Lens Krafters

As a kid, I sometimes stayed at my cousin's house who had a giant black and white poster of David Cassidy that scared the hell out of me at night. This album cover reminds me of that for some reason. C'mon get happy!

I'm a fan of Lenny Kravitz and has been for some years but even I have to admit that Kravitz can either be exciting or frustrating depending on how you view him. Kravitz broke through in the early 90's as part of the "retro-rock" scene where musicians decided all good music stopped around 1973. The retro rock sound fit in with Kravitz' bohemian hippie outlook and was made even more impressive by his Prince like skill (writes own songs, plays almost all instruments himself). But Kravitz can be frustrating, without proper motivation his music comes across as well constructed copies of the originals. John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, and a ton of classic rock and soul all stars sometimes filter through Kravitz unedited to near plagiarism. And writing all of his own material poses problems due to his consistent inconsistencies. What that means is he writes about three killer songs per album and the rest is usually filler. When he writes a full album of strong songs, such as Lenny (2001) he can't come up with a killer song to seal the deal. Occasionally, Kravitz can transcend his own craft when motivated such as "Can't Get You Off Of My Mind" from Circus (1995) or "Bank Robber Man" from Lenny (2001) but those songs also makes you wish he could do that all the time.

Last time Lenny released an album, it was Baptism (2003) which was a somewhat somber affair highlighted by the sparkling singles "Where Are You Runnin'". "Lady" and "California". Since then, Lenny has decided to return to his hippie roots at least thematically with It's Time For A Love Revolution. In that sense it's reminiscent of his Let Love Rule album (1989) as there are pleas for Peace and Love throughout lyrically. Musically, Kravitz has always been able to adapt his sound to current trends and this time around it sounds like he's been playing a lot of Guitar Hero. On Revolution there are more guitars with monster riffs and searing solos than any other effort he's put out since 1995.

This makes Revolution one of Kravitz' hardest rocking and most retro albums. "Bring It On" cribs from Led Zeppelin's "When The Levee Breaks" to create driving hard rock. "Dancin' Til Dawn" recalls mid 70's David Bowie with it's loose, funky charm. The 90's seem to have reached Classic Rock status as Kravitz now includes bits of Oasis Brit Pop ("Good Morning") and Red Hot Chili Peppers funk ("Love Love Love"). His retroness comes in handy with the deliberate news montage baiting "Back In Vietnam".

Revolution is as consistent as Lenny making it one of his best efforts. But also like Lenny it lacks the amazing single like "Are You Gonna Go My Way" or "Fly Away" to dominate the radio. There is one transcendent moment in the album, the guitar solo at the end of "A Long And Sad Goodbye". The rest of the album is strong and pushes close to individuality but falls a little short. Not enough to convince naysayers that Kravitz is just a gimmick and not a real artist. That's too bad, but even without that It's Time For A Love Revolution stands as one of Kravitz' better albums and a solid representation of his song craft.

Lenny Kravitz - "I'll Be Waiting"