celeb news Music critics revisit Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence album for 10th anniversary.

[NOW]

 

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As Lana Del Rey's third album, 'Ultraviolence,' turns 10, build — or expand — your knowledge of the melancholy pop queen's catalog.

"Brooklyn Baby," Ultraviolence (2014)

At the Intermediate level, it's time to start getting into more of the nuances that Del Rey brings to her writing — and, in turn, how much she's influenced her peers, and how respected she is amongst them.

 

"Brooklyn Baby" is some of her sharpest writing, equal parts playful needling and affectionate tribute to the snooty New York art scene. One of the most indelible tracks off of Ultraviolence, the song epitomizes the entire record's move towards more rock instrumentation, with a guitar-based sound. It references legendary rock artist Lou Reed, who was slated to appear on the track before his death in late 2013, showing just how highly she's thought of by other artists.

"F—ed My Way Up To the Top," Ultraviolence (2014)

As we enter the realm of the Expert Lana Del Rey fan, we're firmly out of album singles territory. From here, it's all deep cuts and non-album tracks.

 

Del Rey has been no stranger to controversy — some warranted, some not. An early knock against her was that the mid-20th century aesthetic and perceived submissiveness in her music was anti-women or anti-feminist, a surface-level reading that in the years since has been largely dispelled. 

 

The singer has worked to combat it herself on tracks like Ultraviolence's "F—ed My Way Up To the Top," which takes that perceived notion to its extreme. At the same time, it's another in a long line of tracks in which Del Rey has embraced her own sexuality and sensuality as something to be celebrated and claimed, not something to be ashamed of. 

https://www.grammy.com/news/lana-del-rey-songs-ultraviolence-anniversary-discography

 

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Ultraviolence proved she was an implacable force and that she wasn't going anywhere.

Soon she would finally be more than just a Fiona Apple comparison, and more women would be able to sing about sex, sadness, and destruction. Without Del Rey, it's hard to imagine artists like Billie Eilish, Halsey, or Ethel Cain.

https://www.stereogum.com/2261381/lana-del-rey-ultraviolence-turns-10/reviews/the-anniversary/

 

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"The pop music of the time hinged around themes of empowerment, 'feminist' in a sloganeering, social-climbing way," says music journalist and writer Meaghan Garvey. "Lana wallowed at the other end of the spectrum. Her moody torch songs found their muse in feminine abjection, and were a clarion call to the melancholic for whom the girlboss era's imperatives left something to be desired."

https://crackmagazine.net/article/long-reads/retrospective-lana-del-rey-ultraviolence/

 

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As a near-decade of "prioritizing authenticity" among female superstars buoys a glut of new vinyl campaigns and ad spots, Ultraviolence stands on its 10th anniversary as a testament towards the authentic life as strange and fragmented—too big for just one Lizzy Grant to capture. As artists like Chappell Roan and Charli XCX toy with new avenues towards relatability, Ultraviolence looks more and more like a definitive text on showing your cards.

https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/lana-del-rey/if-you-call-for-me-lana-del-reys-ultraviolence-at-10

 

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If Born To Die launched her as a literary figure, packing her lyrics with poetry and references to great novels or beatnik epics, Ultraviolence levelled all of that up. Across 14 tracks on the deluxe album, she delivered considered melodramas that tackle the topics of love, loss, sex and drugs with the flair of a true writer. She established herself as the ultimate icon of nostalgia-dripped music, colouring the world of the album with a soft-focus glamour but sharp and searing emotions.

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/every-track-ultraviolence-ranked/

 

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Every track moves with gloriously silky instrumentation, from guitars which inspire images of palm tree-lined tarmac and swimming pools to atmospheric synths that tie everything together. Del Rey is daring with her lyrics, offering ironic and self-aware lines among hard-hitting revelations of abuse and pain. The singer allows the darkest facets of life to be explored here, not romanticising pain but rather showing how easy it is to fall into its grip and not necessarily want to leave. Del Rey is looking back here, attempting to move forward from toxic relationships and battles with sobriety by reflecting on and channelling her experiences into a cohesive and extremely beautiful body of work.

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/lana-del-rey-ultraviolence-album-review/

 

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Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence used rock to kickstart a new career direction that culminated in autobiographical work without spoiling the mystery of her persona.

