''Paradise'' is the third

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP) by American singer-songwriter

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Lana Del Rey discography, Her music is noted for its melancholic exploration of Glamour (presentation), glamor and Romanc ...

. It was released on November 9, 2012, in

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

and November 11, 2012, worldwide by

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

and

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

. It was additionally packaged with the reissue of her second studio album, ''

Born to Die ''Born to Die'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was released on January 27, 2012, through Interscope Records and Polydor Records as her major label debut. A reissue of the album, subtitled '' The Paradis ...

'' (2012), titled '' Born to Die: The Paradise Edition.'' Grant enlisted collaborators including producers

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

. The EP's sound has been described as

baroque pop Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock) is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. It emerged in the mid-1960s as artists pursued a majestic, orchestral sound and is identifiable for its appropria ...

and

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

. Upon its release, ''Paradise'' received generally favorable reviews from music critics. The extended play debuted at No. 10 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 with first-week sales of 67,000 copies. It also debuted at No. 10 on the

Canadian Albums Chart The ''Billboard'' Canadian Albums is the official record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given ...

and peaked within the top five of various other ''Billboard'' charts. In Europe, the EP charted within top 10 in Flanders and Poland as well as within the top 20 in Wallonia and the Netherlands. The EP's lead single was the

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

" Ride", which became a modest hit in the United States, Switzerland, Ireland and France and reached the top 10 in Russia. " Blue Velvet" (a cover of the popular 1950s track) and " Burning Desire" were released as promotional singles. Music videos for "Ride", "Blue Velvet", " Bel Air" and "Burning Desire" were posted to

Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

and YouTube to help promote the EP. In December 2013, Del Rey released the

Anthony Mandler Anthony Mandler is an American film, television, and music video director and photographer. As a music video director, his most notable and frequent collaborator is Rihanna. The two have worked on sixteen music videos together throughout her car ...

-directed '' Tropico'', a short film that includes the songs "Body Electric", "Gods & Monsters" and "Bel Air". That same month, an EP of the same name was made available for digital purchase, containing the film along with the three aforementioned songs. In 2014, ''Paradise'' was nominated for

Best Pop Vocal Album The Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality vocal pop music albums. Awards in several ...

at the

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Background

In an interview with ''

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española (''Spanish Radio and Television'', RTVE), is the Spanish national public Broadcasting, television and radio broadcaster. It is a state-owned enterprise f ...

'' on June 15, 2012, Del Rey announced that she had been working on a new album due in November, and that five tracks had already been written, two of them being " Young and Beautiful" and "Gods and Monsters", and another track titled "Body Electric", which was performed and announced as one of her songs at BBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend. In an interview with Tim Blackwell for radio station Nova 100 in Melbourne, Australia, Del Rey added that her upcoming November release would not be a new album, but more like an EP, which she described as the "Paradise Edition" of ''Born to Die''. Del Rey stated that the new release would contain approximately seven new songs. ''Paradise'' was released on November 12, 2012 in the UK and one day later in the US. The prior album's re-release, titled ''Born to Die: The Paradise Edition'', was available for pre-order offering an immediate download of "Burning Desire" in some countries. The nine tracks were issued as a stand-alone CD or vinyl EP titled ''Paradise'', in a two-disc set including the original ''Born to Die'' album tracks, as well as in a deluxe box set including both the album and the EP, a remix CD including eight remixes of songs from ''Born to Die'', a DVD with six music videos and a two-track vinyl 7" single of "Blue Velvet". Two remixes of ''Blue Velvet'' were included on the special edition of ''Paradise'' exclusively at

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

stores, however the remixes were not included on ''Born to Die: The Paradise Edition''.

Promotion

On the day of "Ride"'s release as the EP's first single, Del Rey uploaded a teaser trailer to video-hosting website YouTube, that contained snippets of each track on ''Born to Die: The Paradise Edition''. To promote the album, two promotional singles were also released, a cover version of "Blue Velvet" and "Burning Desire". "Blue Velvet" was used in a television commercial for H&M. "Burning Desire", the album's second promotional single, was used to promote the

Jaguar F-Type The Jaguar F-Type (X152) is a series of two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured by British car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover under their Jaguar Cars marque from 2013 to 2024. The car's Jaguar Land Rover car platforms#D6a, JLR D6a platfor ...

model; at a promotional concert, Del Rey sang the song, wearing red lipstick, because the model features a built-in lipstick holder. Unlike in the US. where it was released as an EP, ''Paradise'' was released in the United Kingdom as a re-release of ''Born to Die''. The song served as the soundtrack for a short film called ''Desire'', directed by

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

and starring

Damian Lewis Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is a British actor, musician and producer. He rose to prominence portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers''. Lewis won a Prime ...

