Lana Del Rey’s performance on Saturday Night Live last month would make anyone want to avoid her Jan. 31 album release Born To Die.
Del Rey was boring to watch with a dull voice to match. Listening to Born To Die reveals Del Rey’s timid performance may have only been stage fright.

Del Rey’s clear, confident voice shines throughout the album. The instrumentals never drown out her low voice. She sounds monotonous on the album’s opener and namesake, “Born To Die,” but the monotony is deceiving. It isn’t until her voice lifts with “Come and take a walk on the wild side / let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain / you like your girls insane” that you realize what you’re in for.

Del Rey leaves boring behind in her second track, “Off to the Races.” Her distinct alto voice opens the song, but she joins the beat as it takes off with, “And I’m off to the races / cases of Bacardi chasers / chasin’ me all over town.” Her voice lilts up in a very girly way later on in the song with the lyrics, “I’m your little scarlet, starlet / singing in the garden / kiss me on my open mouth.”

“Blue Jeans” and “Video Games” are tracks three and four. Del Rey chose those two songs to perform for her SNL debut. Though she sounded unsure onstage, she shines on the album, reaching the higher notes beautifully in “Blue Jeans.” Her lyrics are easy to understand in both tracks.

“Diet Mountain Dew” picks the pace back up after the two slower tracks, and the song “Radio” will astound you with the rhymes she has created. In “Radio” her lyrics show how far she has come in her career. She sings, “No one even knows what life was like / now I’m in LA and it’s paradise / I’ve finally found you.”

Born To Die has its ups and down, just like Del Rey’s unique voice. The instrumentals and her voice are very upbeat in songs like “This Is What Makes Us Girls” and “Lolita” and more dramatic in tracks like “Carmen” and “Million Dollar Man.”

One thing is certain; Lana Del Rey would have received better feedback had she performed something more upbeat on SNL, like “Off to the Races” or “This Is What Makes Us Girls.”
(3.5 stars)

Originally published in The Buzzworthy (2/14/12).