 Lenny Kravitz is kind of like marmite, you either love his flavour or you hate it. If you love it then you're not going to be disappointed with his latest offering which features the single "I'll be waiting".
In a career which spans almost 20yrs since his Debut offering "Let love rule" not a lot has changed stylistically in Kravitz's work. He still uses retro recording equipment, doubles up lead vocals (Beetles style) and on this album, as on most of his others, he's playing virtually everything you hear. Once again Henry Hirsch is engineering (as he has done on all of Kravitz's solo Albums) which all makes for a sound that, if nothing new, is distinctly Lenny Kravitz.
This album sees him meander through many musical moods from the extremely Beetles influenced "Good Morning", "Dancing till dawn" with a backing which would sound totally at home on a Curtis Mayfield record to "Love Revolution" where he rocks out in that "Are you gonna go my way" way!!!
The Stand out track is "I'll be waiting" an emotive Ballard which starts simply with piano and ends up soaring into a rock epic finale; Strings, Brass, guitars and all before returning to the same piano cadence it began with. The lyrics are simple enough (some might say cheesy) but they strike a chord with anyone who's ever lingered under the axe of unrequited love.
Kravitz has been criticised in his career for being neither one thing nor the other, for plagiarism and lack of originality. Born in New York 1964, of Russian, Jewish, Bahamian and American descent growing up in a culture of Soul, R & B and Jazz (Duke Ellington actually sang him happy Birthday when he turned 5) and then spending his teens in LA listening to Led Zepplin and Hendrix its hardly surprising that his influences are varied and many. But with that unique voice and old school production you always know it's a Lenny Kravitz record like him or not so there must be something original and definitive there.
He's written hits like "Are you gonna go my way", "Mamma Said" and "It ain't over till its over"(heavily sampled/copied in Mutya Buena's debut solo single). He's also won 4 Grammies and co wrote Madonna's "Justify my Love" and our male readers have to be grateful for the video that accompanied that release!!!
Over all then this Album is not ground breaking or indeed his best work but if you're a fan of Lenny Kravitz (as most of the worlds Females are) it's definitely worth a listen!!!
"It's Time For A Love Revolution" is out now on Virgin Records.
http://www.lennykravitz.com
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