Paradise - Post-Release Discussion Thread + Poll

[Sitar 22,208]

i asked where the official discussion thread was, people said there was only a rate paradise thread and not a true discussion thread and agreed we should make one! So poo, quite frankly!

 

Well now we have one all-purpose thread for both

[NamiraWilhelm 5,043]

Although my post now looks a bit mental lol. Not that i can be bothered to change it. Ah well.

[PrettyBaby 2,219]

In order of preference, with new ratings (having spent time with the songs for a week)...

 

1. Bel Air 5/5

2. American 3.5/5 (it's growing on me)

3. Ride 3/5

4. Body Electric 3/5

5. Burning Desire 3/5

6. Cola 3/5

7. Yayo 2.5/5

8. Blue Velvet 2/5

9. Gods & Monsters 2/5 (I wanted to like it, but the melody doesn't do anything for me)

 

Bel Air is the only song from TPE that's really special to me. As I said in the song meanings thread, I think this song is a love letter to her idols and her fans. On the surface, "Bel Air" seems to be about a stalker, waiting outside the gates of a celebrity home. So it's a lovely creepfest like "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, right? But wait! We know how Lana feels about her inspirations. The lyrics sound like she's almost trying to re-inspire an artist whose star has fallen. So it's more from the point of view of a fan... but I sort of think she must have in mind, too, the special relationship she has with her fans. I think the cycle of inspiration is another form of paradise for Lana.

 

And to recap what I've said about Cola, I no longer think its subtext is drug use, but rather, she's using some drug language as a metaphor for the paradise of sex.

[SissyRëyLDRsparkjumprope 63]

I love American. I think it's like one of the best songs on the Album... it's just, ahh!

 

I also like Blue Velvet, but that's just a cover she sings it so nicely though.

[10milestereo 228]

Cola. DAT FALSETTO.

[Monicker 3,035]

How do I can't do it, cut and paste together is: how to do it?

 

This is the best sentence i've seen in a while. That's awesome. Imagine a crocodile saying that. Or, like, the chair in your kitchen. In a slightly deep voice with really immaculate enunciation.

[Jump 1]

American. Hands down. Frankly, I thought it would be my least favorite based on the previews, but it turned out to be the exact opposite. It's positively divine.

[Sorrow 58]

After giving the album many listens Cola is still teh best track with Bel Air coming in second

[DOPE 33]

Body Electric has been added to my list officially...currently the song I play more than the others...

 

It's probably pulling a Dark Paradise on me, therefore I won't like it in a week.......

[DUKE 2,530]

To celebrate the release of "Paradise," I designed a t-shirt that I'll be wearing at the Hamburg show next year. What do you think? I can also upload the actual image file in case others want to use it... or I'll be shamelessly selling them on eBay!

 

 

I never realized Lana had such manly arms...

[Auto-Tuned Loon 650]

What happened to moderators disciplining sluts who make death threats?

 

Some animals are more equal than others, apparently.

[Monicker 3,035]

So i’ve had some time to really sit with the record and i’ve jotted down many thoughts. I tried to keep this short (really!) but who am i kidding, this shit is long as hell, so my apologies (hey, you don't have to read it ). There are already some good critiques on the more conceptual/thematic/lyrical overarching stuff, so i’ll mostly leave that alone, as i probably couldn’t comment on that stuff any better than some of you already have, and i’ll focus more on...surprise, surprise...the “technical” stuff.

 

 

 

I hear Paradise--much as i might imagine the concept itself turning out--as a series of missed opportunities and a lot of unrealized potential. We’re almost at the gates, but never quite there. I can see the picture before me but it’s only an illusion. And that in itself often makes for a kind of maddening listening experience/idea because, sometimes, so close seems frustratingly further than completely missing the mark. Moving in a natural progression from any of her previous released and unreleased efforts, Paradise offers a collection of truly cinematic and, dare i say it, more musically mature songs, however, they still sometimes sound a little desperate to squeeze into the mainstream’s playground and play its game. It is stupid, little details in most of these songs that prevent this brief album from being the masterpiece that i think it could have been. Now, granted, there’s an undeniable decline in the quality of Lana’s lyrics that is impossible to ignore and that almost seems pathological at this point, so, yes, lyrical shortcomings were going to be an issue here no matter what. But because i always place lyrics secondary to the music, Paradise, for me, still had the potential to be brilliant.

