Let Love Rule

“We have Prince at home.” The Prince at home:

Lenny Kravitz wants you to know three things: Love is good, Hate is bad, and he listened to a lot of his parent's records while he was going to Beverly Hills High School. Let Love Rule's musical offerings of peace and love are so insipid and empty that it's hard to imagine him having anything but a cushy upbringing—take how Klan lynchings are mentioned in passing on one track, but don't weigh quite as heavily on Kravitz's mind as the racial injustice the entire next song is dedicated to: him being unable to catch a cab. With a complete lack of nuance, it just sounds like a studio version of a dude with an acoustic guitar sitting below a tree on a college campus trying to get laid, which is maybe not the best idea when you're already married to Lisa Bonet. Key Tracks: Blues for Sister Someone

.5 all kravitz albums are ten stars by default due to the ripped pants penis flop video. however every song on this album takes away .5 stars from this rating. so overall .5 stars because zero stars don’t exist. https://66.media.tumblr.com/e8123b078d94d8b0d61bd8a8bc0963dc/tumblr_nskhs7yCrG1qg8i7yo3_r1_500.gif

Kravshitz

This is shit, but I'm going to rank it above Lennon just for bantz.

I should not be this combination of angry and bored two songs into an album. What is the point of this album? Lenny Kravitz seems to have mastered the art of making vacuous music that manages to convince people that it's deep despite all of the intellectual content of the album being spread thinner than a pat of butter on a 6 foot sub. JUST REPEATING THE WORDS "FREEDOM TRAIN" OVER AND OVER AGAIN IS NOT A FUCKING SONG. Wait, nevermind, he said "Uh-huh" a couple times too, so I guess that it technically is a song Every song is just him repeating the name of the song over and over again, which makes me wish that he had named one of these "I'm going to shut the fuck up and stop recording now" 2/5

Parts of it sounded like Prince. Parts sounded more grungy. Very cool vibe and guitar playing, but at the same time, nothing really WOWed me. Great job Lenny, here's a 3.5!

I was not expecting to rate Lenny Kravitz this high. Was completely unfamiliar with his work, but the versatility and energy is incredibly impressive. He made this album basically ENTIRELY BY HIMSELF. One of those albums where there wasn't a clear winning track, a lot of it flowed effortlessly and did a great job of being unique on its own.

For me, Kravitz has always dwelled in that area between “modern iteration of Sam Cooke“ and “yoga instructor your wife/girlfriend is a little too excited to see.“ I liked this album, but it didn’t do much to move him one way or the other on that spectrum.

Easily one of the greatest debut albums of all time. The Beatles influence is strong, but not dominating. Sometimes the layers upon layers of vocal tracks gets a tad overwhelming, but otherwise the technique is used to great effect (a la George Martin). Hands down, the title track is an all-time classic and in today's political and pandemic fatigued world, would be a welcome reminder to be good to one another. Also, Karl Denson's saxophone solo on Let Love Rule is one of absolute greatest in recorded history and a joy to the ears everytime I hear it.

I may have cried when he died in The Hunger Games but I was not crying when this album ended that's for sure

It's 1001 albums. They're not all going to be winners.

Yes. Everyone must witness the beginnings of this mediocre musician before they die.

I remember this guy being forced down the record-buying public's throat back in the late '80s, and was very confused as to why anyone wanted a 3rd-rate Prince/Hendrix/Stevie wedding singer/elementary school lyricist. Music for people who hate music. I've done greater crowd-pleasing farts than "Freedom Train" or "Fear". "Be" and the subsequent tracks are almost crimes against humanity. Obviously a dumb rich kid who just needed a hard slap at the appropriate moment; unfortunately we're stuck with the consequences of bad parenting. I hesitate to give this a 1* as it distinguishes it from just another boring effort, but this is *passively terrible* (compared to e.g. Radiohead which are more interesting through being actively awful) and I wish it never existed. Fuck off Lenny

Oh no, it's like being stuck in the mind of a horny 55 year old woman with poor taste.

