Let Love Rule

kinda boring but acceptable. Sounds modern.

Not horrible, but not something I would normally chose to listen to.

Lenny K Rocks. His guitar work is absolutely filthy! Title track is great. Ultimately there's a few good moments but a lot of filler, too. ⭐⭐⭐

well, it gets some points for being raw in a way not much 80s rock wanted to be. lots of r&b in this one too. though i don't think it achieves its ambitions, there's a lot of clunky songwriting on this album. not terrible by any means but it barely scrapes by with 2 stars. deserves to be one of the 1001? you can skip this one

Couldn’t get into this one. It has elements of things I like but the songs feel too long and nothing really stands out to me.

Had er meer van verwacht

Great album good rock in a time where it was dying down.

I just don't care. This isn't a an album I'll revisit - far too many other good albums are out there. I can't believe this made the cut.

We'll go with a 3.4. I respect the versatility of the songs and that is funkier than what I'd expect from him. He's always been someone that I don't quite get the hype about but this was a cool listen. Not great but good!

It was okay. A little screechy. 5/10

Kinda fun and groovy but sometimes Lenny does some pretty irritating things with his voice.

Pretty good!

This shit was way too long for it being so mediocre, holy shit. You can definitely hear the musical influences for this one. Lyrically, it feels pretty simple for 1989. Overall, I did not enjoy this one.

I think there are some good songs here. "I Build this Garden for Us" is a great song, and "Let Love Rule" is a good song. However, there are some really bad songs such as "Rosemary" and several that are just middle of the road. I personally think his second album, "Mama Said" is much better. I'd give this album 2.5 stars. I feel like I have to give it 3 stars on this scale, because there are some good ideas and some well done parts, and it isn't offensive or pandering just to sell a record, really.

Not bad I feel like he's a prince clone and not quite as good and also at times I could hear a little of Elvis Costello in some tracks , its pretty funky and accomplished just didn't like it as much as some of his contemporaries

Totally retro 60s when it came out in the 80s. It's kinda strange to think about that now. It has some strong moments on "side A" but kinda fizzles out on the second half. Decent.

Some of the tracks were almost good. Some of them.

As a defender of the iconic sound of the 90s, this was alright. He’s definitely saying something sometimes, and other times he’s going BIBIBIBIBIP-BEH-BEH. Plus points for being one year early to the 90s

It’s a weird album in the sense that it sounds like each track was mixed and mastered by a different person, levels are a bit all over the place. Some good rock and vocals nonetheless.

Bored throughout

Expecting something a bit rockier, didn't happen. Nothing offensive here.

Had its moments

It was OK I guess. No hits though?

Pretty decent. None of the hits that we're used to. Some of the noodling is also not present but he is still somehow consistent

Decent!

Funky and sexy. I could listen to Lenny Kravitz every day.

Pffft. I got bored of listening to this after the third song.

High production quality. Seems to be lacking a bit of edge though, a bit too poppy for my taste

I only know Lenny via his hit Are You Gonna Go My Way which is a real banger. So I was excited to give this a go. My excitement soon turned to depression. This was awful and it just got worse as it went on.

Lenny lets the funk flow, and when he shreds the guitar it's transcendent. Those moments don't come along too often in a sea of samey-sounding love-vibe music. But it's still a good listen and "Let Love Rule" well, rules.

Not terrible but not good

This is just bad. He actualy cant sing

Alle låtene høres ut som uferdige demoer. Kjip blanding av Prince og The Beatles.

Bedre enn fryktet. Har fortsatt en eim av blues, nachspiel og 80-tallet som gjør at det meste høres veldig generisk ut.

This is one of those albums/artists where it's competent, enjoyable music and I don't think I would ever go out of my way to listen to it on my own.

Really good album. Well curated to his strengths. Not versatile or life changing, but memorable and solid. 4-

It's like being catcalled by the SNL band at a hastily organized Hendrix tribute.