 

Still though, i really do enjoy the record, even if i have to force myself to ignore certain things. I can’t deny that it’s a very solid collection of songs that work really well together. No, it’s still not how i would produce a record, but i have to say that this album is mostly produced a whole lot better than Born to Die (just as one example, listen to the piano sound on this record and compare it to the piano sound on the last record), which should be no surprise considering Emile Haynie’s minimal presence--it’s amazing how he can’t seem to produce her without resorting to his silly shtick; if ever there was a one trick pony, boy, here he is. But i’m relieved that he really took a backseat on this record, and that others with far more creative ideas and an ear for subtlety stepped up. Yeah, it pains me that the album is mostly devoid of dynamics, and i’d probably sell a kidney to, at the very least, have access to the multis and remix the album, but in many ways this record has really, really improved upon the last one. There are some really welcomed changes throughout, like some of the new musical styles, the instrumentation (analog synths, vintage tape-based keyboards, dulcitone), relying less on hip hop influenced beats in favor of more nuanced drum programming as well as live drums, more emphasis on musicianship, little touches like those quick piano runs in American and Cola, and even just something like the fact that the latter ends with a fade. If i really think about it, a lot of the problems (my own hang-ups) that i find with this record come down to how i perceive Lana as an artist: a confounding contradiction--both authentic and affected, artistic and perfunctory, always testing my limits and keeping me engaged. But, gosh, that is precisely what i love about her.

 

On to the individual ratings of the songs:

 

1. Ride (8/10): This is a beautiful, already classic-sounding song that does an incredible job of musically evoking the open road. The early ‘70s soft rock AM radio vibe is a welcomed change of pace for the artist we have come to know as Lana Del Rey, and the lovely string arrangement really puts it over the top. But it’s the more subdued verses, full of space and so much longing, that are especially my favorite. That little shuffling drum pattern and the drum sound they got there are brilliant. Unfortunately, the song is really dragged down by the crap drums in the chorus, enough so that it really takes away from the whole. I want to take those drums, blow them up with dynamite, and then throw the remaining pieces out of a skyscraper while cursing them to hell That is the most mediocre drum sound, the most generic beat, and probably some of the stiffest playing i’ve ever heard on a record. Have you ever heard a drummer play a straightforward 4/4 beat that mechanically? I cannot believe that that is the old R&B session drummer, James Gadson, playing. Regardless of his legendary status in the business, i find it hard to see how a world famous producer like Rick Rubin could have thought that this was a good production call. Those drums are so at odds with the feel of the song, and that chorus is just begging for something more, something to push it along with the momentum it already has built in and really elevate it to another level, to encapsulate that urgent sense of personal freedom that is integral to the song. Instead we get a flat hint of what could have been.

 

2. American (9/10): I really, really adore this song. It easily demonstrates Lana’s gift for writing great melodies. Yeah, some of those lyrics are painfully banal (Elvis is the best, hell yes), but the music transcends the banality. Gosh, that gorgeous dollhouse intro--that is a magnificent example of painting pictures with music if i’ve ever heard one. The arrangement--the sweeping strings, reverberated electric guitars, piano and synths, the minimal but really effective drums--it’s a perfect slice of that California sound of hers that i first fell in love with. Which is why it’s really unfortunate that this has to be one of the few LDR songs that have a noticeably weak bridge. Typically, her songs have exceptionally great bridges, but this one just sounds tagged-on and unrelated to the rest of the song (and i say this as someone who loves jarring changes in music). Although i do like the fat synth bass during the bridge, and i really love how the song manages to naturally come out of the bridge and back into to the chorus. And speaking of the chorus, my god, that chorus, it’s so glorious--the wordless vocal (who needs lyrics!), the breathy Like an American refrain, that unbelievable arpeggiated analog synth, the driving tom tom beat throughout. She is really tapping into some real magic in that pre-chorus and chorus. For me, it’s little things like the analog synth in this song that i think were really missing from BTD, so it's a really welcomed addition to her music. Also, listen to the piano sound on this song, it’s perfect. That’s how i wish the piano had sounded throughout BTD.

 

3. Cola (9.5/10): This song is really something else. Come on, who else could have written a song like Cola? I love how stark the contrast is between the brooding vibe of the backing track and the playful, coquettish lyrics (that, at one point, reference her dad??), what a pairing! Love that droppin’ electronic bass drum throughout, what a good, counterintuitive sound to accompany strings of all things. There are a lot of nice little touches coming in and out throughout the backing track, and there’s this really nice blending in the whole mix. Her lead vocals and harmonies are really fantastic here. And what a bridge! My only gripe with this song (and it’s not as big of a gripe as my others on the record) is the electric guitar wankery, just because i’m not into that sort of thing. But it’s also kind of cool that it’s there in an unexpected way, so it doesn’t bother me terribly. I absolutely love that the song fades, what a wonderful little surprise, and so fitting for the song’s outro. When was the last time you heard a great song with a fade? Bring back the lost art of fades!

