Ultraviolence without Dan Auerbach?

[Honeymooner 336]

Hey everyone,

 

For anyone who may not have already known, Lana had Ultraviolence ready to go around the end of 2013/beginning of 2014. She spent 5 weeks at Electric Lady Studios in New York City putting the finishing touches on it. Then, she met Dan Auerbach and they ended up re-recording most of the album in Dan's studio in Nashville. That's what we know as Ultraviolence today.

 

So who else, besides me, is curious as to what Ultraviolence would've sounded like if Dan Auerbach had never entered the picture? Anyone know if there are pre-Dan versions of the songs out there anywhere?

[Sitar 22,210]

I'm inclined to think the West Coast radio mix is a good example of "pre-Auerbach" Ultraviolence, along with some bonus tracks that he didn't touch like Guns and Roses and Is This Happiness--in which case, thank god she enlisted him. I think Brooklyn Baby and Sad Girl in particular wouldn't be as good as they are without his touch. Certainly West Coast and even Cruel World. I think any Paradise producer could've done the title track or FMWUTTT though.

[lflflflflflflflflflf 3,722]

She said Brooklyn Baby was singer songwriter-y before Dan Auerbach came into the picture. I'm sure some of her friends have pre-Dan UV.

[BENTLEY 3,495]

I've been dying to get the demos.

[longtimeman 8,918]

I'm fascinated to hear what she came up with before Dan came along, but don't think we'll ever get to hear it. Lana has nothing to gain and everything to lose by having it heard (if it's not as good as the released version, people will say she only got the songs right with help; if it's better than the released version, people will criticise her for releasing the wrong version). And I'm still amazed that she went from having everything leaked, to having UV not leak at all, which is unbelievable in this day and age (the leak we all got came from a copy purchased in a store).

 

That said, I love the alternate version of 'West Coast', and if there was a record like that, I'd be first in line for it. That vibe only fits a couple of other songs on the record, though, and is nothing at all like the only other alternate version we have (Black Beauty demo). The demos that were leaked before UV came out all sound like they're from different projects, and none of them have quite the right mood for what UV ended up being, except BB. The other songs she released outside of the records were in a darker singer/songwriter style (Leonard Cohen, Lee and Nancy), and it feels like the first version of UV was going to be a lighter companion to those (Joni Mitchell and the Eagles rather than Nico and the Velvets). I wonder whose idea it was to have those loud guitar solos in PWYC and SOC, and whether there is much distorted guitar on her original record. 

 

Just look at the bonus tracks - any of these could have been potentially the basis for the sound of a whole album:

West Coast (alt version) - laid back 70's rock

Black Beauty - Dark 80's power ballad

Guns and Roses - No idea how to characterise this one, but as far away from 1987 Hard Rock as you can get with rock instruments

Florida Kilos - Up tempo 2000's pop

Is This Happiness - Downbeat Jeff Buckley-ish torch song

Flipside - late 80's - early 90's Sonic Youth/Hole/Nirvana-ish sound

[HEARTCORE 18,971]

I'm really interested in hearing the pre-Auerbach version of the songs. I absolutely love his production of the album but I'm curious to see what the songs would sound like if someone else produced. Would they still be such dark songs?

[xr2 16]

Is it me or is it weird that there are many demos to be found on the internet of the album Born to Die, but almost nothing from Paradise and UV?

[HEARTCORE 18,971]

Is it me or is it weird that there are many demos to be found on the internet of the album Born to Die, but almost nothing from Paradise and UV?

I think it's because there are so many BtD demos available that the Paradise and UV ones aren't available; Lana's record team got a lot smarter with securely storing their songs on the internet. Besides, I don't think Paradise has any demos as Lana said in an interview something about Paradise being recorded 'all in one take', suggesting no demos were produced for it. The only one that (apparently) exists is the Laptop Demo of Cola.

[Rem 2,392]

It would be a better album without him.

 

I mean, original Black Beauty, Angels Forever >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> infinity>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> his production.

[Mind Melt 10,095]

Is it me or is it weird that there are many demos to be found on the internet of the album Born to Die, but almost nothing from Paradise and UV?

It's because Lana's hard drive was hacked in 2011, and I believe most of them were probably on there at the time. Seeing as how Paradise and Ultraviolence weren't written, they wouldn't have been available.

[viagra 1,642]

Ultraviolence was called Melancholia before Dan. It would be even more cinematic, orchestra.

