The Siren

Yeah, the MTV article is the probably the definitive article on AKA to read, especially since David Nichtern is interviewed and has a lot of first-hand insight on Lizzy and the recording of the album. 
 
I definitely agree about the album probably selling few copies, which is kind of unusual due to the push it got from Amazon and iTunes, you know? 

I strongly recommend that if you haven't read it, give a good read to the article from mtv linked in the first post. It answers a lot of questions about the album and makes some great points about Lana's artistic and business acumen. It's my theory that the record sold very very few copies (something closer to 100-200), based on how long it took most of us to get hold of an original digital copy, and the fairly low sales for independent releases at the time. I'd love to have this confirmed or refuted definitively, but it would help to explain why it was so easy to suppress at the time.

AKA is such a special album, her best work for sure.The songs are magical - they're like drug induced sparkly Nevada lullabies.

Well anything's possible given the absence of any discussion about it. But if she wanted to re-release and her (new) label prevented it (i.e., it was certainly not 5 points as they had the most to gain from it), I'd be curious as to how their motivations were stated (and LDR might have talked about that to give closure to the album). However, my default position has to be that it was LDR's call, as she's said on occasion that the label let's her do what she wants. Perhaps her reasons are similar to why Alanis Morrissette and Tori Amos never re-released their initial work, although I'm not too clear on their motivations either.

Maybe her label didn't let her

I listened to Lana Del Ray again tonight, for the millionth time-- my feelings haven't changed. This album is genius, and it definitely saddens me that Lana will likely never return to this set of aesthetics and style of music.
 
However, the genius of AKA is not *just* Lana. I give a sizable part of my respect for the album to David Kahne, as well. While Lana created killer melodies, lyrics, and concepts that would work extremely well under the guidance of any producer, Kahne had the perfect touch to push the songs from "excellent" to "god-like", in my opinion. 
 
It definitely deserves repeat listens-- some subtle flourishes Kahne brought in are best noticed after you've been bowled over a few times by Lana's handiwork with the stories told and pictures painted here. To me, the perfect example of Kahne's "Midas touch" on AKA is "Pawn Shop Blues". As evidenced by a live performance and a demo, PSB was a staggeringly beautiful, tender, and poignant track when Lana was doing it on her own. However, Kahne took it to another level-- while PSB in its raw state is mournful and brimming with sadness, Kahne's instrumentation gives it depth-- it goes from being a "sad" song to something better described as "bittersweet". With the angelic echoes and trembling guitars, Kahne doesn't detract at all from Lana's lyrics-- instead, he gives them deeper meaning and manifold facets. Pawn Shop Blues becomes, all at once, a hopeful look at living for a purpose outside of yourself, a melancholy assertion on the nature of love and loss, and a somber reminder of how one can lose it all for nothing. With these extra dimensions, the track becomes infinitely interesting, as it's hard to tell where the hope begins and the desperation ends. 
 
I'm rambling-- my point being, AKA is an absolutely genius record that I'll love 'til the day I die, and both David Kahne and Lana are geniuses for putting just the right elements in just the right places to create an album that is cohesive yet kaleidoscopic, and that has so many facets and subtleties that it demands repeat listens. Fabulous. Please continue sharing info and thoughts on AKA here, because it means the world to me and I want to know all there is to know about it!
 
Thanks for reading all this 

since she wrote QOTGS with dat acoustic demo, can we assume Jump and PMIAM have acoustic demos? also does anyone know if lana is playing guitar in the QOTGS acoustic demo?? also i'd die for an acoustic mermaid motel demo... but rlly any demo for dat song would b mad cool.
 
also can we assume that for k pt 2 was written during the sirens era since for k is apart of sirens? i want an acoustic demo for it tooooooo

http://lizzygrant4ever.tumblr.com/post/60113849123/lizzy-grant-interviewed-by-michael-mizrahi
 
I love this tumblr btw

Don't think you mentioned that she briefly considered re-releasing it, then changed her mind. That is she did, in fact, have the rights to re-release it whenever she wanted too, but then elected not to.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lana_Del_Ray_(album)
 
"In January 2012, upon the release of her major-label album, Born to Die, Del Rey stated to the BBC that she recently bought back the rights of the album and was planning on re-releasing it in the Summer of 2012."
 
