Born To Die is a raw form of art that challenges the norms of the time of its release. There is so much to unpack in this body of work mentally and musically, which means a new underlying meaning is found with every revisit, and that is where most of the weight it carries lies, along with the controversies behind the stories being told, of course.

Vocally, Lana makes singing at her pitch and range sound easy until you try to score ‘Body Electric’ and end up like; “ma’am! What?”. Vocally, she hasn’t topped this album, which makes picking the best vocal performance from this album very difficult, unlike her other releases. ‘Lucky ones’, ‘off to the races’ and ‘Gods and monsters’ are close contenders for the best spot. So, let us not vocally rank, ok? To avoid running mad. Damn it! I feel like ranking my top 5 vocally anyway. In no particular order, This will be:

1. Body Electric
2. Yayo
3. Lucky Ones
4. Video Games.
5. Off to the races

Lyrically, this album is so dense in the emotion surrounding exploitation, abuse, self-harm and violence but also of some sense of addiction to the situations that arise from these acts. Many will argue that this album somewhat romanticizes these harmful acts and almost normalizes them without challenging their existence while speaking mainly about using these situations in a personally favourable way, therefore not helping solve the problems being sung about. Though I can see why this album could be critiqued in this way, I feel it is a shallow take on the entirety of the album and how it is presented.

There are so many elements to explore in Lana’s storytelling. To ignore the artistry behind the purge of rawness and emotion presented with a dark Hollywood/Old Americana theme that is both intriguing and questioning, only to focus on one controversial part in judging the entire body of work seems lazy. Also, what is good storytelling if it does not trigger emotions and gets us asking questions regardless of how uncomfortable they are? With this album, she is asking “So, are we gonna talk about my experiences as a young woman in what is known as a man’s world or do I shut up because this triggers you?

Sonically, this predominantly baroque pop album is exceptionally good when it comes to audio quality. The Mastering is remarkable. There is a balance in every song between her vocals and the beat. It never feels like a battle but teamwork to create and tell a story harmoniously.

For a second studio album, this a perfect introduction to the new-old sound that is Lana Del Rey. The album came at a time when upbeat pop music was mainstream and Lana, coming to redefine a whole genre of music with her sound and aesthetics, found it almost easy to create a cult following of listeners appreciating a time long gone that sounded almost inclusively futuristic. “Easy” because at the time, there was a need for thought-provoking downbeat music with some hint of rock and Lana served.

The fact that this time-changing body of work did not receive a single Grammy with its six nominations does not distractfrom the mastery of Lana’s art and how it will be talked about for decades to come.

And this is Born To Die, one of my 10/10 albums. Tell me an album you think is 10/10.