Music Review: Lenny Kravitz: It Is Time For A Love Revolution
Published February 13, 2008
Speaking of faith, Kravitz is open about his beliefs, invoking the name of the Savior on two other tracks. In the mid-tempo "If You Want It," he sings: "There's a choice that you need to make/One is ore and one is clay/So drop your chains and take up your cross/And let Jesus make your way." He continues his unambiguous appeal in "A New Door": "Just ask for what you need in Jesus name/Don't be ashamed."
Reviewing Baptism (2004) for Christian Music Today, Russ Breimeier noted that although Kravitz declared his faith and acknowledged its influence on his music, these beliefs are "blurred by mixed messages... sometimes alluding to the sexual." Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective), It Is Time For A Love Revolution has no overtly sexual allusions that I picked up.
"Good Morning" is a lyrically superficial yet pleasant enough Beatles-style track, and the grooving "Love Love Love" is about rejecting the trappings of fame. Kravitz slides into a soulful ballad, "I'll Be Waiting," and I can't help but wonder if he's singing it for ex-wife Bonet: "You are the only one I've ever known/That makes me feel this way/Girl you are my own/I want to be with you until we're old/You've got the love you need right in front of you please come home."
Kravitz makes his honorable intentions known in the funky "Will You Marry Me" (you can almost hear James Brown shouting in the background), followed by the melancholic "I Love The Rain." Equally gloomy is "A Long And Sad Goodbye," a song about the rift between Kravitz and his late father, who cheated on his mother and abandoned him. The disco-style "Dancin' Till Dawn" is passable, while "This Moment Is All There Is," a hypnotically smooth and sensuous tune, stands above the rest.
In true 60s-revolutionary fashion, Kravitz closes the album with two anti-war songs, "Back In Vietnam" and "I Want To Go Home." Making peace, not war, is a wonderful concept, but only if the other side is willing to make peace, too.
It Is Time For A Love Revolution doesn't break new ground, but it will satisfy longtime fans and win over a few new ones, especially with stand-outs like "I'll Be Waiting" and "This Moment Is All There Is."
La Shawn Barber is a Washington, DC-based freelance writer, blogger, and blog consultant. She writes about faith, culture, digital technology and, occasionally, how these three things intersect. Her work has appeared in the Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Christian Music Today, Today's Christian Woman, and other publications.
Contact La Shawn at lashawn@lashawnbarber.com, and visit her at MySpace. Follow her on Twitter!
- Music Review: Lenny Kravitz: It Is Time For A Love Revolution
- Published: February 13, 2008
- Type: Review
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Adult Alternative, Music: R&B, Music: Rock
- Writer: La Shawn Barber
- La Shawn Barber's BC Writer page
- La Shawn Barber's personal site
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Kravitz's infusion of his spirituality in to his recent albums is becoming more and more commonplace in "secular" music in general. We're seeing more "crossover" bands that deliver their message in both the religious and the pop-culture worlds. See the Goo Goo Dolls - "Better Days" and Switchfoot (any of theirs) and many many more. This has been going on forever, really, but recently has started to pick up more strongly, as artists are discovering that it's cool to be spiritual in their music. I think it speaks to an underlying need in our culture, a need to get back to the heart of what music is all about -- expression of your innermost self, your faith, and your beliefs. Without that, music is empty and the audience is lost.
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