Vertimus

Full agree.

Yeah, that’s something that no doubt struck Lana whenever she first heard about that terrible, unsolved crime, for which everyone from Orion Welles and Man Ray to Woody Guthrie has been suspected.

I can’t understand why anyone would be put out by Lana referencing the Black Dahlia murder—which is over 75 years old—except the Elizabeth Short cultists, who, in my experience, tend to be feminists. And they don’t own the case, the crime, the myth, or the memory of ES. So many books, movies, television episodes, songs, etc have taken inspiration from that case—and except for the ES cultists, who seem half out of their minds, no one cares. On the contrary, there’s usually a great deal of positive public interest in anything to do with the case or inspired by it. Short of Lana showing a mock up of herself severed at the waist and facially mutilated, I can’t think of anything she could do that could offend a reasonable person or be in ‘bad taste.’

Definitely.

I agree. I love the album for the most part (all but two track), but I find myself wishing there were one more really powerful track with the energy going outward instead of inward, as it does on so many of these songs. While I disliked what she did with 'Lust for Life' as a track, and don't care for 'Love' much more, I would have loved to have found something like 'Serene Queen' on OC, though with a production that matches the rest of the album, something like that, something sort of dark and powerful.

'Margaret' and 'Let the Light in' belong with 'Tomorrow Never Came' thematically, and, to think it, 'TNC' sort of had that 'Disney' factor too. I like 'Margaret,' and don't mind Jack's singing, but I would have preferred it without Lana's spoken contributions towards the end, "join the party," etc., as, with Jack's singing, these sort of break up the song and make it less cohesive. I also think that 'American' and 'Violets For Roses' are related, with VFR being 'American's big sister.

'Sweet,' because of that 'Disney' factor, is like second cousin to 'Arcadia.'

So much of Lana's music is cathartic, I think that's the whole point of so much of it and why we love it...it brings us in touch with our sorrow, pain, anger, frustration, disappointment, loneliness, and all kinds of ambiguous emotions which we have no name for. And that's a healthy process, not a morbid one. I have an entire playlist called 'Darkness Makes It Easy' on my phone which only features such songs, and it's helpful--and relieving--to listen to when I find myself in one of those states of mind.

Hilarious. Glad you enjoyed it. Have a good orgasm.

I've been saying that for weeks about the vocals. They're much clearer now in high res, but still not clear, clear. Can it be that she wanted them that way, and not the way they are are the COCC title track, 'Arcadia,' and 'IFLDWM'?

'Margaret', and, to a lesser extent, 'Let The Light In,' thematically, have a lot in common with the vintage classic rock song 'Lonely People' by America.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lana-del-rey-did-know-214710824.html "Lana Del Rey’s ‘Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd’ Is Her Most Soul-Searching Album Yet" "What she has done since NFR! — including Chemtrails Over the Country Club and Blue Banisters — has proven to be a remarkable expansion on the artistic vision she laid out on that album, one that puts her in a creative class all her own. In preaching to herself, she has unlocked the type of art her listeners will hold dear for a lifetime."

Wow--in high resolution, 'Candy Necklace' is another song all together. I love the piano and the spooky background vocals and overall 'heavy' quality of the song--it does sound like 'French Restaurant,' as someone mentioned last week. And 'Fingertips' sounds much better too, and does 'Fishtail.' Now I hear the clear vocals and production I was craving. The melody of 'Grandfather' is just magnificent. I'm sure I was one of thousands of fans in the United States, Canada, and Mexico who sat up after 1:00 a.m. listening to it all over again, as if for the time.

A new caste for an old ceremony.

I’m not mourning it. I’ve been through enough to know that what follows is as good and as bad.

7 minutes.

My new/current Top 5: Let the Light In Margaret Paris, TX Grandfather Taco Truck

It’s been fun, everyone. I look forward to seeing you all on the post-release thread.

I think the whole record sounds muted. There’s no crisp, ‘immediate’ production as on ‘Arcadia’ and ‘IFLDWM,’ especially on the vocals.

That's a good point. To them, they're on and the same. They hate Lana, period, and her success, period. Do you think they even bother to really listen to the music with an interested ear? Doubtful. She's just another artist they have to review and one that, in their circle, comes pre-packaged with hatred and a big red stamp saying "MUST BE TREATED DISMISSIVELY AS THE CLOSET CONSERVATIVE, RACIST, AND ACTIVE CHRISTIAN THAT SHE IS." Look at how the charges of racism have swirled around her; and like all such charges, no fact, no reality, no act or acts of Lana's could or can do anything to change them in her enemies' minds. They want to believe she's a racist, it makes everything else so much more convenient; no further argument is needed. I'll write you.

You know, Marianne Faithfull has been active as an artist since 1965, and reviews of her new albums often still start out like this: "As the big-breasted phantom mare of the 1960s pop world, who was busted with The Rolling Stones at Redlands and shortly after became a homeless heroin addictive...." STILL. 58 years later. Sadly, as long as the BTD era is the most high profile, public, and 'recognizable' of her career, that's what critics are going to run with every time, because they're hacks. They start at what they see is the beginning and then gloss over everything else as if it never happened--because they know nothing about it.

But these 'critics' aren't, in most cases, genuine music critics in the 20th century sense, and they're biased against her for a number of reasons. She still drives them mad with envy, despite having largely dropped the 'international high glam' look she adopted for a while. She's hugely wealthy, she owns multiple homes and sports cars, she's very talented in a number of ways, she has an actual career that has been successful on her own terms, she often speaks her mind, she's a Christian of some kind, and she has the adoration of enshrined American artists like Baez and Springsteen. Living in NYC, I encounter angry, frustrated people like this all the time, who spend more time attempting to halt the progress and success of others rather than concentrating on their own chances and opportunities. Such people are found everywhere, but especially in large American cities that are hubs for various entertainment industries.

I think if the critic is a genuine music critic with a love of music, they will, given access to the album. If you ever read through the hoary old Rolling Stones album reviews from the 70s, some of them go on for pages and there's no 'star rating system,' there are only words and more words. Those critics took music very seriously, and the reviews are on the 'deep' side, whether it's Bob Dylan, Melanie, the Grateful Dead, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, the Rolling Stones, the Who, etc. However, if the 'critic' has sought that position primarily because it involves access to power and prestige, and they're essentially careerists with loyalty to no one and nothing, then you're going to get a lot of third-rate minds who review dozens of records a year and probably care very little about the artists in question, or their catalog. I read through about a dozen OC reviews yesterday on Google news, and most seemed to have just skimmed the record quickly, and were less positive than I expected them to me, more on the 'it's neither good nor bad' side, but if I had to decide, I'd say the good.'

Was it the global listening party?