InTheSummer

This is sort of misheard lyrics so.... tbh for MONTHS after shades of cool came out I didn't hear the "hot, hot neglectful lover" part covered by the loud instrumental, I always just thought it was her making random noises "aaAAaaaa~" oh god rip

Is it about Azealia Banks?
 
"You're not mean you're just one to be seen" = her frequent beefs kept her in the news despite a lack of musical output
"Shining like gunmetal" = heavy metal & reflective relationship
"And they all say hello, You try to ignore them" = she leaves managements, labels.  She always seeks attention then bites the hands that feed
"'Cause You want more" = she's mentioned in interviews how she doesn't want to deal with labels, own her music, etc.
"Got things that've yet to be seen, Like your rapper's delight" = Broke with Expensive Taste, high anticipated by everyone to see as a make-or-break by everyone but went unheard until recently
 
Banks can perform, put on a great show, creates a lot of attention and is kind of wild and can be seen as mean.  She might party hard privately, who knows?  Her and Lana are purportedly friends.
 
 
I'm not Banks fan but it's really convincing that this is about her to me.

doesn't even post to tell us its out or that its free, it's just randomly put up online and she never fucking mentions it ever
 
 

nice self promo of your shitty headphones, sis
 
 
edit: too savage sorry it's 4am here but still.... get outtaaaa here

the reason i like UV over HM is because UV (album) had entire SONGS i loved. The instrumental, the verses, bridges, chorus, outro etc. Each part of many songs sounded incredible. Brooklyn Baby, West Coast, PWYC, Florida Kilos, UV, Cruel World, etc, the album had SO many songs that you WANTED to listen to from start to finish, even the bonus tracks SLAYED, and still do.

where as in HM, i find myself liking parts of songs, but not entire songs. I like the chorus of freak, the synthesisers in Religion, the verses in GKIT, the outro in Honeymoon, the bridge in The Blackest Day ("you shoulda known better" part), some parts of Art Deco but especially the jazzy instrumental change in the middle of the song, etc etc

Anyone else feel this way?

nice self promo of your shitty headphones, sis
 
 
edit: too savage sorry it's 4am here but still.... get outtaaaa here

Things i love about Honeymoon;
Honeymoon has clear vocals, gorgeous lyrics and sounds so heavenly, especially the 'dreaming away your life' part. Freak is such a bop with a great chorus, Art Deco is 10/10 and the instrumentation change towards the end is so jazzy and nice. The verses in GKIT are so beautiful (even tho the chorus isn't), HBTB is a great bop, Burnt Norton is such a beautiful and fitting interlude, too. Religion is such a nice song and the synthesisers @ 3:45 onwards are GORGEOUS. The Blackest Day is an incredible song and the bridge at the end is flawless. 24 is a really great song, a fitting Bond theme too. Swan Song is so beautiful, i really love the first 30 seconds. I don't really like TLY, MTWBT, DLMBM or Salvatore atm.

Things i love about Ultraviolence;
Cruel World is lyrically beautiful and a fitting opening track. The title track summarises the album perfectly and has a beautiful bridge towards the end (we could go back to new york, loving you was really hard etc etc). Shades of Cool is an INCREDIBLE song, beautiful lyrics and instrumental, the 'hot hot neglectful lover' part is so fantastic too. The music video for the song is the most iconic of the UV era, it's really gorgeous- especially the directors cut. Brooklyn Baby is the type of bop you can not get out of your head, the lyrics are catchy and it's so nice to listen to no matter what your mood. West Coast is one of the most iconic songs of the era,  and the synthesisers towards the end make me really, really love it- it's so unique and just perfect. Sad Girl is really tongue-in-cheek but a great song despite the criticism it gets for the 'I'm a sad girl, i'm a bad girl' "cheesy" lyrics. Pretty When You Cry is so raw and full of emotion, it's lyrically beautiful, especially the opening and the outro. Money Power Glory is the timeless bop that summarises my personality and I can jam to it whenever lol, it's a great song, I like that it still suits the mood of the album but draws away from the sadness a bit. FMWUTT is such a bop, it's so great. That tongue-in-cheek, saucy stuff is something HM really lacks. The Other Woman was such a great cover choice and she absolutely nailed it, it suits the themes and mood of the album so well and sounds gorgeous. Black Beauty is one of the most raw songs on the album and I love listening to it, though I have to be in the right mood. It also summarises the album really well, and is so full of emotion. The thing about this album is that you can hear her pain and her sadness not only in her lyrics but in her voice, which i feel is something HM also kind of lacks. Black Beauty also has incredible lyrics. Florida Kilos is probably the best song on the album in that you can listen to it whenever and want to get down to it, it's such a fucking bop and its one of the best songs she's ever made, fight me bitches it's awesome- great lyrics and instrumental. Is This Happiness is really beautiful, as well as Flipside, which imo deserved to all be on the standard version of the album- Flipside is the perfect closing song. I dont really like Old Money and find Guns and Roses somewhat unlistenable most of the time. Overall, the album has a bunch of songs that i feel are superior, the singles were all iconic songs to me, the imagery of the era was really cohesive and matched the sound and vibe of the album. Tbh.. UV is such a fucking great album

