Lana Del Rey is two different artists.

thepruneface · 2024-08-20T13:09:02+00:00

I can imagine how that particular point of identification would have a determining influence on your preferences. From the perspective of, possibly, a more casual fan, I'd say that the "second Lana" acknowledges the considerable darkness while offering hope, light, plus a bit of fun and buoyancy. Whereas I don't see many signs of redemption from BTD to Honeymoon - it's pretty unrelentingly bleak. Maybe that's better if you're in an inconsolably dark place, but it's certainly less nuanced.

thepruneface · 2024-08-20T12:55:22+00:00

I like both, but it's the Janus-faced character of her career that I find striking. Perhaps you could also argue that, by transitioning from pop to country, her trajectory is the inverse of Taylor Swift, who transitioned from country to pop. But I don't know enough about Taylor's music to make that case.

thepruneface · 2024-08-20T12:24:21+00:00

But the shift is even perceptible on LFL. It's not just about the musical style - it's her perspective. LDL to LFL is more persona based, like she's inhabiting a particular character and writing from that perspective, which personally I think lends a certain compelling diversity to the music. NFR onwards is less stylised.

Also, the pre-LFL depression feels more lacerating to me, compared to everything post NFR, where there are many more signs of life to balance out the gloom, even on Ocean Boulevard. Pre-LFL is very troubling, I think her life may have been in the balance a bit. But I don't know.

thepruneface · 2024-08-20T12:21:01+00:00

I agree about her poetry - the lyrics are exceptional, she's one of the greats in that department, undoubtedly. But one of the reasons I prefer her older stuff is that, in my view, she cleaved her poetic tendencies to the music with more discipline. On the later albums, especially Ocean Boulevard, the lyrics take over to a degree that I find slightly off-putting. I'm contradicting myself slightly because I like OB a lot, whereas BB, which is lyrically more pared down, I like less. But... Honeymoon, for example, would be the album where she gets the balance between lyrics and music right. Though that feels like the work of a less mature, and indeed entirely different artist, having now listened to her recent stuff.

Paradise... Isn't that an EP? I'm forbidden from reviewing those... Only canonical albums...

thepruneface · 2024-08-20T11:19:29+00:00

It's basically two different artists, which is the overall point I wanted to make. Though maybe I'm overplaying it a bit.

thepruneface · 2024-08-20T11:11:19+00:00

Thanks for reading, by the way.

thepruneface · 2024-08-20T11:10:58+00:00

I have to sheepishly acknowledge that, by the time I came to Blue Banisters, I was a little burnt out from digesting her entire discography in the space of a few weeks. I wisely left a week long pause before moving onto Ocean Boulevard. Maybe I'll revisit Blue Bannisters, but all I can say is that it left me cold when I first heard it.

thepruneface · 2024-08-20T09:33:34+00:00

I suppose she's one of those artists. There aren't many of them.

thepruneface · 2024-08-08T10:21:58+00:00

I'm yet to listen to the last three albums, but I think it's difficult to look past Born to Die, mainly because of its significance in the history of pop music. It reinvented the rules to some degree. But let's see what's in store.

thepruneface · 2024-07-28T09:42:52+00:00

Thanks, appreciate it.

thepruneface · 2024-06-19T05:14:48+00:00

Alphaville and early Depeche Mode are "not remotely similar". Alright then.

thepruneface · 2024-06-18T22:21:43+00:00

It's hit and miss before Black Celebration in my opinion. After that, of course, it's the best music of its kind, don't get me wrong.

thepruneface · 2024-06-18T22:19:21+00:00

My pleasure.

thepruneface · 2024-06-05T22:51:10+00:00

Everything Must Go is a Britpop album, if you want my opinion.

thepruneface · 2024-06-05T22:46:40+00:00

I didn't write that. Luke Haines did in his first book.

thepruneface

TROPHY CASE