All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

musicOMH.com

The National were worried that they wouldn't be able to follow up Alligator, that fans would be disappointed. Boxer proves their fears ungrounded - and that Alligator was no one classic wonder.

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100

Stylus Magazine

Boxer is a National album through and through but blessed with a restraint and self-assuredness of a band on top of its game, resulting in a startling masterpiece on par with Turn on the Bright Lights, Bows & Arrows, or any other austere tribute to urban alienation you care to name.

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100

The Onion (A.V. Club)

To those with time for only a passing glance, it could conceivably come across as dull, but a close look at monumental songs like "Start A War" and the scathingly sad, funny "Slow Show" will reveal bleak, black diamonds—precious, glimmering, and lasting.

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100

Slant Magazine

Boxer works best as a mood piece; it's also the first National release to work as a whole, and it's the best album I've heard so far this year.

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100

Delusions of Adequacy

To be succinct and frank, Boxer is superb. Not only did The National create a startling, astonishing work of genius but they also crafted an album that is one beautiful piece of art.

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Filter

While Boxer lacks a knockout punch like last album’s 13th round uppercut “Mr. November,” all scorecards still have the National besting David Berman to remain indie rock’s “Great White Mope.”

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No Ripcord

With The Boxer, The National has not only crafted a contender for Album of the Year.

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Drowned In Sound

It is the subtle orchestral aspect to the record that stands out, with the same washed arrangements that Grizzly Bear and close cohorts Clogs manage to incorporate so casually.

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NOW Magazine

A huge improvement over Alligator, and likely to launch the band into a new phase.

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Sputnikmusic

If Alligator was The National's first masterpiece then Boxer is surely their second, a 12-song journey that thoroughly exemplifies everything that a modern rock band should be capable of.

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PopMatters

This album, like all great albums, somehow transcends all the factors that makes it work, absorbs them in a seamless whole and breaks your heart in the process.

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The Phoenix

Like a perfectly attired woman, the National are fleetingly alluring, never gaudy, subtly enchanting.

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Pitchfork

Like those on their last album, these songs reveal themselves gradually but surely, building to the inevitable moment when they hit you in the gut. It's the rare album that gives back whatever you put into it.

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cokemachineglow

If there is one thing that might be wrong with this album -- besides an uneventful last third -- is that the album might be too tailor-made for music critics worn out by music fatigue, hype fatigue, and irony fatigue.

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Lost At Sea

Boxer is another accomplishment for The National; more understated than Alligator, yet just as alluring, and right on target.

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Dot Music

It gathers momentum slowly, making for a brew so quietly potent and pulsating with repressed energy you're almost afraid to leave the room while it's playing in case it explodes messily all over the walls.

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Alternative Press

Sometimes, the hype is right. [Jul 2007, p.170]

Spin

High drama of the blunt, uncliched sort unheard since the Afghan Whigs' '90s heyday. [Jun 2007, p.94]

Uncut

The core of the album lies in a cluster of gorgeously restrained, piercingly evocative pieces built mostly from acoustic instruments. [Jun 2007, p.94]

Mojo

After a few spins its beautifully arranged songs get scratched into your soul. [Jun 2007, p.100]

All Music Guide

As focused as it is ambitious, Boxeris riveting.

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Dusted Magazine

Their exploration of the genre's boundaries is so lithe and confident, and their studied aloofness here so convincing, that the familiarity comes across as authenticity and the restless impulse for expansion feels, at times, transcendent.

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Billboard

Matt Berninger's murmuring, stream-of-conscious narratives are delivered with convincing melodrama, with few clunkers. [26 May 2007]

Rolling Stone

The songs are subtler, statelier, with Matt Berninger's baritone exuding lonesome warmth. [31 May 2007, p.93]

Hartford Courant

The National hews too closely to established formula on "Boxer," content to revisit previously explored territory without expanding its sound.

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Under The Radar

The record is slightly less New Wave-y than its predecessor with many of the tracks taking on a more organic polish. [#17, p.86]

The New York Times

There are verbal nuggets throughout the album... but it’s not the antihero sentiments that make the songs memorable; it’s the methodical yet obsessive patterns that frame them.

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New Musical Express

A set of heartbreak hymns to sob come curfew time.

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The Guardian

In the absence of specific moments of revelation, the general melancholy becomes wearing.

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Paste Magazine

Here, most gestures remain a bit too consciously panoramic—elegant enough for comfort but often not chancy enough to be breathtaking.

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Playlouder

A patchy, flawed effort.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 199 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jonny R. gave it a9:
It seems as though the National intentionally leave off some of their best material from their albums. “Boxer” proves this assertion all too well. ‘Squalor Victoria’ and ‘Racing Like A Pro’ are the only misses, as the rest of the album proves to be a knockout. The band chose to cut ‘Santa Clara’ and ‘Blank Slate’. Both songs are available on their Virginia EP and perhaps didn’t belong on “Boxer”; however, ‘Squalor Victoria’ and ‘Racing Like A Pro’ didn’t belong either. A great album.

Jon B. gave it a10:
Yes, I like this album even more than Radiohead's Rainbows. Best album of the year.

Calvin D. gave it a3:
no bad songs on this one, but in a whole, it's just very boring. some people may refer to this as "cohesive"...every song's structure is the same, and since they're alway building up on one single line, it's time to hit the forward button after 2.5 minutes into each song. mistaken for strangers is a good example of how good a song can start and how boring it can become. the drumming is to loud the whole record through too.

Jackpot gave it an8:
This is a workmanlike performance by The National. There isn't anything here that blows my mind, but the majestic closer, "Gospel," comes close; it's like a darker version of "Boy with the Arab Strap"-era Belle & Sebastian.

Bob D. gave it a10:
mad mad good. after being introduced by "mistaken for strangers," i used to think they're were too many slow songs on here. but now i relish this album for its somber mood. a slow grower, but highly recommended.

John D. gave it a9:
Its a thing of beauty, a gorgeous sonnet in a storm of denial, a feeling, a mood beyond the crowd.

Niall S gave it a10:
The Real album of the year!

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