Technically, it’s good, with strong performances and production and songs that are a cut above the average mediocre Lenny Kravitz fare. But as with all of his work, it’s just retro retreads, heavily indebted in this case to Stevie Wonder and the SNL house band, with nothing particularly new or novel to add to the mix, and vapid lyrics about judgmental cab drivers and hippie chicks who get his motor running.

I always get this record confused with the debut from Terence Trent D'arby, which is from 2 years before and also on the list. Both have a nice looking singer, one memorable single, and so much filler beyond that one single you never needed to hear again.

For as long as I have been listening to him, I've always felt like he is overrated. Can certainly wail and surround himself with the best, but his songs never hook me in. For someone as beloved as him, he sure misses the mark with me.

Most of the tracks on this record are hit or miss. His vocal technique either helps or destroys the track, depending on which it is. Favourite Track(s): I Build This Garden For Us, Be, Let Love Rule Least Favourite Track(s): Freedom Train, Mr. Cab Driver

wait, cinna from the hunger games was a singer??? some babies were probably conceived to this one or two of these songs. straight up bonin music dawg yet the lyrics can be really hard hitting and takes you out. FEAR, Does Anybody Out There Even Care

We have this beautiful man to thank for creating Zoe. Beyond that, this album fuckin rocks. I love the rock mixed with horns. Makes me wanna listen to his whole discography. favs include Let love rule, my precious love & freedom train

Unnotable. As another reviewer of another album opined, if the songs are easy to work to, that usually means that they may receive a lower score. This album seemed a bit unnotable to me. I'd never seek it out. I did not like the song "Mr. Cab Driver" because it sounded like a montage song they'd use in a children's cartoon when a character begins work as a cab driver or driving his friends on his bike. I skipped that song and I think it's been the first song I skipped before finishing.

I think this album is incredibly average. He’s a very talented musician, but there a very few musical highlights here.

Not for me. Not sure why this made the list. 2/5.

It’s fun to listen to Lenny Kravitz before the days when he became crystallized into the pop star I grew up with. His voice is as recognizable as ever (and what a vocal performance this is) but the album is a rootsy depiction of the styles that went into his sound — the primordial soup of Len. Nascent neo-soul, Fab Four funk, Paisley Park power ballads, Wonder-ous social ballads, Springsteen Steam Train boogie... Also, the audacity of putting that 6-minute title track second on the list. It’s like having Ted Williams bat at the top of the order. Wow.

This felt like an album that fans of Prince would really enjoy. I'm not a big Prince fan so I didn't catch on. It's like when you enjoy a meal at a 5 star restaurant and then when faced with the same meal at the 4 star restaurant you find it's just not for you. Close, but no cigar.

Lenny! Not my favourite album of his but any album is a good shout! I haven’t listened to this album many times but I enjoyed it. You can feel he’s on the cusp of greatness with this one.

Been pretty out of the loop when it comes to Kravitz. Talented guitarist. Best Tracks: Let Love Rule, I Build This Garden For Us, Rating: 7/10

Sort of a jack of all trades Album.

A little raw and unrefined (and more religious than I expected) but the talent here is clear.

Solid.

This was a pretty bad debut album. His music thankfully gets better in future albums imo, but I did not enjoy listening to this one at all

Technically proficient but so try hard that it creates an impulse within me to be mean an unfair in my assessment. The musical equivalent of a punchable face.

Lenny Kravitz is sexy and therefore gets away with a lot.

Not as good as I remember. NOT a party record.

don't mind this as much as many, even if Kravitz is kind of an overbearing vocal presence. the lyrics are a little obvious, but only enough to engage with the likes of Stevie and Marvin, who were beautifully plainspoken writers. does LK pull off that level of songwriting? of course not! even if it's what he aspires to, he's nowhere close. but the playing is good throughout, and he's being derivative of some pretty wonderful stuff, so i can't get too worked up

You old hippie, Lenny! But cool enough to carry it off: Let Love Rule!

Never was a fan of his, not for me.