She remarked that "it was pretty good" (i.e., the 2nd article, wikipedia references for my quote, has that statement).
 
I'm sad she doesn't have it on catalog, but respect her decision to keep it suppressed, if that's what she really wants to do. Although I do wish she were more like Tyler the Creator and just release it on her website (i.e., I got Bastard at oddfuture.com, which if that was an illegal download, it sure fooled me). 

I agree! Ever since finding out from @@Eclipse that two of my favorite Lana tracks, Trash Magic and Pin Up Galore, were produced by Steven, I've been dying to hear what production he gave to AKA, as it's my favorite album! It'll be a match made in heaven 
 
And, I don't believe there would be a version of Smarty-- I'm pretty sure that was one of the two tracks, along with Gramma, that Lana and David wrote in-studio. 

Imagine the music she would've made if AKA had taken off, though... 

I really love Mertens' work that we've heard. His style is actually a great match with LDR. I'm dying to know if he produced versions of Kill Kill and Smarty, and if any other tracks almost made the album. The Brite Lites demo is very intriguing. :deadbanana:

Given the short time on sale & lack of popularity, I'd say around a 1000 if not less

I'll add this to the OP, under a spoiler! thanks! 

More info:
 
She was signed by musician/producer/5 Points owner David Nichtern to a multi-record deal in 2007, while she was a senior at Fordham University. To release the Album they needed an all-in budget of $50,000

This Rolling Stone article (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lana-del-rey-to-re-release-first-album-20120127) claims it was "shelved two months after its debut on iTunes". 

I'm sensing some negativity, no? Let's keep this civil and on-topic, okay? 

Do we know exactly how long did it stay on iTunes and Amazon music? Aka release day till the day it was pulled?

Uh, I'm honestly not sure! I'm not as interested in reading about those albums, so I haven't looked, truthfully 

That's true to a point, but I don't know how it relates to Lana Del Ray! 
Keep in mind, this is a thread for discussion of Lana Del Ray, the album-- not Lana Del Rey, the person, in general 

people thst are close to LDR are always in the photo/music industry

Welcome to the Lana Del Ray post-release thread, a place to collect information on, discuss, and appreciate Lana’s 2010 debut album! 
 

 
Tracklist:
1. Kill Kill
2. Queen of the Gas Station
3. Oh Say Can You See
4. Gramma (Blue Ribbon Sparkler Trailer Heaven)
5. For K, Pt. 2
6. Jump
7. Mermaid Motel
8. Raise Me Up (Mississippi South)
9. Pawn Shop Blues
10. Brite Lites
11. Put Me in a Movie
12. Smarty
13. Yayo 
 
While Lana Del Ray (commonly known as AKA) wasn’t Lana’s first studio album -- that honor goes to Sirens -- it was her debut on a record label, and her first album to be sold commercially. AKA’s history was turbulent, which probably owes to much of the mystery and misinformation that surrounds the album today:
 
 
As noted above, the formation of AKA brought about many demos and outtakes that didn’t make the final cut, including Lizzy’s collaborations with producer Steven Mertens. Below is a helpful guide to the AKA demos, along with information on unused tracks recorded with both Mertens and David Kahne:
 
 
Lana’s promotion of her music during the AKA era included interviews, frequent live performances, and perhaps most distinctively, the creation of self-assembled music videos for most of the tracks on the album, much like the “Video Games” visuals that would propel her to stardom in 2011. Below are a selection of these videos, plus relevant fan creations: 
 
 
 
Lastly, here are some helpful links for further info and exploration of AKA:
 
 
 

Foreshadowed Doin Time cover yeah...

Just had a revelation that the guitar in this live arrangement for Raise Me Up is basically Out With A Bang instrumental 
 
 
 

does anyone have a download pls