. A promotional video for "Burning Desire" appeared online on

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

2013, featuring Del Rey as her usual

lounge singer Lounge music is a type of easy listening music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It may be meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place, usually with a tranquil theme, such as a jungle, an island paradise or outer space. The ran ...

persona, interspersed with snippets of the Jaguar F-Type. Directed by Ridley Scott, the video was filmed in the Rivoli Ballroom in London's South end. On November 30, 2012, Del Rey was a musical guest on '' Later... with Jools Holland'' and performed her current single, "Ride".

Singles

On September 13, 2012, the lead single of ''Paradise'' was confirmed to be "Ride", the accompanying music video being shot in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

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. It was eventually released for purchase on September 25, 2012. On October 10, Del Rey premiered the music video for "Ride" at the Aero Theatre in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. On October 12, the music video for "Ride" was released online. Del Rey portrays a prostitute in the video, which the

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

described as "not exactly empowering," and said might be seen as "anti-feminist". To further promote the single and album, an EP was released containing remixes of "Ride" by artists including Sohn, MJ Cole, Eli Escobar, 14th, Wes James and

James Lavelle James Lavelle (born 22 February 1974) is an English electronic musician, record label owner and curator. He founded the Mo'Wax record label in 1992, and has been the only constant member of UNKLE. He directed the 2014 edition of the Meltdo ...

. On September 19, the music video for "Blue Velvet" was released through H&M. On September 20, 2012, "Blue Velvet" was made available for purchase via digital download as the first promotional single from the EP. People who preordered the EP received an immediate download of "Burning Desire". On February 14, 2013, the music video for "Burning Desire" was released. The song was made available for purchase via digital download on March 19, 2013 as the EP's second and final promo single.

Other songs

The third single from ''Paradise'' and the eighth single overall from ''Born to Die'', was announced as "

Cola Cola is a Carbonation, carbonated soft drink flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus essential oil, oils, and other flavorings. Cola became popular worldwide after the American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, a trademarked br ...

" on November 14, 2012. However, a release date for the single never materialized. Because the description of the trailer listed the song "Cola" as "Pussy", it led to speculation about the song being titled "Pussy" or having a subtitle of that name, but no alternate titles were confirmed, and the official

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

preorder did not acknowledge any alternate title. "Fresh" and "is-she-serious?" have been some of the reactions to the profane lyrics included on "Cola". ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

'' criticized the song snippet, saying it proved she was running out of ideas and that her songs all sounded strangely similar. When asked about the origin of the lyrics to "Cola", Del Rey said: "I have a Scottish boyfriend, and that's just what he says!" Defending the track, she said that her record label had reservations about releasing it. The song "Body Electric" alludes to

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

in the lyric, "Whitman is my daddy". The song's chorus of "I sing the body electric" is a direct reference to his poem "

I Sing the Body Electric "I Sing the Body Electric" is a poem by Walt Whitman from his 1855 collection ''Leaves of Grass''. The poem is divided into nine sections, each celebrating a different aspect of human physicality. Its original publication, like the other poems in ...

". Del Rey had previously cited Whitman as an inspiration, recalling his

chapbook A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was a popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 1 ...

Leaves of Grass ''Leaves of Grass'' is a poetry collection by American poet Walt Whitman. After self-publishing it in 1855, he spent most of his professional life writing, revising, and expanding the collection until his death in 1892. Either six or nine separa ...

'' as instrumental to her songwriting. Originally appearing on Del Rey's first EP, '' Kill Kill'', and her debut album, '' Lana Del Ray'', "Yayo" was re-recorded for inclusion on ''Paradise''. A promotional video for the closing track, "Bel Air", was released on November 8, 2012. The video featured outtakes from the " Summertime Sadness" music video. In the song, Del Rey sings, "Roses, Bel Air, take me there/ I’ve been waiting to meet you/ Palm trees, in the light, I can see, late at night/ Darling I’m willing to greet you/ Come to me, baby." ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' praised the shift in

persona A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...

that Del Rey exhibited in the video, noting a significant difference from her usual Americana

, Jackie O and biker chick

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

Film

Alongside ''Paradise'', Del Rey released a short film titled ''Tropico'' that featured the songs "Body Electric", "Gods and Monsters" and "Bel Air". ''Tropico'' was filmed in late June 2013; it was directed by Anthony Mandler, who also directed Del Rey's earlier music videos for "

National Anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

" and "Ride". Via social media platforms, Del Rey released several promotional images for the film, one depicting Del Rey in a

wimple A wimple is a medieval form of female headcovering, formed of a large piece of cloth worn draped around the neck and chin, covering the top of the head; it was usually made from white linen or silk. Its use developed in early medieval Europe ...

reminiscent of

Mary, Mother of Jesus Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and another with Del Rey holding a snake and posing as

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

, the biblical wife of

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

from

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

. In August 2013, Del announced on Twitter that the film would have two premieres, one at the

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a full-service cemetery, funeral home, crematorium, crematory, and cultural events center which regularly hosts community events such as live music and summer movie screenings. It is one of the oldest cemeteries ...

in Los Angeles and another in an unspecified location in New York; she referred to the short film as a "farewell". Critics noted that this contradicted other claims by Del Rey that she would release a third studio album, coinciding with a demo of the song " Black Beauty" leaking online. On November 22, 2013, an official trailer for ''Tropico'' was released; at the end of the trailer, it was announced that the film would be uploaded to Del Rey's official Vevo account on December 5. On December 3, she announced on Facebook and Twitter that ''Tropico'' would be screened at the

Cinerama Dome The Cinerama Dome is a movie theater located at 6360 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Designed to exhibit widescreen Cinerama films, it opened November 7, 1963. The original developer was William R. Forman, founder of Pacific Theatr ...

in Hollywood, California on December 4 prior to its Vevo release.

Critical reception

''Paradise'' received generally positive reviews from contemporary critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the EP has received an average score of 64, based on 9 reviews indicating "generally favorable reviews". Gil Kaufman of

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

wrote that " he reissueis as mellow and languorous... as she was on her debut." On the snippet video, he said, "...the new songs gives a peek at the gangster

Nancy Sinatra Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer, actress, film producer and author. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato) and is known for her 1965 signature hit " These Boots Are Made for Walki ...

's ongoing fascination with a sleepy, seductive sound and lyrics that mix old-fashion girl group obsession with sometimes profane, shocking new-school swagger." ''

Stuff Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to: *Physical matter *General, unspecific things, or entities Arts, media, and entertainment Books *''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly *''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jeremy Strong Fictional c ...

'' said that the song titles were predictably poker-faced. "Ride" received widely positive reviews, with the only criticism focused on the unrealistic cover art and coy song title. Contactmusic.com noticed that the track adhered to Del Rey's trademark sound, stating that the notion of her even having a trademark after one commercially successful album indicates that "we haven't seen the last of her just yet". Of the production itself, it was said that "Ride" was more accomplished than Del Rey's previous endeavors, with the strengths of the track outshining the flaws. The reviewer concluded by saying, "All that doe-eyed "you can be my full-time daddy / baby" shtick is going to start getting a little tired pretty soon, though, we reckon." ''

'' said that the most significant lyric in "Ride" read, "I'm tired of feeling like I'm fucking crazy". ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' agreed, saying the aforementioned lyric was a rare moment of raw emotion by Del Rey. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' wrote: "Ride' is a long, dreamy ballad that swells into full view during the chorus, when the singer declares, 'Been trying' hard not to get into trouble/But I, I've got a war in my mind… so I just ride."

called "Ride" a "slow burn" and "as mellow and languorous...as on her debut." Another MTV review said: "On 'Ride,' Rey sings what she knows best: loneliness, some daddy issues and day-drinking. All of this is probably a metaphor for something, but honestly, we’re still trying to figure out what those 'Born To Die' tigers mean." Cameron Matthew of

Spinner Spinner may refer to: Technology * Spinner (aeronautics), the aerodynamic cone at the hub of an aircraft propeller * Spinner (cell culture), laboratory equipment for cultivating plant or mammalian cells * Spinner (computing), a graphical widget in ...

noted that Del Rey "amped up on the smokey vocals" with "Ride". Canada.com reviewer Leah Collins called "Bel Air" an

Enya Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin (born 17 May 1961; anglicised as Enya Patricia Brennan) known mononymously as Enya, is an Irish singer and composer. With an estimated equivalent of over 80 million albums sold worldwide, Enya is the best-selli ...

-channeled, eerie

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

. Conversely, ''

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'' called both "Bel Air" and "Yayo" "filler tracks". Disagreeing with this position, Carl Williot of Idolator said that "Yayo" should have been a single. Calling it Del Rey's most interesting song to date, Williot compared the narration on "Yayo" to the plight of

Anna Nicole Smith Vickie Lynn Marshall (née Hogan; November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007), known professionally as Anna Nicole Smith, was an American model, actress, and television personality. Smith started her career as a ''Playboy'' magazine centerfold in M ...

and said it was "woozy" and "

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

". As a whole, Williot noted the theme between ''Born to Die'' and ''Paradise'' shifted from

infantilization Infantilization is the prolonged treatment of one who is not a child, as though they are a child. Studies have shown that an individual, when infantilized, is overwhelmingly likely to feel disrespected. Such individuals may report a sense of Rela ...