This is a solid album. His voice didn’t always hit, but I really enjoyed the instrumental solos

Sang 7: Does anybody out there even care? Nei, Mr Krawitz, absolutt ingen bryr seg.

5/10 The funny thing about Lenny Kravitz is that he actually became famous before he ever released a note of music, for eloping with actress Lisa Bonet on her 20th birthday. Two years later, he released this, his debut album. Now I like Lenny Kravitz, but this album is not one that I’ve ever spent too much time with in the past, preferring some of his slightly later work, so it’s interesting to go back and see where he began with fresh ears. I’ve always got time for an artist who not only writes everything, but also performs the vast majority of the instrumental parts themselves, so that puts a tick in the yes column before things have even begun. It’s fair to say that after that little note, things don’t kick off all that well, with the opening track sounding like Lenny is trying to learn all of the vocal tricks in the book, but failing to really pull off any of them. It’s a real clunker of an opener, followed up by the title track, which is pretty flat and bland. Not the most auspicious of starts. Things do improve a little after that, and there’s an interesting range of influences, from jazz to soul, to classic rock. But boy does Lenny over-sing a lot of his performances on this album, making it quite hard to engage with from time to time. The raw ingredients are there, though, and he manages to build some solid grooves, write some cool riffs and, with tracks like Mr Cab Driver, he reins in his vocal performance enough that he actually allows space for the track to grow and develop dynamically, which is a welcome change. I think the contributions of Henry Hirsch on piano and organ typically elevate the tracks he’s involved in, adding a little bit of extra nuance and quality to proceedings. In the moments where Lenny retains a bit more control of his vocal and lets his swagger and charisma take over, things connect a little bit better, and there was enough groove present to at least keep me bobbing my head through most of the record, so it’s not really as bad as the opening couple of tracks suggest. In reality though, this almost feels more like a demo, compared to some of the work that would follow, so I’d in no way call it essential and would recommend those that saw a little bit of something in it to check out an album like Circus of Mama Said instead. Sittin' On Top Of The World - It’s weird that he starts the album sounding like a pretty shoddy busker. When the rest of the instrumentation comes in, it picks up a decent groove. But the singing is all over the shop. It sounds like he’s trying to throw in as many vocal tricks and techniques as he possibly can, but has mastered none of them. It’s quite a basic and uninteresting composition under all the bluster too. Meh. Let Love Rule - Rhythmically, this is quite plodding and flat. The chorus is fairly bland soft pop rock stuff, and I’m really not sure we needed a pretty mundane sax solo that goes on for that long in the middle of the track. The vocal performance is a bit better here, but the song itself is just bland. Just after four minutes in, he finally finds a groove. Too late, Lenny. Freedom Train - This is much more funky straight away. There are some great sounds that give it grit and groove, and the hooks are way more engaging. It doesn’t really do a vast amount in terms of development, but it does enough given its runtime of less than three minutes. The percussion and dirt are great. A significant step in the right direction. My Precious Love - He does have a tendency to over-sing, doesn’t he? It’s a cool slow jam, and the piano work is great. The groove and bass are pretty solid too, but I just feel like he doesn’t have the required subtlety in his vocal performance to sell this, and he goes big way, way too early. If he’d have eased this in and gone big towards the end, this would have been great, because it’s a solid piece of songwriting. The piano solo in the middle is super cool though, fair play to Henry Hirsch. I Build This Garden For Us - Another decent groove. It’s not quite got the swagger of the last couple of tracks, but he also goes at the vocal with a bit more delicacy, so it works better on that front. The song itself is fairly routine, but there are enough instrumental flourishes to give it a bit of interest and texture. After a while, the rhythm guitar starts to drag and feel a bit plodding, which isn’t helped by the six minute runtime. And he goes big too early again. And I’m fed up of this two thirds of the way through. Fear - Another solid and groovy base here, but Lenny’s vocal tuning is all over the place. It sounds like he’s singing in a completely different key in places. The rest of the track is pretty solid, with great use of effects, decent subtlety within the instrumental performances and a nice dynamic push into what is a pretty good chorus. But the vers vocals, I just can’t jive with. Does Anybody Out There Even Care - Another one in which it’s not a bad song, although a bit bland, but he completely over-sings the vibe of the track. Rhythmically, it’s a bit flat and plodding and is just a bit too pop-rock, but he bursts into these moments of overdriven shrieking that don’t work with track. The middle eight is solid though. Mr. Cab Driver - This one’s got a fairly basic bluesy base to it, but it’s got good swing and vibe to it. The laid back smoothness of Lenny’s vocal is about the best it’s been on the record so far. The alternating between single and double tracked vocals between verse and chorus works really well. It’s a decent if unspectacular song, but it’s the best vocal performance on the record, and he holds off his push and flourish until late on, which works so, so much better. Simple but effective guitar solo too. Rosemary - This is a much more effective take on the simple guitar and vocal that Lenny seemed to be going for on the opener. It’s got a bit of nuance and dynamic growth to it. I’m not completely sold on the vocal all the way through, but he doesn’t push it too far or try too many tricks, so it works much better. I like the slow build of parts as the track progresses, and it’s got a good groove and soul to it when the beat kicks in properly about half way through. Not bad. Be - Another slow jam with another cool groove and some super cool bits of organ and piano playing. The bass is a bit too dynamically flat, but the vibe is generally pretty good. There’s a slightly grubby swagger to it, and the descending minor chord structure is well put together. Lenny’s a bit more vocally subtle, but does put in a bit of punch here and there. It’s another pretty decent one. Blues For Sister Someone - The pace of this drags a bit too much, and it’s rhythmically flat and uninteresting. I think I can hear what he’s going for here, and I think it’s something along the lines of Sign ‘o The Times. He does not pull it off. It actually gets worse when the cheesy sax lines come in. This record has been growing on me, but this is rubbish. Empty Hands - And now we get something that’s kind of closer in spirit to the flower-power 60s vibe, but brought into a more late 80s sound. It’s a semi-reimagining of the Christ story. The vocal delivery is actually pretty good here, but the song is pretty bland really, and the album definitely feels like it’s winding down. Flower Child - Now we get a bluesy rock number that closes things off reasonably well. It’s not spectacular, but it’s pretty fun, it’s got a lot going on and it doesn’t fall into any of the traps that the weaker moments of the album did. It’s got a fairly charming vocal delivery and while it feels a bit throwaway, the rhythms and musical choices are hooky enough to get stuck into. I might have thought more of this if I wasn’t more than 50 minutes in to the record.

