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All rights reserved.Baptism - Kravitz, Lenny (CD 2004)
New hair, old success...Review created: 05/18/04
by: domenny -- a member of Epinions
Pros:
Great voice, great rhythm, passionate music.
Great voice, great rhythm, passionate music.
Cons:
Too many ballads in the end, Jay-z.
Too many ballads in the end, Jay-z.
Baptism has been long-awaited by Lenny fans, after the lackluster "Lenny", which came out in late 2001.
Let's say it's not a masterpiece or a music milestone, but it's a damn great, fresh and enjoyable album, far better than the last one, "Lenny".
The album opens with Minister of rock n roll, a song which combines different influences, resulting in a very powerful track, a real anthem, with a moog entwined with bass and drums to create a solid and sensual groove like those only Kravitz can create; the end of the song is something really special, with 2 vocal levels and a synthesizer played with ascending held notes.
Then comes I don't wanna be a star which I consider one the highlights of the album. The chorus is very simple and he sings with a bit of out-of-tune voice; the whole song has a monotonous drum-line which wants to enlighten the struggle between loneliness and superstardom: the melody of the verses is something incredible as well as the Bowie-like bridge and the solo, which is played by Lenny, as almost all of them in the album. This is the best solo on the album.
Lady is the third track and is dedicated to Nicole Kidman. The song is simple, with an old-school rhythm. Nothing new, but the way Lenny combines the melody, the rhythmical and the harmonic patterns makes the song one of the best of the album. The song ends up on a sad mood, but I think
it's obvious, thinking about Lenny's relationship with Kidman.
Calling all angels slows everything down. It's a piano ballad, which is not bad, but a bit too long...Lenny, don't bore us!! We know you can play well, so don't make songs longer only to show your skill!! Anyway, it s a good track, especially the "day by day, through the years" part.
California is another highlight: Lenny talks about his arrival in California as a kid; the song is about 2:30 minutes long and it's extremely fresh and good, very good to be listened in the car or on the beach, with a 70s-like chorus which add a West-Coast feeling to the whole thing.
The first track I was disappointed with was Sistamamalover. I found it boring, moaning, lacking
inspiration. It seems like he took a bad track out of the FUNK album he was working on and threw it here. Nevertheless, the solo is good.
Then the first single, Where are we runnin'?. Just imagine that sung by AC/DC singer!!!! It would be amazing. Lenny is faithful to his rock trademarks and this song shows them all: heavy guitar, power chords, a catchy chorus, a great solo, up-tempo beat: a very good track, with a rockabilly piano in the end of the song , played by Henry Hirsch, his sound engineer and friend from the
first album, Let love rule.
The eigth track is a ballad, Baptized. The only word to describe it is PERFECTION. Nice harmonic and rhythmical solutions in the first part, and a very touching chorus; the bridge has interesting rhythmical patterns which pave the way for a very easy but extremely fitting solo, which opens the way for a gospel chorus and an awesome string arrangement: the ULTIMATE Lenny's ballad, maybe. It ends up with Lenny singing out-of-tune and playing the acoustic guitar alone. It moved a friend of mine to tears, really.
The song Flash begins with the Are you gonna go my way drum pattern. Flash was the title of the album before Lenny changed it to Baptism. The song is really fresh with a Craig Ross solo, but what is important are the lyrics, in which Lenny portrays a rockstar who puts on a mask in order to please fans and make money, since this chance could not last forever. Great sax solo at the
beginning by the great David Sanborn!!!
The cd ends with 3 sad ballads: in 2 of them he uses a very low voice(and there is the great sax of David Sanborn), while the other is just his voice and an acoustic guitar: this is written by him and Lionel Richie and Lenny sings a lot like him.
The worst song is Storm...and with Jay-z it doesn't get any better....this song should not exist at all.
Anyway on the Japanese version there is a bonus track Uncharted Terrain, which is way better than Storm. Lenny sings about his father on a reggae beat. Wonderful song.
However, if you are Lenny fans, you'll find it great, if you're not, buy it the same, you'll like
it a lot and find it very good!!!!!
Let's say it's not a masterpiece or a music milestone, but it's a damn great, fresh and enjoyable album, far better than the last one, "Lenny".
The album opens with Minister of rock n roll, a song which combines different influences, resulting in a very powerful track, a real anthem, with a moog entwined with bass and drums to create a solid and sensual groove like those only Kravitz can create; the end of the song is something really special, with 2 vocal levels and a synthesizer played with ascending held notes.
Then comes I don't wanna be a star which I consider one the highlights of the album. The chorus is very simple and he sings with a bit of out-of-tune voice; the whole song has a monotonous drum-line which wants to enlighten the struggle between loneliness and superstardom: the melody of the verses is something incredible as well as the Bowie-like bridge and the solo, which is played by Lenny, as almost all of them in the album. This is the best solo on the album.
Lady is the third track and is dedicated to Nicole Kidman. The song is simple, with an old-school rhythm. Nothing new, but the way Lenny combines the melody, the rhythmical and the harmonic patterns makes the song one of the best of the album. The song ends up on a sad mood, but I think
it's obvious, thinking about Lenny's relationship with Kidman.
Calling all angels slows everything down. It's a piano ballad, which is not bad, but a bit too long...Lenny, don't bore us!! We know you can play well, so don't make songs longer only to show your skill!! Anyway, it s a good track, especially the "day by day, through the years" part.
California is another highlight: Lenny talks about his arrival in California as a kid; the song is about 2:30 minutes long and it's extremely fresh and good, very good to be listened in the car or on the beach, with a 70s-like chorus which add a West-Coast feeling to the whole thing.
The first track I was disappointed with was Sistamamalover. I found it boring, moaning, lacking
inspiration. It seems like he took a bad track out of the FUNK album he was working on and threw it here. Nevertheless, the solo is good.
Then the first single, Where are we runnin'?. Just imagine that sung by AC/DC singer!!!! It would be amazing. Lenny is faithful to his rock trademarks and this song shows them all: heavy guitar, power chords, a catchy chorus, a great solo, up-tempo beat: a very good track, with a rockabilly piano in the end of the song , played by Henry Hirsch, his sound engineer and friend from the
first album, Let love rule.
The eigth track is a ballad, Baptized. The only word to describe it is PERFECTION. Nice harmonic and rhythmical solutions in the first part, and a very touching chorus; the bridge has interesting rhythmical patterns which pave the way for a very easy but extremely fitting solo, which opens the way for a gospel chorus and an awesome string arrangement: the ULTIMATE Lenny's ballad, maybe. It ends up with Lenny singing out-of-tune and playing the acoustic guitar alone. It moved a friend of mine to tears, really.
The song Flash begins with the Are you gonna go my way drum pattern. Flash was the title of the album before Lenny changed it to Baptism. The song is really fresh with a Craig Ross solo, but what is important are the lyrics, in which Lenny portrays a rockstar who puts on a mask in order to please fans and make money, since this chance could not last forever. Great sax solo at the
beginning by the great David Sanborn!!!
The cd ends with 3 sad ballads: in 2 of them he uses a very low voice(and there is the great sax of David Sanborn), while the other is just his voice and an acoustic guitar: this is written by him and Lionel Richie and Lenny sings a lot like him.
The worst song is Storm...and with Jay-z it doesn't get any better....this song should not exist at all.
Anyway on the Japanese version there is a bonus track Uncharted Terrain, which is way better than Storm. Lenny sings about his father on a reggae beat. Wonderful song.
However, if you are Lenny fans, you'll find it great, if you're not, buy it the same, you'll like
it a lot and find it very good!!!!!
Review ID: 10000000000646365
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