[StealingTheMoonlight 278]

Ultraviolence was called Melancholia before Dan. It would be even more cinematic, orchestra.

Sounds like it would've been more in the vain of Paradise. If so, then I'm glad she met Auerbach because now we have a different sound from Lana that she *seems* happy with.

[Honeymooner 336]

Wow, thanks for the great responses, everyone!

 

I'm inclined to think the West Coast radio mix is a good example of "pre-Auerbach" Ultraviolence

I had never heard the West Coast radio mix, but I just played it last night after seeing your reply. It's quite different than the album, especially in the way that the tempo does not slow down at the chorus like it does on the album.

 

along with some bonus tracks that he didn't touch like Guns and Roses and Is This Happiness--in which case, thank god she enlisted him.

Auerbach didn't produce any of those? It's interesting, "Is This Happiness" has sounds reminiscent of the Auerbach-produced tracks. Although his tracks didn't have any strings, so I can see where there'd be a difference. That song does have some interesting distortion effects, though, on the strings and otherwise. Why do you say "thank god she enlisted him?" Do you feel that those tracks aren't as good as the Auerbach-produced tracks? (Not looking for a debate here, just wanted to know.)

 

I think Brooklyn Baby and Sad Girl in particular wouldn't be as good as they are without his touch. Certainly West Coast and even Cruel World. I think any Paradise producer could've done the title track or FMWUTTT though.

It'd be cool if we could hear the pre-Auerbach versions, but that probably won't ever happen.

 

I've been dying to get the demos.

Demos are one thing, but the fully-produced pre-Auerbach album would be something completely different (and exciting!).

 

I'm fascinated to hear what she came up with before Dan came along, but don't think we'll ever get to hear it. Lana has nothing to gain and everything to lose by having it heard (if it's not as good as the released version, people will say she only got the songs right with help; if it's better than the released version, people will criticise her for releasing the wrong version).

It's true, they probably would. But maybe sometime down the road, she'll release an Ultraviolence "box set" that has both her original version and the reworked Auerbach version. We can dream... Speaking of which, I kept reading that she was supposed to be re-releasing her "Lizzie Grant aka Lana Del Ray" album sometime in 2012 or 2013; at least, she kept saying that back then. But it never happened... maybe Paradise took over and she never went back to the other?

 

And I'm still amazed that she went from having everything leaked, to having UV not leak at all, which is unbelievable in this day and age (the leak we all got came from a copy purchased in a store).

I thought some Ultraviolence tracks had leaked as well. I remember reading that "Black Beauty" had leaked, and she had commented that she was discouraged, but was still going to release the album.

 

I'm really interested in hearing the pre-Auerbach version of the songs. I absolutely love his production of the album but I'm curious to see what the songs would sound like if someone else produced. Would they still be such dark songs?

Even before Auerbach came along, Lana had said in discussing the album that the tracks were still "dark and cinematic" like Born To Die, but more "stripped back." Perhaps that means not as lush-sounding, but still with more of the string/orchestral effects that she had on Born To Die and Paradise. "Old Money" was produced by Dan Heath, and it maintains more of the Born To Die sound (although it's not as lush-sounding as other Born To Die and Paradise tracks). 

 

It's because Lana's hard drive was hacked in 2011, and I believe most of them were probably on there at the time. Seeing as how Paradise and Ultraviolence weren't written, they wouldn't have been available.

Radio.com quoted Lana as saying "I do feel discouraged, yeah. I don’t really know what to put on the record. But I guess I could just put them on and see what happens. Each time I write… I’ll never write a song if I don’t think it’s going to be perfect for the record." This was from 2013, and in the interview, she said that it happened about 3 years ago, which would've been around 2010-2011.  Those albums weren't out yet, but she may have already been working on songs. They were probably very early versions.

 

Ultraviolence was called Melancholia before Dan. It would be even more cinematic, orchestra.

Do you mean Ultraviolence the album, or "Ultraviolence" the song? I remember reading about an early version of the song that she was calling "Melancholia."

 

Sounds like it would've been more in the vain of Paradise. If so, then I'm glad she met Auerbach because now we have a different sound from Lana that she *seems* happy with.

Yeah, she has expressed on numerous occasions that she was very happy with the results, and was glad that she had worked with Dan. I would just love to hear the pre-Auerbach version for comparison's sake.

