Lenny Kravitz
Black And White America

THE REVIEW

"It’s a period full of surprises," my favorite artist (Samuele Bersani) would say.

It's a period full of changes because many important artists like Coldplay and Incubus are releasing new albums and new songs, and even Lenny Kravitz has recently decided to embark on new work.

For those who don't know good old Lenny... he's a complete artist who, despite being involved in the mainstream culture for some time, still manages to blend various genres such as boogie and reggae.

Besides being a great musician, he is also a man of color who, as a child, had trouble relating with his peers because of his skin color and for years... even in the music world, he had problems relating with other artists and being equal to every other man.

However, we know that for some years now, Barack Obama has risen to power in the USA, and Lenny had only released albums in the ''Bush Era''... now times have changed, and Kravitz can relate fully with other people and no longer feels unjustly discriminated against... Thanks again to this colored president.

To celebrate... good old Lenny decided a few months ago to release ''Black And White America,'' a wonderful concept album dedicated to the great Barack Obama.

The album opens with the title track which in my opinion is the best track on the entire album, thanks to funky and reggae atmospheres that have characterized Kravitz throughout his career... Another interesting and very particular track is ''Liquid Jesus'' with somewhat surreal lyrics and atmospheres that slightly bring back the first album ''Let Love Rule.''

''Stand'' is a protest against those who want to deceive poor people through pre-arranged TV shows; the track was also released as a single. Another track that I found very fun and ''pacifist'' is ''Superlove,'' with the usual serene but never trivial themes that Lenny has accustomed us to hearing for some time.

A really well-arranged track is ''Dream,'' which to be fully appreciated should be listened to about ten times (at least in my opinion).

In short... Lenny Kravitz has created a great album against racism and in the name of peace. In my opinion, the work is better than Kravitz's recent albums but not at the level of the classics he made at the beginning of his career, like ''Let Love Rule'' and ''Circus.''