It’s
been just about a year since Lana Del Rey wormed her way into our hearts and
our tumblr blogs. It’s been a year since she was accused of not actually being
able to sing live and a year since what I like to call “Lizzie Grant-gate”
(what? People are allowed to have lives before they make it big?) This autumn,
straight from Coney Island, the gangster Nancy Sinatra gave us Born To Die: The Paradise Edition. The
album is basically a re-release of the album she released less than a year ago
but with 8 bonus tracks. While I liked Born
to Die, I love The Paradise
Edition.
The album picks up seemingly where it left off with ‘Ride’, an ethereal and vocal driven missive that floats above clean violins strokes and steady percussion. The song is a great base for the entire album which is, decidedly, more cinematic (if that’s even possible) than the original release.
The album continues on an uphill ride with ‘American’ in which Lana Del Rey sweetly instructs us to “Be young; Be dope; Be proud like an American,” a line which may actually qualify for best line in a song ever. Once again driven by orchestral backing and a drum machine, ‘American’ is the perfect marriage between old school sound and modern production.
‘Blue Velvet’ is a definite treat on the album. Lana Del Rey takes on one of the most classic and easily recognizable songs in popular culture and delivers it with a perfect film noir quality and an inherent sadness that only the Queen of Saigon could accomplish.
There is a sadness that rings true through the entire release with Del Rey dolefully crooning the lyrics “like a groupie incognito posing as a real singer” on ‘Gods & Monsters’. This sadness reaches a fever pitch on ‘Yayo’,a track with strong Lolita-esque undertones.
The album ends with ‘Bel Air’, a winding, string driven sleepy sort of tune that is one of the strongest Lana Del Rey tracks to date, in my opinion. Her voice confidently glides through the tinkering of the piano and swell of the violin in an achingly romantic and ethereal dreamlike epitaph.
Born to Die: The Paradise Edition takes an album that was already well received and added a whole new dimension of sadness and beauty with eight additional tracks. My only criticism is that there could be more range in the production of her music. Conceptually, the album is a success and a beautiful collection of sad and wonderful songs. Even the production value is immaculate. There could, however, be less of the same types of songs, despite how beautiful they are. The Paradise Edition was released November 2012 and is available on itunes and Amazon.
The album picks up seemingly where it left off with ‘Ride’, an ethereal and vocal driven missive that floats above clean violins strokes and steady percussion. The song is a great base for the entire album which is, decidedly, more cinematic (if that’s even possible) than the original release.
The album continues on an uphill ride with ‘American’ in which Lana Del Rey sweetly instructs us to “Be young; Be dope; Be proud like an American,” a line which may actually qualify for best line in a song ever. Once again driven by orchestral backing and a drum machine, ‘American’ is the perfect marriage between old school sound and modern production.
‘Blue Velvet’ is a definite treat on the album. Lana Del Rey takes on one of the most classic and easily recognizable songs in popular culture and delivers it with a perfect film noir quality and an inherent sadness that only the Queen of Saigon could accomplish.
There is a sadness that rings true through the entire release with Del Rey dolefully crooning the lyrics “like a groupie incognito posing as a real singer” on ‘Gods & Monsters’. This sadness reaches a fever pitch on ‘Yayo’,a track with strong Lolita-esque undertones.
The album ends with ‘Bel Air’, a winding, string driven sleepy sort of tune that is one of the strongest Lana Del Rey tracks to date, in my opinion. Her voice confidently glides through the tinkering of the piano and swell of the violin in an achingly romantic and ethereal dreamlike epitaph.
Born to Die: The Paradise Edition takes an album that was already well received and added a whole new dimension of sadness and beauty with eight additional tracks. My only criticism is that there could be more range in the production of her music. Conceptually, the album is a success and a beautiful collection of sad and wonderful songs. Even the production value is immaculate. There could, however, be less of the same types of songs, despite how beautiful they are. The Paradise Edition was released November 2012 and is available on itunes and Amazon.
Lana del Rey//Gods and Monsters