 

4. Body Electric (7.5/10): I have mixed feelings about the long anticipated studio recording of Body Electric. As some of you may recall, i am crazy about this song, so i was excited but anxious to finally hear it. I really appreciate that the song is now more dynamic due to the drums and percussive accents, and that it has more color from the additional instrumentation. There’s a dulcitone on here. How fucking cool is that? It also has a Mellotron, Optigan, and Moog. I like what these additional tone colors bring to the song’s dark sound. Yet every last one of my favorite aspects of the song, what i think elevated it to being truly exceptional in later, more fleshed out live performances, have been either watered down or just inexplicably omitted, and that is heartbreaking Not only are the strings totally subdued, but the amazing piano that brought such a weight to the song, those ominous sounding octaves in the bass alternating with the chords, is totally absent. WHY would this be entirely removed from the studio arrangement when that was such an integral part of the song’s sound? The second verse with those busy pizzicato strings that i once described as sounding like bones breaking off of a skeleton and collapsing to the ground are now playing this simple, underwhelming motif on...FAKE STRINGS! Hello, Video Games. I cannot believe that real strings weren’t used for this section. I mean, what is wrong with these people? What reason could there possibly be for this if there are real strings all over the rest of the record and even on this very song?! It’s criminal. And then, to twist the knife around in the wound (oh, i'm so dramatic), the once heavenly string outro has been reduced to a mere 8 bars and obscured by the totally unnecessary repetition of the chorus vocals, which already felt really repetitive throughout the song, considering how she replaced the I’m on fire refrain with more repetitions of Sing the body electric. Singing over the outro is just overkill. You gotta sometimes let the music breathe a little, you know? To top off my (partial) disappointment with BE, throughout the whole song she sounds like she’s phoning in the vocals (maybe she was already bored of this song because she had been performing it for months straight?) and she’s rushing it, always a little too ahead of the beat. Also, for whatever reason, the vocals are produced in a way that make them sound very thin and weak. That ending with the percussion/tube bells is really great though!

 

5. Blue Velvet (8.5/10): Blue Velvet has always been a good song, so it would be pretty hard to mess this one up, and this version was really close to being perfect. Here it has been given a great string arrangement, bookending the song with really gorgeous unaccompanied sections. I like that it’s short and sweet, clocking in at just two and a half minutes, serving as a kind of momentary detour through someone else’s music in the middle of her own record. Some of the modern elements like the electronic beat, the Auto-Tuned Loon (!), and the thick synth bass really work here. But, again, it’s something minor that prevents me from unequivocally loving the song. This time it’s the vocals in the change at 1:11. She’s very pitchy here (hey, at least they didn’t use Auto-Tune, right?) and also sounds so bored and unengaged. I really think it would have benefited the song if she had gone an octave higher with the crescendo in the music, and, dammit, expressed more emotion, and uhm, you know, stayed on key. I can’t see how any producer could accept that as a final vocal take. Speaking of the producer, that filter applied to the strings at the very end makes me want to pour a bucket of freezing water on Emile Haynie while yelling “What are you thinking?” at him. What, does he think that sounds cool or something? It sounds like something a kid on a laptop fucking around on Audacity would do. Hai, Blue Velvet is an old song, rite, so, lyke, i made it sound all old ‘n’ shit at the end there, bro, kinda lyke an old record or sumthin.

 

6. Gods and Monsters (6/10): This song has some of the clunkiest, most contrived lyrics (Living like Jim Morrison; Like a groupie incognito posing as a real singer; When you talk it’s like a movie and you’re making me crazy) riddled with a bunch of cliches (Innocence lost; Life imitates art; God’s dead), which says a lot considering the album we’re discussing. Even the way she phrases these questionable lines sounds awkward and forced. And, again, it sounds like she’s phoning in the vocals. I mean, is she taking out the trash here or cutting a vocal? Did she want to sing these songs or what? This song does have some cool, interesting piano chords and voicings (although, ugh, why is the piano panned hard right?) and i like a lot of the delay effects in the production. What brings this song down for me is that it’s constructed entirely around that incessant drum beat. It’s just such a dumb rawk beat. I picture some bonehead d00d in his garage pounding on the kit like a moron and this is what the beat would sound like. And i hate the way the drums are recorded/produced, that snare sound can for sure suck my ass. This sounds similar to the way that Steve Albini recorded the drums on Nirvana’s In Utero. I hate that drum sound. So, the fact that it plays consistently throughout the entirety of the song and that it’s the focal point is a real drag. The lackluster bridge obviously doesn’t help matters. I really think she needed to spend more time fleshing this song out because it sounds like a half-realized idea.

