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Celeb News: Paradise more acclaimed than Born To Die: 63/100
Member Since: 7/9/2010
Posts: 28,061
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Paradise more acclaimed than Born To Die: 63/100
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Member Since: 4/23/2012
Posts: 9,618
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Does Metacritic even use The Examiner? 
Anyway, I'm kind of surprised there are no ratings yet even though it leaked and all. Hope she gets better scores though, I enjoy Paradise.
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ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 9/14/2010
Posts: 78,921
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Very nice review by Lucas Villa. And he's a Britney stan 
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Member Since: 3/13/2012
Posts: 5,802
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Me too, how come there's no metacritic page yet?
Are they avoiding or waiting for the other reviews to come in so they can bandwagon? 
Anyway, they better stan!
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Member Since: 8/28/2011
Posts: 1,770
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Quote:
Lana Del Rey’s ‘Paradise’: Album Review
Carl Williott November 13th, 2012 // 2 Comments
“I’ve been trying too hard with one pretty song,” Lana Del Rey laments on “Ride,” in a line that accurately sums up Born To Die‘s overwrought attempt to stretch that one pretty song — “Video Games” — into a full album. The result was a handful of beautiful moments weighed down by a whole lot of distracting missteps. But where her proper debut was labored, tacky and cutesy-sad, the nine previously unreleased tracks on the Paradise EP (out November 13 and also packaged with Born To Die: The Paradise Edition) are effortless, elegant and glamorously depressing.
Everything here sounds more convincing, primarily because Lana’s voice is suddenly richer and more acrobatic, going from smoky to silky, sad to snotty, all without resorting to the schizoid vocal gimmickry of her debut. Those who think this girl can’t sing will reconsider after hearing the swooning falsetto run that comes out of nowhere on “Cola,” or the graceful yet damaged chirp of “Yayo.”
In other welcome news, the lyrics this time (save for “American”) are not nearly as ripe for face-palming — partly because many of them are ******* insane. Lana quotes Walt Whitman on “Body Electric” minutes after uttering “My ***** tastes like Pepsi cola/ My eyes are wide like cherry pie” on “Cola,” which is definitely absurd and probably brilliant. On paper, parts of “Gods And Monsters” could be a trashy outtake from Rihanna‘s “S&M”: “I was an angel / Looking to get ****ed hard…**** yeah, give it to me / This is heaven, what I truly want.” But the lines are delivered with such sultry numbness that it could be some grand statement on sex and detachment, whether or not that was Lana’s intention.
Thankfully, the sexualization on Paradise comes without Born‘s troublesome infantilization. On “Burning Desire,” “Ride” and elsewhere, Lana is no longer willing to let you play your video games, she’s the active agent. When she does go into submissive mode, crooning “Let me put on a show for you, daddy” on “Yayo,” it’s too damn haunting to be erotic.
With Lana’s voice taking the spotlight and carrying such emotional heft, the production was dialed back. Canned strings, rising fuzz squalls and that ubiquitous “ShYAH” sample were slathered on so thick that Born To Die‘s fifteen tracks all blurred into one syrupy groan. Here, the empty spaces are as important as the cascading strings and the most restrained moments are vastly more powerful than the most blown-out moments from Born To Die. The melancholy waltz of “Bel Air,” for instance, has a forest nymph chant for a chorus, and it’s quite possible that the EP’s most fun song is the weepy “Blue Velvet,” due to its unabashed commitment to stillness. Even when Lana goes big here, like on the Rick Rubin-produced opener “Ride,” it has all the grandeur that she aimed for on “National Anthem” without the grating affectations and manufactured swagger.
The new material surely isn’t perfect — “Burning Desire” ventures dangerously close to her “drunken Real Housewife” vocal tic, and she still pummels the listener with damaged Americana reference points — but Paradise is a major step forward for Lana Del Rey. By ditching the sonic fads (you won’t be missed, sad white girl rapping), shoring up her vocals, and skipping over her more bombastic unreleased songs (“Serial Killer,” “Paradise”), Lana has made a cohesive, moving record. The irony, of course, is that now that she has delivered on the hype…people might actually stop talking about her.
The Best Song Wasn’t The Single: “Yayo,” in all its woozy burlesque glory, has been transformed into the most interesting song Lana has ever done. The lyrics are largely indecipherable, but it still drips with sadness; it sounds the way watching Anna Nicole Smith circle the drain felt.
Pops Like: Fiona Apple meets Chris Isaak crossed with Marilyn Monroe singing “Happy Birthday,” as Kanye West‘s production scraps flit around in the background.
Best Listened To: While wearing formal cocktail attire that has become slightly rumpled following some sort of intense argument and/or sexual dalliance.
Full Disclosure: I flat-out DID NOT ENJOY Born To Die, but after hearing Paradise, I may be the world’s newest Lanatic.
Idolator Rating: 4.5/5
— Carl Williott
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http://idolator.com/7264232/lana-del...aradise-review
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Member Since: 9/22/2011
Posts: 9,178
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I agree with these reviews. Paradise isn't only a strong extension of the BTD sound and aesthetic, it's also a showcase for her largely improved vocal and writing ability. Her lyrics are sharper, darker and the vocals are more, as Carl Williott put it, acrobatic. 
