National Anthem was written by Fame Academy winner David Sneddon. That definitely set alarm bells ringing for some people.
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tbf this just makes me surprised he managed to write something so good
I like Born to Die now but it does still feel a little less accomplished than everything NFR onwards.
One of the joys of her discography imo is her maturation and boldness as a songwriter developing as she goes on. Its an incredible journey sheās been on in a short space of time.
I also think sheās a really interesting study in the way women in music have been treated over the past decade or so. Aside from the problematic accusations of inauthenticity, she was also held to a different standard than her male peers. She has a tendency to put her foot in it a little bit but its nothing compared to Kanye (pre the really dangerous stuff) or more recently yer man from The 1975.
Not exactly an original thought, but something that I hope will contribute to her legacy.
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The lace face mask during covid was a bit of an oof moment, but like you say, itās not like she started blaming Jewish people for problems in the music industry.
I think she is āinauthenticā in as much as LDR is clearly a persona and Lizzy Grant is probably quite a different person. But Tom Waits has based the last thirty or forty years of his career on exactly that, and everyone thinks heās great, so yeah bullshit double standards.
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Authenticity does not even exist. Itās such an annoying thing to criticise an artist about. Pop is artifice.
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The interesting thing is that she has always used very influential collaborators, mostly older men, but now sheās got a body of work behind her you can clearly hear how consistent her own personality and brilliance is throughout it despite those collaborators changing. The only explanation is that she is the real talent (no different from Bowie or Miles Davis or anyone else that has had high-profile collaborators throughout their career).
Itās perhaps slightly forgivable that not all people saw this from the start (I plead guilty to this myself). Whatever the case itās clear now that sheās one of the most significant artists of the last twenty years.
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Oh absolutely. Canāt disagree with a word of that. Guess the problem is the natural inclination of a ton of influential (and often very good) critics was to be dismissive of her on contact - to assume the āworstā rather than the ābestā.
āBorn to Dieā isnāt as amazing as her latter day stuff. But it is good. And has proved pretty influential.
Very different landscape now. Think she would be treated very differently if sheād started out a decade later.
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I think to a degree she is partly to blame - her whole aesthetic is so elaborately and obviously contrived that it almost invites people not to take her seriously. As I say, I think itās easier when she has a body of work behind her to see what a mistake that is. Itās almost as if sheās hidden her genuine brilliance behind her artifice. With hindsight that just makes her even more interesting of course.
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Yeah itās hard to separate what we know now about Lana to what we knew then, for sure. But I always quite liked the āactā, like she was deliberately trying to obscure any depth. But I always like stuff when you can never be sure if the artist is being themselves or not. I love Dean Blunt for exampleā¦
Definitely easier to see it for what it was now rather than then though. And Iād never have had her pegged as being one of the great 21st Century Songwriters. More an interesting meta-concept act that could have got tired quite quickly.
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Ride is her best song and was from the first album era, so dunno what yāall chatting about
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Listened to NFR yesterday properly for the first time since it came out as Iāve always felt like sheās an artist Iād really get into if I put the effort in but just never clicked.
Remember the same feeling as last time I tried ā that itās basically all of a high standard, but struggles to hold my attention for an hour as it all sounds very samey/one-paced to me. Reminds me of Father John Misty circa Pure Comedy. Have felt the same way with the cursory listens of her other stuff.
Anyone else struggle with that (and get over it)? Split between putting the effort in or just accepting itās someone Iāll only ever listen to the odd track from.
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Also had this reaction to NFR ā so many bits that I really loved but too samey in the middle. If itās any help, I made a playlist with the first five and last four tracks (so NFR to Doinā Time and The Greatest to Hope is a dangerous thing) and thatās a really tight 45-ish min album.
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I think cinnamon girl > how to disappear and then next best American record is one of the best runs on the album!
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Yeah I subsequently came to like the rest of the album too, just when I thought it was a bit ātoo much of the same thingā initially, cutting out that middle third made me spend more time with the album and ultimately get into it.
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Could be a big tour soonā¦
https://x.com/mayjailer0621/status/1710678945044001091?s=46&t=bJOqpCuQneT7ju08y55VSA
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Leeds!?(ā¦ and Reading). Didnāt see that coming
Pretty odd booking for her when you look at the other headliners
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Think sheās at the point where she could sing the local chineses menu and itād sound mesmeric
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