Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence [Review]

Lana Del Rey is a fascinating musical artist because she is a mainstream artist who really is not mainstream at all. She embodies a vintage nostalgia of a time period through which she, having born in 1986, has not lived - primarily the sixties and seventies. This is something for which she has taken a lot of criticism, with some people believing that she inaccurately portrays the era which she attempts to portray, an apparently inevitable crime given that she, as previously stated, did not live through it. I personally love Lana's agenda, however, and I don't think that it is uncommon to be nostalgic of a time period through which you haven't lived. It is, in fact, more likely that you would wish to perpetuate a time period if you have not lived through it, for it is essentially in our nature to desire that which we do not and/or cannot have. Lana is an admirer of Marilyn Monroe, and I think that her appreciation for past decades begins with Marilyn and ends right around the seventies, and her newest album Ultraviolence, her third major label release, does not violate Lana's trend of embodying past decades, but whereas Born to Die and Paradise embody more of sixties and seventies Americana, Ultraviolence is darker, even more downbeat, and sounds a lot more like the Doors had it been fronted by a woman. Lana holds back on the sounds of alternative hip hop and trip hop tunes like “Off to the Races” and “National Anthem” and ups the raw rock sounds of songs such as “Cruel World” and “West Coast” on Ultraviolence.

The album opens with the psychedelic rock song nearly seven minutes in length, “Cruel World,” and this song is the one song on the album that really reminds me of the Doors. One might recall the lyric “Livin' like Jim Morrison” from the Paradise track “Gods and Monsters,” which strongly suggests an appreciation for the Doors, so I think that the comparison is just. The opening lyrics of the song “Share my body and my mind with you; that's all over now” pretty much sum up the entire sentiment of the album: loss. I really love the hook of the song, which features the lyrics “...you're young. You're wild. You're free. You dance in circles around me. You're fucking crazy.” It is reminiscent of the haunting opener of Paradise, which features the lyric “I'm tired of feeling like I'm fucking crazy.” The song is definitely a little heavier and a little more chaotic than anything that is found on Born to Die or Paradise, and I love it because it is a slightly new sound for Lana, indication that she is willing to cover new territory. The second track is the title track “Ultraviolence.” The title track is more of a return to a previous sound, reminding me of the song “Cola” from Paradise. The song is a swoony rock song that is essentially about loving someone who is abusive to you, clearly evidenced by the lyrics “He hit me, and it felt like a kiss.” I definitely think that there are ways to interpret the song more abstractly, as well, as it potentially comments on love being violent even if not physically so.

“Shades of Cool” is the album's official second single, with Lana releasing a music video for it right around the same time as the album was released. This is another song that sounds like sixties and seventies psychedelic rock to me. The song seems to be from the perspective of a woman in a relationship with a man who is, shall we say, flexible when it comes to commitment, but she has the longer end of the stick, saying that there is nothing that she can do to fix him. At least, she comments, “When he calls, he calls for me and not for you.” The fourth track is “Brooklyn Baby” and is one of my favorite songs from the album; it might be even be my #1 favorite. In contrast to the hard rock sound of “Cruel World” and “Shades of Cool,” “Brooklyn Baby” is far more breezy and summery and reminds me of the Cranberries when they are light and soft. I love Lana's voice in this song, especially in the refrain, as she sings very high and sounds about the most innocently angelic that she ever has. I think that the song is meant to be taken a bit sardonically, which is something that I love about it. It seems to sarcastically challenge the aforementioned criticism that she sometimes receives regarding the disconnect between her age and the time periods which she embodies via her appearance and her music. She sings: “They say I'm too young to love you. I don't know what I need. They say that I don't understand the freedomland of the seventies.” In the refrain, however, she counters this by saying, “Well, my boyfriend's in a band; he plays guitar while I sing Lou Reed. I've got feathers in my hair. I get down to beat poetry, and my jazz collection's rare; I can play most anything 'cause I'm a Brooklyn baby.” She offers these justifications sarcastically because they obviously don't make her an expert of a previous time, but with the silly criticism that she gets, they might as well. Lana co-wrote the song with her boyfriend Barrie O'Neill, which I think is kind of cute because he actually is in a band, and he sings the last variation of the refrain - “My boyfriend's pretty cool, but he's not as cool as me” - with her. I also love how the song uses the lyric “Talkin' 'bout my generation,” a reference to “My Generation” by The Who.

The fifth track is the lead single “West Coast.” “West Coast” is a surf rock song that changes pace a bit between the verses and the refrain. Lana seems to compare her love for the culture of the west coast to her love for her lover, ultimately allowing the lover to win the contest. When I first heard the song, I reacted rather indifferently, not really liking the song nor disliking it, but it grew on me, and I now really like it, although I prefer the more upbeat radio mix featured as a bonus track on some editions of the album. The sixth track is “Sad Girl,” sounding very much like a pop tune from the sixties that, although in a much different register, might have been released by Cher. The song, composed in waves of notes, is similar to other songs on the album such as “Shades of Cool,” which is about being in love with a man who is not committed. Lyrics such as “His Bonnie on the side... makes me a sad, sad girl.” The song is definitely a bit befuddling, as there are also lyrics that suggest the unfaithful relationship as being a comfort zone for her, such as, “Being a mistress on the side, it might not appeal to fools like you. Creeping around on the side would not be something you would do, but you haven't seen my man.” It's as if she is saying that her man is worth the pain and the sadness. The next track is “Pretty When You Cry,” which is probably my least favorite song on the album. It is another slow rock song about being in love with someone who is essentially unlovable, someone who strays, uses drugs, and so forth, with the speaker declaring that her happy memories are worth more than the pain that her lover causes her.

