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Rating: Not everyone can do what Mr. Kravitz has done. (1)
Tall as a can from a vending machine, good-looking, with very long dreadlocks, rock blues and soul spirit, fan of Hendrix, Lennon, Sly Stone, Prince, Stefanino Meraviglia, and Led Zeppelin, Lenny embarks on his career in the magical star business with this album which, all things considered, turns out to be the best of his entire production. From there on, a decline, a poverty of ideas, and a forced stagnation in the same primordial broth will characterize a free fall without harness or parachute.
Just like another unfulfilled promise of "new black music," Terence Trent d'Arby, Lenny Kravitz plays a bit of everything here: bass, keyboards, drums, guitar, and of course, he sings and does his own backing vocals as much as he can.
There are those who say he busted his ass on the road before success, going from venue to venue to introduce himself to the world with his little guitar, but I honestly have some doubts, considering his mother already belonged to the entertainment world (Ellen Willis, wife of Tom, in the "Jeffersons", remember?) and maybe opened some doors for the prodigal son.
But that's none of my business and honestly, I don't care, because nowadays if you don't get a kick in the ass it's hard to go anywhere at the upper levels and, honestly, if I were a producer, I would have signed him right away after listening to an album like this.
Let's be clear, Mr. Kravitz hasn't invented anything, some define him as the copycat of copycats because you can embarrassingly feel all the influences I mentioned before in this album, especially for the left-handed god of the six-string and the bespectacled genius of the Beatles, but the merit of this man has been to perfectly blend a myriad of influences to give rise to a product with very good and promising foundational elements, boldly reviving the old 70's sound.
The groove of "Sitting on the Top of the World..", with that funky bass, the slow blues/gospel stride of "My Precious Love", the '70s - Starsky and Hutch - sound of "Fear", the sensual "Does Anybody Out There Even Care", the rhythm of "Mr. Cab Driver", the beautiful crescendo ballad "Rosemary", co-written with ex-partner Lisa Bonet, the Lennonian "Be" and the Hendrixian "Blues for Sister Someone", alone justify buying the record.
All the instruments sound (deliberately) like they came out of a blues and soul reunion, with a hint of psychedelia from the splendid years just past, the album flows from the first to the last track without ever being heavy or repetitive, the arrangement of the pieces seems deliberately designed to intrigue you and not restrict you to a single listen then shelve it.
An album like this is timeless, you can dust it off whenever you want and it will always leave you satisfied. In a review of Kravitz's latest, I read that: "If he wanted to do something good, he would have done it by now..".
Well, I think this album is that good (and right) thing.
(1) Not everyone does better than the first release if you come out with a product like this...
Sadly, not even he managed.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Let Love Rule (05:42)
Love is gentle as a rose
And love can conquer any war
It's time to take a stand
Brothers and sisters join hands
We got to let love rule
Let love rule
We got to let love rule
Let love rule
Love transcends all space and time
And love can make a little child smile
Can't you see this won't go wrong
But we got to be strong
We can't do it alone
We got to let love rule
Let love rule
We got to let love rule
Let love rule
06 Fear (05:20)
I smell the fear that rains inside
The thought of children who must oblige
To tainted dreams and polluted seas
The missing moon and melting trees
A mist of doom and clouds of pain
Toxic waste and acid rain
The passing of our ignorance
A lifetime spent in abstinence
Living in fear
Living in fear
I can't tell you no lies
Living in fear
Living in fear
Conditioning to hate and them to blame
Their search for God is just the same
Machines for hearts, how warped a view
Forgetting that they're human too
Waiting like a branded steer
Who first will launch the burning spear
When every day may be your last
You think we'd learn from our past
Living in fear
Living in fear
I can't tell you no lies
Living in fear
Living in fear
I smell the fear that rains inside
