loleetah

Alex and Ashley are indeed talented but they serve no purpose at Lana’s shows other than to distract from her, they just don’t fit on stage. Even during BTD when they’re in the back they’re distracting because they’re like pumping their fists and dropping it low. The music can speak for itself. And yeah at Jones Beach there were a few times when one of them was blocking the view of her, like pretty much all of OTTR. I know it seems to help Lana to have friends onstage with her but they need to go

Alex and Ashley are indeed talented but they serve no purpose at Lana’s shows other than to distract from her, they just don’t fit on stage. Even during BTD when they’re in the back they’re distracting because they’re like pumping their fists and dropping it low. The music can speak for itself. And yeah at Jones Beach there were a few times when one of them was blocking the view of her, like pretty much all of OTTR. I know it seems to help Lana to have friends onstage with her but they need to go

Let me start this ramble by saying I have nothing against Alex and Ashley personally. I follow both of them on IG. They’re both successful, talented, strong women and I love that Lana has friends like them in her life.
 
Since they’re not going away anytime soon, I just wish they added more to the show as a whole. To me, they’re more of a distraction rather than an enhancement. And maybe that’s a part of why they help Lana’s nerves while performing...they distract from her
 
Example: I recently saw MARINA live. She has 4 backup dancers. I was initially skeptical of that many dancers, thinking it would be way too much going on, but I was pleasantly surprised how much I loved them! Their dancing and stage presence helped elevate and translate the music and lyrics, while never distracting from Marina and always letting her remain the focus.
 
There were times at my Lana show last year where I couldn’t even see her because Alex or Ashley were standing in front of her. Some of their dances are cute and fit the music (OTTR, Serial Killer), but in my opinion, a lot of their choreography feels disconnected from the music. A majority of Lana’s songs have a vulnerability to them, so to have two confident-looking women wearing less than the singer drop it low to “I fall to pieces when I’m with you” or writhing on the floor to a song like PWIC feels off. (Sry to sound like a grandma.) They’re professional dancers...surely they can portray themselves and choreograph dances that don’t feel so disconnected to the music they’re translating.
 
Anyways, I’m wasting my breath, because we all know as long as Lana likes it (which she obvs does), nothing will change. Just my two cents to whoever from Lana’s crew is perusing these threads.

I watched the movie with friend of mine who used to stan and it was... so bad. The movie is plain Bad.
Beautiful art direction tho. She should stick into that and not... directing. Or writing scripts at all.
 
For the album... I only remember Lunchbox Friends and Highschool Sweethearts (and a bit of Strawberry Shortcake I guess). Well it's over.

i need more NFR songs live. no one's here for the same old set. nor the lazy OTTR performance.

I can't believe I used to dislike Bartender..what a beautiful track

I liked hope back in January but I absolutely love it now. Funny how a perfect placement of a song can change your opinion so much.

All this nonsense about the production is coming mostly from the fans. Quite different reaction in other parts of blogosphere from casual listeners/non-fans. 
 
And btw. you can't call Hope ''trash of a song'' and expect to be taken seriously!

Have any of you guys seen Madoka? It's probably my favorite anime of all time. I was so floored by how deep and dark the story was underneath the pretty exterior

Remember how (when explaining the meaning behind Alphabet boy) she was talking about not following the 'formula' and 'rules' of making a song? Well it seems to me like she threw all of that out the window for K-12 because the formula of those songs are the epitome of generic.
And if she thinks adding some unexpected noises here and there like random background banging, telephones ringing, writing on a chalk board, coughing, sneezing and scraping makes her production more improved/genius and her best work yet, well.... i don't think she understands what her fans loved about her first album so much.
 
Crybaby was cohesive in the way that it made such a good story and each song was so individual, even the instrumentals themselves told a story. Highlights of that album were... every second of every song tbh, and I remember having to take it slow getting to know the album cause it was all so good I couldn't handle it. 
But with K-12 it's cohesive in the way that we can't even remember certain instrumentals from the album, and the highlights of the album are what? one or two songs that still don't match the production she used to have?
 
 
I hope we do get the K-12 instrumentals though, cause I'm begging for something to change my mind. I want to do a full on analysis of the album like I usually do but I feel like I just don't have enough to go on. This album hasn't been enough for me:/

I hate to say this because I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I am SO disappointed after seeing her at Jones Beach. I thought I was gonna cry each time a 7 year old song started. That was my 6th time seeing her, and not much has changed since the first time in 2015. She called it the "NFR!" tour and was saying things like "I can't wait to perform the album for you guys" and she plays 4 songs, 2 of which are Bartender and Doin Time (this is just a personal thing lmao). Just so, so disappointed. And if she adds the songs to the setlist later, then that's good for everyone else, but I'll be even MORE pissed tbh. 

I can't believe I used to dislike Bartender..what a beautiful track

I feel like Lana is just a bit too comfortable right now and has fallen into a plateau of sorts and her team isn't encouraging her to take risks. Even during LATTM the critiques about the setlist and the dancers were everywhere amongst fans, there's no way her team hasn't seen that at all. I get she's comfortable with the familiarity of this setlist and of having her friends dancing on stage with her but its to the detriment of her performances. I wish her managers would share this feedback with her and push her out of her comfort zone

Mel saying that K-12 has a more mature sound is the total opposite to what I hear. Just because the character is supposed to be more mature, doesn't mean the lyrics and production are.
Sorry, i really can't get my head around this.

I broke the printer at work and I'm feeling quite highly strung rn, so I'm going to rant:
 
In the recent Billboard (?) interview, and in reply to someone on Insta, Ed basically admitted they give her the freedom to do what she wants. That's obviously a very good thing in some ways, but in other ways it is not.
 
She is surrounded by "yes" people. She has admitted that she is lazy and nobody around her is willing to push her for whatever reason. This is why nothing ever changes. I mean, her idea of an overhaul is adding two new songs (NFR and Bartender - and not even singing half of the latter), carting out a peach tree and hanging some shit from the rafters of the stage. Yawn.
 
I don't know if it's because the people around her just lack vision or what, but it's frustrating.
 
This is a separate issue to her live shows but just to illustrate that point further: NFR's messy production. I know people keep saying that she purposely kept the production to a minimum on NFR but that's not the same as having messy production, and I'm sorry, but that's what it is. There are glaring errors - for example, the volume changes in HTD - which imo, are inexcusable. She admitted that she enjoys working with Jack because he doesn't say no to her, and doesn't tell her when something sucks "like other producers do". In other words, he's a "yes" person.
 
Nothing will ever change because the vast majority of her fans are enablers who think any feedback other than "OMG LANA ILY U R SO PERFECT" is mean. So like, she probably reads her insta comments, and thinks "oh yeah! They love my shows!" and it's true, most of them probably do. However, at the risk of sounding snobby, those are the same people who don't give a fuck about the deeper meaning of her art and I think Lanz has, for a long time, yearned to be taken more seriously as an artist. If she wants that, she needs to take risks and evolve, and that includes her shows, instead of being lazy and pandering to the masses.

I can't believe I used to dislike Bartender..what a beautiful track

I feel like Lana is just a bit too comfortable right now and has fallen into a plateau of sorts and her team isn't encouraging her to take risks. Even during LATTM the critiques about the setlist and the dancers were everywhere amongst fans, there's no way her team hasn't seen that at all. I get she's comfortable with the familiarity of this setlist and of having her friends dancing on stage with her but its to the detriment of her performances. I wish her managers would share this feedback with her and push her out of her comfort zone

I feel like Lana is just a bit too comfortable right now and has fallen into a plateau of sorts and her team isn't encouraging her to take risks. Even during LATTM the critiques about the setlist and the dancers were everywhere amongst fans, there's no way her team hasn't seen that at all. I get she's comfortable with the familiarity of this setlist and of having her friends dancing on stage with her but its to the detriment of her performances. I wish her managers would share this feedback with her and push her out of her comfort zone

So Sean's daughter Alyssa tweeted about them hanging out  

I can't believe I used to dislike Bartender..what a beautiful track

So Sean's daughter Alyssa tweeted about them hanging out  

I sadly agree with all of you. I appreciate the album because I get what she was trying to convey with this album (and because she's an excellent songwriter imo - though she's overusing swear words in this album - so she could sing about anything and I'd love it) but having to put myself in the same place I was when I was, let's say 14 years old feels kinda weird. Perhaps it's because I was 15 when I heard Cry Baby for the first time and now I'm almost 19 and in my second year of college... I don't think I've grown out of the character but I feel like the evolution should be proportional to all the years she's spent on writing this album lol
 
I also feel like the specific concept shows how dedicated she is with her art but also holds her back a lot. Show & Tell, Fire Drill, and maybe even Detention and Drama Club are the only songs similar to Cry Baby in the sense that they both use childish metaphores but with adult themes, not just straight up high school songs. I don't think any adult could relate to songs like Nurse's Office or Wheels On the Bus.
 
What I hate the most is that the album is so visual, like AlexII mentioned, the sole purpose of some songs/verses is to introduce to characters/talk about the general environement of Cry Baby, and sometimes it isn't portrayed well in the film, perhaps because of lack of budget, like every time I hear The Principal I picture so much more than what is shown in the movie and it upsets me... I really hope that next time she invests the money more carefully, like some of the CGI is kinda unnecessary. 

I can't believe I used to dislike Bartender..what a beautiful track

Elle thanks for posting the beautiful photos. I had seen some today and felt bad about my dress comments. I will apologize to Lana in my next video.

Pulling a Kylie and giving a cop the Pepsi.
 
I know this being woke thing is new to you, Lana, but I don't think that's quite what N.W.A. had in mind when they said "Fuck Tha Police".