Lana Del Rey's role as the whispery goddess of pop culture didn't stop her from having a rock moment. The success of this endeavor on 2014's Ultraviolence proves her versatility, as the towering electric guitars of "Cruel World" and the shimmering licks of the title track don't drown her feathery vocals. Instead, they become vessels for it, continuing to justify Del Rey's central argument as a pop star: that behind her delicate facade is an inner self that is anything but fragile.

https://www.popmatters.com/lana-del-rey-ultraviolence-atr10

 

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Amid shades of gray, marked by sixteenth-century ballads and melancholy, Ultraviolence remains one of Lana Del Rey's best works for all the eccentricity she conveyed in her songs. A deep interpretation that flows with guitar solos and simple production, yet precisely conveys the emotional state of the narrator of this story. The experience of listening to this album can be violent, leaving you vulnerable, but in a good way, it will completely immerse you in this story.

 

If at any point Lana believed she had no more good stories to tell, Ultraviolence completely refuted that notion.

https://www.hercampus.com/school/casper-libero/10-years-of-ultraviolence-an-excerpt-from-one-of-lana-del-reys-most-popular-works/

 

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After being so criticized for her alleged lack of authenticity, with "Ultraviolence" the artist continues not to adapt to contemporary pop, but carries on her nostalgic mission with even greater obstinacy. If the beats of "Born to die" and "Paradise" often betrayed vintage aspirations, there is nothing here to suggest that we are listening to an album from 2014 – even the word "videogames", in this context, would seem too modern. There are still string-centric tracks that recall the baroque pop of early hits (the prime example being "Old Money," which follows a Nino Rota melody from Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet), but overall it's a more restrained record and, pretending the adjective still has a meaning, "alternatives."

https://radiowise.uk/lana-del-rey-proved-to-be-a-talented-songwriter-and-performer/

 

Ultraviolence 10th anniversary thread:

 

 

 

 

Edited June 25 by NOW

[Taylor fanboy]

The acclaim.

 

This IS Happiness

[John Slayne]

a 10/10 album, too ahead of its time for CERTAIN people! 

[Richie.Valdez]

The Most-Talented Female Music Act at the moment 

[alexrex]

Her Magnum Opus tbh 

[Bartender]

One of her Magnum Opuses and probably one of the greatest albums of all time 

[Bad_vocal_technique]

It's up there with Boulevard and NFR.

[NOW]

But precisely how does she want the public to hear those lines? "I just don't want them to hear it at all," she says, pouting a little. "I'm very selfish. I make everything for me, kind of. I mean, every little thing, down to the guitar and the drums. It's just for me. I want to hear it, I want to drive to it, I want to swim in the ocean to it. I want to think about it, and then I want to write something new after it. You know? It's just … I don't want them to hear it and think about it. It's none of their business!"

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited June 14 by NOW

[suburbannature]

Truly a masterpiece 

[LustSpell]

The album that saved my life, literally.

[RideOrDie]

cemented her as once in a lifetime talent for me 

[Movimento Perpétuo]

Her best album tbh

[NOW]

 

New articles added, including an additional retrospective album review from FarOut Mag.

[Pillz]

None of her contemporaries can ever dream of releasing something like this, not even the Weeknd

[NOW]

Updated with an anniversary article from the Grammys (got 0 nominations that year):

https://www.grammy.com/news/lana-del-rey-songs-ultraviolence-anniversary-discography

[trainsskyscrapers]

Shades Of Cool. West Coast. Old Money.

The trifecta. 

 

[NOW]

Just added a PopMatters retrospect of UV along wth the rest of her catalog. Fun to come back to the initial review and see how little or how much has changed since then.
 

2014:

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Del Rey is firmly in control of her appearance and her music, so regardless of whether or not anyone buys into her image or her past, it's undeniable that she has made that vision a reality. Iconic personalities arrive in the spotlight and ultimately pass on from this life, but their legacies somehow linger on in the minds of society and in those individuals who replace them and take up the scepter. The Norma Jeans of the world appear to hover in a sacred place where their artistic legacy never really dies. Lana Del Rey hasn't quite reached the celebrity status to be deemed an icon, but her obsession with them is such that it will be interesting to see if one day, she'll join their ranks in the public consciousness. In the interim, Ultraviolence is a beautiful argument for her relevance and her potential longevity.

https://www.popmatters.com/lana-del-rey-ultraviolence-review

 

2024:

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Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence used rock to kickstart a new career direction that culminated in autobiographical work without spoiling the mystery of her persona. In its final form, Del Rey's persona, or lack thereof, is entrusted to the public. If you want to ruin the illusion for yourself, that is on you. That option now exists because Del Rey's work is done; she has succeeded in prompting the culture that enabled her success to examine itself. 

https://www.popmatters.com/lana-del-rey-ultraviolence-atr10