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Mama Said (1991, 53.04) ***/T |
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| Fields of Joy Always on the Run Stand By My Woman It Ain't Over 'Til it's Over More Than Anything in This World What Goes Around Comes Around Difference is Why Stop Draggin' Around |
Flowers for Zoë Fields of Joy (Reprise) All I Ever Wanted When the Morning Turns to Night What the Fuck Are We Saying? Butterfly |
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Are You Gonna Go My Way (1993, 46.45) ***/½ |
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| Are You Gonna Go My Way Believe Come on and Love Me Heaven Help Just Be a Woman Is There Any Love in Your Heart Black Girl My Love |
Sugar Sister Eleutheria |
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Circus (1995, 51.03) ***½/T½ |
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| Rock and Roll is Dead Circus Beyond the 7th Sky Tunnel Vision Can't Get You Off My Mind Magdalene God is Love Thin Ice |
Don't Go and Put a Bullet in Your Head In My Life Today Resurrection |
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5 (1999, 66.34) ***/T |
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| Live Supersoulfighter I Belong to You Black Velveteen If You Can't Say No Thinking of You Take Time Fly Away |
It's Your Life Straight Cold Player Little Girl's Eyes You're My Flavor Can We Find a Reason? |
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Baptism (2004, 58.40) ***/½ |
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| Minister of Rock'n'Roll I Don't Want to Be a Star Lady Calling All Angels California Sistamamalover Where Are We Runnin'? Baptized |
Flash What Did I Do With My Life? Storm The Other Side Destiny |
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It is Time for a Love Revolution (2008, 73.18) ***/T½ |
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| Love Revolution Bring it on Good Morning Love Love Love If You Want it I'll Be Waiting Will You Marry Me I Love the Rain A Long and Sad Goodbye |
Dancin' Til Dawn This Moment is All There is A New Door Back in Vietnam I Want to Go Home |
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Black & White America (2011, 65.57) ***/½ |
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| Black and White America Come on Get it In the Black Liquid Jesus Rock Star City Life Boongie Drop Stand Superlove |
Everything I Can't Be Without You Looking Back on Love Life Ain't Ever Been Better Than it is Now The Faith of a Child Sunflower Dream Push |
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A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield (1994, 6.18) **½/½[Lenny Kravitz contributes]Billy Jack |
Current availability:
Mellotrons used:
Lenny Kravitz released his first album, Let Love Rule, in 1989, at the grand old age of twenty-seven, following it two years later with Mama Said, another amalgam of rock, funk, soul and blues, veering wildly between styles from track to track. Major hit It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over is a cheesy funk tune, What Goes Around Comes Around has a strong soul influence, Stop Draggin' Around is pure Hendrix-inspired funk-rock... You get the picture. No actual balls-out rock, but you can't have everything, I suppose. Mellotron on two tracks, with flutes right at the outset, on Fields Of Joy and a distant string part on What The Fuck Are We Saying?, but nothing you couldn't live without, to be honest. Are You Gonna Go My Way, another two years on, opens with probably Kravitz' best track (personal opinion, natch) in the title track, a Hendrixy slice of all-out rock, with a groove to die for, with a similar, though more Zeppelinesque effort in Is There Any Love In Your Heart later on. Mellotron strings on cheesy ballad Believe, quite clearly doubled with real strings; actually, that reminds me that I heard, somewhere down the line, that he's quite fond of doing that, for fuck alone what reason. What's the point of using a Mellotron, then... Oh, never mind. Same bizarre trick on Just Be A Woman, but that's your lot.
Circus, yet another two years on, is a far rockier proposition, opening with the excellent Rock And Roll Is Dead, barely venturing into 'dodgy soul ballad' territory at all this time, although the pace slacks off rather towards the end of the album. Two good Mellotron tracks this time round, with strings all the way through God Is Love and not a lot less on closer Resurrection, making this album easily his best yet; in my humble opinion, of course... More of the usual on the cunningly-titled 5. His fans may disagree, but to my ears it's the usual mixture of rock, funk and soul again, hinting at more contemporary Hendrix, Stevie Wonder and others, but without ever really being Kravitz himself; it seems that he's the sum of his influences, while rarely transcending them. He uses more modern technology this time round, without letting it take over; loops and samples fit seamlessly with '70s funk guitar, Rhodes and Moogs, without moving into dreaded 'R&B' country. Only one Mellotron track here, with a reasonable background string part on Black Velveteen.
After 2001's Mellotron-free Lenny, it's back on '04's Baptism, though only for one track. The album lies somewhere between the rockier approach of Circus and his earlier work, though it still seems to be thankfully free of too much over-emoting. The Mellotron on the rather good opener, Minister Of Rock'n'Roll, only consists of a rising string line towards the end of the song, so don't go too far out of your way for this one. A four-year gap explains, while not exactly condoning It is Time for a Love Revolution's ridiculous length; nor does it condone the most clichéd lyrics imaginable, but hey, it's Lenny Kravitz! Amongst its better tracks are the opening title track, Bring It On, the funky Will You Marry Me and one of the Japanese edition's bonus tracks, the Zeppelinesque (again) slow blues Confused. Mellotronically speaking, Kravitz plays strings on Love Love Love, I Love The Rain (the album's best ballad) and I Want To Go Home, all to passable, if not outstanding effect.
2011's not-quite-as-lengthy Black & White America starts well, the opening title track being one of the strongest songs Kravitz has written in some time, but, as so often, the disc is diluted by below-par material with 'filler' written all over it. Other better tracks include Come On Get It, Rock Star City Life and Everything, but I doubt whether I'm the only listener who'd prefer it if he left material like Liquid Jesus (surely not named for the band of the same name?) and Boongie Drop on the cutting-room floor. Kravitz plays Mellotron, although it's only obvious on two tracks, with orchestral-ish strings on Boongie Drop and a cello line on Stand.
Ultimately, Kravitz strikes me as having fairly limited talent, but has sustained a career for two decades by dint of hard work, image, knowing just who to, er, 'borrow' from and the occasional memorable hook. That sounds a bit harsh in the cold light of day, but playing several of his albums back-to-back hasn't suddenly revealed a previously-unsuspected well of classic material, more a previously-suspected surface skim of rather average, zeitgeist-surfing danceable rock, quite startling in its ordinariness. A few good tracks doth not a career make, Mr. Kravitz, except that they appear to have done exactly that. Anyway, as far as I can work out, that makes two decent Mellotron tracks over his entire career, both on the same album, which also seems to be his most dynamic. So, get Circus if you see it cheap, but approach everything else with caution.
See: Vanessa Paradis | Cree Summer | A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield
