/2024 16:36 DriftingOrpheus  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 62081/100
 
60/100
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02/04/2024 19:50 asimpkins  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,98668/100
 
80/100
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01/20/2024 04:23 imacgill  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,51080/100
 
90/100
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01/12/2024 02:30 Cotopaxi  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 18389/100
 
80/100
 Report rating
01/01/2024 20:10 Cheboygan74  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,14851/100

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 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 80.1/100, a mean average of 78.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 80.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.4.

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Alligator comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 30 comments |
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Rating:  
75/100
From 08/18/2023 01:15
Big National fan and this was my National Ah-Huh moment.Even though you could mount an argument for ‘Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers’, in reality ‘Alligator’ would begin one of modern music’s great consecutive album run for quality: ‘Aligator’ [2005] into ‘Boxer [2007] into ‘High Violet’[2010] into ‘Trouble Will Find Me’ [2013]. Think about that for a minute ? Ridiculous and hardly seems fair
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Rating:  
100/100
From 11/02/2022 19:25
Album Rating: 88.15
(1,146/13)

1. Secret Meeting. 89
2.Karen. 90
3.Lit Up. 91
4.Looking For Astronauts. 78
5.Daughters Of The Soho Riots. 77
6.Baby, We'll Be Fine. 77
7.Friend Of Mine. 98
8.Val Jester. 87
9.All The Wine. 88
10.Abel. 86
11.The Geese Of Beverly Road. 99
12.City Middle. 90
13.Mr. November. 98
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/19/2022 23:45
An album that starts off very strongly but then takes a dip in quality in the middle and then redeems itself with some of the closing tracks. Vocally, it is one of my favourite performances on a National album with it being more husky and masculine. The lyrics that accompany this are also very strong and some of the best writing the group has done is on the opening track which is my favourite song. It isn't the only example of great lyricism on this record though as there is many more moments which are great. The atmosphere and vibe they are going for on here is very well maintained and that creates one of the groups most cohesive and complete listens. However, those few songs in the middle which dip in terms of writing and musically just hold this album back for me. Overall, I love this record and think it is a contender with The Boxer to be their best record in my opinion.
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Rating:  
75/100
From 01/04/2022 14:08
I came to this band late - 2019. Starting with Boxer and High Violet. Saw them live that year. This album although earlier than those albums is no less impressive
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 09/08/2020 22:44
Indie rockers The National has made a half-dozen albums that easily could have made my top 100 of all time list. That's how consistently great they've been over the past twenty years. Alligator is their best, as it's the album that best utilizes Matt Berninger's smoky baritone and often ambiguous lyrical style. The album's opener and best song, “Secret Meeting,” tells a quintessential introvert's narrative of wanting to become invisible to avoid an awkward social encounter. “Didn’t anybody tell you how to gracefully disappear in a room?” Berninger wonders over Bryan Devendorf’s sparse drum pattern before feigning an apology both plausible and absurd: “I’m sorry I missed you / I had a secret meeting in the basement of my brain.” If you can relate, you understand what it's like both craving social connection and resorting to the most desperate of tactics to avoid it.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 07/08/2017 21:34
Lovely. They refined their craft to this point. Lyrically, it's as strong as Boxer or High Violet - they get the slight edge for more significance musically.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 02/23/2017 01:33
I'm a bit surprised I like this more on first impressions than Boxer, but I will need to wait it out to see if it is truly better.

Favorite Track: Mr. November
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
From 04/01/2016 18:48
I like every track on here!

B+
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 12/12/2015 04:55
This is definitely their magnum opus.
Best lyrics I heard in a 2005 release.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 08/05/2015 05:16
Great record!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)

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