LynnLana

I get why fans got frustrated by how low-key and uneventful Honeymoon era was. But when I look at the whole picture of Lana's career so far, I think I understand why it was the way it was. Born To Die was her mainstream breakthrough era, and it was burdened by controversies, ridiculous backlash and challenges that Lana was not quite ready for. Ultraviolence era happened during extensive tour (the first big tour in her life, and she's not exactly confident performer, so it couldn't be easy for her), also during fall-out of her relationship with Barrie. You could tell by reading her interviews she wasn't in a good state of mind most of the time, which resulted in controversial quotes, more backlash, more stress for Lana. After all of this she needed some rest, and Honeymoon, I think, was her period of rest. Quiet, slow-paced, completely on her own terms. She could easily just disappear from public eye for 2 or 3 years, like some musicians do (and there's nothing wrong with that), but thankfully Lana is prolific writer, so she gave us the album. I see Honeymoon as her phase of pure self-indulgence - no chasing commercial success like BTD, no compromising with new colloborators live UV, just recording what she needed for herself, a bunch of songs she could drive or swim to. And while I wouldn't say it topped UV (don't think anything by Lana will ever top UV for me), I really like Honeymoon. It's perfect background to warm sunny day of early autumn, it helps soothing headaches (speaking from experience), it always works when I want to get my mind into creative mode. The Blackest Day is stil a career highlight in my eyes, God Knows I Tried and Terrance Loves You get me emotional, Religion is soothing and comfortable, Honeymoon is pretty and vaguely disturbing, Music to Watch Boys To and Salvatore have wonderful instrumentals. Lana's vocals are more siren-like than ever, though I'll admit sometimes I miss more emotional, firey delivery. Lyrics could be stronger, yes, and at some points they walk thin line between "tongue-in-cheek" and unbearably cheesy. But I kinda accepted at this point that most of Lana's songs have combination of good and cringey/lazy lines, that's just the way it is. Beyond the album, other stuff is just not that important. The only serious disappointment is zero decently recorded performances. Music videos are whatever, I prefer building my own visuals to her songs in my mind anyway. Interviews were cute. Maybe Lana made the right decision when she started sitting down for interviews only with carefully chosen persons. Anyway it looks like she wants to be more active and vocal this era, so her period of rest must be over.

Homewrecker 106 Teen Idle 76 Sex Yeah 11 Lonely Hearts Club 1 Buy The Stars 35 E.V.O.L. 45 Electra Heart 45

Cruel World 175 Brooklyn Baby 69

Okay, I've really enjoyed just lurking in this and pre-release threads (latter was lots of fun and got me through several days of unpleasant illness). But here is where I can't stay silent, I'm afraid. I mean no personal attacks or arguments because I perfectly understand frustration. You really like/love someone's art and they prefer to go in hiding rather than share more of it with the world. I've been there. Really irritating, I know. But about that last sentence. I heard it before. I had a conversation with a middle-aged lady who really meant well. When she asked me whether I plan to have kids and I said "No," she basically answered with the same words. Being able to become a parent is such a precious opportunity, and many people would kill to have it but they can't have children for medical or financial or other reasons. And I "throw it away." I really do because I don't want to use it. Guess for some people it's the same with career/artistic opportunities. Does Lana effectively use all the opportunities she has? No. But who of us really do? After all, using opportunities is not an obligation, it's a choice. Talented people aren't obligated to use their talent to maximum just like fertile people aren't obligated to procreate. So while I understand and - to a degree - share frustration with Lana releasing an album with lots of potential and abandoning it when it could possibly grow into more interesting things and attract more people, I don't think even dedicated fans are in position to tell what Lana needs. We can only speculate about what we'd like her to do and how. Only Lana know what Lana needs and why she handles her career the way she does. Again, I'm not against criticism or pointing out obvious facts (like, lack of promotion hurts sales), but sometimes it almost sounds like some people believe that an artist has some sort of obligation to them or to the world in general. Since when? If they want to waste their talent, that's their choice and it's completely okay. On topic: though her releasing new album so soon after the last one made me have some doubt about its quality, and though nothing can replace UV as my favorite Lana's record, in the end I'm quite happy with Honeymoon. Despite having numerous flaws that were pointed out here several times already, it does offer something new, it's just as atmospheric as previous Lana's material, and for me it's strong enough to stand on its own, without any additional stuff like music videos. It's lush, it's heartfelt, it's unlike any other stuff being released nowadays, it even has some (intentionally or not) funny moments (seriously, I laughed several times during first listen).

Ok, I'm a lurker, but I have to say I hope this topic will go on for a good while, because it's much more amusing than the video itself. People starting debates, arguing about Evil Feminists, glamorizing rape, anti-rape message and other shit over an ordinary sexploitation video which can be easily included in any B-horror movie and watched just for fun...well, just go on. I love some good High Drama For No Reason. As for video...well, this: