Born to Die: Difference between revisions
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Del Rey sings in a [[contralto]] vocal style in the album, and evokes elements of music artists as [[Elvis Presley]], [[Britney Spears]], and [[Kurt Cobain]]. Musically, ''Born to Die'' is an [[indie pop]] album, and derives characteristics from such musical genres as [[alternative hip hop]], [[sadcore]], and [[alternative pop]]. |
Del Rey sings in a [[contralto]] vocal style in the album, and evokes elements of music artists as [[Elvis Presley]], [[Britney Spears]], and [[Kurt Cobain]]. Musically, ''Born to Die'' is an [[indie pop]] album, and derives characteristics from such musical genres as [[alternative hip hop]], [[sadcore]], and [[alternative pop]]. |
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''Born to Die'' received generally mixed reviews from contemporary critics, who gave praise to the album's distinctive sound, but criticized the songs' repetitiveness and the melodramatic production, which they thought was too overwhelming over the course of 12–15 tracks. Despite attracting polarization from music commentators, the album was a commercial success. It topped the charts in seven countries including Australia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. ''Born to Die'' debuted in the top five of charts in several countries, including the United States, where it entered at number two on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]]. |
''Born to Die'' received generally mixed reviews from contemporary critics, who gave praise to the album's distinctive sound, but criticized the songs' repetitiveness and the melodramatic production, which they thought was too overwhelming over the course of 12–15 tracks. Despite attracting polarization from music commentators, the album was a commercial success. It topped the charts in seven countries including Australia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. ''Born to Die'' debuted in the top five of charts in several countries, including the United States, where it entered at number two on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]], with overall worldwide sales of the album currently at around 800,000 copies.<ref>[http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/66469716.html Oh No They Didn't! - Lana Del Rey sells 800k, album tops Europe sales] ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com</ref> |
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==Background== |
==Background== |
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Revision as of 02:27, 15 February 2012
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Born to Die is the second studio album and major label debut by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey.[1] The album was released on January 27, 2012 on iTunes and on January 31, 2012 by Interscope Records, Polydor Records, and Stranger Records. After signing a record contract with Stranger in June 2011, the singer released her debut single, "Video Games", which is considered as the one that propelled the singer's online popularity. Del Rey then started to give interviews to several newspapers and online magazines, as well as making live appearances to promote her work. The album's second single, "Born to Die", was released on December 30, 2011.
Del Rey sings in a contralto vocal style in the album, and evokes elements of music artists as Elvis Presley, Britney Spears, and Kurt Cobain. Musically, Born to Die is an indie pop album, and derives characteristics from such musical genres as alternative hip hop, sadcore, and alternative pop.
Born to Die received generally mixed reviews from contemporary critics, who gave praise to the album's distinctive sound, but criticized the songs' repetitiveness and the melodramatic production, which they thought was too overwhelming over the course of 12–15 tracks. Despite attracting polarization from music commentators, the album was a commercial success. It topped the charts in seven countries including Australia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Born to Die debuted in the top five of charts in several countries, including the United States, where it entered at number two on the Billboard 200, with overall worldwide sales of the album currently at around 800,000 copies.[2]
Background
"I learned that there's no reason why people decide they like music when they do. Even if you're the best singer in the world, there's a good chance no one will ever hear you. You make a decision to keep singing or to stop. I've been singing in Brooklyn since I was 17 and no one in the industry cared at all. I haven't changed a thing since then and yet things seem to be turning around for me. Perhaps the angels decided to shine on me for a little while."
—Del Rey talking to Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork Media.[3]
Del Rey released a three-track EP Kill Kill in 2008 under the name Lizzy Grant, followed by a debut album Lana Del Ray A.K.A. Lizzy Grant in 2010.[4][5] It was the singer's first professionally produced album, released under Lizzy Grant on an independent label with producer David Kahne.[5] Del Rey stated that "David asked to work with me only a day after he got my demo. He has known as a producer with a lot integrity and who had an interest in making music that wasn't just pop."[6] The EP was available for purchase on iTunes for a brief period before being withdrawn for unknown reasons.[7] Later in June 2011, Del Rey was signed with Stranger Records,[8] to release her debut single "Video Games";[8] in October 2011, she signed a joint deal wtih Interscope Records and Polydor Records.[9][10][11] While being interviewed by Rosie Swash of The Observer, Del Rey revealed, "I just put that song online a few months ago because it was my favourite. To be honest, it wasn't going to be the single but people have really responded to it. I get very sad when I play that song. I still cry sometimes when I sing it."[7] It was later reported that the singer would release her debut album under the labels in January 2012.[11] During an interview with French TV show Taratata, Del Rey revealed that the album would be named Born to Die.[12] Born to Die is set to be released on January 27, 2012 in Brazil[13] and in Ireland,[14] January 30, 2012, in the UK, and on January 31, 2012 worldwide.[15]
Composition
Del Rey stated the use of her lower vocals on the tracks claiming that "people weren't taking me very seriously, so I lowered my voice, believing that it would help me stand out. Now I sing quite low... well, for a female anyway."[18] The singer's first singles, "Video Games" and "Born to Die" were described variously as "quasi-cabaret balladry",[19] "woozy and sometimes soporific soundtrack soul",[20] "pop",[21] and "indie pop".[22] Her own description of her music is "Hollywood sadcore".[23] Tim Lee of musicOMH noted the songs are extremely similar, commenting that "her (alleged) agents clearly having stumbled upon a formula with which they can (allegedly) print money and (allegedly) further consign Lana's secretive, (allegedly) real debut LP to the annals of history. You didn't hear it from us, right?"[24] Del Rey has once described herself as a "gangsta Nancy Sinatra",[25] though she cites Britney Spears, Elvis Presley and Kurt Cobain as her musical influences.[26][27] When asked about her musical style, the singer stated:
"I would have loved to be part of the indie community. But I wasn't. I was looking for a community. I don't even know any people who are musicians. I never met that indie popular indie, whoever the fuck that is. Who IS indie? First of all, I can't really get my head around what indie music is. Because if you've heard of it, it's sort of pop music, right? Because it's, like, popular? Or is it just that it's not on the radio? It's not like I was in an indie community and then I blew up. It's like, I was living on the street and I'm not – like, for real, you know what I'm saying?"[11]
The third track, "Blue Jeans", was influenced by hip-hop and has a minimalist beat that recalls songs by Timbaland.[28] Del Rey also raps in a few verses of the song such as "You’re so fresh to death and sick as cancer/Love you more than those bitches before".[28] "Off to the Races" has been lyrically described as "a freak show of inappropriate co-dependency",[29] with a chorus that recalls Sheryl Crow's "down and out drunken loner persona" in her 1994 single "Leaving Las Vegas".[29] Pryia Elan of NME noted the track "almost falls under the weight of this persona. There's none of 'Video Games'' measured, piano-led reflection. Instead the psychosexual rumblings of the lyrics and the dual voices she uses off set the comparatively simple musical shades on display."[29]
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (59/100)[30] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [31] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (C+)[32] |
| The Guardian | [33] |
| The Independent | [34] |
| Los Angeles Times | (mixed)[35] |
| The New York Times | (negative)[36] |
| The Observer | [37] |
| Pitchfork Media | (5.5/10)[38] |
| Rolling Stone | [39] |
| Slant Magazine | [16] |
Born to Die received mixed reviews from music critics.[30] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 58, based on 34 reviews, which indicates "generally mixed reviews".[30] Jaime Gill of BBC Music commented that the album "isn't perfect", criticizing the production of songs such as "Dark Paradise".[40] However, Gill concluded that Born to Die is the most distinctive debut album since Glasvegas's eponymous disc released in 2008.[40] Slant Magazine writer Sal Cinquemani gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, and commented that several tracks had their production changed for the album, making tracks such as "National Anthem" and "This is What Makes Us Girls" less "radio-friendly".[16] Cinquemani stated that, "ironically, the album's sole weakness is the strength of its immaculate production, which can be a bit overwhelming over the course of 12 tracks."[16] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian also graded it 4 out of 5 stars, saying that Born to Die is "beautifully turned pop music, which is more than enough", with most melodies "constructed magnificently", while also stating that Del Rey "doesn't have the lyrical equipment to develop a persona throughout the album."[33] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune gave a negative review, and highly criticized the repetitive production.[41][34]
Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone declared that the lyrics, with their "pop-trash perversity", were the strength of the album but that Del Rey had a voice that was “pinched and prim” and that she "wasn't ready to make an album yet". Sheffield rated that album 3 out of 5 and concluded, "given her chic image, it's a surprise how dull, dreary and pop-starved Born to Die is". [39]Time Out London's Kim Taylor Bennett noted that "Del Rey's debut definitely needs a re-edit, but she's still a promising prospect. Haters keep hating; we're on Team Lana."[42] Allmusic gave the album 5/10, saying "There is a chasm that separates 'Video Games' from the other material and performances on the album, which aims for exactly the same target--sultry, sexy, wasted--but with none of the same lyrical grace, emotional power, or sympathetic productions".[43] Sputnikmusic said that "The worst thing about Born to Die is that even its great songs contain problems"[44] The Observer's Kitty Empire rated the album 3 out of 5 stars, and said that, unlike pop singers Lady Gaga and Katy Perry and their "hedonic outpourings", "Lana Del Rey's partying is fuelled by a knowing sadness, and sung in that laconic, hypnotic voice, which ultimately saves this thoroughly dissolute, feminist nightmare of a record for the romantics among us."[37] Prefix magazine were unhappy with the album and felt that "After that highpoint ['Video Games'] things head downhill quickly".[45]
The A.V Club panned the album, calling it "Shallow and overwrought, with periodic echoes of Ke$ha's Valley Girl aloofness, the album lives down to the harshest preconceptions against pop music."[46] Randall Roberts of Los Angeles Times also noted that the singer's vocals have "so much potential and yet [are] unrefined", and said that despite having stand out tracks like "Summertime Sadness" and "Dark Paradise", listening to the album "has become tiring and woozy, like if you'd taken a half-dozen Ambiens when you'd put the record on – and now you’re getting very, very sleepy."[35] Pitchfork's Lindsay Zoladz gave the album 5.5/10, and commented: "The album's point of view-- if you could call it that-- feels awkward and out of date... [it] never allows tension or complexity into the mix, and its take on female sexuality ends up feeling thoroughly tame. For all of its coos about love and devotion, it's the album equivalent of a faked orgasm-- a collection of torch songs with no fire."[38] Allmusic writer John Bush, gave a mixed review to the album and gave it two-and-a-half stars out of five and said: "An intriguing start, but Del Rey is going to have to hit the books if she wants to stay as successful as her career promised early on."[31]NME gave a positive review, giving the album 8/10 and saying "Although it's not quite the perfect pop record 'Video Games' might have led us to wish for, Born To Die still marks the arrival of a fresh--and refreshingly self-aware--sensibility in pop." [47]
Commercial performance
Born to Die was a commercial success. In the United Kingdom, it sold 50,000 copies on its first day of release.[48] It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and sold 116,745 copies, the biggest first-week sales of 2012 so far. By accumulating digital sales of 50,007, the album became the fifth album ever to sell upwards of 50,000 downloads in a single week.[49] Born to Die remained at the summit of the chart in its second week, selling an additional 60,000 copies.[50] In the United States, the album attained first-week sales of 77,000 copies, subsequently debuting at number two on the Billboard 200.[51]
Promotion
