Through the course of history there have been a number of historically important revolutions. Some of which include: the English Revolution of 1642, the American Revolution of 1774, the French Revolution of 1789, the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, and the Love Revolution of 2008.
If you’re not familiar with that last one don’t feel bad, technically it hasn’t happened yet, but if aging rocker Lenny Kravitz has anything to say about the matter it won’t be long before we’re all in the midst of it. Or so this is what the rally cry of his new album, It Is Time for a Love Revolution suggests. After spending some quality time with Revolution, I’m not entirely convinced that it’s the type of record that’s going to aid the beginning of any world altering social movement, but I am persuaded into thinking that this album may be one of the best of Lenny’s career.
Following up his last two albums that were at times, essentially overproduced pop; Revolution strays away to a much grittier sound. It’s a sound that suits Kravitz better in a number of ways. Specifically the new album doesn’t, in the least bit, diminish the power of Lenny’s signature vocals and only increases the effectiveness of his often overlooked instrumental abilities. One of the first things that I noticed about this album was the infectious groove that hung over each song like a thick Los Angeles smog. Just about every track on the disc is contagiously danceable, from the hip shaking title track to the straight funk of “Will You Marry Me.” He even takes a road trip to Motown with the Marvin Gaye inspired “This Moment Is All There Is.”
One of the aspects of Kravitz’s albums that people have come to love is how well he can write a good slow down song. Luckily for us, on Revolution he offers a few of his best ever as the back to back songs “I Love the Rain” and “A Long and Sad Goodbye” exemplify. The former is led by a hypnotizing blues riff and the latter is strung together by a beautiful piano track and a poignant message about being abandoned by one’s father.
It’s no secret to those familiar with Kravitz’s music that writing lyrics is not the strongest part of his game. At times his poor song writing, which consists of little more than repetitive choruses and forced rhyming, has been the difference between Lenny releasing a good rock album compared to a great rock album. Revolution does improve upon a lot of his previous work, it’s far less repetitive than say his best selling disc 5. But finding depth in many of the songs here is still a pretty hard task. Of course the main theme lyrically on the album is pretty easy to gather, love; but the majority of the album talks more of his love for the Almighty than of a significant other. Though it may seem to some that there’s a lot of promise in lyrics that speak of a higher power, sadly his words remain about as straight forward as high school poetry. Even when Lenny branches out and takes on the challenging subject of politics with “Back in Vietnam,” he still does little more than fall back into his old ways of repetition and forced rhyming.
“We’re going to fly over the world inside our giant eagle / We do just what we want and don’t care if it’s illegal / We’re on a horse that is high / We think we’re so damn regal.”
Despite a few minute problems, It Is Time for a Love Revolution may be Lenny Kravitz’s magnum opus. It’s a funk filled, admirably orchestrated work of art that gives off a groovy vibe that lasts from track one to track 14. If Kravitz is leading the new revolution, then I’m happily on board.
"It Is Time For a Love Revolution" is on sale February 5, 2008 from Virgin.