 

7. Yayo (9/10): Like Blue Velvet, Yayo is already a great song, so most of the work was done already. This is (mostly) a fantastic production. I love the Angelo Badalamenti approach they took with it here: jazz rhythm section, twangy electric guitar, and synth strings. Even the A-TL seems to fit here (that’s twice now! ). And those celesta/harp sections are fantastically spellbinding, just as good as anything on AKA. In its own unique way, this version sounds just as haunting as the original. The omission of the Dark night refrain, how jarring that is to the acquainted listener, reminds me of what director Gus Van Sant did with the iconic shower scene in his remake of Psycho, choosing to withhold the famous score during the first few seconds of the scene--it’s a real mindfuck but it works because it becomes even more unsettling. A remake can really benefit from some surprises, something to really set it apart from the original. I do have a quibble about the Hello heaven section: i think the bass notes in the way the piano chords are voiced there takes away a little from the vulnerability of that section, i don't know why. But overall, there is great movement from section to section. Her vocals in this rendition of Yayo are in top form. It’s a really gut wrenching, emotional, almost disturbed performance, exhibiting some nuanced details, like the wavering falsetto on Put me onto your black motorcycle, and the little I-I wear your sparkle vocal hiccup. The very end sounds like a mental patient singing to themselves in the dark corridor of an asylum (that’s a good thing). However, there is one thing that really irks me about this version, which is impossible to ignore, and, sadly, really taints the recording: the totally excessive use/abuse of reverb on the vocals. What a poor production decision. I’m looking at you, Graham Archer, whoever you are It really is unfortunate that such a seemingly minute detail could stop me from fully enjoying the recording without reservations, but alas. God, could i have at least gotten one totally perfect song, guys? Oh wait...

 

8. Bel Air (10/10): This is paradise. Finally, we have arrived. And we are floating in a timeless dimension. This is what dreams are made of. I noticed this song is co-written, engineered, and produced by Dan Heath, and that he even plays on it as well. Conclusion: moar Dan Heath plz. I can’t find fault with this song. I mean, if i wanted to be petty, there is a technical detail throughout the mix of the song that i find really distracting, but fuck it, this song is glorious and sublime, so inconsequential technicalities be damned. They could have recorded this song on a shoebox cassette recorder and it wouldn’t have mattered with a song this beautiful. Its evocative, pictorial sound, both melodically peculiar and harmonically rich, is simultaneously otherworldly and oddly familiar, always with a slight edge of tension. Who cares that it sounds “the same” throughout? It’s all about the mood here. And what a mood it is. Four minutes of ethereal bliss. Why should it have to change? Remember: this is paradise.

And then it just ends.

What now?

Was it all a dream?

 

 

[Sitar 22,208]

 

Um, please talk about Burning Desire and it's use of a sitar I was building up to that review the entire time I spent reading and then...nothing.

[PepsiCola 13]

So i’ve had some time to really sit with the record and i’ve jotted down many thoughts. I tried to keep this short (really!) but who am i kidding, this shit is long as hell, so my apologies (hey, you don't have to read it ). There are already some good critiques on the more conceptual/thematic/lyrical overarching stuff, so i’ll mostly leave that alone, as i probably couldn’t comment on that stuff any better than some of you already have, and i’ll focus more on...surprise, surprise...the “technical” stuff.

 

 

 

I hear Paradise--much as i might imagine the concept itself turning out--as a series of missed opportunities and a lot of unrealized potential. We’re almost at the gates, but never quite there. I can see the picture before me but it’s only an illusion. And that in itself often makes for a kind of maddening listening experience/idea because, sometimes, so close seems frustratingly further than completely missing the mark. Moving in a natural progression from any of her previous released and unreleased efforts, Paradise offers a collection of truly cinematic and, dare i say it, more musically mature songs, however, they still sometimes sound a little desperate to squeeze into the mainstream’s playground and play its game. It is stupid, little details in most of these songs that prevent this brief album from being the masterpiece that i think it could have been. Now, granted, there’s an undeniable decline in the quality of Lana’s lyrics that is impossible to ignore and that almost seems pathological at this point, so, yes, lyrical shortcomings were going to be an issue here no matter what. But because i always place lyrics secondary to the music, Paradise, for me, still had the potential to be brilliant.

 

Still though, i really do enjoy the record, even if i have to force myself to ignore certain things. I can’t deny that it’s a very solid collection of songs that work really well together. No, it’s still not how i would produce a record, but i have to say that this album is mostly produced a whole lot better than Born to Die (just as one example, listen to the piano sound on this record and compare it to the piano sound on the last record), which should be no surprise considering Emile Haynie’s minimal presence--it’s amazing how he can’t seem to produce her without resorting to his silly shtick; if ever there was a one trick pony, boy, here he is. But i’m relieved that he really took a backseat on this record, and that others with far more creative ideas and an ear for subtlety stepped up. Yeah, it pains me that the album is mostly devoid of dynamics, and i’d probably sell a kidney to, at the very least, have access to the multis and remix the album, but in many ways this record has really, really improved upon the last one. There are some really welcomed changes throughout, like some of the new musical styles, the instrumentation (analog synths, vintage tape-based keyboards, dulcitone), relying less on hip hop influenced beats in favor of more nuanced drum programming as well as live drums, more emphasis on musicianship, little touches like those quick piano runs in American and Cola, and even just something like the fact that the latter ends with a fade. If i really think about it, a lot of the problems (my own hang-ups) that i find with this record come down to how i perceive Lana as an artist: a confounding contradiction--both authentic and affected, artistic and perfunctory, always testing my limits and keeping me engaged. But, gosh, that is precisely what i love about her.