[naachoboy 7,993]

It would have been a bore

[whitman 1,286]

For me the sound she was looking for was pretty close to his vision for the album and without him  probably it would have been a cheap version of the final versions that ended up on the tracklist. Based on the sound of the early demos of BB and AFFA and the tracks that were produced before Dan ( Pretty When You Cry, Money Power Glory, Guns and Roses) it was always meant to be a rock album. It wasn't meant to be a Paradise Part 2 or something like that. 

 

So I don't really care about the songs without his production but I'm more curious about how the record would have sound if all the songs were produced by him. The first part of the record is what she calls "narco swing", exclusively produced by Dan. But after Sad Girl the record starts to sound a lot more darker and heavy than I think it was supposed to be ( she said they changed the trackslist after seeing the photos of Neil for the album). And then in the end of the record we have Florida Kilos, this upbeat track that definetely it doesn't fit the album at all if we analyze as a body of work. But maybe (just maybe) after the "narco swing" part the songs they produced together ( and according to her they danced after finishing each one of the songs) were more "happier" or more "west coast vibes" inspired. This definitely would have changed the album as we know it.

[Thunder Revenant 20,943]

I guess some of the songs which are on UV now, were pre-Auerbach outtakes, and outakes from the Auerbach version were included on the pre-Auerbach UV.

 

Is This Happiness, Guns And Roses and Old Money sound like very good examples for the "first" UV, much more Paradise-like in comparence to the other tracks. Apart from this the WC Radio Mix (which is beutiful as well).

[Anthem 1,558]

I think the original pre-Dan was supposed to run along the lines of "Paradise 2", like someone else said. AFFA, Hollywood, Starry Eyed, JFK, etc all sounded like they could have been put on Paradise and those were the ones she was, before the leak, intended to put on the album. Not to mention she described the album as "spiritual" early in 2013 which is far from what the UV we have now is. I think songs like PWYC, MPG, and Sad girl would have been outtakes or maybe added on as bonus tracks and ITH/Black Beauty would be actual album tracks. I really wish that the "first UV" album would have come into existence because it was just the kind of music I really needed, but oh well, it didn't, and I'm constantly angry about it but oh well . (aside: I think the snippets of Marina's new album sound like a Marina version of Paradise and I'm so damn excited) The UV we know today could have come afterwards and I'd have been happy having both.

 

The only thing is that I consider the threshold where "old UV" and "new UV" to have come when AFFA, JFK, BB, etc were leaked. I think it was at this moment she changed the direction of the album rather than when she met Dan. When she said she "re-worked" it I just assume that meant production because I don't think Lana would want someone to completely change the direction/mood/tracks of her work. Or maybe she just got inspired by the new sounds, I don't know.

[xr2 16]

The only thing is that I consider the threshold where "old UV" and "new UV" to have come when AFFA, JFK, BB, etc were leaked. I think it was at this moment she changed the direction of the album rather than when she met Dan. When she said she "re-worked" it I just assume that meant production because I don't think Lana would want someone to completely change the direction/mood/tracks of her work. Or maybe she just got inspired by the new sounds, I don't know.

 

That makes sense to me. I remember when those songs were leaked, that people wrote on the internet that they were supposed to be on Lana's new album.. But releasing an album when most songs of it were early leaked doesn't seems like a good idea.. So maybe the old UV was suppose to be the album with those leaked songs, but then it might had a different name and concept? 

 

[Chris Cuomo 3,320]

I'd love to hear the Rick Nowels versions of SoC and Sad Girl tbh!

[Anthem 1,558]

That makes sense to me. I remember when those songs were leaked, that people wrote on the internet that they were supposed to be on Lana's new album.. But releasing an album when most songs of it were early leaked doesn't seems like a good idea.. So maybe the old UV was suppose to be the album with those leaked songs, but then it might had a different name and concept? 

 

 

Yeah that's exactly what I think happened, especially if you go back to the direct quotes she gave in these articles: http://www.nme.com/news/lana-del-rey/72087 and http://www.nme.com/news/lana-del-rey/68937

 

"West Coast inspired" and "moved on to a more spiritual place lyrically" both sound like AFFA and Hollywood, and less like FMUTT/Cruel World/Sad Girl/almost everything on UV. I fully believe the album she is describing in these articles is not Ultraviolence the way we know it. I think West Coast (the demo), Brooklyn Baby, Old Money, ITH, and Black Beauty were the ones intended for the original album. When you put them in a playlist with AFFA/Hollywood/maybeJFKandStarryEyed, you kind of understand where she had been going originally and I think it would have been so beautiful.