Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell (2019)

In that recent Billboard interview, she seemed delighted to be characterized as "disarmingly basic" — so story checks out, I guess?

Adverbs are awful.

awfully awful

pretty bad

pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty.... bad

...those are all intensifying adjectives

pretty can be qualifying or intensifying depending on context

https://twitter.com/i/events/1169745989697036288

I didn't know anything about her or her music but now I know she's a tosser

finally pic.twitter.com/brL6VtTiHy

— everett byram (@rad_milk) September 6, 2019

woo... not following twitter or anything, I just found out about yesterday's drama !
So the album's already dead ?

Fortunately Lana Del Rey has moved on with the generosity of heart that is her most memorable virtue.

lol sorry that was 2017

So, is now the time that I should listen to this and drop my precious hot takes onto the thread or should I continue not being That Guy?

I think you should drop your precious hot takes on Twitter while constantly tagging LDR.

treat her as you would Tony Hadley.

Do it!

I was going to ignore the new Lana Del Rey album but after seeing her lose her mind over a positive review, I decided I should check it out. (For those just tuning in, I don't expect this go well.)

— DJP (@djperry1973) September 6, 2019

this is going well so far but i feel there's scope for more shade

oh god the needless cusses by LDR are def lol

another weird quirk of the sequencing is that it mostly frontloads the f-bombs

I think most uses of profanity in music are pretty needless and lazy, but that's where we're at, so wtf cares about the scattered profanity, especially on an album with profanity in the title.

Looks like DJP is unfamiliar with Sublime deep cuts.

i like that she had many fucks to give

djp otm about "how to disappear," incidentally my favorite song here

it's not just needless and lazy cussing, it doesn't suit this style of music. it sticks out and calls attention to itself and like DJP tweeted comes across as "check out how fucking edgy I am"

I have been bewildered a bit by the love for LDR/this album in this thread. It's been my hate read.

yikes, and so otm about the "the touch, feel of cotton/The fabric of our lives."

I hated this and at points wanted to tear off my skin but... I still liked it more than I thought I would? For starters, I got through the whole thing.

She also, surprisingly, doesn't sound fucking awful on every single goddamned song

I feel like she would make it to the quarterfinals of one of the later The Voice seasons.

I knew "The Greatest" reminded me of something and today I realized it's "Mind Games."

My current take on the album (which I like) is that it's this year's Golden Hour. New Weed America.

xpost So ... as good as bad gets? As bad as good gets?

xpost See? Solo John Lennon! And I was just talking to someone last week about his current currency as a solo artist.

Oh, I thought this was interesting. Neil Finn made a point (to his fans) of dropping off social media a while back, but he has been writing newsletters, hosting radio shows and call-in opportunities from hotels and whatnot while on tour with Fleetwood Mac. He made this pretty innocent observation the other day in a newsletter which, while I have no idea if it has anything to do with LDR, at least indirectly does:

Here’s a thought to consider. I’ve been noticing there’s a few singers out there who sound very tired, are mangling their vowels and even seem to have trouble finishing off their words. I’m wondering whether this has anything to do with the proliferation of pharmaceutical opiates? Perhaps they are just playing to a whole new “stoned” audience. There are some strange affectations around. I may do a review of contemporary singing styles in my next show.

I think I'd really like Lana Del Ray if her songs were all much shorter, like two minutes. They aren't.

yeah this is a good chill summer album for sure. also the cussin is cool with me, it's nothing shocking since she's been doing it for five albums now.

I knew "The Greatest" reminded me of something and today I realized it's "Mind Games."

Read that as "Mind Grimes" for a second.

I feel like she would make it to the quarterfinals of one of the later The Voice seasons.

Remember when Scott Brown's daughter was on American Idol and made the semifinal round? That's LDR.

Calling this this year’s golden hour is very generous

I'm no stan or anything, but if memory serves these were the kinds of dismissals that her first (or whatever) album got. But now she's five or so successful albums in, and sells out arenas, so clearly people like what she's doing, and it must be for something other than how well she would fare on American Idol.

My current take on the album (which I like) is that it's this year's Golden Hour

only makes me wish this record sounded as good as golden hour

I hated this and at points wanted to tear off my skin but... I still liked it more than I thought I would? For starters, I got through the whole thing.

She also, surprisingly, doesn't sound fucking awful on every single goddamned song

I consider this the greatest victory for Lana that we could have expected



it's not just needless and lazy cussing, it doesn't suit this style of music. it sticks out and calls attention to itself and like DJP tweeted comes across as "check out how fucking edgy I am"

I like the lines "Fresh out of fucks forever*" and "You fucked me so good that I almost said 'I love you'" on their face, think that te reverse bathos of "I've been tearing around in my fucking nightgown -
24/7 Sylvia Plath" works, and can't remember any other particular fucks bar the titular ones.

* lol turns out she wasn't

Josh, read the subset of my thread starting here:

I admit that my extreme antipathy for Lana Del Rey's music sometimes makes me feel estranged from others in my music appreciation circles whose tastes run otherwise concurrent to mine. I keep giving her chances because I respect the opinions of many of the people repping her.

— DJP (@djperry1973) September 6, 2019

Ha. I still think the secret to liking this album is (in my case) this literally being the only LDR I've ever heard. That said, who knows if I'll listen to it again.

only makes me wish this record sounded as good as golden hour

Antonoff at least refrained from his worst tendencies (he saved the martial drums for Taylor). But yeah.

* lol turns out she wasn't

LOL - v good point.

my fave f-bomb on the album is How to Disappear's "Joe met me down at the training yard / cuts on his face 'cause he fucked too hard", both for the delivery and the bizarre relationship it establishes very quickly

DJP, your "ASMR aversion therapy" comment made me wonder if you've listened to Billie Eilish yet?

I have! That album fucking rules.