 

On to the individual ratings of the songs:

 

1. Ride (8/10): This is a beautiful, already classic-sounding song that does an incredible job of musically evoking the open road. The early ‘70s soft rock AM radio vibe is a welcomed change of pace for the artist we have come to know as Lana Del Rey, and the lovely string arrangement really puts it over the top. But it’s the more subdued verses, full of space and so much longing, that are especially my favorite. That little shuffling drum pattern and the drum sound they got there are brilliant. Unfortunately, the song is really dragged down by the crap drums in the chorus, enough so that it really takes away from the whole. I want to take those drums, blow them up with dynamite, and then throw the remaining pieces out of a skyscraper while cursing them to hell That is the most mediocre drum sound, the most generic beat, and probably some of the stiffest playing i’ve ever heard on a record. Have you ever heard a drummer play a straightforward 4/4 beat that mechanically? I cannot believe that that is the old R&B session drummer, James Gadson, playing. Regardless of his legendary status in the business, i find it hard to see how a world famous producer like Rick Rubin could have thought that this was a good production call. Those drums are so at odds with the feel of the song, and that chorus is just begging for something more, something to push it along with the momentum it already has built in and really elevate it to another level, to encapsulate that urgent sense of personal freedom that is integral to the song. Instead we get a flat hint of what could have been.

 

2. American (9/10): I really, really adore this song. It easily demonstrates Lana’s gift for writing great melodies. Yeah, some of those lyrics are painfully banal (Elvis is the best, hell yes), but the music transcends the banality. Gosh, that gorgeous dollhouse intro--that is a magnificent example of painting pictures with music if i’ve ever heard one. The arrangement--the sweeping strings, reverberated electric guitars, piano and synths, the minimal but really effective drums--it’s a perfect slice of that California sound of hers that i first fell in love with. Which is why it’s really unfortunate that this has to be one of the few LDR songs that have a noticeably weak bridge. Typically, her songs have exceptionally great bridges, but this one just sounds tagged-on and unrelated to the rest of the song (and i say this as someone who loves jarring changes in music). Although i do like the fat synth bass during the bridge, and i really love how the song manages to naturally come out of the bridge and back into to the chorus. And speaking of the chorus, my god, that chorus, it’s so glorious--the wordless vocal (who needs lyrics!), the breathy Like an American refrain, that unbelievable arpeggiated analog synth, the driving tom tom beat throughout. She is really tapping into some real magic in that pre-chorus and chorus. For me, it’s little things like the analog synth in this song that i think were really missing from BTD, so it's a really welcomed addition to her music. Also, listen to the piano sound on this song, it’s perfect. That’s how i wish the piano had sounded throughout BTD.

 

3. Cola (9.5/10): This song is really something else. Come on, who else could have written a song like Cola? I love how stark the contrast is between the brooding vibe of the backing track and the playful, coquettish lyrics (that, at one point, reference her dad??), what a pairing! Love that droppin’ electronic bass drum throughout, what a good, counterintuitive sound to accompany strings of all things. There are a lot of nice little touches coming in and out throughout the backing track, and there’s this really nice blending in the whole mix. Her lead vocals and harmonies are really fantastic here. And what a bridge! My only gripe with this song (and it’s not as big of a gripe as my others on the record) is the electric guitar wankery, just because i’m not into that sort of thing. But it’s also kind of cool that it’s there in an unexpected way, so it doesn’t bother me terribly. I absolutely love that the song fades, what a wonderful little surprise, and so fitting for the song’s outro. When was the last time you heard a great song with a fade? Bring back the lost art of fades!

 

4. Body Electric (7.5/10): I have mixed feelings about the long anticipated studio recording of Body Electric. As some of you may recall, i am crazy about this song, so i was excited but anxious to finally hear it. I really appreciate that the song is now more dynamic due to the drums and percussive accents, and that it has more color from the additional instrumentation. There’s a dulcitone on here. How fucking cool is that? It also has a Mellotron, Optigan, and Moog. I like what these additional tone colors bring to the song’s dark sound. Yet every last one of my favorite aspects of the song, what i think elevated it to being truly exceptional in later, more fleshed out live performances, have been either watered down or just inexplicably omitted, and that is heartbreaking Not only are the strings totally subdued, but the amazing piano that brought such a weight to the song, those ominous sounding octaves in the bass alternating with the chords, is totally absent. WHY would this be entirely removed from the studio arrangement when that was such an integral part of the song’s sound? The second verse with those busy pizzicato strings that i once described as sounding like bones breaking off of a skeleton and collapsing to the ground are now playing this simple, underwhelming motif on...FAKE STRINGS! Hello, Video Games. I cannot believe that real strings weren’t used for this section. I mean, what is wrong with these people? What reason could there possibly be for this if there are real strings all over the rest of the record and even on this very song?! It’s criminal. And then, to twist the knife around in the wound (oh, i'm so dramatic), the once heavenly string outro has been reduced to a mere 8 bars and obscured by the totally unnecessary repetition of the chorus vocals, which already felt really repetitive throughout the song, considering how she replaced the I’m on fire refrain with more repetitions of Sing the body electric. Singing over the outro is just overkill. You gotta sometimes let the music breathe a little, you know? To top off my (partial) disappointment with BE, throughout the whole song she sounds like she’s phoning in the vocals (maybe she was already bored of this song because she had been performing it for months straight?) and she’s rushing it, always a little too ahead of the beat. Also, for whatever reason, the vocals are produced in a way that make them sound very thin and weak. That ending with the percussion/tube bells is really great though!

 

5. Blue Velvet (8.5/10): Blue Velvet has always been a good song, so it would be pretty hard to mess this one up, and this version was really close to being perfect. Here it has been given a great string arrangement, bookending the song with really gorgeous unaccompanied sections. I like that it’s short and sweet, clocking in at just two and a half minutes, serving as a kind of momentary detour through someone else’s music in the middle of her own record. Some of the modern elements like the electronic beat, the Auto-Tuned Loon (!), and the thick synth bass really work here. But, again, it’s something minor that prevents me from unequivocally loving the song. This time it’s the vocals in the change at 1:11. She’s very pitchy here (hey, at least they didn’t use Auto-Tune, right?) and also sounds so bored and unengaged. I really think it would have benefited the song if she had gone an octave higher with the crescendo in the music, and, dammit, expressed more emotion, and uhm, you know, stayed on key. I can’t see how any producer could accept that as a final vocal take. Speaking of the producer, that filter applied to the strings at the very end makes me want to pour a bucket of freezing water on Emile Haynie while yelling “What are you thinking?” at him. What, does he think that sounds cool or something? It sounds like something a kid on a laptop fucking around on Audacity would do. Hai, Blue Velvet is an old song, rite, so, lyke, i made it sound all old ‘n’ shit at the end there, bro, kinda lyke an old record or sumthin.

 

6. Gods and Monsters (6/10): This song has some of the clunkiest, most contrived lyrics (Living like Jim Morrison; Like a groupie incognito posing as a real singer; When you talk it’s like a movie and you’re making me crazy) riddled with a bunch of cliches (Innocence lost; Life imitates art; God’s dead), which says a lot considering the album we’re discussing. Even the way she phrases these questionable lines sounds awkward and forced. And, again, it sounds like she’s phoning in the vocals. I mean, is she taking out the trash here or cutting a vocal? Did she want to sing these songs or what? This song does have some cool, interesting piano chords and voicings (although, ugh, why is the piano panned hard right?) and i like a lot of the delay effects in the production. What brings this song down for me is that it’s constructed entirely around that incessant drum beat. It’s just such a dumb rawk beat. I picture some bonehead d00d in his garage pounding on the kit like a moron and this is what the beat would sound like. And i hate the way the drums are recorded/produced, that snare sound can for sure suck my ass. This sounds similar to the way that Steve Albini recorded the drums on Nirvana’s In Utero. I hate that drum sound. So, the fact that it plays consistently throughout the entirety of the song and that it’s the focal point is a real drag. The lackluster bridge obviously doesn’t help matters. I really think she needed to spend more time fleshing this song out because it sounds like a half-realized idea.

 

7. Yayo (9/10): Like Blue Velvet, Yayo is already a great song, so most of the work was done already. This is (mostly) a fantastic production. I love the Angelo Badalamenti approach they took with it here: jazz rhythm section, twangy electric guitar, and synth strings. Even the A-TL seems to fit here (that’s twice now! ). And those celesta/harp sections are fantastically spellbinding, just as good as anything on AKA. In its own unique way, this version sounds just as haunting as the original. The omission of the Dark night refrain, how jarring that is to the acquainted listener, reminds me of what director Gus Van Sant did with the iconic shower scene in his remake of Psycho, choosing to withhold the famous score during the first few seconds of the scene--it’s a real mindfuck but it works because it becomes even more unsettling. A remake can really benefit from some surprises, something to really set it apart from the original. I do have a quibble about the Hello heaven section: i think the bass notes in the way the piano chords are voiced there takes away a little from the vulnerability of that section, i don't know why. But overall, there is great movement from section to section. Her vocals in this rendition of Yayo are in top form. It’s a really gut wrenching, emotional, almost disturbed performance, exhibiting some nuanced details, like the wavering falsetto on Put me onto your black motorcycle, and the little I-I wear your sparkle vocal hiccup. The very end sounds like a mental patient singing to themselves in the dark corridor of an asylum (that’s a good thing). However, there is one thing that really irks me about this version, which is impossible to ignore, and, sadly, really taints the recording: the totally excessive use/abuse of reverb on the vocals. What a poor production decision. I’m looking at you, Graham Archer, whoever you are It really is unfortunate that such a seemingly minute detail could stop me from fully enjoying the recording without reservations, but alas. God, could i have at least gotten one totally perfect song, guys? Oh wait...