Might be the worst one yet. Lenny Kravitz is absolutely horseshit

Another album whose singles played predominantly in my 90s video phase. Decades later it comes of as maybe a little soft-pedaled? Plenty of good stuff though. Saw Kravitz live at a festival in the mid-90s and he did not disappoint.

I thought I would like this a bit, but… it’s aggressively boring. It’s as if someone made a paint-by-numbers Thomas Kinkade piece.

Track 1 is boring. Track 2, is what we all came for but, after collecting dust for 30+ years, it's boring too. A little Hey Jude vibe that goes absolutely fucking nowhere. Speaking of going nowhere, track 3 careens straight into a dead end and the driver just walks away pretending like repeating the song's title over and over again is something. Track 4 is a half-baked soul slow jam with stupid fucking lyrics that are just a half-step above gibberish, but hey, there are horns! This song should have been done at the 3 minute mark. Track 5 is a half-assed fusion between funk and late-era Beatles with more idiotic rhyming ("we'll make love in the shade / and in the ocean we will bathe"). Speaking of idiotic lyrics, "teached" is not a word and, no you cannot take poetic license for using it to fit the meter and rhyme. Fuck you Lenny, you haven't earned that right. Track 6 starts out a little funky but is just all over the place with its message, (fear is.... Bad?) pick a more focused topic for chrissakes. Track 7 is called "Does Anybody Out There Even Care?" I'm going to employ Betteridge's law of headlines here and say "no." Track 8 - Lenny couldn't catch a cab once because he's black so he wrote a song about it. 5 stars. Track 9 - again with the middle school first draft lyrics. Jesus is this record almost over yet? Track 10 contains the lyric "Am I rapist who needs release?" which he sings in a weird overdriven way which just draws attention to the horribleness of the question. Did I accidentally listen to the CD bonus tracks? Yes I did and I am fucking furious about it.

Forgotten how wonderful this is

lenny kravitz's music is typical stoner music. it's great as is but it's even better when you're high. of course i don't wanna resort to stereotypes, as this guy's psychedelic tracks are a step above a lot of other artists. lush, smooth, and mildly smarmy, this album is FULL of the slow and soulful sound that one expects of the genre, but kravitz does it in a way that really speaks to... well... the soul. the mind, the body... it's music that impacts you, especially the more you listen to it. it's clever and very funky soul.

Yeah it was pretty good.Felt a little long and wasn’t really my kinda music but I liked it.Could’ve done with less Jesus stuff though but that’s his choice I guess

3.5 rounded up lenny kravitz is one of the coolest mfers on the planet but this didnt need to be this long. still rlly fucking good for a debut tho highlights: sitting on top of the world, i build this garden for us, empty hands, flower child (sep 25 2024)

I bought this album when it came out, and it was on steady rotation for a while. Now — as I was then, I'm impressed with the songs, performances, vibe, and the sparse but adept production. The experience held up on this listen, the first in many years. This is just a plain solid album, and that's without delving into the fact that Kravitz apparently did most of it himself. I was never again enthralled by anything Kravitz released, he seemed much more focused on being a rock star that a music artist, and I felt the next bunch of releases were devoid of the things that made this album so great (good songs and honest performances). I've pretty much not listened to anything since 1998's "5," which disappointed me (I did buy the CD, though I no longer have it). But that's a tangent, this album is really good. 'Nuff said.

So, this album was on regular rotation in my share house c. 1991. it was funky and fun, with a 60s throwback vibe and production that was uncommon at the time, and makes it a fun listen. The lyrics are twee and often beyond cliched; Lenny goes hard on his highly controversial anti-hate, pro-love message. While Lenny's singing is good at hitting a dramatic peak (sometimes emoting a bit more than the material really warrants), the music often does not get there. I always felt his songs needed to hit a dramatic highpoint or demonstrate more dynamic range. Sometimes he achieved this with collaborators (such as Slash's solo in Always On The Run) or kitchen sink production, or by avoiding the issue (70s funk emphasizes the groove, and so big dramatic moments are less required). All that said, I enjoyed revisiting this record, and really like his vocal style. It's a fun pastiche.

