Today I'm gonna give a penny of thought on Lana Del Rey's albums, Born To Die, and its extended version, Born To Die: Paradise Edition.
BORN TO DIE (THE 2012 ALBUM - LANA DEL REY)
- Released: January 27, 2012
- Genre: Baroque pop, indie pop, trip hop, sadcore
- Label: Interscope, Polydor, Stranger
- Producers: Patrik Berger, Jeff Bhasker, Chris Braide, Emile Haynie, Justin Parker, Rick Nowels, Robopop, Al Shux
- Grade: B
- Pricing: IDR 75,000
- Favorite tracks: Born to Die, Off to the Races
- Thoughts:
These songs are not those which gets stuck in your head on the first play. I have to admit that I once took Diet Mountain Dew as nothing special. Upon listening Blue Jeans, though it may had been helped with its stunning MV, I got gradually attached until the point that I couldn't live a minute without listening to it.
Lana Del Rey's vocal might not be flawless, but it's very complementing on the overall chasm that she's trying to build; darkness, misery, and a devilish life. It's somewhat a refreshment from the power pop cult like Katy Perry's or Lady Gaga's. The music is rich and haunting, forever refusing to go off after several tunes you made. The ambiance built by her voice's allure is authentic that even on the earliest notes you would know it's the self-acclaimed-gangsta-Nancy-Sinatra. The tracks Born to Die, Video Games and Blue Jeans themselves can probably depict the whole album. Nice tunes include Radio which is a semi-biography of Lana's recent fame and This is what makes us girls which is strangely far from being girl-power-ish :|. Plus, don't miss Off to The Races which probably has the most irresistibly lush orchestration with a tinge of Vladimir Nobokov's "Light of my life, fire of my loins" (Lolita, 1955).
Another easter bunny donned less enticingly is The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony intro cut in National Anthem. Actually, we like it when she sings the "Red, white, blue's in the sky/Summer's in the air and baby heaven's in your eyes" but the rest of the song remains shallow. Speaking about shallow, the whole album is eventually lacking of morals shown by the lyrics focusing on money, money love, and insanity (or such). Besides, it's got generally slapdash and poorly elaborated lyrics. Don't buy it? Catch "Money is the reason/we exist" and its cliques. Idealists no likey.
However, we need to agree that Lana is an avid songwriter and that the melodies are so addictive we might not be objective within our early moments of dependence.
VERDICTS: Born to die has a serious issue of dependence effects and beware of its withdrawal syndrome. However if you look again, there are actually flaws that you overlooked of its early subjection of haunting melody. Commercial success, but live shows not guaranteed.
Lana Del Rey's vocal might not be flawless, but it's very complementing on the overall chasm that she's trying to build; darkness, misery, and a devilish life. It's somewhat a refreshment from the power pop cult like Katy Perry's or Lady Gaga's. The music is rich and haunting, forever refusing to go off after several tunes you made. The ambiance built by her voice's allure is authentic that even on the earliest notes you would know it's the self-acclaimed-gangsta-Nancy-Sinatra. The tracks Born to Die, Video Games and Blue Jeans themselves can probably depict the whole album. Nice tunes include Radio which is a semi-biography of Lana's recent fame and This is what makes us girls which is strangely far from being girl-power-ish :|. Plus, don't miss Off to The Races which probably has the most irresistibly lush orchestration with a tinge of Vladimir Nobokov's "Light of my life, fire of my loins" (Lolita, 1955).
Another easter bunny donned less enticingly is The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony intro cut in National Anthem. Actually, we like it when she sings the "Red, white, blue's in the sky/Summer's in the air and baby heaven's in your eyes" but the rest of the song remains shallow. Speaking about shallow, the whole album is eventually lacking of morals shown by the lyrics focusing on money, money love, and insanity (or such). Besides, it's got generally slapdash and poorly elaborated lyrics. Don't buy it? Catch "Money is the reason/we exist" and its cliques. Idealists no likey.
However, we need to agree that Lana is an avid songwriter and that the melodies are so addictive we might not be objective within our early moments of dependence.
VERDICTS: Born to die has a serious issue of dependence effects and beware of its withdrawal syndrome. However if you look again, there are actually flaws that you overlooked of its early subjection of haunting melody. Commercial success, but live shows not guaranteed.
BORN TO DIE: THE PARADISE EDITION (2012 - LANA DEL REY)
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| The extended version of the Dame's long awaited successful commercial debut |
- Released: November 9, 2012
- Genre: Baroque pop, indie pop, trip hop, sadcore
- Label: Interscope, Polydor, Stranger
- Producers: Rick Nowels, Justin Parker, Rick Rubin
- Grade: C+
- Pricing: IDR 115,000
- Favorite tracks: Ride, Yayo
- Thoughts:
I'm not pretty sure about the marketing strategy of this EP release.With the addition of 8 new tracks I'm pretty sure it's decent to release a whole new record instead. It's pretty much a waste if you have purchased its predecessor record AND the new record with the same song PLUS new materials for a price about its triple. It results to people opting to just free-download the EP from the net rather than buying the new one. I just don't think it's fair for people who have bought Born to Die just to see the Paradise Edition releases soon after.................. (sorry it's personal).
Well anyway this EP includes several very nice tracks such as Ride which is weepy but pretty grand with Lana's distinct retro Hollywood demeanor. Yayo got a sick melody, having a psychotic lair that's Lana-ish-ly depressive and noir. Kudos to Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley in Body Electric was also performed nicely. Bel Air is very soundtrack-y but with an identical senseless lyrics. I don't really favor the way it promotes taboo. And, "my pussy tastes like cherry cola" would not be taken into an idealist's liking. Overall it offers the very same ambiance, the feeling of being in a tribute to old noir films.
VERDICT: It's Born to Die with new notes and a wee bit of an improve, just a little bit.
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