★★★★★
One thing that can be quickly learned from listening to music and visiting various music sites (like this one, of course) is that "universal truths" shouldn't be followed. Whatever the the overall consensus of a record is, it still comes down to the individual's opinion in the end. Of course then, when there's that one controversial opposite opinion, people in the popular consensus try to shoot it down; but then you've got Lana Del Rey, who's basically built an entire career on controversy and...
- www.sputnikmusic.com
2013-11-30
★★★★★
Lana Del Rey. You either love her or love to hate her. It's hard to be ambivalent... and if you are ambivalent, set aside 10 minutes of your life and watch the "Ride" music video, where a vamped-up Lana walks the streets of a dead-end southwestern town, gets bent over a pinball machine by a Hells Angel lookalike, holds a gun to her head while wearing an Indian headdress, and eventually becomes the queen of a biker gang...
- www.americansongwriter.com
2013-04-25
★★★★★
Release Date: November 9th, 2012 Lana Del Rey is one of those artists that I've never had any interest in listening to ever. Is that a bad thing? Sort of, because I'm just now finally listened to her material, and I must say, I quite enjoy it. At least, I really enjoy her latest EP Paradise. I've heard of her for a long while, but I never just got the motivation to really listen to her, especially after her performance on Saturday Night Live this past summer...
- absolutepunk.net
2013-01-04
★★★★★
With the closing days of 2012 rapidly drawing into sight, where do we stand now on Lana Del Rey? The general thinking prior to - and continuing after - the release of Born to Die appeared broadly split into two camps: those considering her to be exhibiting a bruised, seductive movie-star persona with a series of deliciously dark pop tracks from the unlit side of the Hollywood sign. And those that considered her a cynical piece of record label fodder and dolled-up industry window dressing...
- drownedinsound.com
2012-11-16
★★★★★
I think we all need to relax about Lana Del Rey. The lobbied insults regarding inauthenticity, and shameless ploys to gain success and stardom that Del Rey has received in the past year following the release of her inextricable debut Born to Die were quite uncalled for. It's a little difficult to swallow the polemic arguments that either paint Del Rey as superbly fake or a massively sincere airhead, especially considering who they're coming from...
- www.popmatters.com
2012-11-16
★★★★★
A year ago, Lana Del Rey was roiling the Internet with arguments about authenticity and class politics. Today, the kerfuffle, like most bygone online brouhahas, seems silly, and her debut sounds like a flawed but enjoyably cheeky exercise in noir pop. The deluxe edition adds eight new tracks, which bring her strengths into focus - chiefly, a sense of humor for which she's not given enough credit. ("My pussy tastes like Pepsi-Cola," she deadpans in "Cola...
- www.rollingstone.com
2012-11-13
★★★★★
Some Notes Toward A Review Of Lana Del Rey's Paradise EP 1. "I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear--" (Whitman) 2. Eleven months later: a year populated with evasive identities (Dean Blunt/Inga Copeland) and split personalities (Dominick Fernow) and aural plastic surgeries (vaporwave). A year that drains questions regarding authenticity -- of the biography, the body, the song, the voice -- of all their apparent critical content...
- www.tinymixtapes.com
2012-11-13
★★★★★
Lana Del Rey's new EP, Paradise, serves as a closing bookend on a year that was kicked off by the singer's previous EP, which had a paired but opposite function. Lana Del Rey served as an introduction to the sleepy-voiced singer, assembling some of the strongest songs from Born to Die. Paradise is longer, but less essential, more a summary of her persona than an attempt at developing it...
- www.slantmagazine.com
2012-11-12
★★★★★
Summary: A construct of various things people look for in music right now, but it is not without merit. As an idea, Lana Del Rey is perfect. She hits all the right notes to appeal to a rather large demographic - there is the classical appeal of her look (the bright red lipstick, the massive curls, the pout), the modern appeal of her sound that filters Americana through hip-hop and modern pop, and the appeal to carefree youth in her lyrics that can be appreciated by both young and old...
- www.sputnikmusic.com
2012-04-12