At 43, Lenny Kravitz is more self-reflective than usual.

He recently spoke to Maxim magazine about his newly declared sexual abstinence, "a promise I made until I get married." Sex-free for the past three years, Kravitz wants more than just a physical connection. "I'm looking at the big picture."

Relishing the satisfaction that can result from practicing self-discipline in a gratify-me-now culture, the four-time Grammy winner told Australia's Herald Sun that abstinence "frees you from a lot of things and it also takes a lot of power away from people who are trying to seduce you... Ultimately I'm trying to do the right thing, to honour myself and the other person and honour God."

From the moment I heard "Let Love Rule," the first single from his 1989 debut album of the same name, I was a Kravitz fan. At the time, he was married to "The Cosby Show" actress Lisa Bonet, whom I also adored. A cool mix of rock and psychedelic soul, Let Love Rule gave me a new appreciation for the 1960s and 1970s music that influenced Kravitz.

Son of the late Roxie Roker of The Jeffersons fame and the late Sy Kravitz, a television producer, Kravitz followed up his debut with Mama Said. By this time, he and Bonet were history. The single "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" sounded like a touching lament over the break-up. Kravitz would go on to make six more albums (excluding a greatest hits collection) and score such hits as "Fly Away," a rousing remake of The Guess Who's "American Woman," and "Again."

Kravitz's eighth studio album, It Is Time For A Love Revolution, is a 14-track manifesto of love's power to rule over lust and material things. Released by Virgin Records last week, the album is his first in four years. Fans will find the drum-heavy style familiar. Often described by critics as a "retro rocker," Kravitz deftly handles lead and background vocals and mostly all the instruments, except for strings and horns on a few tracks.

The mantra-like "Love Revolution" is standard, anthemic fare you can't help bouncing to. What it lacks in lyrical creativity, it compensates with an appealingly repetitive guitar riff. Kravitz brings more of the same in "Bring It On," a guitar-heavy rock-out that combines rebellion and religion: "I'm gonna walk by faith/Gonna raise my sword/I'm gonna fight my battle/Gonna praise my Lord."