The thought of so many lives denied
More wounded soldiers, another burning flag
And rows and rows of body bags
No time for tears as the night falls cold
The days survivors crawl back in their holes
As for the rest they're shipped back home
Home to the rows of white tomb stones
Living in fear
Living in fear
I can't tell you no lies
Living in fear
Living in fear
07 Does Anybody Out There Even Care (03:42)
The dream is lost
Don't let it slip away
Or bloody days won't be far away
Cause when there's no more sin
There's no where you can run
Does anybody know how many lives we've lost
Can anybody ever pay the cost
What will it take for us to join in peace my friends
Does anybody out there even care
Wake up world before it's too late
It's time for love to conquer hate
And when that battle's won
We all can live as one
Does anybody know how many lives we've lost
Can anybody ever pay the cost
What will it take for us to join in peace my friends
Does anybody out there even care
Riots in the streets, men dressed in white sheets
Is that what we want
A little boy hanging from a tree and a burning cross
If we can learn that we're one we can overcome
Before this takes us all
We'd better catch ourselves before we fall
Does anybody know how many lives we've lost
Can anybody ever pay the cost
What will it take for us to join in peace my friends
Does anybody out there even care
08 Mr. Cab Driver (03:50)
Mr. Cab Driver won't you stop to let me in
Mr. Cab Driver don't you like my kind of skin
Mr. Cab Driver you're never gonna win
Mr. Cab Driver won't stop to pick me up
Mr. Cab Driver I might need some help
Mr. Cab Driver only thinks about himself
Mr. Cab Driver
Mr. Cab Driver
Mr. Cab Driver don't like the way I look
He don't like dreads he thinks we're all crooks
Mr. Cab Driver reads too many story books
Mr. Cab Driver pass me up with eyes of fire
Mr. Cab Driver thinks we're all 165'ers
Mr. Cab Driver fuck you I'm a survivor
Let me in
Mr. Cab Driver
Mr. Cab Driver
09 Rosemary (05:28)
Little Mary was five years old
Her parents left her, she was out in the cold
Alone to live and find her way
In this great world of heartache and pain
Eyes of brown, matted locks of gold
Her flowered dress is tattered and soiled
Tear stained cheeks, her feet cold and bare
Who could have left a child so rare
Rosemary your day will come
He loved you so He gave His only son
Keep the faith in your soul
Stay down on your knees
I'm beggin you please
Hold onto the beads at your heart
A burning heart and tired eyes
Howling winds for lullabys
No one there to soothe her fright
Nowhere to turn but the inward light
Because life is for believing
That your heart can turn to gold
All you need is Christ to receive it
There's eternal life for every soul
Rosemary your day will come
He loved you so He gave His only son
Keep the faith in your soul
Stay down on your knees
I'm begging you please
Hold onto the beads at your heart
He loves you He needs you He wants you
So don't let Him down
12 Empty Hands (04:43)
He rode in town on a white horse
With nothing in his hands
He came to gather his people
And take them to his promised land
When he came he knew there would be bloodshed
But still no violence made his places
He came to fight in a battle
With no guns or money
But with his empty hands
With his empty hands
They said hey boy what you lookin' at
As they eyed his dreaded mane
He said my father has sent me
I've come back to reclaim
The children whose hearts
Were so whole and pure
Now it's you who'll die in pain
So they lynched the man
Who fooled the word
And all the children gathered
In his empty hands
In his empty hands
13 Flower Child (02:56)
Dressed in purple velvets
With a flower in her hair
Feel her gentle spirit
As the champa fills the air
She wears rubys on her fingers
Tiny bells upon her toes
She's the finest thing
I've ever seen
Love that ring inside her nose
Flower Child yeah
Flower Child yeah
She's a psychedelic princess
On a magic carpet ride
And where her trip will carry you
Is somewhere you can't find
She's on a plane of higher consciousness
Meditation is the key
She's got her shit together
Cause her soul and mind are free
Flower Child yeah
Flower Child yeah
She's a child of Martin Luther
As a freedom fighter she
Speaks of liberation on the land
And on the sea
Her eyes are made of sunshine
And her lips are jelly sweet
Flower Child yeah
Flower Child yeah
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