Born to Die - Post-Release Discussion Thread + Poll

[LanaRayDelMar 2,743]

It’s relevancy in the shaping of online stan culture and it’s impact on today’s sad-genre music can not be denied

 

And that’s why it’s her best album and why it can’t be appreciated by newer Lipsters

 

Any slander is truly tasteless

[13bitches 6,177]

I was only 14 when BTD was released and didn’t really get into Lana until after I was 18 lol. Still, I have to say that BTD is absolutely iconique and its impact is undeniable.

 

Song ranking (based only on album versions):

Million Dollar Man

Radio

Lolita

Off to the Races

Summertime Sadness

Video Games

Born to Die

Without You

Dark Paradise

Carmen

Blue Jeans

National Anthem

Lucky Ones

Diet Mountain Dew

This Is What Makes Us Girls

 

Elaboration/Ramble/Gushing ab Favorites in spoiler

 

Let it be known that I absolutely adore Dark Paradise, but the production on the album version, while gorgeous (those strings though ), just doesn’t quite feel right to me. I personally prefer the Radio Mix. I also prefer Tim Larcombe and Peter Ibsen’s versions of TIWMUG to the album version; the album version is too slow imo. The album version of DMD feels too busy and loud to me; I much prefer the version produced by The Flight (with the pre-choruses — “hit me, my darling, tonight...”).

 

On a more positive note, Million Dollar Man is one of my all-time favorite Lana songs, including unreleased. The lyrics, the production, the delivery... ugh. Absolute perfection. Radio deserves more appreciation and that’s just facts. I feel like it gets kind of drowned out and blends in the background due to its placement in the middle of the album. Its lighter, more upbeat tone is a breath of fresh air and provides somewhat of a breather between Dark Paradise and Carmen, so at the same time I kind of understand its place in the tracklist. Lolita in my opinion is super under-appreciated in general; I like the alternate/demo versions but honestly think I prefer the album version. The verses have one of my favorite melodies in Lana’s catalogue - I constantly find myself humming and singing them to myself lmao. The imagery is absolutely top-notch in this song.

Honestly I wish I could’ve been around for the BTD era (though when it came out I was still in this I-only-listen-to-“real music” phase and probably wouldn’t have given a shit had I heard of Lana), but I’m glad that I eventually checked out Lana and Born to Die.

 

Didn’t mean to ramble but I wanted to sing the praises of what I feel are some of her most underrated (released) songs.

 

[YUNGATA 14,955]

I was only 14 when BTD was released and didn’t really get into Lana until after I was 18 lol. Still, I have to say that BTD is absolutely iconique and its impact is undeniable.

 

Song ranking (based only on album versions):

Million Dollar Man

Radio

Lolita

Off to the Races

Summertime Sadness

Video Games

Born to Die

Without You

Dark Paradise

Carmen

Blue Jeans

National Anthem

Lucky Ones

Diet Mountain Dew

This Is What Makes Us Girls

 

Elaboration/Ramble/Gushing ab Favorites in spoiler

 

Let it be known that I absolutely adore Dark Paradise, but the production on the album version, while gorgeous (those strings though ), just doesn’t quite feel right to me. I personally prefer the Radio Mix. I also prefer Tim Larcombe and Peter Ibsen’s versions of TIWMUG to the album version; the album version is too slow imo. The album version of DMD feels too busy and loud to me; I much prefer the version produced by The Flight (with the pre-choruses — “hit me, my darling, tonight...”).

 

On a more positive note, Million Dollar Man is one of my all-time favorite Lana songs, including unreleased. The lyrics, the production, the delivery... ugh. Absolute perfection. Radio deserves more appreciation and that’s just facts. I feel like it gets kind of drowned out and blends in the background due to its placement in the middle of the album. Its lighter, more upbeat tone is a breath of fresh air and provides somewhat of a breather between Dark Paradise and Carmen, so at the same time I kind of understand its place in the tracklist. Lolita in my opinion is super under-appreciated in general; I like the alternate/demo versions but honestly think I prefer the album version. The verses have one of my favorite melodies in Lana’s catalogue - I constantly find myself humming and singing them to myself lmao. The imagery is absolutely top-notch in this song.

Honestly I wish I could’ve been around for the BTD era (though when it came out I was still in this I-only-listen-to-“real music” phase and probably wouldn’t have given a shit had I heard of Lana), but I’m glad that I eventually checked out Lana and Born to Die.

 

Didn’t mean to ramble but I wanted to sing the praises of what I feel are some of her most underrated (released) songs.

 

 

This always shakes me. Out of interest were you/your friends aware of the albums big singles when it came out? like did it reach your demographic? Or did you become aware of them later? good ranking btw I respect that.

[13bitches 6,177]

This always shakes me. Out of interest were you/your friends aware of the albums big singles when it came out? like did it reach your demographic? Or did you become aware of them later? good ranking btw I respect that.

I honestly don’t think I was aware of them. I didn’t have many friends honestly lol so I had maybe heard her name a couple times but never looked into her. Tbh I didn’t really look into her until around the time Halsey released Badlands and was drawing comparisons to BTD-era Lana; it had been out for a few months at that point I think. Iirc the first songs I bought from iTunes were National Anthem, Radio, Young and Beautiful, and Born to Die. I still don’t exactly see the Halsey/Lana comparisons but I’m glad I found Lana lol

And thanks! Tbh I had a hard time ranking them myself so I used a sorter on tumblr and let it do its thing. I think it came out pretty accurately

[Ultra Violet 19,039]

I'm still obsessing over Summertime Sadness and Dark Paradise being twin songs.

DP was written while SS was being recorded. You can sing DP over the SS instrumental and vice versa.

 

I think I'm going to make a YouTube vid of Dark Paradise with Summertime Sadness music video footage tomorrow

[TrashMagiq 58,949]

This album hasn't aged at all. It's timeless. It still sounds fresh after all these years. 

[cognaclilac 1,538]

okay but let's actually get down to the nitty-gritty of it all btd was an era that went by too quickly killed by her sister paradise who then assumed btd's identity in the form of a rerelease

[Lanalouis1 2,511]

Why do y'all hate Carmen? that's just homophobic 

Casting my mind back to when I first heard this album along with Paradise and my 12-year-old self was captivated by such immense beauty, and the power to transport me to somewhere nostalgic in America. 

 

Best album. 

 

period. 

[Flowerbomb 65,595]

I just want to say that this album can never be topped. It's just one of those albums where it's so unique and innovating, that it would be very hard to replicate. I adore BTD so much with every bone in my body, and mostly every song means a lot to me in so many ways. I can't believe I was only 15 when it was released!

 

Here's my ranking of each song, 1-10 ranking from best to worst (although no song is actually bad-bad on this album)

 

1. Born to Die

2. Million Dollar Man

3. Off To The Races

4. National Anthem

5. This Is What Makes Us Girls

6. Summertime Sadness

7. Video Games

8. Without You

9. Carmen

10. Radio

11. Dark Paradise

12. Diet Mountain Dew

13. Blue Jeans

14. Lucky Ones

[CatchTheBreeze 1,682]

I really adored BTD when it came out (I was already completely hyped for the album in 2011 after having listened to Blue Jeans, DMD and Video Games) and had it on repeat the entire year. The album truly helped me through difficult times back then (my father died in 2012 f.ex.) so I still do like it a lot but if I'm brutally honest with myself I nowadays prefer all of Lana's later albums. But, yes, BTD is of course iconic in many ways and it firmly placed Lana on the musical landscape. I think what's putting me off a bit these days is the kind of "over-production" (that bloody autotuned loon which appears in nearly every song) and that Lana's restricting her vocal range mainly to the lower registers on most of the songs. I'm pretty glad she departed from that BTD-sound on Paradise and on all her other albums which followed after that.

