Born To Die

If you haven't heard of Lana Del Rey by now, then you've probably just crawled out from under a rock (we have a black President now, by the way...) Lana has garnered a pretty loyal fan base over the last year following a string of popular Youtube music vids from her EP. She has also come to the attention of many others (myself included) more recently following an SNL performance that garnered much negative attention, including tweets from the likes of has-been actresses Juliette Lewis and Eliza Dushku. Everyone waited with anticipation for the release of this album to see if she could put the money where her pouty mouth is. And I think she more than paid off! The album is a love-letter to fans of trip-hop and lushly orchestrated ballads. Lana is a vocal breath of fresh air, eschewing the auto-tune that is the current bane of the music industry. And the tracks are varied enough to not get stale, and as I mentioned, well orchestrated and multi-layered. It's a sonic delight that compels multiple play-throughs. It's been awhile since an album has dominated my player as much as this one has. I've listened to it nearly exclusively over the past week, and even the few tracks that I didn't like at first have become favorites! The album opens with the four songs that comprised her EP from 2011. BORN TO DIE, OFF TO THE RACES, BLUE JEANS, and VIDEO GAMES. To me, these were all fresh as I never heard the EP before. OFF TO THE RACES is an album favorite of mine, and is frankly the reason I finally decided to download the entire album. VIDEO GAMES, of course, is the song she will be forever identified with (until she tops it, anyway). And it is indeed a fantastic and dark ballad, though I think the album boasts plenty of songs to rival it. Following this is a handful of tracks updated from her previous recording sessions, and some new tracks. Highlights include more trip hop goodness with DIET MOUNTAIN DEW, a Fiona Apple-esque ballad MILLION DOLLAR MAN, and the swirling (though profane) RADIO. Through multiple listens, and putting pieces together from her interviews and biography, it becomes clear this album is meant as a snapshot of her teen and young adult years. We see two sides of Lana here, singing about partying with her girlfriends on tracks like WHAT MAKES US GIRLS and in full Jersey Girl Twang with NATIONAL ANTHEM ("Gawd, yeh so hansum..."), and then covering more personal ground as the fragile, lovelorn girl who has loved and lost and fears being used, in tracks like the now infamous VIDEO GAMES and MILLION DOLLAR MAN. Between these two extremes lay tales of how girls are used as sex objects ... stories of drinking, drugs, and the many other things teens do today to cope with their burgeoning adulthood. Many of her critics brutalized her for their misconception of her as being a shallow artist singing about partying and nothing much else. But there is much more depth here than appears at first glance. I caught it at the end of the last song - Lana laments how she was taken away from her best friends in WHAT MAKES US GIRLS: "They were the only friends I ever had / We got into trouble and when stuff got bad / I got sent away, I was waving on the train platform / Crying 'cause I know I'm never coming back." Whatever happened during her youth, it ended with her parents sending her to Boarding school - and with this line, the entire album comes into focus. It's a lament, a funeral dirge for her lost youth and the friends and loves she was forced to leave behind. Which leads to the excellent (and seemingly overlooked) album cover. Lana appears against a mostly clear blue sky with tightly coiffed hair and a white collared shirt, buttoned all the way up to the neck - an image that screams conservative! She's all grown up now. But then there's that red bra ghosting through - a reminder that she still retains that wild, party girl somewhere inside her. You can take the girl out of the party scene, but you can't take away the party girl! What a fantastically appropriate image for the album! In short, Lana rode into town this year amidst a sea of insensitive critics who were more obsessed with her background and the size of her lips than her actual music. Can anyone remember the last time a male artist was chastised for being fake or too handsome!? Who was the last male artist who was declared a manufactured product of the music industry!? It's a shame that in our current day and age, we still can't give women a fair shake. Well, fortunately miss Del Rey has more than proven herself, and I look forward to more to come from her in the future!

