Since the release of 'Video Games' last year, Lana Del Rey has not so much split opinion as wrenched it apart. Many of listeners who were wowed by her laconic timbre on her debut single (at least, the first that she had released under the name Lana Del Rey) later found themselves conflicted not only by her image (before and after shots of the singer suggest she has had cosmetic enhancements to her lips) but also by her apparently wealthy background (her father, Rob Grant is a multi-millionaire). Some, of course simply didn't like her in the first place.
Ldr's fans and naysayers haven't exactly had much to go on in terms of material, though, until now, with the release of her debut album Born To Die. Alexis Petridis, writing for The Guardian, questions the extent to which 'Lana' is a character, arguing that "Del Rey doesn't have the lyrical equipment to develop a persona throughout the album" and refers to the repetition of imagery in her songs, urging listeners to remove the album from the indie singer-songwriter context, where it will be plagued with concerns over 'authenticity.' The Daily Mail review seems to linger on her background, rather than the album itself, but goes so far as to say that it's a respectable effort "as long as one isn't expecting the searing honesty or depth of feeling conveyed by an Amy Winehouse or Etta James."
In fact, many of the reviews that have surfaced online seem to be frustrated with the lack of extremes in the album. It has attracted neither the adulation that 'Video Games' first prompted, nor the scorn that she elicited with her Saturday Night Live performance. With the Billboard review also drawing on the singularity of her subject matter ("variations on lines like 'kiss me on my open mouth' and 'take your body downtown' are used throughout"), it would seem that the world has got bored of Lana Del Rey before she's even got started.