Chemtrails Over The Country Club

I'm not sure how any album released less than 10 months ago can make it onto any list of albums you must hear before you die. One dimensional and bland

Ah, Lana. I feel like I should like her. I enjoy a lot of artists that get consistently compared to her, such as Lorde. I go in with an open and hopeful heart every time. And I am disappointed, every time. It’s like she knows how to make a melody anti-catchy. If she wanted an ear worm, it sounds like the early bird already up and got hers. It is so overproduced, glistening until slimy as if it were slathered in Vaseline. For an album that seems to want to craft some sense of intimacy, it does more to distance itself. Her voice always sounds so drab, so bored. I get that’s part of her style, but her flavor of lazy singing and affected style is grating. It’s like an insecure teenager that puts every effort they can into not looking like they put effort into their appearance. I’m not saying every moment here was dreadful. Dark But Just a Game was a consistently okay song, the bridge to Dance Til We Day gave some desperately needed energy to the album, and For Free had some dazzling harmonies. This album did have good moments. But man, I ain’t gonna dig through shit for a couple of corn kernels, you know?

It's obvious that she's a good songwriter, and there's not a bad song here, but literally no one wants to listen to 11 crooning ballads in a row. Just set up some drums and hit the snare on 2 & 4 sometimes!

Just bland. Is this mumblecore? Are all the children of wealthy parents so bored-sounding?

Very good album. Probably my favorite of Lana's to date; however I don't think it should be here yet. I think a 5 year wait minimum to see if it passes the test of time. Just my 2 cents.

Wasn't expecting to like this very much but it was surprisingly good. Very hypnotic voice. Sort of a one-trick pony, but it's a very good trick. Can't really listen for too long though - doesn't take too long before the trick becomes very repetitive.

I know it's a total fabrication but I like her 50's LA sad girl charade, probably because I associate Lana with a shortt lived relationship in 2012. Let's call her Lana. Lana introduced me to Lana. The relationship was fun because Lana was slightly too cool for me, so I never got complacent. Now Lana is an entrepreneur and a mom and sings "downatah-menamusic-BIZ-ness conference". The vibe doesn't work as well. This album feels post-coital. I nodded off while driving on I5. C+

Alright. I was totally wrong about Lana Del Ray. This album is great. I look forward to revisiting everything she's ever done. 5 stars for changing my mind about something.

This was a hard album to rate. Each song–on its own–was quite good. But Lana seems to be a bit of a one-trick pony and her sleepy croon is delightful only in small doses. Every song sounds so very similar to the last that the album quickly starts to blur into a long, underwater sleepwalking session. There are moments when her voice echoes the effortless charm of Billie Eilish but she never manages to summon the emotional intensity that makes Eilish so compelling. Lana seems to be content to sit back and take the easy route. Consequently, she never quite hits the greatness that seems to lurk in the wings, just behind the curtain of her sleepy vocals.

I assume this is something of a diversity pick - the curator wanted something from 2021, so they picked something. Now, the obvious solution is - if there aren't any good CDs from 2021, then don't pick any. My personal opinion is that no strong rock CDs have been released since 2019 (I'm writing this in 2022) but I'm not monitoring every genre. Let's start with Lana's voice. It's extremely weak. If you're an apologist you could say breathy, thin, range-bound and timid is the aesthetic she's going for. I'm not - compare her vocals with Grace Potter or (even closer) Emily Haines from Metric. Haines can do Lana's style better than she can but then can also open up and just belt it, and I think she probably has more range on the high end too (low end is a foregone conclusion). I don't know if Lana can't really sing, but the fact of the matter is that on this CD, she doesn't. She starts to open it up a bit on "Let Me Love You Like a Woman" and "Wild at Heart" but doesn't keep it up. Then there's the pace. This CD is extremely slow and down-beat, and never gets above about a 3-out-of-10 on the excitement scale. The easiest way to put together a good pop CD is to have a great lead singer. Failing that, be fast, fun, and loud. If you don't do either of those things, you're in a really tough position - the last recourse is to have genius composition and production. This CD ain't it. It's pretty basic singer-songwriter stuff. Half the songs sound like demos. Easily the most sophisticated composition is the Joni Mitchell cover (also probably the best song overall), and that adds basically nothing on the production side relative to Mitchell's version, it's pretty much a by-the-books cover.

