Vertimus

Thanks--when I go to the page above and attempt to follow instructions, I don't see the symbols such as the lock, and don't see anything under Settings under my account either. I see that on Elle's first post about this new song, many have Liked it; that's what I cannot do at present. I would like to show her my appreciation, thus Thanks, Elle.

Great news. I'm excited. I'm still really enjoying Suburban House. Thanks, Elle. My Like button still isn't working in Chrome.

Probably because it's about the end of life on Earth, and she dramatizes it very well.

I don't care for the title track either and never play it. Beautiful may be slight, but I wouldn't call it anything more than that; it's not nearly as bad or embarrassing, IMO, as HIAB or the reworked version of Next American Record. I bet if Beautiful had appeared on NFR!, some people would have loved it just as they love a lot of the tepid 'smaller' songs that round out/fill up that album. BB gets a lot of hate as an album because: A) It has the leaked songs, not rerecorded, remastered, or otherwise altered or bettered; B) A handful of songs, including the title track, are from an early-middle age perspective, including Beautiful, Violets For Roses, Arcadia and Sweet Carolina; C) Dealer either works for you or it doesn't (I consider it something of a novelty track, I neither like nor dislike it): D) The Trio is admittedly completely out of place, and a misuse of a great piece of Ennio Morricone music; E) The "Black lives matter" lyrics may offend or seem like virtue signaling; and F) Like some of Chemtrails, it presents a Lana who wants to walk to the mall and watch television rather than going to the Ramada and splaying herself on the floor. For me, unlike OB, none of the songs sound like earlier songs (Fishtail in particular, which I still like), and, for me, the production is better and it has a more cohesive vibe than OB, where, again, for me, Lana puts her foot in it more often than not. But, with different production and fewer shrill notes, I could see Grandfather and The Grants being on BB, even Taco Truck, which is not that dissimilar in mood to WFWF, but I'm glad they're not. Certainly Margaret, in its happy middle-aged mood, is not that different from Arcadia.

She shrieks way too much for my taste on OTTR. Yosemite is another very good choice, low-key.

I believe HIAB to be her worst released song from every angle, so I can't agree. For me, it's Cola. A-men. A-men again. THAT is the classic LDR sound!

I still don't care for the title song at all. Overall, I personally place OB the album at the bottom of her discography. I know both are unpopular LDR opinions. I agree winning one or more Grammy and then releasing a LTLI video would be a shrewd move.

I wish the categories were a little more thoughtful. As they are, they're too superficial for my taste and there's too many by far.

It's not going to stick, nor the Maine one either. The Supreme Court will overrule it and any others that arise. Those are just the facts, for better or worse.

Her music has changed a good deal since BTD, but doesn’t mean that every album is better than the one before or that there’s even been actual creative evolution or forward progression from album to album. That’s the way it is for most musical artists. I think Lana’s albums are very much of that pattern. OB has some good things on it but a lot of filler and repetitive tracks. I’d like to see the next album have a higher percentage of good/great tracks and sound very different. I would welcome a different producer/production team.

A-men.

Bad children always got a lump of coal in their stockings on Christmas....

No leaks, huh? Well, Merry Christmas and Winter Holiday to one and all here, and to Elle especially, and Lana too.

Asteroid City was my favorite. I found Barbie overlong and stretched thin.

I'm in between. I don't rate it very highly overall, especially due to the fucked-up version of BAR and HIAB, but love The Greatest, Venice Bitch, and Mariner's Apartment Complex. I like Cinnamon Girl but not the foggy production. Hope is obviously a very powerful and personal song, it's just not what I, personally, look for from Lana.

Are you in the United States? Tubi is a free streaming service that has thousands of programs of all kinds to watch for free; you have to watch brief commercials a few times per film or television program. It's also available in Canada, though what's available in Canada is somewhat different from the US content.

I love the Chieftains' The Bells of Dublin except for the tracks by Jackson Brown and Rickie Lee Jones, which I cut from my iTunes account. If you're into old-fashioned twee, Kate Bush's December Will Be Magic Again is interesting.

I'm only a mild fan of OB, but I'm glad the world is finally waking up to Lana's work and giving her the props she deserves.

As I see it, there's no use doing a cover of a genuine, certified classic, especially of an American radio classic, if you don't feel it and don't think you can bring something genuine and fresh to it. That's the whole problem with covers. Linda Ronstadt was the classic covers artist of the 70s and she brought it almost all the time, even into the 80s with her immaculate covers of The Moon's A Harsh Mistress and Anyone Who Had a Heart. Even the old 70s semi-schlock classic Wildfire by Michael Murphy, for example. If you're going to cover a song like that, you'd better be ready to bring it, to bring the magical emotion that makes the entire song, because comparisons are going to be immediate. The same is true of movies remakes, with recent failures-at-the-box-office like Ben-Hur and Westside Story. Simon & Garfunkel are top-drawer Americana, foolhearty to attempt, as I see it. I'd like to see Lana cover Lilac Wine, but not if she doesn't relate to it or can't feel it. I find about half her covers flat, lackluster. Even Season of the Witch lacked the punch of the original for me, and there's so much brooding spookiness in that song. I don't think she understood the song. I didn't see much effort put into it, anymore than has gone into CRTMH. The sad thing about her CRTMH is that, with all the touring, Lana no doubt knows that feeling very very well—she as much said so in the new interview. As always, I'm happy for those who enjoy it and hear something different than I do. Thanks.

I love ‘Arcadia.’ Like so much of BB, it’s underrated. I’d take it any day over 9/10ths of OB.

Me neither. I still find it interesting that out of all her albums, OB brings the Grammy nod, though of course the Grammy nod could be somewhat cumulative.

Having listened to it on headphones, I do hear her voice upfront.

Maybe this was recorded in 2015 from the aborted Americana album and she's decided to drop it now.

Funny, because to me, say, compared to anything on Paradise, for example, her vocals sound way in the background, which I've also found on some of NFR! and most of OB. To my ear, it sounds like her vocals are just one part of the song, instead of the main part, which they should be , as I see it.

And what about her version of Summertime? Would that be on the Americana collection as well?