I really hope Lana decides to make a music video for Religion or Art Deco

Ultraviolence is so much better for so many reasons. I really have to end it there otherwise I'm gonna go on for hours...

the reason i like UV over HM is because UV (album) had entire SONGS i loved. The instrumental, the verses, bridges, chorus, outro etc. Each part of many songs sounded incredible. Brooklyn Baby, West Coast, PWYC, Florida Kilos, UV, Cruel World, etc, the album had SO many songs that you WANTED to listen to from start to finish, even the bonus tracks SLAYED, and still do.

where as in HM, i find myself liking parts of songs, but not entire songs. I like the chorus of freak, the synthesisers in Religion, the verses in GKIT, the outro in Honeymoon, the bridge in The Blackest Day ("you shoulda known better" part), some parts of Art Deco but especially the jazzy instrumental change in the middle of the song, etc etc

Anyone else feel this way?

Tbh I feel like it'll all be real shit but anything she says that comes off too raw ( eg "I wish I was dead already") they can then just pass off as being fictional

the reason i like UV over HM is because UV (album) had entire SONGS i loved. The instrumental, the verses, bridges, chorus, outro etc. Each part of many songs sounded incredible. Brooklyn Baby, West Coast, PWYC, Florida Kilos, UV, Cruel World, etc, the album had SO many songs that you WANTED to listen to from start to finish, even the bonus tracks SLAYED, and still do.

where as in HM, i find myself liking parts of songs, but not entire songs. I like the chorus of freak, the synthesisers in Religion, the verses in GKIT, the outro in Honeymoon, the bridge in The Blackest Day ("you shoulda known better" part), some parts of Art Deco but especially the jazzy instrumental change in the middle of the song, etc etc

Anyone else feel this way?

the reason i like UV over HM is because UV (album) had entire SONGS i loved. The instrumental, the verses, bridges, chorus, outro etc. Each part of many songs sounded incredible. Brooklyn Baby, West Coast, PWYC, Florida Kilos, UV, Cruel World, etc, the album had SO many songs that you WANTED to listen to from start to finish, even the bonus tracks SLAYED, and still do.

where as in HM, i find myself liking parts of songs, but not entire songs. I like the chorus of freak, the synthesisers in Religion, the verses in GKIT, the outro in Honeymoon, the bridge in The Blackest Day ("you shoulda known better" part), some parts of Art Deco but especially the jazzy instrumental change in the middle of the song, etc etc

Anyone else feel this way?

Lana's wearing glasses on the cover for Honeymoon so obviously that's symbolism for covering up the triangles in her eyes and that's obviously proof don't ask for any rational reasoning but just believe me and also on the M3LL155X cover twigs' hand grows through her face and that's clearly symbolism for the birth of the antichrist and the imminent death of the world if you want to save your soul i'd recommend katy perry's christian rock album save yourself before it's too late guys save youreslves

I don’t intend to write on LB for a while so I put all my thoughts about the HM era here and it came out a bit lengthy sry for that
 
I would entitled this review “LDR hits a wall with Honeymoon”, but in fact is more accurate to say that she hit several walls at once with this release. I said in my earlier posts that I don’t understand her rush to come out so soon with an album after UV. Commercially didn’t make any sense as it is confirmed by the dismal sales of HM. She wasn’t ready to promote and her shy and awkward promotion of HM is a clear indication of that. I feared that she will come out with an album that will be the bad middle point of being in the same time subpar commercially and critically. The critics didn’t panned the album but no one is enthusiastic about it as were some of them with UV. This album just doesn’t make sense from the standpoint of her career and taken together with the botched UV era is creating a lack of perspective on her career which has inevitable influences on everybody who’s following her.
 