on the former to sexualization on the EP; songs such as "Burning Desire" and "Ride" were decisively more mature than tracks like "

Video Games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

" from the singer's mainstream debut. Closing the review, Williot said the EP was best listened to "while wearing formal cocktail attire that has become slightly rumpled following some sort of intense argument and/or sexual dalliance." John Bush of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

commented that the EP kept the glacial string arrangements and slow drums that characterized the cinematic atmosphere of ''Born to Die'', while improving in terms of vocals. However, Bush panned the songwriting and lyrical content of ''Paradise''. He singled out the lyrics of "Body Electric" (" Elvis is my daddy/ Marilyn's my mother/ Jesus is my bestest friend/ We get crazy every Friday night/

Drop It Like It's Hot "Drop It Like It's Hot" is a song by American rapper Snoop Dogg featuring American musician Pharrell Williams. It was released on September 27, 2004, as the lead single from Snoop Dogg's seventh studio album, '' R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Mast ...

in the pale moonlight") as being "cliché and "babyish", a trend pervading the entire album. On a positive note, Bush proposed that "Blue Velvet" proved Del Rey was more than capable of performing vocally when given tasteful content. Bush concluded that, overall, Del Rey had lyrically remained in stasis, with the album serving as fodder for her hype and image. According to Bush, the album's significance was embodied by a

simile A simile () is a type of figure of speech that directly ''compares'' two things. Similes are often contrasted with metaphors, where similes necessarily compare two things using words such as "like", "as", while metaphors often create an implicit c ...

from "Gods and Monsters": "Like a groupie incognito posing as a real singer, life imitates art." ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' called the EP "surprisingly strong". ''

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

'' said: Pointing to "Blue Velvet" and "Yayo" as the weaker songs,

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

lifestyle magazine ''So So Gay'' analyzed ''Paradise'' as a whole: "The existing themes, stunning musicality, and lyrical strength of the original are by a series of new tracks that give the listener 'more of the same'." ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' said the EP could not live up to ''Born to Die'', with tracks "Gods and Monsters" and "Burning Desire" standing in its shadow, and termed it a "grubby cash grab". '' Drowned in Sound'' writer David Edwards concurred, due to the release's proximity to the Christmas holiday. ''Rolling Stone'' called the album "conceptually sharp". ''

'' praised the album's allusions to

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

, adding, "her vintage 60s charm just might kill you." Applauding Del Rey's rising stardom, '' The Daily Record'' celebrated the EP's commentary on the

2010s File:2010s collage v22.png, From top left, clockwise: Anti-government protests called the Arab Spring arose in 2010–2011, and as a result, many governments were overthrown, including when Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was Death of Muammar Gad ...

zeitgeist. ''The Prophet Blog'' wrote: "''Paradise'', sounds like the record she was always meant to make — not the one she had to. Whereas ''Born to Die'' was self-conscious and chart hungry, ''Paradise'' allows Lana the freedom to get a little more daring and fully indulge in her love of David Lynch." In January 2013, Nashville-based producer/singer-songwriter Shane Tutmarc released a cover of ''Ride.'' Nashville Scene described it as, "a rad little bit of Americana-stalgia, and to be perfectly honest, I vastly prefer Tutmarc's version of "Ride" over Del Rey's — it's a gauzy, dreamy take on a tune that, in Tutmarc's hands, has a pleasant and memorable melody."

Commercial performance

''Paradise'' debuted at No. 10 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 67,000 copies in its first week. It has since sold over 332,000 copies in the US.

Track listing

All lyrics and melodies written by Lana Del Rey, except on Blue Velvet, written by Lee Morris and Bernie Wayne.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Paradise''. ;Performance credits *

– vocals ; backing vocals ;Instruments *James Gadson – drums *Emile Haynie – drums ; additional Electronic keyboard, keyboard *Dan Heath – percussion ; French horn, horns ; keyboard ; String instrument, strings ; piano *Devrim Karaoglu – drums *Jason Lader – bass guitar *Tim Larcombe – keyboards, guitar, drums *The Larry Gold Orchestra – strings *Songa Lee – violin *Kieron Menzies – Drum machine, drum programming *

Rick Nowels Richard Wright Nowels Jr. (born March 16, 1954) is an American songwriter and record producer. He has co-written and co-produced over 90 hit singles with multiple artists,Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

– production *Andrew Scheps – mixing *Peter Stanislaus – mixing *Jordan Stilwell – additional recording

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2012 EPs Albums produced by Emile Haynie Albums produced by Rick Nowels Albums produced by Rick Rubin Albums recorded at Shangri-La (recording studio) Interscope Records EPs Lana Del Rey albums Polydor Records EPs Trip hop EPs