longtimeman

But seriously (and late in the discussion), I am enjoying reading the fame vs Art debate. You all are very articulate and knowing.
If I may offer a biased opinion, I tend to believe that, at times Lana seems to pursue the epicurean ideal ("just an ordinary girl", "opulence is the end", simple things in life) but she also displays a decadent imagery...
I would dare to say the lady contradicts herself and might be aware of that.
 
As O. Wilde once wrote: "The well-bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves."
I quite like that!

I don't understand why so many people seem to think that this is so unusual, or specific to Lana. I'll also put my hand up as someone who enjoys being successful and being liked, more than I like being abused, in my work and in my life.

This thread is doing to my head what listening to 'Lolita' does. I gotta go and lie down.

This thread is doing to my head what listening to 'Lolita' does. I gotta go and lie down.

Ya, bear things are great 
 
Sorry if I sounded pissy, but I was responding to this weird idea that is in popular culture that there is a way to be successful in the music industry by being pure and accidentally stumbling on success, and then there's Lana, who is a careerist backed by money. If Rob was a multi-billionaire, he still wouldn't have the money of the huge corporations behind the record labels, and if money could buy a career, then major labels would never sign anyone who became a flop. There is nobody at any level of the music industry beyond local bar bands who isn't driven by ambition, and even the artists who seem to go out there with a 'fuck you' attitude are in it for the love by the 'right people',
 
Nirvana ditched their indie label when they realised they had a shot at the big time, and jumped over to DGC [and to the hot producers of their day], only to discover that selling millions of records meant that there were a lot of shitheads who were singing along at their concerts. Dave Grohl could handle it, Kurt couldn't. Neither of them is morally superior - it's just how different people can be. Lana is a mess of contradictions, but all of them make sense within the context of somebody trying to build a career doing what she is doing.

This thread is doing to my head what listening to 'Lolita' does. I gotta go and lie down.

This thread is doing to my head what listening to 'Lolita' does. I gotta go and lie down.

I agree with what you said :3
 
I would like to welcome you to the community, mostly because a) You like bear things and b) you have an animal as your avi!! We need more cool people around LB
 
(I have a goal of one day making everyone have animal avis and it has yet to be materialized) 

Ya, bear things are great 
 
Sorry if I sounded pissy, but I was responding to this weird idea that is in popular culture that there is a way to be successful in the music industry by being pure and accidentally stumbling on success, and then there's Lana, who is a careerist backed by money. If Rob was a multi-billionaire, he still wouldn't have the money of the huge corporations behind the record labels, and if money could buy a career, then major labels would never sign anyone who became a flop. There is nobody at any level of the music industry beyond local bar bands who isn't driven by ambition, and even the artists who seem to go out there with a 'fuck you' attitude are in it for the love by the 'right people',
 
Nirvana ditched their indie label when they realised they had a shot at the big time, and jumped over to DGC [and to the hot producers of their day], only to discover that selling millions of records meant that there were a lot of shitheads who were singing along at their concerts. Dave Grohl could handle it, Kurt couldn't. Neither of them is morally superior - it's just how different people can be. Lana is a mess of contradictions, but all of them make sense within the context of somebody trying to build a career doing what she is doing.

It's my first post, and I'm happy it's in this thread. I've listened to UV 2-3 times a day every day since my CD arrived (about 9 days ago), and think it's an amazing record. I haven't been this excited about a record that has a chance of going to #1 worldwide since Kurt Cobain was still alive, 
 
Here's my track by track rundown, with the disclaimer that I'm a crazy fan of Lana's voice, so I'm far from objective. It's long too. Hey - it's a long record.
 
 
 
 
tl;dr - it's a great record, I'd give it 9/10 overall on the usual scale of rating records, but 10/10 as value for my money, because I've already spent more time enjoying it than other great records I've had for years.

I loved reading this review! It's got to be one of the best & well thought-out ones I've seen. I pretty much agree with you on just about everything (though how can you not love the Black Beauty demo more?? & Is This Happiness is my favorite song /sob) and you said all of it way better than I could've.
 
So nice to finally see praise for PWYC and apathy for MPG. Like you said, I'm glad she made MPG, but it really is just 'meh' for me. I don't get why it's a fan favorite.
 
& as for the crackling/clipping "vinyl" sound... I like it. T^T I think it's cool that they include it in the actual song for people that don't have access to a record player or those that just haven't experienced that little quirk in music. It kind of fits in with her image, I think.
 
Anyway! Again - awesome review. I wish people would make posts like this more often.

That comment stuck out a mile to me as well. It makes me thankful I'm not in the public eye - just thinking of being Lana (no matter who she is or what she's done, she's still just a person), and seeing somebody who has never met me deciding that they hate me so much they want to dedicate part of their future to putting me down. If a high school student said that to someone in their class you'd assume that they had some serious problems, but on the internet adults* just go ahead and say stuff like this.
 
* I'm assuming this guy is an adult, but whenever I read a comment like this, what I'm hearing in my head is a three year old screaming "you're a poopyhead and your face looks like poop!"

