Born to Die

I was scrolling through tumblr as one does and I stumbled upon this as the concept for this Throwback Thursday. I didn't really have any other ideas, and I was like yes let's celebrate the three year anniversary of Lana Del Rey's first album.

The small problem is that this album came out on the 27th of January not whatever day it is of February, but we are just going to pretend that I hit this on the head. That this is completely accurate, current on time.  

Born to Die is technically not Lana Del Rey's first album. She had a self titled set that she released before this album, but it was pulled and this became her first major label debut. You may and probably do remember that she performed on SNL the week before her album dropped.  

That's actually pretty unusual. People usually perform after the album's out, but Lana got to go on and she did not succeed as well as one might have hoped for her. I tried to find the video for you and successfully found an SNL clip that poked fun at it.  

This raised questions of if she actually sing, YouTube has answered the question of yes she can. It was probably not great for her albums sales, but nevertheless it debuted at number two in the United States right behind Adele's 21 that was still slaying the world in 2012. In other parts of the world Born to Die had no trouble taking the top spot.

The Lana Del Rey craze happened, because of her beautiful single “Video Games”. It's still haunting and one of her best songs. In other parts of the world this song was a major radio smasher, in the United States it was just more of an underground phenomenon. A major phenomenon, don't be fooled, a large buzz about Lana had been started and her music stands out against the mold. People love it and that's why without a single hit in the United States, Born to Die has sold over a million copies.  

Lana was torchy and sexy and her videos were everything you wanted. Definitely look watch her videos for “Born to Die” “Summertime Sadness” and “National Anthem” if you haven't already seen them.  

Buy "Born to Die"

Buy "Summertime Sadness"

Buy "National Anthem"

The first time I heard Lana was when I was driving home with this fantastic girl I went to school with. Not everyone liked her, but I loved her. She's the kind of person who had lovers. She didn't really have friends, but I drove her home and she wanted to listen to Lana. I didn't care. I was enraptured. My life stopped. I remember listening to “Video Games”. It was January and it was freezing and this warm voice came out.  

The first time you hear Lana sing you hold your breath she's so beautiful. Needless to say I went out that day and bought the album. It truly is a solid listen. There's not a single song that I feel the need to skip or just suffer through. It can be dense at time, but that is part of the Lana Del Rey experience. Everyone has their own favorites. My mother loves “Video Games”, a former friend adored “Diet Mountain Dew”, and personally I'm torn between “Radio” and “Without You”. Boomer also enjoys this album, which is immensely surprising since we don't listen to the same kind of music at all.

Thunder adores “Lucky Ones” and this song is not found on the American edition of this album. If you want a hard copy go to Target to get it. It's ten dollars, which is on track with what other retailers charge and you get two additional songs my favorite “Without You” and “Lolita”.

This album is worth it. I've had it for three years now and I still love it. I still love Lana. And, if you haven't bought it you should. At the very least check it out. It is worth it. Have a happy, very belated anniversary reminder to Born to Die and continue to love Lana.

Buy Born to Die