The lyrical wall. When you put out slow music you put inevitably your lyrics to the front. She was widely criticized for her cliché-istic writing by using a lot of well-known poetic references, pop imagery and for the over use of location names and icons. When you’re aware of that you have to be extra careful to not abuse it again because otherwise you’re putting yourself in the trolling category. At this point in her career trolling is just infuriating and lame. BB, MPG, FMWTT was enough of trolling, she didn’t needed more emphasis on how misunderstood and how mistreated she is by the critics. That’s why I don’t like the cover of DLBM, as it is an unnecessary lament especially after the UV era when she was praised plenty. Another major critical point regarding the lyrical content of HM is about the narrow sided artistic vision of hers. Honeymoon opens a bit towards more nuances about relationships but not enough to create the feeling of her moving forward artistically. I felt that HM is a combination of BTD and UV lyrically but there are present the same overused tropes in her work: escapism to nowhere and from nothing specific, being desperately in love and lonely after the inevitable disappointment. In my opinion the critics gave HM a better evaluation that it deserves. This is maybe due to their ridiculous negative overreaction during the BTD era and they are compensating here. I would gave HM a 6/10 for the lyrics but in the same time I’m convinced that she cannot put out an album with the same lyrical pitfalls and be taken seriously.
 
The sonic wall. Many critics and listeners are saying that all LDR songs sound the same and they are boring. If we analyze the melodies or the genre variety on her albums we can objectively say that they are surprisingly varied. I don’t know many artists who have on the same album rock, blues, pop and jazz (UV) or jazz, pop, trap (HM) songs. I think that the problem resides rather with her delivery. Lana is capable of a wide variety of vocals ranging from operatic highs to low contra-alto warbles. The problem is her disaffected tone in her voice, like she is so bored to sing that song. You don’t know, for example, if watching the boys is boring or sexy (probably both which is awkward). There are no sustained emotional highs on HM despite some songs are clearly demanding it. It’s like she’s afraid or restrained to sing emotionally which is disappointing. This coldness in her delivery makes HM a difficult listen and is diminishing the beautiful sonic constructions she came up with. I give HM 7/10 for the sound. I think that she reached another wall here because this type of singing is not enjoyable for longer periods and she needs to change it for her next albums. I have to say that I changed my opinion on HM after several listens and I think that UV is better than HM. HM had better potential but falls flat mainly because of her cold delivery (sadness with no emotion is off-putting).
 
The video and imagery wall. We discussed here how after Tropico her videography became lackluster. Tropico was a huge mistake which highlighted both her unchecked artistic freedom and her limitations as a video artist. In my opinion, her best videos were BTD, BJ, NA and Ride, beautifully shot with cohesive stories and imagery. But Tropico was a mishmash of ideas, frankensteined together, too much even for trolling purposes. Her last good video was SOC, but the emphasis on that old dude just didn’t make any sense when you’re considering who her audience is. Her videos just don’t add lately anything to her artistic appeal, they are just dismissed as awkward or surreal by the critics (see MTWBT video) and they don’t have any significant commercial impact. She needs to let the reins of her videos in the hands of people who understand her vision but who can execute it rightly (like Woodkid did). I never really cared about or liked her album imagery tbh. BTD cover is iconic with that steely stare but UV’s sad boring look cover is forgettable and the HM cover is just bad while suggesting the disconnection between her and the listener. Moreover, her public image slowly became uncool, especially when we count her numerous subpar public appearances and photo shoots. These things are not directly related to the album but it affects the perception of it. Her image is tired and boring. She needs to brake this sad potato meets Priscilla Presley image which will be very difficult because she’s so entrenched in it and there is a chance that people will not be into the new image.
 
The likability/hype wall. “I wish I was dead”, “I fucked my way to the top”, “I’m not interested in feminism”, “I make everything for myself” these statements did an irreparable damage to her career. Her words were twisted by the journalists for sure but what counts is the end result which is tragic for Lana. I will put here the Gaga diss also which was another terrible blow for her, turning against her the majority of one of the most numerous and compact fandoms in pop. She was perceived as a threat by many fandoms whose faves have no chance when comparing them with Lana’s voice, beauty and music. Many Lana fans contributed to this with their obnoxious behavior on twitter and forums and now there are many stans rooting for her to fail. She became isolated from the GP which has no information about her and whose perception about her is rather negative and she became limited to her small fanbase who is following her activity on the internet. Let’s face it, the hype is dead and she has a very low likability factor today which explains the crumbling interest in her album. Likability is a subjective thing and is very easy to destroy it and is very hard or next to impossible to regain it. There is always other artists ready to pick up your audience (Lorde, Martinez, Halsey, Banks, Day, etc.).  If we are taking in account her lack of confidence and her inability to perform live there is practically no chance that she can turn this situation around. The next bad thing for her will be the lack of interest in her tour which is closely related to her sales (who would pay 50$ for her ticket and not buying an album for 15$?).
 
