Lenny Kravitz - Classic or Dud?

Couldn't have put it any better myself. So I won't.

Nowadays, blech, as dudly as they get. A male model with a guitar. "I want to get away...I want to flyyyyy awaaaay...yeah, yeah". Ugh.

Not to mention his Guess Who thesis was his least imaginative yet.

And he's got the most uninspired "yeahs" ever. In almost every song.

I do like the line "we've got to love/and rub a dub."

What are you smonking, Anthony? It must be some powerful stuff.

Mainly the guitars, drums and the structure. Not the yeah yeah yeeeahhhs or the vocals is what made me think of the Pixies.

Album covers don't get much more punchable. Dud.

He's not a dud, he's a nobhead.
Yeah but I still resent that he got a knobshine from Lisa Bonet.

That is, indeed, a massive bone(r) of contention.

Do we hate him 'cos we're jealous?

Marc Bolan was a male model with a guitar!

Otherwise, DUD

anyway, lenny is an unashamed rock xerox machine, but that aside, when his lyrics arent shit or full of endless stupid questions (where are we running? etc etc), i find him to be a really great if retro minded producer (the led zep-style sounds he got on circus and other albums was fantastic), and his beatles/70s lennon fetish can be quite fun too. i also think he is a good songwriter when he wants to be (are you gonna go my way, it aint over...., half a dozen others) and has great hooks and riffs. i mean, if the strokes can ape the sound of late 70s/early 80s new york for two albums in a row, im not sure why its so bad if leonard wants to pretend hes locked into a 70s vortex.

this song is the shit imo

Even if I have no real use for him, I've never understood the hatred he inspires.

He's LOUD, he's BORING, and he clearly thinks he's some sort of genre-savior. His excursions outside of mummy-rock are actually not bad ("Black Velveteen" and "Believe" are both nice), and frankly I don't think anybody would really care if "Fly Away" and "American Woman" hadn't been played at least once per hour on every radio station for like six months each. Given how painfully repetitious "Fly Away" is on even one listen, hearing it seriously hundreds of times just kills you.

OK, I just tried to look up "Believe" on YouTube, and apparently, just to be an asshole (or to Google-proof his good songs), he's put out a single called "Believe In Me."

Coming soon: "Are You Gonna Go Away" and "Let Love (Rule)."

Even if I have no real use for him, I've never understood the hatred he inspires.

oh i understand it very well -- his whole "the 70s is where it was AT" schtick is just about all he has going for him. then there's his prissy insistence on "authenticity" to said schtick -- which may be forgivable if his talent wasn't so mediocre.

i would have said RESOUNDING DUD until i saw this video and now i gotta say that i have felt a positive feeling for lenny kravitz. sure, he's showboating, but so is that awesome nerd guitar kid.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/lenny-kravitz-crashes-church-choir

On the one hand, his music is airbrushed soft rock. On the other hand (as that video proves) at least he's not a dick like Axl Rose.

I suppose that from Kravitz's point of view, that it's a shame that the Larkin Law doesn't work in reverse.

He should be locked in a room and forced to listen to his version of "American Woman" until he screams for mercy and avows to give up rock. Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary should preside.

his music is abysmal! i agree, and i never thought i could feel one single positive feeling for lenny kravitz, but...i watched that video and i did. i caught a small positive feeling. by no means do i want to listen to his music, but he seems alright as a human being.

Well he only has two decent riffs: 'Fly Away', which is a Curtis Mayfield grab, and 'Are You Gonna Go My Way', which is sort of Hendrix by way of Stones/Zep.

The fact that 'Fly Away' was used for a car commercial while it was still near the top of the UK singles makes me dislike him a tiny bit more.

Also I just remembered some old MTV advert from years ago:

(Interior: a guitar store. LENNY KRAVITZ walks in the door and goes over to the counter, behind which is the STORE CLERK)

KRAVITZ: "I want a <insert long list of guitars related stuff here>."

CLERK (incredulously): "That's a lot of stuff!"

KRAVITZ: "Well I'm gonna need it!"

CLERK (still incredulously): "Why?"

KRAVITZ (looking directly at the camera): "I'm going on tour!"

he is so embarrassing

As he played in the background at Trader Joe's last night, I thought to myself that his music seems to exist primarily to be licensed.

Massive, massive lols @ how awful "Boongie Drop" is. Why Hov, why? Now I want to hear how awful the one with Drake is.

feel like lenny has been lying awake at night lately, wondering why jagger didn't invite him to join superheavy.

lol

Ok, yeah, "Sunflower" with Drake is awful too.

"Again" is underrated. You can appreciate his music, if you want, with the same distance that allowed people to finally appreciate Journey et al. ten years ago.

I liked his debut and "It Ain't Over Til It's Over."

Agreed about "Again," that one worms itself into the brain quickly (though I think it wears out its welcome - dude REALLY loved to repeat a chorus ad infinitum). Heard "It Ain't Over Til It's Over" in the drug store the other day and was totally tapping my foot and getting into it, sort of not believing it was a Lenny Kravitz song even though the voice was unmistakable. Good song.

I think all artists, should they happen across street performances of their music, should handle it like Lenny did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBgZNINN6MU

lenny does a mean elvis costello voice!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAHlQ77lm10
(might want to skip to 1:30 to hear it)

When Lenny Kravitz asks "Are you gonna go my way?" it's a dilemma to respond: yes, in the long term - the grave - but not via the same path

— Robyn Hitchcock (@RobynHitchcock) October 24, 2017

YEAAAHHHH YEAHHHHHHHH

I don't know where I saw this, and I might have concocted it from something different in which case sorry -- but it's my favorite thing to do with Lenny Kravitz. Apparently Nirvana were recording Nevermind in the same studio as Kravitz. One night the three of them were drinking and commandeered the studio intercom, and Krist broadcast throughout the studio, "Will Lenny Kravitz please report to the principal's office, I repeat: Lenny Kravitz to the principal's office."

That has always cracked me up.

I don't like the song much but I'm endlessly amused by this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t-iFr9q1I8

oh I missed this comment

Someone recently confirmed for me that Lenny Kravitz heard this and his reply was "What the hell"

total shit

I agree. One of my most hated artists (and I don’t hate many).

Interesting that he inspires so much hate on here. The first three albums are good to great IMO. Just heard 'Sister' for the first time in ages and dang.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktc4oc5eDxU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--rBP8_QuwI
'American Woman' vs 'Fly Away'

His 2014 album Strut had a really good guitar sound. I liked this song a lot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5_pstB8pGM

xpost The dedication to the bit has restored some of my faith in ... (sigh) I dunno, youtube?

I listened to his new album and had an epiphany (or maybe an aneurysm). So I wrote this piece for Stereogum: Lenny Kravitz Is Good, Actually