If AKA was released by Lana & BTD was released by Lizzy

[Monicker 3,030]

Mmmm, sometimes I dream about Million Dollar Man, Carmen and Without You done in Kahne style    (and I'm one of few that actually like Haynie)

 

 

 

But it's really hard to imagine how it'd sound like because visually they're quite different. Like, when you listen to AKA it makes you think about trailer parks, gas stations and so on, and it's very americana in a stripped back sense. BTD is different because it's more glamorous, extravagant and lavished, still americana but the theme sticks to opulence, which is why I liked what Haynie had done with BTD, I felt like it was supposed to sound too much and overproduced because that's what that album was aiming for.

 

So I don't think it'd work releasing BTD as Lizzy Grant because it needs that melodrama and excessiveness, and AKA couldn't be released as Lana (and probably why the remake of Yayo didn't work) because the production has to be spare and in moderation to fit with the visual side of her music.

 

I was thinking yesterday of a way of saying something similar, about the visual aspect of the songs/albums, or more specifically, the thematic material. They are in very different ball parks, yet, let's say, in the same neighborhood. Not unlike, say, driving through a part of town, and from one street to the next, you can see the socioeconomic makeup change right before your eyes. Yet the area's citizens all share a sort of bond in that they call the same place home. Some of the culture finds its way into all facets of the neighborhood.

 

That's a really good point you make about the production style fitting the themes and subject matter of BTD. As i've said before, there's something about how overproduced BTD is that i like and i can't entirely pinpoint why, though i wouldn't want more of that sound/style.   

[Hundred Dollar Bill 21,461]

But it's really hard to imagine how it'd sound like because visually they're quite different. Like, when you listen to AKA it makes you think about trailer parks, gas stations and so on, and it's very americana in a stripped back sense. BTD is different because it's more glamorous, extravagant and lavished, still americana but the theme sticks to opulence, which is why I liked what Haynie had done with BTD, I felt like it was supposed to sound too much and overproduced because that's what that album was aiming for.

 

This really got me thinking, you made some interesting points! AKA really is like, visually speaking, the trailer park gas station life, etc. BTD is Lana after those experiences, when things are darker but littered with fame, basically the opposite of her life in AKA. But then

 

and probably why the remake of Yayo didn't work

 

[fruitpunchlips 815]

 

It didn't work 

Not that it was bad but what Kahne had already done to it was as close to flawless as you can come but the new version just sounds overworked. However, if you pretend the new version is the only one that exists the production is great but I see no point in remaking a song that worked so well the first time. What mainly bothers me with the new Yayo is her fucking singing, she's trying really, really hard, like when she was performing live in the beginning of the BTD-era and she tried so hard her accent changed into Marlene Dietrich.

And she pronounces 'takes' in "it only takes two hours to nevada" like taste. 

 

And she won't even play it live

[Hundred Dollar Bill 21,461]

It didn't work 

Not that it was bad but what Kahne had already done to it was as close to flawless as you can come but the new version just sounds overworked. However, if you pretend the new version is the only one that exists the production is great but I see no point in remaking a song that worked so well the first time. What mainly bothers me with the new Yayo is her fucking singing, she's trying really, really hard, like when she was performing live in the beginning of the BTD-era and she tried so hard her accent changed into Marlene Dietrich.

And she pronounces 'takes' in "it only takes two hours to nevada" like taste. 

 

And she won't even play it live

 

It worked just fine. And who cares if Kahne's version was perfect, that doesn't mean a wonderfully written song with a great melody should never be recorded again. All versions of Yayo are beautiful. 

[t-raider26 912]

I sort of feel like, if she had the same resources with AKA as she did with BTD then the two albums would be very similar. AKA was recorded on a low budget with different producers, but the songwriting still has a similar feel to the songs on BTD.

[Monicker 3,030]

AKA was recorded on a low budget with different producers, but the songwriting still has a similar feel to the songs on BTD.

 

Just one producer, David Kahne. Also, i have no way of knowing this with the lack of information we have, but i'm willing to bet that the AKA recordings on a song-to-song basis cost more than the songs on BTD that don't have strings. 

[slang 1,509]

The most interesting thing about the question is nailing down why people get headaches thinking about it. BTD is largely “retro” in the Hollywood movie score sense (30s and 40s), with exceptions (e.g. National Anthem, This is what makes us girls); AKA is “retro” in a blues/jazz and a 50s/60s rock sense, again with exceptions (e.g. Brite Lites, Gramma). Lyrics-wise BTD seems to be about love relationships, alcohol, nostalgia, and suicide (or at least dark) themes. AKA is more like white trash(?), Americana/nostalgia, and again dark themes. The two albums overlap the most lyrically, at least reckoned by themes.

 

AKA is way more eclectic in terms of style; whereas BTD has a strict style sense that songs seem compelled to follow. An AKA done more as BTD would sound something like a more interesting Bell/Lynch This Train album. This Train was much less compelling than AKA, but still interesting and beautifully song. However, it suffered from its style cohesion; whereas the melodic strengths of BTD allowed style cohesion to work, imo. I don’t know what a more eclectic sounding BTD could sound like.

 

For what an opinion is worth, Paradise seems more of a blend of AKA/BTD styles, not counting the Yayo overlap, and some drive toward the more commercial. Or maybe this is wishful thinking on my part.

 

Others have divided the question into thinking about what songs on BTD sound most like AKA and vice versa. I’ll opine that Off to the Races, Blue Jeans, Video Games are Lizzy like, but given the breadth of Lizzy’s style, I don’t even know if that’s meaningful to say. I wouldn’t mind a Smarty Lanafied if it were done with a big band (Benny Goodman like) orchestration, but I’m not sure that would be a reflection of a BTD style.

 

Finally, AKA should be re-released just to get rid of that pathology of thinking of Lizzy/Lana as different people. Ditto May Jailer. Also, it might disinhibit her from producing songs in those styles again.