The promotion wall. Depression is a hard sell. First, you have to do it right and with high artistic credibility. Secondly, the way you’re presenting the album will have a great effect on how people are perceiving it. If you put the album out without any promotion there is a good chance that people will not take notice or that they will judge it on their own terms. I’m still not over about her assessment that UV and HM are basically words that have a cool sound to them. Really Lana, that’s all you’re saying and you’re trying to sell me your 1 hour of disaffected depression? One of the most annoying things regarding the album and the promo is the length of the songs. They are dragged indefinitely with purposely slow vocal deliveries and with endless repetition of some lyrics (GKIT). Well, I suspect that she did this on purpose so that no songs will fit the radio formats. But why would any artist in their right mind do that when hits are moving records and keep the interest alive? I would say something about BTD here. BTD sold continuously in relatively small numbers, except for the opening weeks in Europe. The momentum was kept by her high profile in the mainstream media and fashion in 2012 and by her only hits in the US, YB and SS. I hate that SS remix, but I have to admit that a large part of the sales after 2012 are due to these hit songs which were played relentlessly on the radio. She had 4 hit worthy songs on BTD: BTD, BJ, VG and SS which were enough for a buying decision. She went hitless on UV and HM and the consequences are dire: her albums are off the radar in 2-3 weeks after the release. Why wouldn’t she have a hit? My opinion is that she’s afraid to perform live in the mainstream media and hits would put a huge pressure on her to do so. I speculate that she had taken a decision to not do live TV anymore. No TV performances and no radio? Let’s be real this is an insurmountable wall regarding her promotion which will push her towards irrelevancy sooner than later. The drop in interest regarding her music from album to album is huge and I would be curious how many stans will be on this site after 3 years from now. Go to the MarinaBoards to have a taste of that.
Sometimes I bashed her management for not doing enough or doing stupid things regarding her career. Well, I don’t like that Mawson guy a bit, but I have to admit, looking back with more objectivity, that is a miracle that they made out of Lana a relatively big name in music on the strength of one good song and an awkward video. None of the songs on BTD were close to the artistry of VG, and she was terrible performing live (that’s why I will never understand how could Interscope take the decision to put her on SNL). If I had been an executive, after watching her live performances as Lizzy Grant I would never gave her a contract tbh. From her attitude while singing I would never felt that she wants it badly and she’ll do everything what it takes to shine her work.
 
She’s talented no doubt, a good songwriter and a very good studio singer and I will be ever grateful for her beautiful music (included HM) but lately, for the first time since I’m a fan of hers, I felt that there is a possibility in the future when I will not care about LDR anymore. And this is the biggest wall for any artist: when they are starting losing their hardcore fans. But she probably doesn’t care. I would have liked her more to perform confidently for her fans, on some improvised stage, new songs from HM, televised for the fans who will never have a chance to see her performing live, than kissing on lips some deranged fans who thinks that this is appropriate.

P U S S Y = S L A I N

the more i watch this video the more i like it. her smiling is so cute. the black and white bugs me a little, but it's really fitting for some parts too. the air-guitar playing is so fucking adorable, i love her so much

I'm placing my bets on Freak. I think it could be a 2 song music video because I'd be really angry if Freak/Art Deco were music videos without the other as they flow into each other so seamlessly

P U S S Y = S L A I N

the more i watch this video the more i like it. her smiling is so cute. the black and white bugs me a little, but it's really fitting for some parts too. the air-guitar playing is so fucking adorable, i love her so much

Yeah, seems that way. She's such a different artist now to the one I, and most others, first encountered on BTD.
If we're honest, there's nothing commercially appealing on UV or HM, when compared to the kind of music that sells big. But it's like she occupies this really unusual, almost unique middle ground. Good name recognition, infamy even, that most would attempt to spin into something bigger. I increasingly admire her no-fucks-to-give attitude, even if at times it's frustrating for us! Like others mentioned, there doesn't really appear to be a strategy, at least not a typical or cohesive one you'd expect from someone of her level.
I'm so curious to see what her next move is.   

P U S S Y = S L A I N

expecting a post by InTheSummer with something vagina

I liked how every time she sang "sent to destroy" they showed some kind of flower I think it's supposed to represent her vagina and how she uses it to destroy men Also the way the last shot of the video was of one of the water nymph's crotch. 

i know i'm in the minority, but i'm sooooo glad it wasn't all about muscle-y half-naked dudes! bless you, lana!
 
one of her most visually stunning videos in a long time. sure, i would have preferred color too, but i loved it anyway. just gorgeous. how happy it made me to see lana smile like that...