High Violet (Expanded Edition)

London? Great Album, I like the song “England” ;)

I listened to the whole album and couldn't stop listening to it. As well, I'm up to date on anything that's coming out from them. Pure inspiration!!!

Alligator was a gift a few years back and it took about 3 spins until I was a complete addict. And High Violet...if you like rich, textural music with amazing lyrics, this is it. It takes time to deconstruct and realize it's brilliance, so if you are looking for a quick hook stick to the radio.

I'll be honest, I bought Boxer and High Violet on a whim. After giving them each a listen I almost regretted the purchase. While I didn't hate the songs by any means, I had just purchased a LOT of new music, and didn't come back to them for some time. However, as time went on I found my mind constantly drifting back to these songs. Fake Empire, Bloodbuzz Ohio, and Little Faith in particular. Since I couldn't seem to get them out of my head I went back and went through and gave the albums a second listen, and then a third, and then a fourth. The National has been my undisputed favorite band for over a year now, and I'm looking forward to whatever they put out next. They also made a single for Portal 2 titled "Exile Villify" and I definitely recommend picking that up somewhere as well. Seriously, try them out, and even if you're not sure they're what you're looking for, I think you'll be surprised how much they grow on you.

best complete album of the year. every song is amazing and different from each other. buy the whole album its absolutely worth it if you ever enjoyed any of their music

This is a great CD. You must listen to it in its entirety. I did not like this CD at first but now I cannot get enough, I originally bought the unexpanded edition and now I am going to buy the new tracks off this one. Don't judge the CD by just listening to the most popular song because they are all fantastic. I usually do not write reviews but I went out of my way for this one.

I don't write reviews but had to do this one because of the outstanding music here... Have been listening to High Violet for the last few months. This expanded version is something else - with a much better rendition of Terrible Love than in the original release. I couldnt listen to Terrible Love in that version because of the background static - this one is so much better and probably the way the band intended it to be. Wake Up Your Saints is a masterpiece while Your Were a Kindness is a slow stunner - wonder why these didn't make it in the original release of High Violet. The live versions of Bloodbuzz and Anyone's Ghost are also great - do yourself a favor and download the live versions of these songs and Wake Up Your Saints and Your Were a Kindness. And of course, if you havent listened to High Violet yet, you dont know what you are missing. This is easily The National's best album and elevates them to a different level - I hope they will be able to match this album's brilliance in future albums.

I heard Terrible Love live (on Jimmy Fallon I think) a couple of months before High Violet came out and loved it - couldn't wait for the new album. Got it the day it came out, cranked up Terrible Love...and like so many of you was really disappointed. Not only did it not sound like the live version at all, it didn't sound like the National. So this album was tainted from the start. It eventually grew on me but it took a while. But this extended album with the alternate version of Terrible Love is awesome. The live versions are great, especially England which became my favorite track since they botched Terrible Love. Highly recommend this version of the album.

When I originally listened to the previous release of High Violet, the quality of Terrible Love, as the opening track, seriously skewed my perception of the entire album. I still haven't seemed to keep it in rotation like I did Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, much less Boxer or Alligator. The National's use of drums is one of the key factors to their sound - the alternate version of Terrible Love fills in the gap that's missing on the previous release - I can finally crank up the volume and hear what is surely the band's intended version of the track. The Extended Version adds some great new tracks and some fantastic live versions. This release may just be what I needed to accept High Violet as part of the true National sound that's permeated so many of my "great moments" the past 4 or so years I've been listening to them.

Quite possibly my favorite album of 2010! ...and for an extra $2 you can get this Expanded Edition. I bought this double CD special edition album at my local record shop for $7.99, just to have the bonus material, even though I already own the standard ed on vinyl. The extra tracks are great. The live songs are high quality recordings as well as performances.