A surprisingly good and interesting album. I’d never listened to Lana before this but knew she was popular. I will be listening again!

Trophy: Lana Unlocked Lana has always been difficult for me to listen to, but tonight changed everything. I had always heard from her fans that she was such a soulful and melancholy singer, but I always just heard a bored drone. Then it hit me: that is exactly correct. She is droning and she is not energized. But plenty of instruments make that sound. So as I listened to this, I let her fade into the mix like an instrument, and what emerged was a sorrowful and melancholy masterpiece.

An odd selection unless there are multiple Lana Del Rey selections. I believe Norman Fucking Rockwell!! is a far better release. This is a decidedly smaller album, with a somewhat Americana feel that puts a focus on her formidable singer-songwriter skills. She is all over the place here, meaning she touches upon various parts of the country in pursuing her vision. Her evolution as a songwriter is consistently impressive. In many ways she shares a similar trajectory as Taylor Swift (albeit from different starting points). And, both have Jack Antonoff in their work group, which is an enormous asset.

i love lana. i have nothing bad to say for this album. i haven’t listened to the full album in so long but i’m glad i got to sit down and go through it again. this is definitely one of my favorites from her

Thursday, tech at work, get some stuff done, quesadillas and lana and more sad albums, people over to chill, mr jellybean, back porch, 11:11, awk invited, oh good day: alvvays tixs cheap, boots, invites

It's been way too long since I listened to Lana Del Rey, although I really like her and used to listen to her quite a bit. I hadn't heard this album or the previous one yet actually, so I was excited to dive in. It turned out to be the treat I hoped it would be! This album feels musically much more mature than her previous ones which can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Overall, the quality of this album is high throughout. Ethereal, light and beautiful compositions set the background for Lana's iconic as well as laconic voice. On the flip side, there are no immediately catchy potential hits along the lines of Young And Beautiful. This is an album to listen to as an album instead of picking out a couple of greats for playlists and ignoring the chaff. I can't say for sure if I prefer mature or developing Lana Del Rey more. But this was a great listening and I'll go ahead and enjoy her 2019 album next.

This was totally new to me. I liked it a lot. Breathy, high, floaty, but then the odd whiff of Joan Baez.

Surprised to see such a recent album in the list - and not entirely sure why. Not great, not terrible.

My buddies, let's have a look at the state of secretary rock in 2021. For those who don't know, secretary rock is music made for secretaries: tasteful, acoustic, worthy, romantic, unerotic, shallow, dull. My review of Tracy Chapman's Tracy Chapman goes more into the definition, so look that up if you're curious. A glance at the influences section on Lana Del Rey's Wikipedia page should cause a wariness to build. Her stated tastes as all presentable, all predictable, all mainstream, nothing even fleetingly left-field: Billie Holliday, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Britney Spears, Eminem, Amy Winehouse. Only Courtney Love provokes a quizzical huh, and that's scarcely for the audacity of the choice. And that respectability represents one of the main faults of the album: it's scared to draw or even stir blood. At one point she proclaims to be "wild at heart," which leads the listener what her devilish streak is capable of. Making a coffee with milk that's on its use-by date? Writing the word butt in her diary (which definitely has a pony on the cover)? Sleeping until 9 a.m. on a Sunday? Her parents must be so disappointed. Another issue is the uniformity. Almost every song sounds identical, with the same plucked guitar, the same tapped piano, the same overprocessed voice (the vocal affectations may seriously aggravate). This ties in to the album's tastefulness: it refuses to gamble, so every song gravitates to the same humdrum model. Also, it's impossible not to notice how often the lyrics don't scan, with compressed lines and laboured metres. The second half almost redeems the album, where Lana takes a stroll towards Americana, and she finds one or two good songs (or in some cases, snippets of songs). But I can't decipher the grand message of this album. It seems to comprise a series of vignettes which don't convey anything deep and just describe everyday scenes in Lana's life. Is Lana so interesting that her meeting her friends for a beer deserves poetic commemoration? I'd say no.