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Member Since: 4/20/2011
Posts: 7,416
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Full Disclosure: I flat-out DID NOT ENJOY Born To Die, but after hearing Paradise, I may be the world’s newest Lanatic.
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After releasing Paradise the critics see Lana is here to stay and gets so much love from the general public, they need to give her credit as well.
Sounds like some bandwagoner.
Great to see Lana her new EP gets the attention it deserves though.
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ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 9/14/2010
Posts: 78,921
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Some of these reviews are written by idiots.
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it’s too damn haunting to be erotic.
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Like.. duh.
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Member Since: 7/9/2010
Posts: 28,061
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Quote:
Originally posted by J a y
Some of these reviews are written by idiots.
Like.. duh.
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 I hate when reviewers I've albums bad marks based on stuff like that! Like I saw a review say they werent going to give the album a perfect score because it wasnt upbeat.
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Member Since: 8/12/2012
Posts: 13,665
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Lana Del Rey–“Paradise” Lost
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The title of Lana Del Rey’s new EP Paradise presents a bit of irony, because its dark, haunting and troubling themes really speak of anything but.
Let me start by saying Lana Del Rey as a persona seems like a real dichotomy to me—a blending of two seemingly incompatible vibes. On the one hand, she comes off as this elegant retro-style torch singer, her low, sultry voice lilting over lush string arrangements; but then you listen to the lyrics, and…wait, what? It’s flat-out unnerving to hear her smoothly croon, “My p**sy tastes like Pepsi Cola” (“Cola”) or “I was an angel looking to get f**cked hard” (“Gods and Monsters”). Not entirely unlike taking a glass of expensive wine and adding a shot of motor oil to it. And yet—that…that voice. It somehow makes the whole thing believable. Sadly believable.
From a musical standpoint, this nine-song EP doesn’t break any new ground for Del Rey, but simply galvanizes the overall sound she’s trying to forge. Paradise basically sounds like an extension of Born To Die released earlier this year, which is probably why it is available both as a stand-alone recording or packaged with the earlier record as Born To Die -The Paradise Edition.
However, thematically, Paradise takes things a step further than Born To Die, reinforcing Del Rey’s persona as glamorous-yet-hollow woman resigned to being used and abused by men with one thing on their minds. While unflinching in its sexuality, it’s actually more startling than it is ****ographic. Perhaps the most poignant example is the song “Gods and Monsters,” with its references to drug-dazed, sleazy motel trysts in the aftermath of alienation from God. “Dope, shoot it up / Straight to the heart, please / I don’t really wanna know what’s good for me”, she sings. “F**k yeah, give it to me / This is heaven, what I truly want / It’s innocence lost.” You can almost picture Del Rey as a glassy-eyed, submissive rag doll, beautiful but lifeless. Simply devastating.
One bright spot on the record (and by “bright” I mean “less dark”) is Lana Del Rey’s cover of the classic tune “Blue Velvet.” Her voice was made for songs like this one—that’s all I can really say. It’s a definite must-listen.
So blatant are the glutton-for-abuse themes in Lana Del Rey’s songs that she’s often been accused of being “anti-feminist.” However, I’m not sure that’s true of her. While the character she has created could certainly be interpreted as glorifying the sordid, at the same time it is so blatantly pathetic that I can’t help but wonder if she’s trying to convey the opposite message. Beyond feminism (or anti-, if you prefer), the dichotomy in her persona, whether she means it this way or not, makes some sort of statement about all of us—like, despite all our varied attempts to appear glamorous, underneath it all, we’re all just trailer park trash. You can agree or disagree with the conclusion, but one thing about the picture Del Rey paints (both with her persona and with her songs) is that it makes us think. And that may be exactly her intention.
At any rate, Paradise really speaks of Paradise Lost. While it is definitely haunting, it is also definitely beautiful—and for that reason alone, it is worth a listen.
RATING: 4 / 5 stars
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http://mimo.recordingconnection.com/...e-lost/962483/
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Member Since: 7/9/2010
Posts: 28,061
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All these great reviews.
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Member Since: 6/1/2012
Posts: 6,899
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Member Since: 6/1/2012
Posts: 6,899
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BTD: Paradise: 55/100 on Metacritic
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Member Since: 8/10/2012
Posts: 11,988
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Member Since: 3/10/2012
Posts: 1,408
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Member Since: 12/5/2009
Posts: 9,974
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I thought critics tuned on? 
She's still mediocre, thus those reviews.
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Member Since: 6/7/2011
Posts: 10,608
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Why do critics hate her??
Are they still mad she fooled them into thinking she was an indie artist?
She makes GREAT music!
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Member Since: 9/3/2011
Posts: 22,014
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As if these people have taste anyway 
I don't know why these rags can give other hipster artists outstanding scores yet Lana always scores low, and her music sure as hell isn't bad.
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Member Since: 10/20/2009
Posts: 20,682
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That's it?
It deserves so much better
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Member Since: 6/27/2012
Posts: 162
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Quote:
Originally posted by Stonem
55 on metacritic, yikes.
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Where did you see that? I don't think Paradise is up on Metacritic yet.
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