[TheBoss 13,517]

This always shakes me. Out of interest were you/your friends aware of the albums big singles when it came out? like did it reach your demographic? Or did you become aware of them later? good ranking btw I respect that.

 

I was 13 at the time, and at least in my experience I remember that a group of friends I had that were really into the Tumblr scene loved her. I never paid a lot of attention until 2013, when I came across her VG performance in Corinthia Hotel and it just was love at first sight 

[Beautiful Loser 49,663]

I was 17 when I fell in love with Lana (or maybe 16, about to turn 17, I don’t remember) and I had seen her face “everywhere” during that H&M campaign and read her names in newspapers but didn’t bother looking her up until... well, until I gave her a try and fell in love some month(s) later. None of my friends knew of her, but I learned later that a classmate/friend liked her as well. Another classmate only knew her Summertime Sadness remix (ugh). So glad I gave Lana multiple tries so she could fill my days with joy and so I ended up here.

[TheBoss 13,517]

 So glad I gave Lana multiple tries so she could fill my days with joy and so I ended up here.

 

I'm so glad too, I rember using google trying to find news about her, then moving to facebook groups and then tumblr, It wasn't until dawncoloredlipstick made a Q&A back in early 2015 that I learned from this place. 

 

I still remember the pure excitement I felt about her persona, past, unreleased music, old videos, etc. She was such a mistery to me lmao.

[Beautiful Loser 49,663]

I'm so glad too, I rember using google trying to find news about her, then moving to facebook groups and then tumblr, It wasn't until dawncoloredlipstick made a Q&A back in early 2015 that I learned from this place. 

 

I still remember the pure excitement I felt about her persona, past, unreleased music, old videos, etc. She was such a mistery to me lmao.

I had to rely on updates from Twitter fanpages, it wasn’t easy and sometimes confusing. =P I tried to search for fan forums but I found none... I don’t know why!! I tried again in 2017 and LanaBoards was the first hit on google. :3

And YES, she was so mysterious with her trailer park past, all her unreleased songs, her lyrics..! I remember listening to UV for the first time, thinking “what the f has this gal been through??!!” lol, she’s more like a real person to me now, which I don’t mind at all. <3

[Ultra Violet 19,039]

I'm still obsessing over Summertime Sadness and Dark Paradise being twin songs.

DP was written while SS was being recorded. You can sing DP over the SS instrumental and vice versa.

 

I think I'm going to make a YouTube vid of Dark Paradise with Summertime Sadness music video footage tomorrow

 

For once I actually lived up to my word!

 

 

 

Anywho, here's my ranking including deluxe:

1. Blue Jeans
2. Summertime Sadness
3. Born To Die
4. Off To The Races
5. Lolita
6. Lucky Ones
7. Million Dollar Man
8. Video Games
9. This Is What Makes Us Girls
10. Dark Paradise
11. Without You
12. National Anthem
13. Carmen
14. Diet Mountain Dew
15. Radio

I do think this album has more consistency in amazing songs though. Even my 10-15 rankings are better than Lust for Life's best half (besides Cherry and Heroin).

[ArtDecoDelRey 15,284]

1. Video Games

2. Born To Die

3. Off To The Races

4. National Anthem

5. Radio

6. Blue Jeans

7. Summertime Sadness

8. Million Dollar Man

9. Carmen

10. This Is What Makes Us Girls

11. Without You

12. Dark Paradise

13. Lolita

14. Diet Mountain Dew

15. Lucky Ones

 

I'm honestly a sucker for BTD's singles

[niandra lades 2,455]

1. Video Games

2. Born To Die

 

You have so much taste, you just do...

[ArtDecoDelRey 15,284]

You have so much taste, you just do...

is this sarcastic lmfao

[niandra lades 2,455]

is this sarcastic lmfao

Oh my God no lol, mine are the same but switched

[BreadKing 332]

is there a reason blue jeans and video games have remastered versions because they sound the same