I am a Lana del Rey BELIEVER despite the SNL mishap. I love her soulful, sultry voice and the interesting, unique song compilation. She tends to have certain themes repeating throughout her songs, but they do not get boring or stale. Some people find her music a bit depressing or not lively enough, but I disagree. I have probably played this CD on repeat over 100 times. I love every song except "Carmen" - find that one kind of odd and too slow for my tastes, but in particular I have gravitated towards: 1. Blue Jeans - This is the song that got me hooked on Lana in the first place. I liked the range of her voice, and the unexpected but totally perfect "rap" in the verse. 2. Off to the Races - I absolutely hated the verse when it first played, but once the chorus came on, I started to tolerate and then really liked the verse. The chorus is amazingly catchy, chaotic, and fun. 3. Summertime Sadness - There is usually one song besides the initial radio hits that become popular with good artists. I honestly would not have pegged this one to be it. I thought "Dark Paradise" or "Diet Mountain Dew" would have been more popular, but I understand why people like this one. The verse is cool and swingy, and I eagerly await the bridge (cause it is SO FUN to sing) every time this song plays. 4. Radio - I like the sweet sounding melody paired with the expletives. It was unexpected and kind of fun. Though it sucked that the first time I had this playing, I was in my car, next to a minivan with kids in it. Definitely got some evil eyes from the lady driving the van... sorry, lady. I had NO idea! 5. This Is What Makes Us Girls - This song is completely on point. It's unapologetic in pointing out that us girls tend to kind of leave each other to the wayside in the pursuit of romance, but that it's a "curse." I see it as a frank assessment, but something that we can improve on! 6. Dark Paradise - Lyrics are super relatable. This is definitely something you listen to when you've just gone through a bad breakup. I like that her songs have clear situations in which they apply but are still good to listen to outside of those situations. Overall, her lyrics are super nostalgic, both in calling back times far gone and times of our childhood and youth. It takes me back to the days when I used to play my scant few CDs on repeat, and that's how I would find all the hidden gems that no one else knew about. Though I understand the ease and convenience of purchasing single digital songs, unless you download the whole album and play it on repeat, you don't get that same experience as popping a CD in and being somewhat forced to listen to all of the songs. This album is definitely worth listening to in its entirety. (Except "Carmen." I really don't like that song.)

Lana Del Rey is a refreshing new arrival on the music scene. With other female musicians gaining fame by proving how trashy they can be, Lana, like Adele, shine through as woman who are not trying to roll around in the mud. Not that she won't sprinkle a few "f" words around here and there, to spice things up a little. I have kept this CD in my player and listened to it over and over because Lana's delivery on several songs is unique: on a song like "Born to Die", sounding almost monotone, her voice is carried along by soaring strings and bouncing hip-hop in the background. This rich mixture of sound throughout the album makes the album enticing for the ears. Her voice winds up leaving you haunted and hypnotized by the words, playing in your head long after you've finished listening. Thus, they are also sticky. Sometimes, the lyrics resound in your head because of repetition. In "Summertime Sadness," the song's title is repeated many times in the song, like a mantra. This is one of my favorite songs. The wistfulness of summer coming to an end brings to mind The Doors' "Summer's Almost Gone," very much capturing the similar spirit. This song, along with "Born to Die," the richly orchestrated and lush "Video Games," and "Dark Paradise" are the tunes I would put on a chill out playlist. Feeling like chilling out, a bit blue, or winding down for the day, these tunes help sync with that mood. Other tunes are more playful and energetic, where Lana uses a fuller range of voice, as in "Off to the Races" and "Diet Mountain Dew," both of which bounce along, but moderately--she's not trying to hit the disco dance floor here! One thing I like is use of very descriptive language, really painting pictures of things, as in "Off to the Races": Swimming pool glimmering darling/ White bikini off with my red nail polish/ Watch me in the swimming pool / Bright blue ripples. "National Anthem" has a clever touch with the lead in of the sound of muted fireworks in the background. The rest of the songs that round out the album are okay, but don't stand out like the previous ones mentioned. If you're looking for something different, definitely check out Lana Del Rey. If she has more material like this, I can't wait till her next album.

