AphroditeBaby

I hope youre right! That's how I feel right now too. The lyrics are the highlight of these songs for sure.

Okay this song is it now, sorry I clowned it earlier in the day Still hate the drums and production choices a bit, they sound very amateurish and I think the song has SO much potential lyrically/melodically - I kind of hope it gets remixed and mastered if it makes the album.

Wait this line is so genius then - she snapped

Okay lyrically I actually kind of stan all of them, especially Wildflowers at least. They are very free and just chronicling kind of, so its kind of hard to guess what they are "about" just by listening one time but after reading them all...

Text Book is IT yall. BB is very surprising sonically, I love it. Wildflower is okay but its production is seriously amateurish and sounds unfinished as heck, sorry.

Death to Mike Dean for the production quality on Wildflower...

I don't think Jack held her back at all, lol. She herself said in that Grammy interview that during the making of NFR, she expected the record to be more Venice Bitch-MAC psychedelic etc, but once they were making the rest of the songs, they decided to keep it more of that piano, singer-songwriter laurel canyon vibe, and she thought the two gelled well together. With COCC, it seems like they were removing sounds/instruments and really highlighting her vocals on purpose, even if she did try to push Jack to go harder and she feels like they could've worked on the overall records sound some more. I've been a studio musician before, and being asked to 'go harder' or whatever is not really a critique or whatever. It's just about making sure everyone is on the right page. Sometimes you go to record something and you think you have an idea of what they want, and then they elaborate and you adjust. Sometimes its 'can you play that more aggressively?' or 'can you improvise' etc. I really don't think it means that much. That being said, I still support a Zach Dawes album just because I want to know what it sounds like. Jack is an amazing producer though.

I am absolutely an SJW to some people but... this kind of thing (and some bits of her article) is so cringeworthy, even if this is just a joke. It would be fine if it was truly just a joke from a random on twitter, but when I read that article (reread it like 30 minutes ago) I could see how she could be serious about something like that...

I don't co-sign all of this, but I think it might just be complicated by her fame tbh. Idk anything about her friends really, and its not like all POC are woke etc, but you definitely have a point about like 'true' friendships and what not... at least thats been my experience as I've gotten into my twenties and re-evaluated my old friendships (for context, I am black) Good friends DO want to educate you, especially when you are wrong. And Good Friends can be receptive to that kind of criticism. My problem with the QFTC reception as an onlooker (and one of the most likely unintended consequences of 'cancel culture') is just its efficacy on an individual level. There are people who say and do racist or sexist or problematic things that we can't forgive, and who are malicious and come from a bad place, and there are those who are ignorant - often painfully so, but believe they are coming from a good place. I think Lana is one of the latter, and even though she doubled down during the QFTC debacle about being misunderstood and made it about her, it just made me want her to realize she was wrong, rather than throw her away for being wrong about it. I knew she had friends of color (some were people even mentioned in the post) and while I don't expect all POC to be woke, educate everyone around them all the time mental labor etc., I was just kind of personally hoping she'd have this kind of backlash again but localized from people who actually know her 1 on 1, because she is very very distrusting of media reception, to an unhealthy amount for sure. I don't think she fakes being woke though, I actually think she just doesn't think about that kind of thing at all in the first place and sees herself as a morally upstanding person, which then absolves her of having to think about things. It's privileged and narcissistic (ironically, the thing she says is tearing America/the world apart) but yeah, that's my take. She's like the most millennial in the way she speaks and in her music, but also kind the worst at social media and being informed on news at the same time, its really interesting actually That being said, it + her being rich and famous and surrounded by yes-men might be another reason for a friend who is a POC to like, avoid calling her out. I've had that white friend who like... definitely could be better about certain issues, but I just don't speak up to them because at the end of the day, its taxing for me and we arent *that* close anyway, like I dont think of us as best friends or friends for life or anything. Sincerely hope she has people like that in her life who can be like 'hey girl, this isn't okay and heres why' with total honesty. Anyway, I didn't really stan Lana as a person ever, mostly her music and her story and how its impacted my life personally, so this doesnt really affect me too much, but she's really pushing it. I don't need to stan her as a person, but I do kind need her to be the kind of person who isn't so awful that it makes me want to distance myself from her entirely for my own sake. I totally understand people who have already done that in this last year and who are going to do that in the future. Just hope I'm not one of them!

Lana is somewhere on her way to the Pantheon of greats and has been since pre NFR era, but whew... idk if having an angry throwaway album is still a thing. Usually with 'the greats' their careers are over longer periods of time when they get to have their one weird album or whatever, but I'm interested in it anyway. (Inb4 its just the country album, but its an angry country album ) I want to hear it, even if its terrible and gets totally panned. I just pray to GOD its more about media reception than her like, doubling down on the 'im not racist' bits from QFTC. Hell, I'm even okay if she's reasserting that her brand of femininity is valid and speaks to people, or if the drama of her old songs is not about glamorizing abuse but speaking about it from her perspective. I think thats valid, and that was the fine line she tried and FAILED MISERABLY to showcase in QFTC in the first place, but... Honestly I don't see Lana having the clarity of mind to articulate this in a good way. Maybe in an interview with someone very chill and understanding who she has a good rapport with like a relative or one of those rock legends or maybe Zane Lowe (did they get into a fight or something? I remember a planned interview with them that never materialized post NFR...) or someone. Not Annie Mac

Her team or someone very close to her really needs to level with her about this, cause its not cute and It seems like there are too many people in her circle who are just like 'you did nothing wrong they're crazy, keep doing you sis!' Like, her intentions aren't bad, and she knows that and people around her know that, but its totally fine to be like, I can see where I messed up etc... Kind of a basic life skill really, though one clearly thats been widdled away in her case.

