Salon: Wildest Dreams Lacks the Substance of Lana Del Rey's Work

[JeffSwift 314]

Really great article and it's good to see Lana get the recognition she deserves. I like that line about the beautiful, silent woman being percieved as nothing more than an object and no one thinks anymore of her. Like how some have said that Lana is a product of her record label and didn't invent her character or anything like that. I doubt they'd say that about a man. So many people write her off as pretentious but I think they're just intimidated by her intelligence and don't want to be challenged. I think the critique about her view of feminism is an interesting new angle on things and it's true, women get asked this question for no other reason than they're women. And the interviewer doesn't even care if they truly know what feminism is either, just looking for blind support. But in all fairness, male celebrities aren't asked about the kind of stuff she wanted to talk about either. I wish female artists would get asked more stuff about their music instead of inane questions you'd ask anyone. I've seen interviews where nothing was even asked about the album until the final question and the rest was all about their love lives. I'd be totally like Gaga and give sarcastic answers just to annoy everyone if they were going to keep insulting my intelligence like that. 

Really? Is that the way you look at it? Maybe they're annoyed that their fave is getting their work ripped off and are rightfully annoyed. I'm sure Taylor fans would verbally massacre anyone who they perceieved to rip off one of her songs. The only reason it isn't being widely talked about is because Without You is a bonus track. If it was a massive single, it would be another matter. Maybe that's why Taylor did it.

And you don't think Taylor's done the same? Her first three albums all sounded pretty much alike. And her last two albums have got more pop with 1989 capitalising on the pop success of Red. Taylor's been trying to recreate her peaks since day one. I think she's one of the most limited artists out there. Lana's style may be limited too but at least she's the best one at doing this style and pioneered it in the modern age. Taylor's style was never new and so many others have done it better and currently are doing it better.

Do you ever think this attitude is what annoys the non-fans and why we want to see her fail? Swift fans have got way too comfortable with her being a success, so much so that they will make fun of other fanbases just for liking a less successful act, as if that's worthy of derision or something. Gaga fans got too cocky after TFM and look where that got us. Pride cometh before a fall, Swifties.

I didn't necessarily mean that as a dig to Lana being an under-performer. Merely just saying that controversy sells, so if the fans can stir something up until Lana made a comment so the headlines could be "LANA DIGS AT TAYLOR." it would sell more copies. 

[Raikov 183]

It's disingenuous to pretend critics never noticed the similarities to Lana Del Rey until now.

Billboard: Surprisingly, the famous figure who gets the most elaborate attention is Lana Del Rey: Swift flat-out mimics her on "Wildest Dreams," flitting between a fluttery soprano and deadpan alto, flipping lyrics so Lana -- "His hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room" -- that it's hard to tell if the song is homage or parody.

Sputnik Music: There’s a distinct (and already highly discussed) Lana Del Rey vibe to it, but Swift pulls it off just like she does most of the other influences present on the album. Even though “Out of the Woods” feels like a CHVRCHES song and “Wildest Dreams” feels like a Del Rey song, all it really proves is that Swift is capable of taking the contemporary influences around her and molding them into something impressively original.

PopMatters: synth ballad “Wildest Dreams,” which features Swift doing more or less a literal Lana Del Rey impression and managing it with a ventriloquist’s mastery to conjure Del Rey’s moody, sultry atmospherics.

AV Club: That she twists those influences to come up with songs that sound more like something Haim, Lorde, or Lana Del Rey might have already put out—that was inevitable. Swift’s never really been one for breaking any big sonic barriers. [...] And on “Wildest Dreams,” Swift even takes her voice down a few notches, sounding a bit more like the brusque Del Rey than her chipper self.

Guardian: If Wildest Dreams bears a hint of Lana del Ray, there’s something hugely cheering about the way Swift turns the persona of the pathetic female appendage snivelling over her bad-boy boyfriend on its head.

These are all positive reviews, so it's certainly not some hater conspiracy to make Lana sell more

And people have been linking Wildest Dreams to Without You specifically since the album dropped. Vulture had this to say (although they called WD a weak track, wtf?):

Elsewhere, though, Taylor does a less convincing impression of pop's other reigning queen of darkness, LDR. One of 1989's weakest tracks is "Wildest Dreams," which sounds like it was strung together from a bunch of phrases sputtered out by a Lana Del Rey Twitter bot ("Say you'll remember me / Standing in a nice dress / Staring at the sunset, babe / Red lips and rosy cheeks"). Tay can't quite pull off Lana Del Swift (I swear I can even hear her ever so subtly attempting to say it like "noice dress," WELCOME TO NEW YORK, BABY) but whether or not they fall flat, these influences are revealing. Lana and Lorde were both unknown insurgents when Taylor's last blockbuster Red was released, so it's interesting that part of the blueprint for making a Too Big to Fail Pop Album in 2014 includes the instructions "make sure there are songs on there that sound like Lana Del Rey and Lorde." Taylor can't channel either artist's sense of macabre, but ultimately, I see that as a good thing: It leaves room for her own signature. 

All these websites have had good things to say about Lana's influence on Taylor. It's obviously there. Nobody is reaching at straws. It's okay to be influenced by your contemporaries. And I think it's incontrovertible that Taylor doesn't "do" Lana as well as her, but that's because Taylor Swift is Taylor Swift and not Lana Del Rey. A lot of Lana fans like Wildest Dreams despite (or because of) the similarities because despite the unprecedentedly low vocals, doomed relationship with a bad boy, meaningless but pretty lyrics, and "quotation" from Without You, it doesn't sound like a bad copy. It's a good song. Not everyone's out to get you.

(also long posts don't automatically get praised, people ignore them most of the time. you're more likely to get praise from posting some stale but approved shade than you are from re-writing War and Peace.)

[GloZell Green 11,723]

All I see is a delusional stan trying to promote a new album  Wait I'm lost. What substance could they possibly be talking about? 

[Cody Draco 2,531]

Can I just say that I and I think a significant number of other Lana fans wouldn't be bothered if Taylor credited Lana as an influence on 1989. I enjoyed Taylor pre-1989, Red was a great mix of pop and country so it's not as if I have some irrational hatred for her myself. Just like Strawberry Blond, I defend her when she deserves it (Wildest Dreams video was not racist). I just don't appreciate her being inspired/influenced by my favorite artist and not giving her a shout out. It's a simple thing to do and I'm sure if Taylor inspired/influenced someone she would appreciate that being acknowledged.