I was really excited about Lana del Rey before her SNL performance and Born to Die dropped. Video Games, Blue Jeans, etc. are fantastic songs. Her full-length totally disappointed me though. What was different about the Paradise Edition? Loved Ellie Goulding and Frank Ocean this year. Fantastic albums.
Yeah, I totally understand where you're coming from on Lana del Rey. I felt the same way initially, but I couldn't stay away. Her music is just a guilty pleasure of mine. I think many of her songs almost seem fake, like she's trying too hard. Paradise Edition has some gems like "Yayo" and "Bel-Air" that really bring out her nostalgic voice, but at the same time, the songs like "Ride" and "Cola" just keep me hooked.
I agree with you on "trying too hard". I just never really believed her music (I do like Video Games however). This is also the reason I never really got into Tyler the Creator, I just feel like he actually cares what people think, even though he repetitively says he doesn´t.