Very excited to bring you what I think so far about Lana’s new release. Her newest addition to her musical arsenal, “Born To Die – Paradise Edition” is a force to be reckoned with.

Now, now, now. Let me speak my peace for a second…  I have been a fan of Lana’s since the beginning. The first time I heard “Video Games” about 2 years ago, I was nearly moved to tears. I still am every time I hear it, actually. Then came along “Blue Jeans” and I was still thoroughly impressed. With a few early flops with live performances, I was a little weary, but still faithful in my girl to keep on keeping on. Let me say that AT FIRST I was not very impressed by her full length, original release of “Born To Die”. I don’t know if it was the stupid mood I was in or if I slept on the wrong side of the bed OR WHATEVER it was. I just was not in to it. It just didn’t stack up to the previous releases. But then again, when you come out with a power house like “Video Games” right off the bat, how much can you expect?

But then I really latched down and put on my big girl pants, and ended up falling in love with a couple more tracks on the album. My favorites, like I said are definitely “Video Games”, first off, following with “Blue Jeans”, “National Anthem”, “Radio”, “Summertime Sadness” and “What Makes Us Girls”. The video for “National Anthem” is what really sold me on that one.. if you haven’t seen it … YOU MUST.

I hate to be a stereotypical music snob, but it is my job. Once this album took off, OF COURSE I was happy for my girl Lana and all of her success. She blew up and became a TOTAL icon. Every where you looked, LANA. This was terrific but at the same time a little unsettling for me. Because all too often when this happens, the artist becomes commercialized and they lose site of what originally made them famous. They tend to migrate towards what the general audience would like to hear and not what they truly want to put out.

All of my fears were washed away when I hear “Ride”, her first single that she released from what the second half of “Born to Die – Paradise Edition” held. The song really spoke to me. Gave off a total, “I don’t care what you think, I am going to do whatever I want cause I am a bad ass” vibe, and I TOTALLY loved it. Then came the video for this song, and I’ll admit, it drove me to a couple tears. Totally reaffirmed my confidence in Lana as an artist. She is doing her own thing, no matter what anyone thinks, and I love it.

The rest of the “Paradise Edition” is killer. I can safely say that I enjoy all of the new songs that she put out with this album. My favorites are “American”, “Ride”, “Blue Velvet” and “Cola”.. but they are seriously all awesome!

 

That is all for now… God Bless America and all y’all!

 

EM