The National - Sleep Well Beast
Critic Score
Based on 47 reviews
2017 Ratings: #36 / 940
Year End Rank: #9
User Score
2017 Rank: #82
Liked by 148 people
Sign In to rate and review

CRITIC REVIEWS

100
RIOT

The National have already proven themselves masters of emotionally brimming indie rock; Sleep Well Beast has made them untouchable.

100
The Independent

It still feels like it's holding charms that will unfurl with more listens. It is an incredibly cohesive album though - it operates in its own defined space and has an intense frostiness to, which, for The National, is saying something.

100
Albumism
In the dimness of our times, The National can’t divine miracles to save us from the impact of the hideous absurdity who’s tweeting from the White House. But they can afford us refuge and solidarity, and remind us to stay vigilant and awake. For one day soon, this nightmare will end and we’ll put the beast to bed.
100
A.V. Club

It’s by turns harsh and sweet, downcast and uplifting, angry and resigned. In spite of how quiet it can be, and what the title might instruct, Sleep Well Beast is never restful. In fact, it may be The National’s most agitated album yet.

94
Sputnikmusic

Sleep Well Beast sees The National flourish with candid lyrics and diverse song craft, embodying the band’s continuing evolution and life’s constant change.

91
Pretty Much Amazing

These are National songs, and there are certain expectations; but Sleep Well Beast just finds the band meeting them with a consistency not seen since Boxer.

90
Tiny Mix Tapes
This album isn’t a great work of art, and it’s not an answer, but it does get pretty close to capturing what it means to be a fucked-up person who wants to maintain what’s good in their life despite the feeling that they’ll eventually destroy it one way or another. This is that “midnight, six drinks in” shit, and it’s also that “sober at 5 AM, staring at the ceiling” shit. Few albums today do it this well.
90
The Young Folks

We keep expecting them to hit their creative plateau, and yet, seven albums in, they continue to raise the bar for what their sound is capable of. If this is why we had to wait four years after 2013’s Trouble Will Find Me, it was certainly worth it.

90
Under the Radar

Sleep Well Beast is the sound of one of the best bands of this decade pulling new sounds into their repertoire and making those sounds wholly theirs. It's difficult to deny music this well-crafted and affecting—and perhaps being able to make anything beautiful and affirming in the Trump era is notable. This is the band's best album since Boxer, and will stand as one of the year's best.

90
Gigwise

Sleep Well Beast is the place where the walls between the National’s past demons and their anxiety for the future have violently fractured, provoking It’s a lesson that no matter how dark it can get down there, all our monsters can be put to bed.

85
The 405

To my mind it’s the best National album since Boxer; and for argument’s sake, Devendorf’s drumming hasn’t been this vital for ten years.

83
Consequence of Sound

Sleep Well Beast certainly takes the air out of the hopeful balloon that swelled on Trouble Will Find Me, but if there’s ever been a time to wallow in lush, masculine melancholy, it’s now. This beast isn’t going anywhere.

82
GIGsoup

‘Sleep Well Beast’ is a nuanced, intricate record and one that really flourishes numerous listens in. The National have long been a band to focus on the details but that’s the case here more than ever.

80
The Observer

Nothing on Sleep Well Beast is headline-new. But you are either in singer Matt Berninger’s corner, clinging on as he drills down into his anxieties, or you are wondering why even validated white guys in first-world countries can still eat themselves up inside so insatiably.

80
Mojo
This new material finds them in [a] more experimental mode.
80
God Is in the TV

For anyone with Borderline Personality Disorder, Sleep Well Beast is your anthemic survival guide to the modern world. Dismiss them at your peril. they’re not done yet.

80
Crack Magazine

The National’s back-catalogue steps the line between matter-of-fact realism and existential dread, and Sleep Well Beast succeeds in pushing past the narcissisms and ironies of their previous album Trouble Will Find Me into a more expansive realm of abstract thought.

80
Clash
As with all of the band’s works, ‘Sleep Well Beast’ is an album that rewards repeat listens and unfurls its beauty slowly over time: The National have yet again made an album that’s as brilliant as it is ambitious.
80
Dork
True to his words, ‘Sleep Well Beast’ is an album that will keep fans enamoured for a long time to come.
80
FLOOD Magazine
By keeping it low-key, the stakes on The National’s new album somehow seem even higher.
80
Spill Magazine
If you’re a fan of dark, but melodic rock (which I am), this band is definitely worth checking out.
80
Record Collector

Sleep Well Beast is a more subdued record that shows evidence of their solo side projects having shaped their new direction. Those who know that a new National album often requires multiple listens to fully grow and reveal its charms and nuances will have their patience rewarded, as this is a beautiful piece of work.

80
Q Magazine

Sleep Well Beast is undoubtedly richly textured, but it still demands the listener lean in.

80
The Irish Times

Adding such constituent parts together, Sleep Well Beast is The National firing on all cylinders, battery fully charged, tyres pumped – and with shades on to hide the bruising caused by loss of love.

80
XS Noize
Each The National album seems like their best effort yet and “Sleep Well Beast” continues the streak with the new release being their strongest effort to date. It is an extraordinary album that should please their followers and once again succeed on a larger stage.
80
American Songwriter

For most veteran bands, the beast is complacency. The National slays it here and stays on top of the rock world in the process.

80
Drowned in Sound
The things that make this band a real treasure can all still be found here –the slightly beat-up romanticism, the pessimism of the secret optimist, the big, bold beauty of the melodies, the detailed imperfect perfection of the music. There’s still so much here worth hanging on for.
80
musicOMH

Sleep Well Beast is as sad a record as The National have ever made, and yet it also feels like their most hopeful.

80
PopMatters

Sleep Well Beast, the National's best LP since Boxer, features some of the band's most raucous numbers to date, as well as a newfound use of electronics.

80
AllMusic

Electronics are used for texture and shade, vocal harmonies glide through the mix, pianos anchor a couple of tunes -- all subtle gradients within the National's recognizable formula, but they're enough to give Sleep Well Beast a distinct character.

80
NME
It’s all very 2017. And it’s an album on which Matt Berninger, Aaron and Bryce Dessner, and Bryan and Scott Devendorf stray outside the previously clearly defined lines of what The National sound is.
80
No Ripcord

The changes are slight in Sleep Well Beast, but they still render quite significantly in view of how they have a pressure to upend any expectations.

80
DIY
Putting an open marriage counselling session to tape and adding new textures to their now-signature sound, The National are as vital as ever.
80
Uncut
An aquatic, slow-moving work, rich with melancholic atmosphere.
80
The Skinny
Overall The National have survived their electronic ring of fire relatively unscathed.
80
Rolling Stone
The result is a disarmingly potent album, not just emotionally but politically as well.
80
Pitchfork
They don’t reinvent the band’s image so much as carefully muss its hair a bit, unfasten one more button on its shirt collar. They are still a good dinner-party band, but now they’ve made the album for when the wine starts spilling on the rug, the tablecloth is rumpled, the music has imperceptibly gotten louder, and all those friendly conversations have turned a little too heated.
80
The Guardian

Nuanced, understated, restrained: you could apply the same adjectives to much of the music here, which turns out to be rather more of a mixed blessing.

77
Paste

“Dad Rock” or not, Sleep Well Beast is anything but complacent and it doesn’t skew from the high-caliber rock and roll the band has been producing since day one.

75
The Line of Best Fit

This isn’t The National’s finest album – for my money, that’s still High Violet, or if I’m feeling fruity, Alligator – but there’s much to cherish on Sleep Well Beast. And it really matters that a band as capable of thoughtful, intimate commentary (both personal and political) are as big as The National are now.

70
Spectrum Culture

The majority of the record is a pretty, well-produced National album that should satisfy anyone who’s been missing them, but there are enough shiny new tidbits to hook the otherwise unconverted.

70
Exclaim!

There is, after all, an inherent paradox facing any band at this stage in their career: remain stagnant and you'll risk being labelled tiring; stray too far and you may alienate the substantial following you've amassed over the years. Thankfully, the National have deftly manage that balancing act with Sleep Well Beast, a record that is equal parts familiar and fresh.

70
The Needle Drop

Sleep Well Beast is The National's most vibrant and engaging set of songs in years.

70
Slant Magazine

The National continues to display highly polished craftsmanship of simmering balladry on Sleep Well Beast.

70
Loud and Quiet
‘Sleep Well Beast’ sticks to the idea that if you sit with a National album long enough, it’ll always reel you in – guitar solos and all.
65
Northern Transmissions

There’s no question that The National know how to compose gripping music, but there execution isn’t on point. Sounding a little tired on their latest effort, the band carries all the sonic brilliance without any passion and often without enough ambition.

60
Evening Standard
The Cincinnati quintet are now scattered from Los Angeles to Copenhagen and sound like five men pulling in different directions.
BuffaloStaple
91

This album makes me feel like i'm 90 years old living alone in a small cabin in the middle of nowhere reflecting on everything i've ever been through, ridiculously moving arrangements and melodies accompanied with some crushingly gorgeous writing. Top 5 album of 2017 for sure, should've given it more time when it initially came out honestly.

IEnjoyMusic
100

TANGENT TIME!

I feel like I always set these goals for like my 100th review, my 200th review, even though I’m only at 68. And to be honest, I have no idea why I do it. All it ends up doing is delaying reviews I want to do. I get so caught up in these things that I begin to forget this site’s purpose: just a place to rate and review albums. Nothing more and nothing less.

I’ve also found myself at a bit of a crossroads in terms of how to rate albums. I hate reviewing in a ... read more

SnowyFighter
84

I think the beast has slept

The National is honestly such a consistently good band. I’m surprised out how good all of their albums are up till this point (excluding the debut). This one turned out to be one of my favorites. This is just plain beautiful. Pretty much every track feels so personal and well executed. Is this the most personal album by The National? I’m not sure, but this one feels special in that way. Another thing that really caught my ear with this one specifically ... read more

Jtin
81

the vocals is beautiful

90

Track Ratings:

Nobody Else Will Be There (9.1/10)
Day I Die (10/10)
Walk It Back (8.7/10)
The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness (9.4/10)
Born to Beg (8.3/10)
Turtleneck (9.6/10)
Empire Line (8.5/10)
I'll Still Destroy You (8.7/10)
Guilty Party (8.5/10)
Carin at the Liquor Store (8.4/10)
Dark Side of the Gym (8.7/10)
Sleep Well Beast (9.1/10)

Other Factors:

Vocals: 9.2/10
Instrumentals: 9.6/10
Songwriting: 9/10
Production: 10/10
Cohesion: 9/10

Overall:
90/100

larkwashere
81

short review-
the one thing limiting it from reaching boxer levels of quality is the fact that some of the tracks near the early middle of the tracklist are pretty mindnumbingly boring. however, the last four tracks are actually a truly amazing run. "i'll still destroy you" has this incredible climactic moment that calls back "high violet" for me, and "dark side of the gym" (fav pink floyd album) has this super nice crackly mix. the closer is also super calm and ... read more

Purchasing Sleep Well Beast from Amazon helps support Album of the Year. Or consider a donation?
Become a Donor
Donor badge, no ads + more benefits.
Advertisement
Sign in to comment
6mo
11mo
1y
2y
2y


Added on: May 10, 2017