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Del Rey's song "Video Games" was featured for the first time on prime spot on The CW's TV series Ringer on September 28, 2011 during a pivotal scene, propulsing Del Rey into mainstream.[52] Del Rey also promoted the album with performances in a number of live appearances, including for MTV Push,[53] and at the Bowery Ballroom, where, according to Eliot Glazer of New York, "the polarizing indie hipstress brought her 'gangsta Nancy Sinatra' swagu."[54] Matthew Perpetua of Rolling Stone commented that, despite Del Rey being nervous and anxious while performing her songs live, the singer "sang with considerable confidence, though her transitions from husky, come-hither sexuality to bratty, girlish petulance could be rather jarring."[55] Del Rey also performed "Video Games" on Dutch television program De Wereld Draait Door,[56] on British music television show Later... with Jools Holland,[57] and on an intimate show at Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood, California.[58] Del Rey also gave several interviews for newspapers and online magazines such as The Quietus,[6] The Observer,[7] and Pitchfork Media,[3] while creating her own music videos for several tracks such as "Blue Jeans" and "Off to the Races".[59][60] On January 14, 2012, Del Rey appeared on Saturday Night Live to perform "Blue Jeans" and "Video Games". Her performance soon came under scrutiny, and was even criticized by NBC anchor Brian Williams, who referred to the performance as "the worst in SNL history".[61] Host Daniel Radcliffe quickly came to her defence, stating the criticism towards her was less about the performance and more about "her past and her family".[61]
Singles
"Video Games" was released as Del Rey's debut single on October 10, 2011.[62] The song received mostly positive reviews from contemporary critics, who praised Del Rey's vocals and considered it as one of the best songs of 2011.[63][64] "Video Games" attained worldwide success, reaching number one in Germany and top-ten positions in Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.[65][66][67] An accompanying music video was directed and edited by Del Rey, assembled from video clips of skateboarders, cartoons, shots from old movies, and paparazzi footage of Paz de la Huerta falling down while intoxicated.[68] The music video was considered as the one that propelled the singer's online popularity.[68] The second single and title track, "Born to Die", was released as a digital download on December 30, 2011.[69] The music video for it leaked on December 14, 2011,[70] and was based on a concept created by the singer, while being directed by Yoann Lemoine.[71] The music video received generally favorable reviews from contemporary critics.[72]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Born to Die" | Lana Del Rey, Justin Parker | Emile Haynie | 4:46 |
| 2. | "Off to the Races" | Del Rey, Tim Larcombe | Patrick Berger, Haynie | 5:00 |
| 3. | "Blue Jeans" | Del Rey, Haynie, Dan Heath | Haynie | 3:30 |
| 4. | "Video Games" | Del Rey, Parker | Parker, Robopop | 4:42 |
| 5. | "Diet Mountain Dew" | Del Rey, Mike Daly | Haynie, Jeff Bhasker* | 3:43 |
| 6. | "National Anthem" | Del Rey, Parker, The Nexus | Haynie | 3:51 |
| 7. | "Dark Paradise" | Del Rey, Rick Nowels | Haynie, Nowels* | 4:03 |
| 8. | "Radio" | Del Rey, Parker | Haynie | 3:34 |
| 9. | "Carmen" | Del Rey, Parker | Haynie, Bhasker^ | 4:08 |
| 10. | "Million Dollar Man" | Del Rey, Chris Braide | Haynie, Braide | 3:51 |
| 11. | "Summertime Sadness" | Del Rey, Nowels | Haynie, Nowels* | 4:25 |
| 12. | "This Is What Makes Us Girls" | Del Rey, Jim Irvin, Larcombe | Al Shux, Haynie | 3:58 |
| Total length: | 49:28 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Without You" | Del Rey, Sacha Skarbek | Haynie | 3:49 |
| 14. | "Lolita" | Del Rey, Liam Howe, Hannah Robinson | Haynie | 3:40 |
| Total length: | 56:51 | |||
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Video Games" (White Lies C-Mix) | 7:32 |
| Total length: | 56:06 | |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Without You" | Del Rey, Skarbek | Haynie | 3:49 |
| 14. | "Lolita" | Del Rey, Howe, Robinson | Haynie | 3:40 |
| 15. | "Lucky Ones" | Del Rey, Nowels | Haynie, Nowels* | 3:45 |
| Total length: | 60:40 | |||
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 16. | "Video Games" (White Lies C-Mix) | 7:32 |
| Total length: | 67:72 | |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16. | "Video Games" (Joy Orbison Remix) | Del Rey, Parker | Parker, Robopop, Orbison (remix) | 4:59 |
| Total length: | 65:38 | |||
| No. | Title | Director(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16. | "Born to Die" (Music video) | Yoann Lemoine | 4:45 |
| 17. | "Video Games" (Performance edit) |
(*) denotes co-producer
(^) denotes additional producer
Notes
- Track listing and credits from album booklet.[78]
Personnel
- Credits for Born to Die adapted from Barnes & Noble.[79]
- Performance
- Lana Del Rey – primary artist, vocals, composer
- Technical
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Charts and certifications
ChartsReferences
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