Norman Fucking Rockwell - Post-Release Discussion Thread + Poll

[West Coast 45,795]

she knows way too much about music and production for the nfr production to be an accident. 

 

Agree, she said that she spends months mastering her records, but there are obvious flaws and amateur-ish mistakes that came through sonically... why does it sound so bad then? 

 

Pretty sure there was a recent interview where she talked about how she kept having to push Jack to tone down the production and keep it in tune with a "folksy" sound.

 

Yeah, but like most of the records doesn't even sound folky. NFR ain't no folk album.

[Jared 3,131]

The same people who now expect us to take them seriously and disregard critics and accolades NFR is receiving have spent months and months having meltdowns about ''boring'' piano-driven songs and calling Hope is A Dangerous Thing... one of the worst songs ever.

 

[The Greatest 8,805]

 Agree, she said that she spends months mastering her records, but there are obvious flaws and amateur-ish mistakes that came through sonically... why does it sound so bad then? 

I don't know if ppl were talking about what eclipse said and that's how this whole thing got started, but I tend to agree with this tweet--It adds a certain quality that matches her aesthetic: https://twitter.com/ultrasubversive/status/1178363388717682689?s=20

[SparkleJumpropeNoose 8,750]

why are y'all trying to convince urselves the flaws in the production department were intentional!! literally having vocals that cut off awkwardly instead of properly fading out, very obvious volume increases (and i have hearing issues so that i assume that shit is VERY obvious to other people), and half filtered out white noise is not the way u make things sound ""cheap"" or ""nostalgic""

[West Coast 45,795]

Some of yall keep saying that people are coming from the piano/acoustic driven sound she went for the vast majority of songs on the album, but I literally only see people (very much including me) criticizing the piss poor mastering and flawed production of the record. Get out of here with these sketchy claims. 

 

If you want to base your appreciation for an album based on what critics say instead of making your own opinion, well that's your prerogative. But looking back that's kind of stupid, Lana has released stellar albums that literally got obliterated by the very same critics that gave rave reviews to NFR. She literally released one of the, if one the most popular and influential album of the 2010s, that's literally still charting to this day. Now you're trying to act as if it aged like sour milk, while it actually still sounds fresh seven years later (Born To Die is that girl).

 

I can't with you Jack Stroganoff stans, whew.

 

[sweetie 6,627]

Yeah, but like most of the records doesn't even sound folky. NFR ain't no folk album.

 

Yeah no, we're probably not listening to the same NFR then. Totally folky.

[West Coast 45,795]

Yeah no, we're probably not listening to the same NFR then. Totally folky.

 

Girl, that's def more desert/progressive rock than folky. 

[Thunder Revenant 20,943]

Fun fact: you are entitled to have an opinion on LDRs music. You can exchange that opinion with other people who have different opinions on that topic. Without insulting them. Without overdramatically downgrading stuff they might like. Grow up, we are talking music and not american politics

[TrashMagiq 58,574]

So you mean to tell me that Lana (and her yes man Jack) intentionally made most of the instrumentals sound flat and dry, purposefully omitted bass on pretty much 99% of the album AND championed a very unequal, unpolished and uncooked approach for the production and mastering of the record? Hmmmmm sorry, but no.

yes! Jack's a professional, he knows what he's doing, he wouldn't leave those very obvious "flaws" in there if they weren't intentional. They probs just happend and they didn't fix them cause I guess it gives the record a more "real" "raw" sound, idk. I like the imperfections, but I can def see why some of them might annoy some people. The only thing that rlly annoys me about NFR is the "fame fame fame" backing vocals from TNBAR not being changed, which was just lazy, but the rest are just imperfections.

[West Coast 45,795]

yes! Jack's a professional, he knows what he's doing, he wouldn't leave those very obvious "flaws" in there if they weren't intentional. They probs just happend and they didn't fix them cause I guess it gives the record a more "real" "raw" sound, idk. I like the imperfections, but I can def see why some of them might annoy some people. 

