ALBUM REVIEW

Lenny Kravitz - It's Time For A Love Revolution
Released February 5, 2008 / Virgin Records


I used to be a Lenny Kravitz fan. And I mean old-school. As in the long-dreads, red bell-bottom jump suit and records recorded all analog when everybody was running headlong into the digital medium.

Then, Lenny got hip.

I was excited at first. He was getting radio play. Folks were realizing that he was cool, which I liked. But then, he lost me. His stuff got too loopy and synthed-out. I like loops and synths, just not from a dude who had always reminded of some long-lost funk/rock hero.

Well, the old Lenny is back. And while it remains to be seen if Lenny's return to raw rock and roll will be met with joy or sadness, for me it's been an amazing thing to listen to. Here's what I think of the record.

PRODUCTION QUALITY
This doesn't sound glossy. It doesn't auto-tuned or chopped up or even digital for that matter. I'm sure that it's, in fact, all of those things, but it doesn't sound like it. Drums sound like drums normally sound - they're even a little flat in places, sounding much more real and organic that something that's compressed and effected like crazy. Gear heads don't like it, but it sounds like a band-in-a-room and I dig that. Lenny's vocals are nice and warm, but still human. There's even a few lines that probably could have been done again or better, but the record keeps these lines because they actually DO sound more emotive, more honest.



GROOVE
This is what Lenny lost, in my opinion, when he "American Woman" and all that stuff started coming out. Love Revolution has that amazing quality that all good groove records have - that underneath the instrumentation, there's the thing that you can't really hear, can't really count, but you can FEEL. There's so much space on this record, so much groove...there's really no other word for it. My guess is that's the product of the brilliant interplay of seasoned musicians - again, I'm not sure if it's Lenny and crew all in the studio at once, but it sure sounds like it. (In fact, if they locked into groove like this while seperately tracking, I might just give up music.)



SONGWRITING
Lenny Kravitz is a hippie. We all know this. If you ever listend to Lenny's older stuff, you know he's never been one to shy away from spiritual themes. He sings quite a bit about God and love and grace, but I think this most recent work is his most spiritual to date. It's not a Christian record, and I know Lenny's theology is pretty weird, but I do think it's important to listen to records that are able to sneak in references to Christian salvation and God's character through the mainstream. I don't care how big a star he is...somebody had to greenlight this record at some point. I think believers ought to seek this stuff out - why did this record make it and other's don't? What do songs like this really do to the culture?



If you'd like to hear some stellar, old-school songwriting recorded in a very brave and honest way and learn some groove chops while you're at it, Love Revolution is the record for you.