Lana Del Rey - Born To Die (2012)
Genre: Baroque Pop, Trip Hop
With a new image and much controversy regarding it, Lana Del Rey amassed a huge following after the release of sophomore effort, thanks in part to its well received single, Video Games. This album is being reviewed per request. As a reminder, I do not intend
for this to be a really in-depth and complex review. I'm just sharing my quick
personal thoughts on the album. As for any album review I do, I try to be
objective without letting any personal bias get too much in the way of the
final grade.
After listening to this, I feel very conflicted. I can understand the appeal here, truly. There's some rather gorgeous orchestration to be found on some tracks that lend themselves well to the whole baroque aesthetic that Lana was going for. Hence, I really don't have much issue in the way of instrumentation, but rather the production and at times, even the songwriting. Let's start with the former, though.
There's lots of ambition here, and that ambition is further emphasized on a lot of the records' final cuts, which more often than not, seem to prioritize the volume and scale of the string arrangements, rather than Lana's actual voice. Million Dollar Man was enjoyable enough, but its overproduced sound killed some of its vibe for me. And it wasn't just the instruments, but Lana's voice on this track was off as well, as it came off as hissy and awkwardly loud. And this has nothing to do with her actual ability as a singer, because for the most part, she seems to be a solid vocalist.
I found Off To The Races to be quite interesting, if only for Lana reaching for a higher register, almost sounding like a cutesy young teen girl. It's also a prime example of the hip-hop elements that are infused throughout this record, as is heard in other songs like National Anthem and Diet Mountain Dew, which come about due to heavy beats and basslines. To mention some highlights though, I loved Blue Jeans. Lana's vocal delivery on the lyrics, "I will love you till the end of time," is sort of haunting. Video Games is understandably popular for its beautiful baroque arrangement, but I can't help but laugh at the subject matter, which sort of leads into my second main issue with this record.
The lyrics here are completely uninspired. It relies way too heavily on tried and true clichés to deliver mixed messages about broken relationships and some cringe-inducing lyrics about being a "bad girl." It seems that when Lana's image changed, this record shows she was trying too hard to pass herself off as a sort of "rebel." It just doesn't work very well on here. That said, I applaud the clear ambition that is present on the album. More often than not though, the ideas that come with said ambition aren't effectively communicated. It might be cheating, but a couple of the tracks found on the "Bonus Tracks" version of this album, Lolita and Lucky Ones, prevent me from giving it a lower rating than I originally was going to.
C-
Favorite Tracks: Blue Jeans, Video Games, Dark Paradise, Lolita, Lucky Ones
Least Favorite Track: Carmen