“Money Power Glory” reminds me a lot of the Born to Die track “Million Dollar Man” at certain parts, especially the very beginning. “Money Power Glory” is also a weaker spot on the album, in my opinion; it accomplishes little lyrically and melodically and does little to move me, and I would have preferred the Target exclusive “Flipside” to this song. The song seems to be a response to someone telling the speaker that she will be damned to hell for her lifestyle, with her retorting that religion doesn't mean anything to her. I find this song to be interesting because I recall her saying that Black Beauty (the album that would have been had several songs not leaked from it) would go down a more spiritual path than her previous albums, so I really wonder what that would have meant. “Fucked My Way Up to the Top” is probably the most feminist that the album gets, seemingly about the glorification of sexual power amongst women. With lyrics such as “Mimicking me is a fucking bore” and “This is my show,” it has also been speculated that the song is a stab at seventeen-year old Lorde, whom some critics have compared to Lana. “Old Money” is, alongside “Brooklyn Baby,” one of my favorite songs on the album. It's one of the quietest songs on the album and is definitely the most beautiful. It reminds me of “Damn You (American Dream)” (my favorite unreleased song of hers and probably my favorite song of hers in general) in its sad description of a happy love long gone. I wonder if the song was intended for The Great Gatsby. Like “Young and Beautiful,” the song demonstrates a fear of aging and echoes the song in its lyric “Will you still love me when I shine from words but not from beauty?” Additionally, Old Money and New Money are aspects of the story.

The standard edition of the album ends with the cover of the Nina Simone song “The Other Woman.” The song fits perfectly on the album, and it's always interesting when Lana covers old songs because her own sound is usually so vintage as it is that when she covers an old song, it sounds like her own. The song is a bit raw vocally, which my boyfriend has criticized, saying that it should have warranted either being cut or re-recorded because she falls flat when she tries to hit high notes. I don't really agree, as I think that it is a beautiful cover, and, as I said, it fits perfectly on the album, as it is in keeping with songs such as “Shades of Cool” and “Sad Girl.” The first bonus track is “Black Beauty,” the demo version of which leaked a year or so ago. It was one of the few songs that leaked that Lana confirmed was intended for the new album, prompting her to scrap the original album idea and even retitle the album from Black Beauty to Ultraviolence. It is a song that has definitely grown on me, as I definitely really love it now but, like “West Coast,” was initially indifferent towards. It captures the Americana sound that is present on Born to Die and Paradise and is about being with someone whom you feel doesn't properly appreciate your beauty. “Guns and Roses” is another bonus track, a slow rock song in keeping with the sound of most of the rest of the album. It is a song that is about the admiration of a man who fits a specific image – motorcyclist, heavy metal lover, and so forth. The refrain says that “he loved guns and roses,” which is probably meant to be a double-entendre that also references the metal band Guns & Roses. I like the song, but the refrain basically just keeps repeating “he loved guns and roses,” so it doesn't do much lyrically.

“Florida Kilos” is another one of my favorite songs on the album. It concludes the standard version of the deluxe edition (a bit confusing, huh?). I have also read that it's a bit out of place on the album because it's more upbeat than most of the other tracks and that it has an “unreleased” vibe to it, and I would have to agree. It is probably something that was going to be cut but wasn't because Lana and/or the record label figured that it would leak, anyway (which it probably would have). It's upbeat (for most of Lana's material) and sounds very summery. The song features lyrics that remind me of the unreleased song “TV in Black & White (Living Without You),” as that song features the lyrics “If you get lonely, think of me only; prison isn't going to keep me from you,” while “Florida Kilos” features the lyrics “Prison isn't nothing to me if you'll be by my side.” I really love the song; it's one of my favorite songs on the album, but that's mainly because I love the melody and the beat. The lyrics are about making crack cocaine, something to which I cannot relate at all. “Is This Happiness” is a bonus track that I believe is exclusive to the iTunes edition of the album. It is a very slow and beautiful song about assessing the problems that you're having in a relationship and questioning whether or not you're happy in it. “Flipside” is the final bonus track and, here in the States, is exclusive to the deluxe Target edition of the album. It has a very dark sound to it, and like most songs on the album, it is about the faults of a relationship. It is about being with someone who more or less plays games with you, pretending that everything is all right when it's really not. The conclusion seems to be that maybe they will find each other again and find happiness with each other if they spend some time apart. Overall, I really love Ultraviolence and am very pleased. It delivers what Lana has always delivered while also providing a new, edgier twist.