At least Let Love Rule got a decent remix down the line.

Lenny is... Lenny. I do not like Lenny. Lenny is not the worst musician. In fact, Lenny is probably a very good musician. But I do not like Lenny. Lenny's song "Let love Rule" is probably the only decent song on Lenny's debut album. I'll rate this version of Lenny's tunes a 2. But I will not be adding any songs from Lenny onto the playlist.

That wasn't very good. Far from his best work. Don't know why I had to hear that.

Lenny Kravitz is derivative in an annoying manner. You can draw a straight line from elements of each of these songs to Sgt Pepper era Beatles etc. When I was a kid I remember thinking that 'Are you Gonna Go My Way' was just someone that wanted to try and steal something from Jimi Hendrix. Like even the general flow of his name felt like it was a cheap imitation. I want to give it 1 just because I hate Lenny Kravitz but this album isn't as bad as the things he did later. It's like his future crappiness improves this album.

Lenek Krawiecki

Really not much I need to say, it's been said elsewhere better than I could add. Funky rock. 4 "been listening to this album since its relaease" stars.

Not impressed, and I don't think it merits a place in this list The lyrics are painfully earnest and obvious, like sixth form poetry. Musically,I suppose it's impressive that he played everything himself on his debut album, but it also suggests a bit of egotism. The music's nice enough but not original or interesting, essentially a pastiche of sixties soul and rock n roll.

og lenny is certainly got some funk to it 💥let love rule 💥fear 💥mr. cab driver

Was never a fan of Lenny, couple songs were okay from this album

Not bad, Lenny Kravitz is obviously an amazing guitar player and thats the highlight here. Feels a little all over the place jumping from mood to mood, but a fun listen.

