Chips Fontaine

" Chips, you have to listen to this, she's the next Bruce Springsteen"

Someone actually said that to me about Lana Del Rey. I giggled and took the cd from their hands and went right home to listen to Born to Die.

I have never talked to that person again and I got him fired from our place of employ...

Every time now, when I think of Lana, I think about that comment. Now Lana has had moments of greatness in her music, and I mean greatness. Ride, Blue Jeans and the unforgettable opening lyric to Cola comes to mind right away, but Lana has never put it all together tightly wrapped.

I had high hopes for this record.

Its meh.

Don't get me wrong, the first 5 songs on this disk are the best material Lana has ever done. I would be so bold as to say Brooklyn Baby is her best single. The album was produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and his production of the first 5 songs is spot on for her talent, meaning he actually gets the most out of it. The title track has this hard to get out of your head chorus you will be humming throughout your day. West Coast boasts sounds of Dr. Dre. This is indeed good stuff.

Too bad the rest of it is complete ****e.


Take advantage of the ITunes ability to pick and choose and grab the first 5 songs, you need nothing more from this record.

4 out of 10.

Chips Fontaine