That comment stuck out a mile to me as well. It makes me thankful I'm not in the public eye - just thinking of being Lana (no matter who she is or what she's done, she's still just a person), and seeing somebody who has never met me deciding that they hate me so much they want to dedicate part of their future to putting me down. If a high school student said that to someone in their class you'd assume that they had some serious problems, but on the internet adults* just go ahead and say stuff like this.
 
* I'm assuming this guy is an adult, but whenever I read a comment like this, what I'm hearing in my head is a three year old screaming "you're a poopyhead and your face looks like poop!"

Thank you very much for that 
I will never argue with someone who prefers the demo of Black Beauty - that song obsessed me when I first came across it. I just totally fell for the big drums and guitar of the album version, and it's nicer to have two cool versions than only one. As for 'Is This Happiness' - I do really like it. I think I was getting a bit tired of writing, so rushed the ending, but 
 
 
is classic Lana.

That comment stuck out a mile to me as well. It makes me thankful I'm not in the public eye - just thinking of being Lana (no matter who she is or what she's done, she's still just a person), and seeing somebody who has never met me deciding that they hate me so much they want to dedicate part of their future to putting me down. If a high school student said that to someone in their class you'd assume that they had some serious problems, but on the internet adults* just go ahead and say stuff like this.
 
* I'm assuming this guy is an adult, but whenever I read a comment like this, what I'm hearing in my head is a three year old screaming "you're a poopyhead and your face looks like poop!"

A new, not very serious cover of a very old, very serious song

Thank you very much for that 
I will never argue with someone who prefers the demo of Black Beauty - that song obsessed me when I first came across it. I just totally fell for the big drums and guitar of the album version, and it's nicer to have two cool versions than only one. As for 'Is This Happiness' - I do really like it. I think I was getting a bit tired of writing, so rushed the ending, but 
 
 
is classic Lana.

It's my first post, and I'm happy it's in this thread. I've listened to UV 2-3 times a day every day since my CD arrived (about 9 days ago), and think it's an amazing record. I haven't been this excited about a record that has a chance of going to #1 worldwide since Kurt Cobain was still alive, 
 
Here's my track by track rundown, with the disclaimer that I'm a crazy fan of Lana's voice, so I'm far from objective. It's long too. Hey - it's a long record.
 
 
 
 
tl;dr - it's a great record, I'd give it 9/10 overall on the usual scale of rating records, but 10/10 as value for my money, because I've already spent more time enjoying it than other great records I've had for years.

It's my first post, and I'm happy it's in this thread. I've listened to UV 2-3 times a day every day since my CD arrived (about 9 days ago), and think it's an amazing record. I haven't been this excited about a record that has a chance of going to #1 worldwide since Kurt Cobain was still alive, 
 
Here's my track by track rundown, with the disclaimer that I'm a crazy fan of Lana's voice, so I'm far from objective. It's long too. Hey - it's a long record.
 
 
 
 
tl;dr - it's a great record, I'd give it 9/10 overall on the usual scale of rating records, but 10/10 as value for my money, because I've already spent more time enjoying it than other great records I've had for years.

It's my first post, and I'm happy it's in this thread. I've listened to UV 2-3 times a day every day since my CD arrived (about 9 days ago), and think it's an amazing record. I haven't been this excited about a record that has a chance of going to #1 worldwide since Kurt Cobain was still alive, 
 
Here's my track by track rundown, with the disclaimer that I'm a crazy fan of Lana's voice, so I'm far from objective. It's long too. Hey - it's a long record.
 
 
 
 
tl;dr - it's a great record, I'd give it 9/10 overall on the usual scale of rating records, but 10/10 as value for my money, because I've already spent more time enjoying it than other great records I've had for years.

It's my first post, and I'm happy it's in this thread. I've listened to UV 2-3 times a day every day since my CD arrived (about 9 days ago), and think it's an amazing record. I haven't been this excited about a record that has a chance of going to #1 worldwide since Kurt Cobain was still alive, 
 
Here's my track by track rundown, with the disclaimer that I'm a crazy fan of Lana's voice, so I'm far from objective. It's long too. Hey - it's a long record.
 
 
 
 
tl;dr - it's a great record, I'd give it 9/10 overall on the usual scale of rating records, but 10/10 as value for my money, because I've already spent more time enjoying it than other great records I've had for years.

It's my first post, and I'm happy it's in this thread. I've listened to UV 2-3 times a day every day since my CD arrived (about 9 days ago), and think it's an amazing record. I haven't been this excited about a record that has a chance of going to #1 worldwide since Kurt Cobain was still alive, 
 
Here's my track by track rundown, with the disclaimer that I'm a crazy fan of Lana's voice, so I'm far from objective. It's long too. Hey - it's a long record.
 
 
 
 
tl;dr - it's a great record, I'd give it 9/10 overall on the usual scale of rating records, but 10/10 as value for my money, because I've already spent more time enjoying it than other great records I've had for years.