2.5

2.5

He’s one of those guys I can’t stand at all. I’m listening to this record for the first time today. Until now, I only knew the music from the videos back then and maybe a few tracks from the radio. I haven’t listened to radio music in over 30 years. The music is characterized by funk and soul. To me, it all sounds too overblown. Plus, I always think of those terrible videos.

sounds like prince and elvis (costello) mixed together never realized that before hahaha.. albums fun.. lenny just makes me think of this no matter what (and i swear its not the pants ripping) https://youtu.be/8t-iFr9q1I8?is=O3clLhX0mBk2hyD5

Always found Kravitz somewhat inauthentic for some reason and I think this album reminded me why for the most part. "Mr. Cab Driver" goes, though.

Yea I liked this one!

Listening session: september 20th, while baking Listened to before: listened to one song before Thoughts: I quite like Lenny Kravitz but this is definitely not his best album. Lenny could get it though Favourite tracks: Let Love Rule & I Built This Garden For Us

A pretty fun listen here. Not bad at all for a debut album.

A little too long for my liking but still pretty solid overall. It's clear that Kravitz pulls a lot from Hendrix and Prince but I'm just not sure if he pulls from the best parts of them. Still, I have to tip my cap to him for his musicianship alone, especially since he played every single damn instrument on the album.

Diet Prince; half the calories, 1/4th the pleasure

Good but not breaking new ground

I’m vaguely familiar with Lenny Kravitz. He’s not an artist that I gravitate towards though.

Not amazing but not bad either. Some decent tracks and definitely sounds like typical LK. 4

Perfectly serviceable but not worthy of the list

A bit disappointed with the end result. The 80s blue revival was important to the rock and pop lexicon. But dang this was a softball 1960s flower child tomfoolery. I think his later stuff gets better?

The album was pleasant enough but I’m still unclear on who he built the garden for.

Bland, never really feels exciting to listen to. Spend the album's duration waiting for that one special song that really does something different and justifies its inclusion a little more. It never comes, be disappointed But it's not bad, it's just uniformly *decent*. A little fresh, a little unique. It just doesn't carry that spark of "Kravitz sound" into an album with actually good songs

Very good debut

you get what you expect from a Lenny Kravitz Album I'd say. I liked it.

The title track is a banger. I remember when this came out Lenny was seen as a bit of a throwback hippie. In the late 80’s/early 90’s music and culture from the 60’s was back in. The lyrics paint an alternate world (which we failed to build) where everyone loves each other and there is no strife. Obviously naive, but still uplifting. And he just puts so much energy into his music. “I Built this Garden” is a standout, as is “Freedom Train”, a distorted, funky jam filled with energy

My college roommate had the poster from this album on our dorm door. It was ‘91 and I heard it a billion times. And i disliked it a billion times. Now it sounds like nostalgia:. Mr cab driver is very New York Lou reed and fun and the highlight for me.

Lenny’s uninspired re-enactment of his mum and dad’s dusty albums.

I knew the title track but don't think I had listened to this before. I got into Lenny with Are You Gonna Go My Way and only made it back to Mama Said in my listening. I like this. Lenny is cool.

Artiste connu de nom uniquement. Rien d’original dans cet album qui mélange pas mal de styles. Des cuivres et quelques chorus intéressants le rendent plutôt agréable, mais ce n’est pas suffisant pour me donner envie d’y revenir. =>2/5

It’s good, but not great. An enjoyable listen that wears its influences on its sleeve. And that’s fine. But there are at least three other Lenny albums that are better… and I like Lenny.

Not particularly 80s sounding, or 90s either. Enjoyable, but not my favourite.

Wow, I really disliked every song on this album.