Lana is not my usual listening. But my kid has been listening to her for a long time. If he thinks she's great, then she's probably great. Solid album. Great vocals. I enjoyed this one.

Objectively 4.5

Super !

This one finds me in a tough position-- I absolutely love Lana, like I'm the type of fan who will stay up until midnight for new releases and stuff like that. I've been following her trajectory for over 10 years! And I do personally like this album and have probably listened to it hundreds of times at this point, so for that I give it a 5 because I'm a stan. However, I don't really agree with the inclusion of this album on the list. If you're unfamiliar with Lana and this is your first foray into her work, I really recommend checking out more worthy choices for the list, like NFR (her magnum opus), Honeymoon or Ultraviolence. Even her first album, Born to Die, is very flawed but has also had a lot of impact on the last 10 years of pop. I love Chemtrails but I think most fans consider it a valley in her discography-- one that has plenty of worthy peaks for this list.

So Lana Del Rey is actually pretty good now?

Modern day classic

Sad boi music

Really like it

lovely lyrics, soothing rhythms. very enjoyable

I'm on board with Lana Del Rey. Though she absolutely has a beautiful voice, i can understand that her super soft lilty whispering siren delivery is not everyone's cup of tea. There's at least 4 of her albums I like more than this one, but there are still some wonderful songs here. Chemtrails and Let Me Love You stand out for me. Parts of it get a little samey by the end.

Don't like this much as the other Lana albums. The super high-pitched voice that enters into these songs is grating. I appreciate the range, but it's hard to listen to for an entire album and breaks up what are otherwise quite pleasing songs. All that said, I appreciate the melodic setting of Lana's albums - they are like floating on a cloud. Until you come crashing down because of the high-pitched squeal, of course.

I like LDR. I bought the Born to Die album back 2012. I feel I was conned though. Lured in by the siren call. Thats probably massively sexist. Is it a bit style over substance? She's got hooks, the production is gorgeous. Its all a bit breathy, sad, 50s pastiche with edgy lyrics. This is similar. (Also, this is 7 (seven) albums in! SEVEN.) Its also probably too soon too soon to claim its one of the top 1000 albums when its only 2 years old. Don't know really. 3.5 Norman Fucking Rockwell is better.

I love female vocalists. I love the minimalist instrumentation. I love the breathy whispering but it should not have a hall reverb or doubled lead vocal. I enjoy Lana's voice when it's not over processed. I hate the canned beats and ambiance pads with an intimate song. The song "Dance Till We Die" is probably my favorite but it doesn't save this collection of tunes. This is a producer failure. Lana should get a do over and let Rick Nowels do the whole thing and keep herself and Jack Antonoff out of it.

This is a complete knee jerk inclusion that does not merit being anywhere near this list.

Bland background music.

So not into this weepy whiny drivel.

Absolutely astonished how much I loved this dreamy summer haze of an album. She nailed her vibe and I am here for it. I wish this experience would happen more often with this project, where I am served an artist I had not previously listened to, only to delight in their work.

Może 4.5

This is just a great album title. This is the type of album that you don't even realize you are listening to in a loop.

😍

Really great album for today. Will listen to this again...

Second listen. I enjoyed the album much more the second time around and it will definitely grow from there. Very smooth, has an old-school sound yet modern, quite beautiful. Glad to see a recent album on here. Fav tracks: White Dress, Chemtrails, Dark, Yosemite

She's a favourite artist of my daughter's but I hadn't listened to her before. Beautiful, I enjoyed this (and Norman Fucking Rockwell, which my daughter said was better)

Much better than I expected.

I liked it more than I thought I would. Surprised that a 2021 album is on the list though.

I'm a casual Lana Del Rey fan, only this year gone through her whole discography. I enjoyed this album, and have gone through it all a couple of times. I feel like there were songs I liked more than others e.g. White Dress, and so I revisit these songs more often. All in all a good album though.

this was more fun than i'd expected. i wasn't familiar at all, and i was honestly expecting some kinda lame pop-bubblegum whatever, but that's not what this album is.

Damn. Am I a Lana Del Rey fan now?

So I found yesterday that the list has been updated and it actually is a bit longer than 1001, cool, we’ll be here for a bit longer! Now the album: Lana keeps on pushing forward with her music if not her themes, her singing is more variable even if this album in particular is a bit monotonous. It is a beautiful recording although my favorite one by her is the more vivid Lust For Life. Now how can an album that was published only 6 months ago be on the list? Don’t get me wrong I loved the record but it has to make an impact! I could argue that Ultraviolence or NFR! Are better, or even Lust for Life just because it is my favorite. This album is here because the impact of Lana in modern music and could easily leave the list in future editions, I wished the curation of the list would be less reactive and more thoughtful, this is not the (only) Lana album you have to listen before dying. Hope the list now includes albums that have been left out since previous editions and not only new ones from 2018 to now (for example: Like Clokcwork by QotSA)

First listen: I don’t get why people dislike Lana Del Rey so much. This is a pretty good record. Second listen: Ok, I can get why people might not like this.

I'm surprised this album is here. As a Lana fan, this has always been my least favorite project of hers. Sure the album is great lyrically and there are some nice songs, but for the most part, the production takes any fun out of it. Jack Antonoff has a tendency to drain the melodic uniqueness out of artists and this album is just another casualty.

It's amazing what a carefully constructed persona and a daddy with a record label can do. I liked the original version of Stoned at the nail salon.

Look, I didn't exactly hate it, but Chemtrails over the Country Club just wasn't for me. There are some good songs, which surprised me as I never really rated Lana Del Rey before. The most notable song being White Dress. Unfortunately the rest of the album mostly sticks to a flat tone which gets boring fast. I guess the monotone, low husky vocals are Lana Del Rey's raison d'etre and she does a great job of it but it isn't for me. I do find Lana Del Rey alarmingly pretentious and this album with the exception of White Dress that is very much on display. Jack Anton as producer off gets a special mention. This album does sound pretty good but I can't work out if he is a genius bringing artists to new heights or a scourge, banding out what could have been fun and interesting. I posit this because in the gaps between Lana's voice I could've been listening to Taylor Swift or Lorde. Whatever works for them, I guess

Boring really, forgot it was playing

Do not dig this artist at all

Mmmm really don't know why this made the list...

Blehhhhhhh

Is pop not supposed to be catchy? 2/5

Meh... kind of dull and boring. Not a whole lot of range here, everything was sonically the same. 2.5/5

Far out this is a boring album. All songs sound the same

Too slow and quiet for me.

I didn't hate it, but why is this on the list? It's not even been a year since this album's released. This is just a regular folk album (my 5th folk album in the past 7 days, please stop giving me folk albums) that will inevitably be forgotten by the test of time. Nothing stood out, everything was very average, almost to the point where it seemed like they were trying to be average.

Überproduziert, zu glatt, unauthentisch, langweilig

Disappointed with this one. I listened to some hit singles of hers before which I liked, but this album was a boring monotonous slog to get through. The lyrics don't feel strong enough to carry the very sparse instrumentation and the songs might as well all be interchangable. There's no real joy to be found here. I suppose its quite a pretty album with a clear aesthetic and there are some nice moments, but overall its way too drab and boring for me to like it.

How is this on the list?

My first inclination was to give this a 1 star rating because, come on, what is a Lana album doing in this challenge? But I don't completely hate her work, I've listened to some of her albums before, but all of them, including this one, sound like everything Lana is saying sounds fake as hell. The ballads have some good melodies here and there, but overall the songs are slow and boring and don't fit in any everyday situation. Not even the most depressing and lonely times. Her voice makes me sleepy and the harmonies sound empty. Well, my initial inclination remains, 1 star.

I don't think I could possibly come up with a less interesting album if I tried

Super slow, wispy voice. Not a fan.

Really didn’t like this. Too many airy & breathy love songs that all sound the same. Not creative or interesting musically. Too heavy on vocals.