 

8. Bel Air (10/10): This is paradise. Finally, we have arrived. And we are floating in a timeless dimension. This is what dreams are made of. I noticed this song is co-written, engineered, and produced by Dan Heath, and that he even plays on it as well. Conclusion: moar Dan Heath plz. I can’t find fault with this song. I mean, if i wanted to be petty, there is a technical detail throughout the mix of the song that i find really distracting, but fuck it, this song is glorious and sublime, so inconsequential technicalities be damned. They could have recorded this song on a shoebox cassette recorder and it wouldn’t have mattered with a song this beautiful. Its evocative, pictorial sound, both melodically peculiar and harmonically rich, is simultaneously otherworldly and oddly familiar, always with a slight edge of tension. Who cares that it sounds “the same” throughout? It’s all about the mood here. And what a mood it is. Four minutes of ethereal bliss. Why should it have to change? Remember: this is paradise.

And then it just ends.

What now?

Was it all a dream?

 

 

 

 

Ahhhhhh! You totally made me look at Bel Air in a new light :whoot:

[greymillenium 541]

 

Ride [4] Lana Del Rey sounds as worn and weathered as she did in Born to Die and maybe a little more like Marianne Faithful this time around. I'm glad to hear the Mermaid Motel vocal stylings in the background of the chorus. Listening to the song makes me want to explore wide and open spaces.

 

American [4] Lana is singing in her sweet spot in this song! The brief guitar riffs in the beginning of the second chorus are exquisite. Lana Del Rey reminds us that she is at her best being with someone who is tall, tan, and avant-garde. This love songs gets a little personal in the bridge when she lets us in on her prayer life.

 

Cola [5] Lana Del Rey's mythos escalates in this track. Lana, with all her gravitas, declares the very specific taste of her pussy over the throbbing bass. The close harmonies of the bridge are topped off with Lana Del Rey scat singing like an electric guitar in the climax. What more do you want?

 

Body Electric [3] I think the album version was recorded for those who were offended by the live performances of this song which is unfortunate for those who fell in love with the live performances. Lana Del Rey comes across as too composed here when I wanting a more unhinged delivery. I get the impression of a ghost town in a desert wasteland.

 

Blue Velvet [3] My favorite part of this song is the undulating sigh in the beginning of the song. Yep, Lana's love for all things retro-Americana is undeniable.

 

Gods & Monsters [4] I love that gravelly tone in Lana's voice in the beginning of the song and the scream in the second verse. This song has the strongest images and the best story. The powerful statements made throughout the song are eclipsed by the weakest bridge of the album. A fallen angel who seizes ownership of her soul and her destiny and sings of a dead God ends up pandering to the aethetics of her lover, but that's LA for you. This track touches on obsession and the production with the AT-L and the slick strings highlights the forboding energy of the song. Lana Del Rey isn't the other woman this time, but taps into The Other.

 

Yayo [4] This song is cast in a sepia glow and is the sonic equivalent of looking at an old photograph. Even in Paradise, the past is part of the present. The homage to the past reflected by the cover of Blue Velvet is echoed eeriely in Yayo.

 

Bel Air [5] A moody and beautiful song. Lana ascending and descending a vocal scale. Think Active Child meets American Beauty score.The song has Gothic imagery complete with talking gargoyles and a quiet, rumbling storm that picks up in the second verse. The string arrangements sound great as the feel for the song switches from musical theatre to chamber music culminating in the benediction of a rose idol making Bel Air the most fantastical LDR song to date.

 

Burning Desire [3] Carefree and catchy song full of anticipation, the only bop on the album is the bonus track. It is perfect for driving down the highway. I am grateful for the blippy-bass in the song to bring us back to reality after our poor souls have been wrought out by a vision of paradise as sung by Lana Del Rey.

 

 

Average: 3.89

[Monicker 3,035]

Um, please talk about Burning Desire and it's use of a sitar I was building up to that review the entire time I spent reading and then...nothing.

 

You know, i momentarily forgot about Burning Desire. I had been waiting to see if somehow it would be available in lossless, and then i just forgot about it because i never liked it. Undoubtedly my least favorite of the bunch--she's just singing the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida melody throughout the entire song. I don't even have it. Someone wanna hook me up with a copy?

 

Anyway, doesn't belong in the review/rating for the record, as it's an iTunes only bonus.

 

 

Ride [4] Lana Del Rey sounds as worn and weathered as she did in Born to Die and maybe a little more like Marianne Faithful this time around. I'm glad to hear the Mermaid Motel vocal stylings in the background of the chorus. Listening to the song makes me want to explore wide and open spaces.

