All the buzz, but none of the sting: Lana Del Rey, Born To Die (Pseudo-Review)
Okay, so I’m listening to this Lana Del Rey album, and holy shit is it boring. Hmm, maybe that’s not the best way to start this pseudo-review, but to hell with it, I’ll stick to my honest reaction. Don’t get me wrong, she has a great voice, but these songs are incredibly tedious and boring, and that’s coming from someone who has a perpetual hard-on for the sort of lounge act style of singing/crooning from the 1920s - 1950s that Rey is appropriating here. What really just cements me not being able to really enjoy this album at all is the clumsy hip-hip lingo and annoying, bad-mixtape-dj sound effects that occasionally pop up, usually when I’ve finally managed to suspend my boredom for just long enough to actually start getting into this whole postmodern electric cigarette vapor filled lounge atmosphere they’re trying to pull off here, and suck me right out of actually being able to be entranced by Rey. This isn’t to say that Lana Del Rey is absolute shit, there is legitimate potential and talent here, but this persona that Lizzy Grant has cultivated (supposedly along with her multi-millionaire father and her somewhat aware of what’s currently going on in the ‘hip’ culture that her creative staff is trying to tap into, judging from the line “Pabst Blue Ribbon on ice”) just does not deliver the goods. Maybe for her follow up, she should take the pen into her own hands a bit more often. However, this is a debut album, and while most bands with far less money, direction, and support manage to put their best foot forward, Born To Die just feels like another lukewarm attempt to co-opt youth culture while not paying attention to the actual talents and potential of the performer. At the end of the day, Born to Die is yet another disappointing showing from yet another over-hyped buzz act. Don’t waste your money just yet. Let Lizzy Grant/Lana Del Rey cultivate this persona, as well as her already evident vocal skills, over the next year of touring and writing, and then let’s see what she can do with a firmer grasp of what she’s doing.