I skipped every song. Fuck Lana and her whisper depressing songs.

The audio equivalent of sitting in a mechanic’s smelly, dirty, and uncomfortable waiting room while they fix your alignment. You know you’re doing this for a reason, but you also know the only real payoff is you eventually get to leave. The producer on this really made it so much worse than it had to be, although rescuing 11 dirges sung in the key of bored as fuck is nigh impossible.

I know very little about Lana outside of her boring "Video games" song, and I kind of put her in the same boat with Amy Winehouse. Not really anything I was interested in hearing more of. Now I'm not sure if my bias is taking over, but so far the first few tracks suck. Nothing I'd ever opt to listen to normally. Apparently she has fans as almost all the tracks have 4+ million plays on YouTube music which is crazy. I guess it could be okay background noise or music to sleep too. Tl;dr. Not for me. Favorite track "Wild at heart" 1/5

"Soft contemporary americana music" is now my definition of hell.

When I listened to this on Spotify, one of the playlist that came up on the bottom of the page was “sad girl starter pack“. Well, I am a happy, middle-aged man, so this definitely is not intended for me. I feel like a vegetarian who’s been brought to a Texas barbecue restaurant. Sure, there may be something on the menu that I’ll enjoy – but it’s gonna take me a while to find it and I’m probably better off choosing something else to begin with.

This record has zero cultural relevance, does nothing new, is not good. Not sure how this made it to the list the year it came out. I'm sure it'll get pulled at some point. It's total crap. The songs to have definition, but the breathy mumbling and word sluring isn't getting high marks.

Halfway through the album, a drum appeared in the wild and my mind was blown as I clung to the rhythm desperately amid the sea of aimless whispering, strained singing, and minimalist notes. And then it was gone.

D White Dress - 1 Chemtrails Over the Country Club - 2 Tulsa Jesus Freak - 2 Let Me Love You Like a Woman - 2 Wild at Heart - 2 Dark But Just a Game - 3 Not All Who Wander Are Lost - 2 Yosemite - 1, I hate how 2021 this sounds Breaking Up Slowly - 2 Dance Till We Die - 2 For Free - 2 Mathematically, this should be a 2. I really thought I was going to give this a 2. However, I'm laying here listening to this sh** over and over again and the only feeling I feel is anger. This album is the least distinct we've gotten yet. Basic genre, basic country of origin, basic musical style, and it came out in 2021. This doesn't even hold up against 2021 albums, and I barely like any current music. Lana treats it like her own personal ASMR, while leaving her genuinely good singing voice on the cutting room floor. The opening track is laughably bad. I was LOL'ing harder than a mental patient on nitrous oxide when she said, "downatthemeninmusicbusinessconference." Seriously? I know Stargirl is popular, but why tf are you so famous?! F*** this album, f*** Lana Del Rey and f*** her fans more than anything.

Very surprised to see an album that has barely been out for 2 years on this list--and I am not familiar with Lana Del Rey's music at all, so I was initially super skeptical. That skepticim proved to be well placed. This album is boring, uninteresting, and unremarkable. I don't htink I ever needed to hear this.

It's OK but not great. Good songwriting but It's all the same song. Joni cover was alright. I agree there should be a 5 year waiting period for new albums to see if they hold up especially since she has better albums! I could be charitable and give a 2 as it's not an abomination, but not list worthy so round down.

I don't take the right medication for this.

Got to "Yosemite", and could take no more. Album released mid-March 2021, and it mid-Feb 2022 - how is this on this list? It's lazy. It's breathy. It's boring. Is the website dev a fan? Didn't even think of adding.

absolutely no. how the fuck is this anywhere near this list? what does it have to offer that is unique, genre defining, innovative or spellbinding? nothing, thats what. if zeros were an option.

haven’t heard any Lana Del Ray yet so I decided to start from the beginning, and it’s actually pretty great! started with 8s for BtD and Ultraviolence, then a 10 for Honeymoon, a 9 for LfL, and then a 10/10 for Norman Fucking Rockwell and this! she really does have a unique sound that I can admire even if I’m not much of a pop fan, I can really appreciate her approach to it :)