Great album

A curious hybrid of hip hop and baroque pop, Del Rey pantomimes the vapid and extravagant lifestyles of the upper echelon. Songs like "National Anthem" and "Off to the Races" are indicative of this. The album is an endless trail of woozy, mid-summery ballads that unabashedly reflect how young people find, fall into, and end romantic relationships. Every song is a masterpiece, even the album's most boring tracks ("This Is What Makes Us Girls" and "Radio") are well-produced and well-written. Conceptually, the album starts at the end; "Born To Die" highlights the sad, opened-endedness one feels at the peak of recovering from a bad relationship. But, before the narrator fully reaches that denouement, she drags us through a dreary film reel of the worst and best times she shared with her lover. By "Dark Paradise", we exit Eden and enter emotional hell. First, we are stunned, then we are sad and weepy, by "Million Dollar Man" we are righteously vengeful, yet somehow realizing we'll be okay. With the closing track, however, instead of feeling uplifted and ready to try love again, the theme twists around, blaming the fate of the entire romance on a woman's perceived fickleness and imperfection. It could have ended better. All in all, the album is an excellent social commentary on the perils of love and excess, with enough unique sounds and vocal acrobats to redeem such the tirelessly overdone cliche. Employing an alternative rap technique on "Diet Mountain Dew", "Off to the Races", and "National Anthem", the latter is the album's biggest embarrassment redeemed only by a tasteful music video that aims to reenact the Assassination of JFK. The first two, however, drape softcore rap over sleepy trip hop beats for a yummy, lachrymose snack. The album's highlights are: "Born To Die", "Video Games", "Million Dollar Man", and "Diet Mountain Dew". The weakest songs are: "National Anthem", "This Is What Makes Us Girls", and "Radio".

I'm somewhat of an indie rock snob. By all accounts, I should hate this stuff; Del Rey has really taken a beating from critics and journalists everywhere. She is an unfortunate case of a star who just got too big too quickly. The indie-rock crowd was hoping for an "authentic" artist who would represent their interests in pop music. The pop crowd was hoping for safe, radio-friendly music. Del Rey's BORN TO DIE doesn't really reach either of those points, but instead, it falls somewhere in the middle. I think Lana Del Rey has been the victim of bad marketing -- if she was initially marketed as a pop chanteuse, she wouldn't have received so much backlash. This album is wonderful! BORN TO DIE is a dash of jazzy cabaret, trip-hop electronic beats, indie-rock instrumentation, and pop songwriting. When you take away the moodiness, the attitude, the multi-layered vocals, it's obvious that there is fantastic songs here. I think what has put some people off is that these songs (which are at their core, very melodic and catchy) are dressed up in multiple levels of production. This production is what led to the infamous SNL performance; people were rooting for the singer to fail, and in some ways she did. Her music is very much a product of a studio, and if you remove it from that context, you can't expect it to translate perfectly. Speaking just for her album, though, I give credit to Del Rey, her songwriters and producers; the music here is multilayered and tasteful. You can listen to songs over and over and still find new things. The first four tracks of the album in particular ("Born to Die," "Off to the Races," "Blue Jeans," and "Video Games") showcase a fantastic accessibility. Sometimes the attitude gets in the way: in "Off to the Races," Del Ray sings like she is a gangster. "Dark Paradise" laments the passing of a lover, and even though the singer claims to wish to die, there is interesting, emotional stuff at work here. The album ends with "This is What Makes Us Girls," which feels like a strange way to end BORN TO DIE -- it doesn't quite match the theme of the album in my opinion. BORN TO DIE has been one of the surprise albums for me this year. It is way better than it should be, but it's hard to know who to recommend this album to. If you are at the least bit curious, I would suggest sampling the album. Even if you've been turned off by the maligned SNL performance or the scathing reviews that critics gave her earlier in the year. Highlights to sample/download: "Blue Jeans," "Video Games," "National Anthem," or "Off to the Races." Additional release information: Born To Die (Deluxe Version) [+Digital Booklet ]. The deluxe edition of the album comes with three additional bonus tracks. These songs "Without You," "Lolita," and "Lucky Ones," are quite good, but not as good as those on the album. I would sample these before buying either version.

Great

Amazing