 

I can see what you mean, but then again if you compare to Ultraviolence, which was also intentionally raw and real, it didn't end up sounding this messy. 

[Jared 3,131]

 I play something, and it would be my nature to wanna maybe do it better, and she's just like: ''No, it's a vibe''. And that changed me a lot in terms of how I ended up done things since... -  Jack Antonoff interview at the Grammy Museum, 2019

 

[Dark Angel 202,357]

Those "production flaws" that NFR has, whether intentional or not, do not make the record sound more unique and raw. It just sounds cheap, but despite that I still think it's a pretty solid record. We can still have our own opinions on it. And I apologize for throwing around the word "delusional" regarding other's personal opinions, I didn't take much thought into it. 

[Rorman Nockwell 56,718]

why are y'all trying to convince urselves the flaws in the production department were intentional!! literally having vocals that cut off awkwardly instead of properly fading out, very obvious volume increases (and i have hearing issues so that i assume that shit is VERY obvious to other people), and half filtered out white noise is not the way u make things sound ""cheap"" or ""nostalgic""

 

This. I don't know how else to explain and this discussion keeps going around and around, so:

 

Remember in primary school when you'd do a history project and you'd use teabags to discolour the edges of the paper to give it that aged look? You added an intentional imperfection to ADD to your project.

 

Okay, well ...

 

The volume changes in HTD (for example) are akin to your grandfather spilling his tea all over said history project on the morning it's due. It's an imperfection, but it wasn't intentional, and it doesn't ADD anything to the project, it detracts.

 

There ARE intentional imperfections that you could argue ADD to the vibe of the album or whatever, but there are also blatant, lazy, technical errors. There is a difference between the two, so stop excusing the latter by pretending that they are the former.

 

I get that some people here can't accept that Jack and/or sis aren't perfect, but Jesus.

[Jared 3,131]

 I wasn't sure if it's gonna lean too heavy towards a banger or whatever, which is fun, but I was writing long-form stuff. Just encouraging Jack to not go bigger with the production - Lana Del Rey

 

 

 

[The Greatest 8,805]

what is this HTD production volume thing?

Also love how off topic this thread got

[Vertimus 9,558]

Yeah, but like most of the records doesn't even sound folky. NFR ain't no folk album.

Anyone who knows even a fair amount about the broad history of American and British folk music in all its myriad forms and sub-genres recognizes that NFR is not a folk album of any kind, though it may have been folk-inspired, especially by the early 1970s ‘Laurel Canyon Sound’ that LDR seems to be fascinated with at present.

 

Clearly, on NFR she’s taken a few cues from Joni Mitchell’s ‘Ladies of the Canyon’ and ‘Blue’ albums, both musically and lyrically.

 

A sub-sub genre of American folk music, a sort of estranged cousin of the ‘Laurel Canyon Sound,’ is the early 1970s ‘Singer/Songwriter’ genre, which encompassed everyone from Carole King, Jackson Browne and Cat Stevens to James Taylor, Carly Simon, Melanie, Paul Simon, Karla Bonoff, Kris Kristofferson, John Denver, Janis Ian, Maria Muldaur and many others.

 

If anything, NFR is much more of an attempt at a ‘Singer/Songwriter’ album than a legitimate folk album of any kind.

[Venice Jesus Whore 4,471]

How to Disappear went from one of my least favorites to a never skip song, maybe even one of my new favorites.

[Venice Jesus Whore 4,471]

Oh god, I was listening to The greatest while on YouTube and an ad came on at the beginning of the video I wanted to watch. The volume for the ad was lower and The greatest was still playing over top of the ad. The guy in the ad was like "NOBODY! does spicy chicken like Wendy's" and I swear it triggered me to Smarty when Lana says "Who has the choice like smarty does? Nobody, nobody!"

[Mind Melt 10,095]

ik its weird but i was just looking over my cd collection and i wish lana still did digipaks for her albums

they're just cuter

[urbannoize 1,596]

So Lana wasn't a fan of the font of NFR at 1st. Pretty much feeling the same way lot of fans did.