Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...
 Boxer/The National October 20, 2008
diarmuid hickey (ireland)
Coming across this album was a joy.Having read the postive reviews in music scribes,I decicded to give it a go.Man,it hits you like a sucker punch.Wheeled in by the opening piano chords to "Fake Empire" all the way through to the hymen-like "Gospel" this is an album of serious substance.Songs like "Brainy"a tale of stalker("You know I keep your fingerprints in a pink folder in the middle of my table") and "Apartment Story"("Oh we're so disarming darling, everything we did believe
is diving diving diving diving off the balcony") stand out.This band has succeeded in not only writing great sons,but achieving a groove to them that fits Joy Division in their peak.The relentless drum beats ,coupled with the drilling bass lines make these songs tight.There are no sloppy half-songs.Everything seems written for a higher purpose.
The lyrics,often dealing with depression and love gone wrong,often resemble poetry.Bessinger's baritone voice carries you away effortlessly,enticing an soothing.He sounds like a man resigned to his own shortcomings.
But there are none to be found here.One of the finest albums I have come across in a long time.
 Don't believe the hype October 4, 2008
P. Derry (Cornwall)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought this based on great reviews by other Amazon users and friend recommendations. They had been likened to the Editors by my friends but the songwriting and arrangements of instruments are just too short of the mark. It's ok but nowhere near 5 stars. It's melodic to a point but as a 5 star album it falls short. It has something and I would probably enjoy a listen in 2 years time, but repeated listening leaves me cold. The songs are bland, no risks are taken and it left me flat. 5 Stars it is not.
 I just have to mention the production September 1, 2008
S. D. Pedder-smith (london, uk)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Hmmmm. No one seems to have mentioned the production. It is pretty poor. Really takes the edge off what could be a great album.
It's quite muddy - I've tried listening to it on various devices but it's definitely erm, cheap.
a work of art August 29, 2008
le chic le freak (Scotland)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Boxer is one of the best albums I own. It was lent to me last year by a friend after I complained I wanted some new music to listen to. If you feel the same, you will not go wrong if you buy, borrow or steal this masterpiece by The National.
I'd never heard a single song of theirs before sticking this CD in the player and sitting back. And to be honest, like many reviewers before me, the songs didn't strike me as anything special. The first track, Fake Empire, certainly was immediate, and I found that one mesmerising, at least. It took repeated listens to fully get into and appreciate the rest of the album, and that's the truth. Often when people say 'oh, it took me ages to like this' it means they tried, and they still don't really like it that much. Or it has done in my case! It's easy to give up on something, to throw it aside when you figure there's nothing to gain from persisting - but with Boxer, don't let this happen, don't be fooled. There is immense beauty and honesty to be found in every single song.
Perhaps you'll slip it into the CD player in your car and you're driving so you can't change it and you listen, really listen, and find yourself drawn in. The tales woven here, of love, friendship, life, uncertainty, truth, will seep into your mind and you won't be able to shift them. Mistaken For Strangers, Guest Room, Slow Show, Start A War, Green Gloves. The finely wrought angst and longing will make you take notice, when you're least expecting it. Just the note of a chorus or the tone of Matt Beringer's voice - that's all it takes, and that's all you need. And you'll get out of the car wondering why you never noticed it before.
This was my experience, and actually I'm sorry I won't be able to repeat it, now that I know the album much better. I loved the initial discovery. It's been a slow-burn love affair that's still going strong, and I would highly recommend anybody else who enjoys and appreciates excellent music to be seduced.
Requiem for the passing of youth May 21, 2008
M. G. Wilson (Eastbourne)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The National stand on the outer fringes of youth and with 'Boxer' create a woozy requiem for all that is lost in what Berenger calls "the unmagnificent lives of adults". Darker, denser, more soulful album than 'Alligator', 'Boxer' stands as a magnificent whole, drawing the listener into its soundscapes and its world painted in impressionistic word pictures. Berenger's narrator is always distant, disconnected from the lives he narrates, even when he's so obviously the subject, a distance sometimes enforced, sometimes self-induced, sometimes frankly voyeuristic. Oftentimes he sees what's happening but can't break in to change things to make the happy ending he so earnestly desires.
From the outset there's a strongly percussive sound to 'Boxer' drums to the fore, moving things along with almost military precision. 'Fake Empire' sets out the stall for the album both musically and lyrically as Berenger observes the world around him sleepwalking through life, distracted from reality by life's little pleasures and entertainments. And as he shouts - don't you see what's happening? - the deepest pain comes from knowing that yes, people know just what's happening and have chosen this.
'Racing like a pro', one of two songs featuring Sufjan Stevens on piano looks on in disbelief at an old friend who's sold out' to the corporate world:
"Your mind is racing like a pro, now
oh my god it doesn't mean a lot to you
one time you were a glowing young ruffian
oh my god it was a million years ago"
Elsewhere there are recurring themes of broken relationships, lovers who can't let go, lovers who've brought it on themselves, doomed one night stands. And drunkenness to dull the pain is everywhere, as in 'Apartment Story' he asks his lover - can we shut out the world? 'Gospel' quietly echoes that theme and closes the album in appropriately melancholy mood, with the percussion for once taking a back seat as an old friend asks - can I come over to your place, and can we keep the demons at bay together?
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