Artist: Kravitz, Lenny
Label: Virgin Records
Release: 1989
Duration: 55.27
Rating: 4/5
With the ’90s right around the corner, a new attraction lit up the overcrowded rock scene: a young guy from New York named Lenny Kravitz. Let Love Rule is the debut from this prolific musician, who steers wide of the predictable, trend-chasing leanings of his time, both in style and in substance. Quite the opposite: the album dips deep into the musical treasure chest of long-gone days, and in the hands of a versatile multi-instrumentalist, all the glitz and glory of the past are born anew, freshened up with an inventive approach that finally managed to give rock & roll its natural colors back.
With his debut, Lenny Kravitz didn’t cause any tectonic shifts in the world of music, which of course was never the album’s main goal anyway. Just under an hour of spinning Let Love Rule finds him firmly anchored deep in the soil of music’s past, and he only escapes its clutches here and there. Kravitz, obsessed with a rough sonic grain akin to the atmosphere of the old-school rock tradition, constantly hops from one genre landscape to another. At first he’s at home in heavy rock, a moment later he suddenly starts flirting with sharp funk turns, and Let Love Rule doesn’t let us miss out on a collection of colorful sonic pictures of late-’60s psychedelia either. On top of that, with this debut Kravitz also makes his name as a forger of infectious tunes that cleverly twist mainstream-minded listeners around his little finger. The genre and mood diversity under the baton of a prolific, visionary artist is thus a guarantee of the album’s organic feel. Besides, Kravitz radiates serious charisma and determination vocally, and he certainly doesn’t hold back when it comes to cashing in on his sex-appeal predispositions.
Armed with such a deadly arsenal, Let Love Rule rarely veers off the course of first-rate musical bliss. Sittin’ On Top Of The World warns us right from the start that we’re dealing with an exceptionally vital, sinewy sonic monster, and at moments it feels like a complete reincarnation of some Stevie Wonder classic. Lenny adds a healthy dose of harder rock flavor on Freedom Train, while My Precious Love treats us to an unexpected but all the more welcome plunge into soul waters! I Built This Garden For Us reveals that Lenny spent quite some time in the past chewing intensely on the discographic highlights of John Lennon. The quite differently minded Fear builds on a funk foundation with a seductively dressed-up alternative edge, a vibe that Be and Blues For Sister Someone are also jostling to serve in the first row. Kravitz really doesn’t skimp on the breadth of musical styles here, enriching the range of his own expressive room to maneuver at the same time. Does Anybody Out There Even Care and the charming, acoustic-led ditty Rosemary are united by an almost hippie-minded preacher’s approach, which also mirrors its outlines in by far the most recognizable motif of the title track, Let Love Rule. And of course, we mustn’t forget Mr. Cab Driver. Already a pretty well-evergreen number today, drawing on the beat energy of the ’60s crossed with a pinch of basic rock & roll rules from a slightly older vintage, it puts the cherry on top of a sensational musical document, one that probably defines the meaning of heartfelt music-making better than any other Kravitz album.
Given that a full 20 years have passed since this record, now sliced up every which way, first came out, a word or two about the reissue is in order, as it was deliberately conceived to mark the big anniversary. A nicely packaged pair of discs, which besides rare recordings collected during the making of the album also offers a very welcome series of live snapshots of Lenny’s shows in Boston and Amsterdam, is a treat made to suit the taste of the true-blue music enthusiast who, in the age of digitized music retail, still stubbornly gives in to the charms of owning legit sound carriers. Equipped with colorful memorabilia and an extensive booklet that, besides a short sketch of the album’s making, serves up an in-depth study of Kravitz’s musical journey, the deluxe treatment of the musician’s debut offers more than enough handy goodies to satisfy even the most demanding musical taste.
Line-up
Lenny Kravitz: vocals, guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, percussion
Alfred Brown: viola
Karl Denson: saxophone
Henry Hirsch: piano, organ
Adam Widoff: guitar
Eric Delente: violin
Nancy Ives: cello
Lee Jaffe: harmonica
Production
Lenny Kravitz
Tracklist
1. Sittin’ On Top of the World
2. Let Love Rule
3. Freedom Train
4. My Precious Love
5. I Build This Garden For Us
6. Fear
7. Does Anybody Out There Even Care
8. Mr. Cab Driver
9. Rosemary
10. Be
11. Blues for Sister Someone
12. Empty Hands
13. Flower Child
