BluVelvUnderground

I'm neither Rob, nor Graham. I just really appeciate concept albums, and it's always been my favorite attribute of Lana as an artist.

I originally posted this in the Pre-Release thread, but thought it'd get more attention here. Wanna explain something I happened to notice while checking out the snippets. I honestly think "Love" was meant to set the mood for the album overall. It has the guitar, but it has the "wall of sound" hip-hop to it, as well. And then, from "Lust for Life" to "Coachella", it really is like a stretch of sexy, summer-driven hip-hop tracks and ends on a positive track that is political - and then, we get all the guitars, and the veteran folk singers (or related to them) rather than the contemporary artists that feature in the first half. I think it's very intentional that the last half is going to have a Woodstock-vibe, only through some of the familiar hip-hop additions that modernize classic sounds. "Tomorrow Never Came" sounds very 1967-71 rock. Definitely see where she's connecting the "two generations", and why she probably feels kids looking into vintage music may find it denser if they understand that history is sort of repeating itself through the anxiety of the current political American heat. It's exactly what she said she wanted to do with the album, and her chronology of the tracks seems to really suit that concept. Even at around the half-point of the album, if you count "Love" as just the intro/combination of the two sounds, and "Coachella" the track that moves the hip-hop into its poltical, folk-driven side. Lana still doing concept, for sure. A SORT OF CHART (lol): INTRODUCTION (folk guitar strings open the album, but blends into spacey, "wall-to-wall" hip-hop noises) 01. Love SEXY, SUMMER-Y, HIP-HOP (7 "wall-to-wall" hip-hop noises) 02. Lust for Life 03. 13 Beaches 04. Cherry 05. White Mustang 06. Summer Bummer 07. Groupie Love 08. In My Feelings THE BRIDGE (a more stripped back hip-hop beat, letting the album kind of cool off a bit before getting more poltically-minded) 09. Coachella.. POLITICAL "GANGSTA" FOLKY-Y (7 "wall-to-wall" hip-hop noises, but more laid back, with heavier guitar and folk featured artists) 10. God Bless America.. 11. When the War Was at War... 12. Beautiful People, Beautiful Problems 13. Tomorrow Never Came 14. Heroin 15. Change 16. Get Free It's like she takes us from "Coachella" to "Woodstock" by using that track as a bridge. As I predicted, the song works in concept of the album; but releasing it as a single is bizarre. From what we have in the snippets, this album seems to be very well-thought out.

What's even cooler, is that when you look at "Love" and "Coachella" as the intro/bridge, both stypes of the halves have exactly seven songs each. So fascinating.

It fits in concept of the album's "sexy, summer-y" side. It's said in a very "sexy/sparky" tone right before the chorus. So I think that makes us re-analyze the actual chorus. We now know what the "cherry" of the title means, and also the euphemism of "peaches" and the other food metaphors. Ending on "ruined peaches" is amazing, especially after a song that opens with a peach metaphor. I think she's saying the rush of sex is enough for her, but it comes off a little self-destructive sometimes, as well. Great storytelling.

I honestly think "Love" was meant to set the mood for the album overall. It has the guitar, but it has the "wall of sound" hip-hop to it, as well. And then, from "Lust for Life" to "Coachella", it really is like a stretch of sexy, summer-driven hip-hop tracks and ends on a positive track that is political - and then, we get all the guitars, and the veteran folk singers (or related to them) rather than the contemporary artists that feature in the first half. I think it's very intentional that the last half is going to have a Woodstock-vibe, only through some of the familiar hip-hop additions that modernize classic sounds. "Tomorrow Never Came" sounds very 1967-71 rock. Definitely see where she's connecting the "two generations", and why she probably feels kids looking into vintage music may find it denser if they understand that history is sort of repeating itself through the anxiety of the current political American heat. It's exactly what she said she wanted to do with the album, and her chronology of the tracks seems to really suit that concept. Even at around the half-point of the album, if you count "Love" as just the intro/combination of the two sounds, and "Coachella" the track that moves the hip-hop into its poltical, folk-driven side. Lana still doing concept, for sure. A SORT OF CHART (lol): INTRODUCTION (folk guitar strings open the album, but blends into spacey, "wall-to-wall" hip-hop noises) 01. Love SEXY, SUMMER-Y, HIP-HOP ("wall-to-wall" hip-hop noises) 02. Lust for Life 03. 13 Beaches 04. Cherry 05. White Mustang 06. Summer Bummer 07. Groupie Love 08. In My Feelings THE BRIDGE (a more stripped back hip-hop beat, letting the album kind of cool off a bit before getting more poltically-minded) 09. Coachella.. POLITICAL "GANGSTA" FOLKY-Y ("wall-to-wall" hip-hop noises, but more laid back, with heavier guitar and folk featured artists) 10. God Bless America.. 11. When the War Was at War... 12. Beautiful People, Beautiful Problems 13. Tomorrow Never Came 14. Heroin 15. Change 16. Get Free It's like she takes us from "Coachella" to "Woodstock" by using that track as a bridge. As I predicted, the song works in concept of the album; but releasing it as a single is bizarre. From what we have in the snippets, this album seems to be very well-thought out.

It's gonna be a grower. It's a bit inaccessible, to be honest - if not simply because of how "horror" it actually is. Like some kind of seductive, scary, dirty, everything track. But I think once it clicks, it will - and people are gonna drool over it.

Just wanna say that I adore "Groupie Love". I was caught off-guard a bit when I first heard it, but I've come to realize that it's the closest Lana's studio tracks have come to the "Driving in Cars with Boys"/"Queen of Disaster"/"Prom Song" days. And her vocals are superb.

I keep hearing the boys say "Satan" in the background of the first verse. Is "swimming in a safe" a gloat about money? I'm sure it is, so it would make sense. But, like.. I just keep hearing "Satan".

The background "fuck" before Cherry's chorus drops is everything.

My attempt at a "greatest hits" kinda thing; keep in mind a story that goes along. DISC 1 1. BORN TO DIE 2. PAWN SHOP BLUES 3. BLUE JEANS 4. MUSIC TO WATCH BOYS TO 5. AMERICAN 6. BEL AIR 7. MONEY POWER GLORY 8. NATIONAL ANTHEM 9. OFF TO THE RACES 10. IS THIS HAPPINESS 11. OLD MONEY 12. TERRENCE LOVES YOU 13. CHELSEA HOTEL NO. 2 14. VIDEO GAMES 15. WITHOUT YOU 16. YAYO DISC 2 17. GOD KNOWS I TRIED 18. YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL (ORCHESTRAL VERSION) 19. SUMMERTIME SADNESS 20. ONCE UPON A DREAM 21. FREAK 22. ART DECO 23. BROOKLYN BABY 24. SHADES OF COOL 25. SALVATORE 26. BLACK BEAUTY 27. CRUEL WORLD 28. THE BLACKEST DAY 29. FLIPSIDE 30. WEST COAST 31. RIDE 32. LOVE

I honestly will not get the hate for this song, at all. It's actually got a pretty fascinating concept about time going on.

I think a big flaw in how many judge Lana's tracks comes from the fact that she's more concept with her albums than "one-track minded". I mean, damn, Honeymoon has some chill bops - but overall, you won't like some of those songs unless you focus on the work as a cumilative whole. I'm sure "Coachella"'s barebones hats and hooks seem "eh" on their own - but considering some of the heavy, wall-to-wall production we've got from the two singles, as well as the heaviness insinuated with "Cherry" and "White Mustang" - it's possible the "polished, light" nature of "Coachella" may come like a breather in an album that is otherwise "heavy".

---

Pretty sure this was thrown at LB at this point.