Well... She just can't not do it I guess. I understand that she has severe trust issues and trauma regarding media and her narrative that makes her overly defensive, but it is absolutely puzzling to me how apparently no one of her friends of color in her inner circle havent sat her down and been like 'you know what you did was wrong right?' like what? Anyway, incoming panned offensive full cancellation era shes just digging in. I get that she thinks this 'controversy' is unwarranted like the other ones, but its not the same thing and shes gonna learn that the hard way if her team or someone doesn't stop her.

Love that many reviewers are noticing the narratives that are present in the lyrics and throughout the references and repetition COCC has a lot of story to it, maybe her most directly sequenced album for me narratively. (Examples being White Dress, Yosemite, For Free, Breaking Up Slowly, Dance till we Die, etc and the way she looks to celebrities in the past for authenticity and self questions her own + her fame, and even uses her repeated phrases like 'for free' 'no candle in the wind'... also COCC, LMLYLAW, NAWWAL, WAH, etc. about redefining her use/worth and values as an artist and person and lover) I think COCC is getting a bad rap rn for how its less lyrically precise or flowery than NFR which made kind of sweeping statements, but there really is a "life lived" here, as Lana said, and although I can understand her hesitation in calling the album done, there really IS a life lived. Also, hate or call NFR overrated all you want, It did some serious heavy lifting IMO in getting many places to see her as a serious artist now, and the goodwill doesn't seem to have been lost in the last year. COCC is an album that requires repeat listens and attentive ears to piece together how its not 'just another Lana Del Rey album' (looking at you Alexis Petridis from The Guardian) and i could easily have foreseen everywhere tearing this album apart for 'how far away from NFR it is'

It's cute. I was meh about it before, but I actually think the body double + her being in the cast kind of helped. Lana somberly skating through the peep hole trying to do the moves she could do when she was 19 was really sweet. Also, the twirl moment in the bridge/buildup was great, I teared up a little (mostly because of the song, but yeah) That moment would've been good to be like a lizzy-lana back and forth though, but who knows what their original plan was before she broke her elbow.

Sirens, AKA, BTD, Paradise, Ultraviolence, Honeymoon, Lust for Life, Norman Fucking Rockwell, COCC, duh

My problem with the p4k review is that large parts of it could have been written just by knowing the title of the record and would have better served as think pieces about her post QFTC, post Annie Mac, etc. and not as part of an album review. It's fine to say that Lana's public image has gone south or for the worse, or that you personally cannot 'stan' or condone her comments, actions anymore, and even for it to complicate the music because its hard to separate Art from Artist (and also worth asking if thats even an admirable goal in the first place!). I think those are totally valid responses to whats happened in the last year. Its just that it makes the review and subsequent score sound like an arbitrary downgrade from NFR, not because of the music, but because its less easy to paint a 'next best american songwriter' narrative for her because she's more complicated now. It's not that Jack and Lana made some slip ups in the production, some of the lyrics could be better, some of the music isn't as good, etc. - Its just about the narrative, and while narrative driven reviews may be the most powerful and affirming to people (positive or negative), I really think they're lacking in substance when they are such a large part of the review. If I look back at the NFR review, besides it giving a score that fit the words, it also is just as much substantively about the music, and why the narrative *is palpable because of the musical elements* as it does talk a big game about what the album 'means', and its a much better review for it. So you think Lana's a racist or misinformed or whatever. Let's accept that. How does that actually impact the music? This review doesnt do a good job of telling me this beyond 'it kind of makes it feel worse/less okay to root for her' vaguely. I actually DO think COCC is like a 7.5-8.2/10 range, and part of my own reasoning for that is narrative driven, but I could also tell you how it showcases on the album musically, and I'd much rather read a think piece or watch a round table discussion on Lana as an artist vs as a social media figure where they rake her over the coals than try to figure out what bits of what she's said had any quantifiable impact on how they viewed the record as a listener and reviewer Anyway, music criticism is so subjective it shouldn't matter in the first place so enjoy what you enjoy

Hi everyone. White Dress and Yosemite are top 2 on the album that's all

Is this site even real.... Feel like Lana / her team would be the ones to announce it and not a random on twitter?

Nothing but tea. This is probably why Lana ripped into Ann Powers even for her *pretty glowing* NFR review that was essentially calling it a classic. It is a good review, but I get why she reacted the way she did because it was kind of dismissive of parts of her journey to that album. It could be an amazing album without being Lana "finally" doing what shes been doing right or whatever. In retrospect, I see why she was kind of shady/arrogant about how she 'knew' people would like NFR in that one interview and kind of let all of the acclaim just bounce off of her.

Considering the album is about all these people and features them in some way, I'm accepting this as my new headcanon, it just makes too much sense, AND is just an infinitely better picture than what they went with.

I'm so excited for everyone who hasn't heard White Dress yet!

This is gonna sound negative but wow the way that Ben and Ed and everyone inflates her ego here is kind of like... its a lot. Don't get me wrong, some of it is deserved, I genuinely think she's one of the greats of our time musically (lyrically SOMETIMES if she tries ala NFR) but they really prop her up to a high standard, and sometimes 'Lana Del Rey' is just as much high emotion high drama high reality as she is campy and simple and understated. (Take the lyrics on even the title track of COCC which are quite different in approach from NFR it seems) Hearing about White Dress (brief spoilers about my thoughts about the song and some rambling below)