Independent student content

BG Falcon Media

Independent student content

BG Falcon Media

Independent student content

BG Falcon Media

The BG News
BG24 Newscast
November 30, 2023

Follow us on social
  • Review of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
    Let’s time-travel to the year 2012 and the world is raving about none other than Katniss Everdeen. I remember being in elementary school, begging my mother to let me dress up as her for my birthday. Now it’s over ten years later and I’m still just as excited for the new movie as I was […]
  • Found Family Books for the Holidays
    The holidays are quickly approaching and for some of us that means seeing our family. However, family has a loose definition. It could mean blood or who you were raised with. It could also mean people you’ve found during your life journey. Either way, the holidays are meant for spending quality time with those you […]

Album Review: “Born to Die”

Grade: B

By now you’ve probably heard all about the Internet backlash that Lana Del Rey has received in past months: plastic surgery rumors, questions surrounding her name change, her dismal SNL performance and now, overwhelming negative reception of her debut album, “Born to Die.”

While some of this backlash is warranted (her SNL performance was bad, but not nearly as awful as the Ashlee Simpson debacle a few years back) and her lips do look fake (who really cares?), Lana del Rey’s new album is easily one of the most intriguing pieces of popular music in some time.

Lana Del Rey is the anti-pop star. She’s beautiful, but strange looking. She has vocal talent, but has an affectionlessness in her voice. And she takes an extremely cynical approach to the pop music motif: sex, summer, drugs, alcohol, love and break ups.

What really makes Lana Del Rey’s sinister lyricism work is the extremely dark and moody backdrops provided by Emile (who is best known for his work with KiD CuDi).

The title track, which opens the album, has big, cinematic strings that perfectly complement Del Rey’s vocals. One of the more sparse tracks, “Video Games,” is one of the more beautiful moments of “Born to Die.”

Most of the tracks on the album are pretty mid-tempo (unlike most pop albums that contain mostly up-beat songs), which can be a put off to some, but “Born to Die” has a wonderful, if not depressing, atmosphere throughout.

One of the more upbeat songs on the album, “Off to the Races,” chronicles a love story between Lana who has a “Las Vegas past,” an “LA crass” and an older man who loves her with every beat of his “cocaine heart.”

“Born to Die” is not without big, sing along hooks. Tracks like the aforementioned “Off to the Races,” “Diet Mtn Dew” and “Summer Sadness” all have intoxicating hooks that will stay in your head constantly.

What makes Lana Del Rey such an interesting figure is how she’s pretty much the polar opposite of today’s pop artists like Rihanna, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and countless others.

Tracks like “Summer Sadness” and “Dark Paradise” flip some of pop music’s oldest and popular themes into extremely cynical and depressing oxymorons. Pop fans may not be as receptive to Del Rey as they are to many of today’s chart toppers.

“Born to Die” isn’t perfect and is definitely a polarizing album, but is a daring piece of music that will evoke strong feelings, whether positive or negative.

 

Leave a Comment
Donate to BG Falcon Media

Your donation will support the student journalists of Bowling Green State University. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

More to Discover
Donate to BG Falcon Media

Comments (0)

All BG Falcon Media Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *