Vertimus

But that’s because the snippets of the songs that weren’t fully released essentially told the entire story. The rest of almost every song is just more of the snippet, basically, especially musically. If there were bridges, it would be different.

It's a good album, but to act as if Lana is re-inventing a whole genre or venturing into unknown territory is fucking laughable. Bravo!

It’s brave because they’re expressing intelligent, considered opinions that are clearly expressed. Not just, “it’s iconic,” “it’s her best ever, I’m sobbing,” “I hate it, it’s her worst.”

You’re both very brave to say these things here, and I really appreciate your honesty. NFR is underwhelming as a whole, to me.

I rate it a ‘C.’ The songwriting seems lazy and flaccid on most of the songs. She seemed to be trying to achieve a very low dynamic, and she succeeded. She also said it was a folk album with surf overtones—I certainly don’t hear folk, though the title track’s production seems to be a slight shoutout to Joni Mitchell’s ‘Court & Spark,’ and there’s the too-obvious Ladies of the Canyon reference. Like many of her albums, there’s strong and weak tracks, good and bad. ‘HIAB’ still sounds like 3 completely different songs badly mashed together, like a third-rate B-side. She completely wastes the ‘happiness is a butterfly’ parts with the unfortunate other sections. I also miss the pure audacity, beauty and creativity she revealed on songs like ‘Live or Die,’ ‘Last Girl on Earth,’ ‘Meet Me in the Pale Moonlight,’ and especially ‘Angels Forever,’ ‘Hollywood,’ and ‘JFK.’

That’s depression, not nihilism. Nihilists don’t regularly go to Christian churches, reference God in their songs and talk about their belief in God in interviews.

He’s released a few weak singles in the last 8 months, and is back in Scotland. I wish he would reform Kassidy; they were such a terrific band, and his songwriting and vocals have suffered since.

I've listened to everything available multiple times now. All of the songs are catchy, but I'm not a big fan of it, personally. Speaking from my own taste, I'd rate it a 'C.' I'm glad she created what she wanted to create at this point in her life, but it's not what I look for from her. 'NFR,' 'Love Song' and 'California' don't really develop. As some have already said, there are no bridges, which makes a lot of difference. VB, MAC and TG are among her best work ever, so there's that.

Full agree, LF.

When you have world-class cheekbones, the last thing you need are face/cheek fillers.

Also, it isn't her weakest project to date. Heroin, Get Free, Love, and Change say HI There are/were a lot of vital, deep, three-dimensional songs on LFL among the weaker tracks [i.e., ‘junk’].

No gatefold at all. I am fairly sure that was reported here, that and no photos at all in the booklet. Let’s hope they were incorrect.

Didn’t someone report here that had seen the finished product that there were no photos whatsoever in the booklet, and no gatefold cover?

That photo should have been the cover. If I can find a good copy, I’ll adapt it and use it for the cover.

Cher is 73.

I’m not. I didn’t take it as if it did. Some people like to take what they see as the moral high ground, often because they have an obsessive, cultish attitude towards LDR and imagine they know how she feels about things—and also project their own emotions onto her. I am sure you know that too. I listened to the leaks and preordered the album afterwards. I think it’s just so-so, but I still support her and will pay for a copy.

I live in NYC and work in Manhattan. That’s where great many people buy their coffee morning and afternoon, as they’re all over the city.

It is said in earnest. It makes perfect sense. Have you tried it?

But there are some here who (probably unintentionally) take everything personally if it agrees or doesn’t agree with their own opinions. If it agrees, they feel validated, if it doesn’t, they feel s**t upon or attacked. If I say, ‘I think ‘Bartender’ is great” and they don’t, they’re bothered. They attack, they attempt to bully me and others. I wish they would understand that we’re just expressing individual opinions of our own and whether our opinions mesh or don’t mesh with those of others is a secondary consideration at best. The purpose of this site, to the best of my knowledge, is not to build consensus but to share thoughts, responses and ideas.

It would make more sense. I think so too.

You can get 3/5ths to 4/5ths of the essence of the songs from the LQ versions. You can get the entire sense of the song structure or lack of structure. I agree with LanaFlowers that the production and arrangements on about half the tracks are unexceptional, but, again, I assume this is the result LDR and Jack wanted.

She says the cinnamon in her teeth is from “your kiss.” If you have a coffee at Starbucks and add cinnamon to it, as many do and as Starbucks provides, and then kiss someone, you might pass cinnamon into his or her mouth. She may have changed the title—or perhaps it was always called Cinnamon Girl to LDR—as a shout out to the well-known song of the same name from the classic rock era by Neil Young.

But even from the LQ versions, you can tell which tracks are tightly structured and which are watery and somewhat shapeless. I accept it’s what LDR wanted to do at this point in her career but for me, so far, it’s a disappointment. But it is what she prepared us for.

Clearly. NFR, the album as a whole, might well have been called "Barrie, Come Back, All Is Forgiven."