 

American [4] Lana is singing in her sweet spot in this song! The brief guitar riffs in the beginning of the second chorus are exquisite. Lana Del Rey reminds us that she is at her best being with someone who is tall, tan, and avant-garde. This love songs gets a little personal in the bridge when she lets us in on her prayer life.

 

Cola [5] Lana Del Rey's mythos escalates in this track. Lana, with all her gravitas, declares the very specific taste of her pussy over the throbbing bass. The close harmonies of the bridge are topped off with Lana Del Rey scat singing like an electric guitar in the climax. What more do you want?

 

Body Electric [3] I think the album version was recorded for those who were offended by the live performances of this song which is unfortunate for those who fell in love with the live performances. Lana Del Rey comes across as too composed here when I wanting a more unhinged delivery. I get the impression of a ghost town in a desert wasteland.

 

Blue Velvet [3] My favorite part of this song is the undulating sigh in the beginning of the song. Yep, Lana's love for all things retro-Americana is undeniable.

 

Gods & Monsters [4] I love that gravelly tone in Lana's voice in the beginning of the song and the scream in the second verse. This song has the strongest images and the best story. The powerful statements made throughout the song are eclipsed by the weakest bridge of the album. A fallen angel who seizes ownership of her soul and her destiny and sings of a dead God ends up pandering to the aethetics of her lover, but that's LA for you. This track touches on obsession and the production with the AT-L and the slick strings highlights the forboding energy of the song. Lana Del Rey isn't the other woman this time, but taps into The Other.

 

Yayo [4] This song is cast in a sepia glow and is the sonic equivalent of looking at an old photograph. Even in Paradise, the past is part of the present. The homage to the past reflected by the cover of Blue Velvet is echoed eeriely in Yayo.

 

Bel Air [5] A moody and beautiful song. Lana ascending and descending a vocal scale. Think Active Child meets American Beauty score.The song has Gothic imagery complete with talking gargoyles and a quiet, rumbling storm that picks up in the second verse. The string arrangements sound great as the feel for the song switches from musical theatre to chamber music culminating in the benediction of a rose idol making Bel Air the most fantastical LDR song to date.

 

Burning Desire [3] Carefree and catchy song full of anticipation, the only bop on the album is the bonus track. It is perfect for driving down the highway. I am grateful for the blippy-bass in the song to bring us back to reality after our poor souls have been wrought out by a vision of paradise as sung by Lana Del Rey.

 

 

Average: 3.89

 

I really loved this review!

[Sitar 22,208]

Cola [5] Lana Del Rey's mythos escalates in this track. Lana, with all her gravitas, declares the very specific taste of her pussy over the throbbing bass. The close harmonies of the bridge are topped off with Lana Del Rey scat singing like an electric guitar in the climax. What more do you want?

 

Yes, her pussy tastes like gravitas

 

You know, i momentarily forgot about Burning Desire. I had been waiting to see if somehow it would be available in lossless, and then i just forgot about it because i never liked it. Undoubtedly my least favorite of the bunch--she's just singing the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida melody throughout the entire song. I don't even have it. Someone wanna hook me up with a copy?

 

Anyway, doesn't belong in the review/rating for the record, as it's an iTunes only bonus.

 

You haven't listened to it enough. Bonus review?

 

Shout out to Neal's gifs open in a separate tab.

 

I'm afraid I have a mere iTunes purchase of Burning Desire and wouldn't want to hurt your ears.

[Sitar 22,208]

To celebrate the release of "Paradise," I designed a t-shirt that I'll be wearing at the Hamburg show next year. What do you think? I can also upload the actual image file in case others want to use it... or I'll be shamelessly selling them on eBay!

 

Did you put an image in the text of "American"?

[DUKE 2,530]

Did you put an image in the text of "American"?

 

Yes but shhh...

[PrettyBaby 2,219]

 

 

Monicker, I notice you rated your least-favorite on the album higher than I rated my second-favorite.

 

Cola [5] Lana Del Rey's mythos escalates in this track. Lana, with all her gravitas, declares the very specific taste of her pussy over the throbbing bass. The close harmonies of the bridge are topped off with Lana Del Rey scat singing like an electric guitar in the climax. What more do you want?

 

Less gravitas, more gratuitous power chords, tbh.

 

Body Electric [3] ...Lana Del Rey comes across as too composed here when I wanting a more unhinged delivery.

 

But... that's the point of having studio vs. live versions, yes? IMO her only mistake here was singing it live first. (I give it a [3] too, but it's not because it isn't well-done or because it lacks energy. It's just not my kind of song.)

 

Gods & Monsters [4] ...This song has the strongest images and the best story...

 

Yayo [4] ...The homage to the past reflected by the cover of Blue Velvet is echoed eeriely in Yayo.

 

You're so right. But I just find myself wanting to like these songs more than wanting to listen to them :/

 

 

 

#feelinglikeaflopfan