Made me a fan instantly

not her best album but still very good

Can't believe this is on here. It's not my fave LDR album but it's still one of the best. If this is on here I bet NFR will be too. Listening to this during lockdown vs now.... Jesus I feel all the weird chills I was supposed to get. I think I appreciate it a lot more. FAVES: Chemtrails Over The Country Club Tulsa Jesus Freak Let Me Love You Like A Woman Not All Who Wander Are Lost Yosemite Dance Till We Die For Free

I really like Lana Del Rey but was initially surprised this album made the cut over Norman Fucking Rockwell. However, it was better than I remembered - I like the slight country twist she puts on her usual schtick - so now I just think they both should have been included.

Excellent

Not even Lana’s best album but still an easy 5 stars, love her voice and the atmosphere of the music

Beautiful song writing with dark vibey atmosphere

Yes please

"Norman Fucking Rockwell" and "There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard" are both unquestionable 5* albums. This one is just a 4.5+. Lana is underappreciated. 4.5+/5

MY BABYYYY I DIDNT EXPECT IT TO BE ON THIS LISt automatic 5 sorry if ur mad chemtrails + dbjag my fav songs

very great album, perfect voice, perfekt music

Second best Lana album, that should tell you all you have to know about it

Very relaxing to listen toz

What Taylor Swift should sound like.

Absolutely haunting, but in a weird sort of comforting way. I never really got the hype over Lana, but now I understand why she's so beloved. Very easy 5. (P.S. I almost cried during Wild At Heart.)

I’m at a 4.5 and I’m gonna yet again bump it up to a 5. Truthfully, I was really leaning towards a flat 4 for most of the album, and then something about the last 4 tracks just clicked incredibly well for me and I felt like I just had to bump it up. I obviously know who Lana Del Rey is, but I’ve never heard a single one of her albums in full – she’s been the pop star of the 2010s that I just never really connected to for one reason or another. I know some of her bigger singles, but I’m guessing that I was too focused on pop melodies and choruses to really appreciate her stuff to that degree when I was younger. I feel like I need to go back now, because I really did enjoy this a lot. There’s a lot of Jack Antonoff’s production quirks that permeate this album, and they’re incredibly noticeable on the tracks that sound distinctly like any of Taylor Swift’s more recent stuff. He has a style, and it does work, but I’ll be damned if it’s not starting to feel sterilized & homogenized across all the singers he works with. However, as the album moves on, settles in, and truly gets its identity across as a “this is how the industry can really fuck with your mental health” album, those production quirks sort of melt away, and I got really encapsulated by her writing and her vocals. God, her vocals are beautiful. Her writing is stellar too – lots of great one-liners throughout here, and really strong imagery. The only reason I was at a 4 for so long is because something felt sort of missing throughout the first 7 tracks of the album – just a little more edge in the vocals or the instrumentation that wasn’t quite there. The last 4 tracks won me over – they just feel like a fully cohesive fit, just one long package that finally kicks in some of that edge and strength that was a real joy to listen to, and properly won me fully over on the entire album. The last track in particular (the Joni Mitchell cover) just solidified it – it’s so thematically fitting to the album, and it just shows me she’s got a real mind for making albums, and not playlists. A lot of these tracks aren’t things you’d typically release as a single, and while a lot of them are “for the girlies,” there’s enough to admire here that I think anyone can pick it up and listen. So, yeah, I really enjoyed it. I gotta give it another listen to try and catch what I might’ve missed on the earliest tracks, but it’s a really, really nice album. It’s no less than a 4, I think. Maybe a 3 if you hate Jack Antonoff’s style, or modern production in general. I’m fine with bumping it up to a 5. As far as it being on the list, I do feel like it popped up a bit too soon – this is a 3-year-old album, but it popped up in the 2021 edition of the book, so I feel like it got its flowers very very quickly and probably bumped something equally as deserving (or maybe it bumped Haute de gamme, good riddance). However, I am glad it’s here if only because I’m selfishly happy I got to listen to it.

Adore

Look how i do this, look how i got this