Great music for a one-man show. I didn't realize Kravitz was so soft rock when he started. I feel bad only knowing him for his amazing cover. He's a great writer.

Trite sentiments yelped to hi-fi busker blues, this is how a genre sounds when abandoned to interlopers in awe of its gestures but not its intent. Maybe I’m cruel: good faith, craft and time have been poured into this set. “Mr Cab Driver” is a fine and bitterly funny song that makes me wish he wrote more about life beyond the soft rock tropes. This is the softest of rock for those who find the Stones or Hendrix or any of the other obvious ones just too intense, catchy and distracting.

Far from the most original album in the world, but it’s funky enough to be enjoyable and not overly cloying or derivative…at first. Lyrically, the longer this record goes on, the more annoying I find it - especially when he makes sort of overt references to the artists he’s paying homage to…like how the first line of “Flower Child”, a clear Lou Reed/VU homage, is “Dressed in purple *velvets*” - thanks for spelling it out, Lenny.

It was ok to me, but didn’t stand out as anything spectacular that must enter my ears frequently in the future.

Bloat is a big issue here, honestly liked most songs, but too many on the same record methinks.

https://youtu.be/UPw-3e_pzqU?si=nM3ve12h0N1E5DlZ lenny kravitz sucks. been thinking about the kravitz bowl. been thinking about dave chapelles racial draft. been thinking about a lot of things. i thought kravitz's whole thing was that hes black jewish? the after like three songs whole fucking album is about christ christ christ. my god. happy easter by the way. this album is so platitudinous its like a giant big plateau of platitudes. the great plateau nation of tibet with all of its yaks and lamas could sit comfortably inside this i mean just marvel at such visionary lyrics as: \"It's on the freedom train Come on dance on the freedom train It's on the freedom train Come on dance on the freedom train (yeah)\" repeat x4 times (varying on the \"yeah\"s) and thats freedom train. read the lyrics for \"fear\" and tell me david brent didnt write it what is it with these rock'n'roll narcissists and talking about "let the children play" or "and the children gathered round" etc? leave the fucking children alone! im looking at you cat stevens. and bowie. and lenny kravitz. "or am i a rapist who needs a release?" EEHHHHHHHwwwweeewewwwwwewewewew yikessss this album is bad, and it gives me a new lease on life

Lenny’s got one good song and it’s not on this album

Wouldn't listen again

He’s the male version of what I expected Taylor swift to be

Can't decide if he wants to be Lennon or Prince, sucks at both.

I don’t think I enjoyed a single song on this album

.5 points for Blues for Sister Someone for sounding like Lenny tried to cover Venus in Furs based on someone describing the song to him, and instead it came out sounding like the worst song Led Zeppelin never wrote

Cheesy soft soul r&b/funk. It's just so dull. "Best" Tracks: Let Love Rule, Fear, Mr Cab Driver

A soulless Pound Shop Prince.

Boring berk

What a pleasant surprise! I didn't think I liked Lenny Kravitz and his yelly style of singing. I was wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed this album from start to finish and even found I enjoyed his voice. A surprise 5.

Combined soul and rock. Has a nice feel and emotion to it. The instruments are really good. I like the songs and the vocals.

Just an all time album for me.

I fw this so heavy

Didn't know what to expect with this but man, I really liked this album. The whole thing had a good energy and really kept me interested.

Really enjoyed this!!

Excellent!

Kedvenc/Favourite: Flower Child Minden számban volt valami új, nagyon élveztem az egész albumot is. Jó értelemben volt zajos néha, tetszett benne hogy ennyi féle hangszert, hatást lehetett kihallani. Szeretném még jó párszor odafigyeléssel végighallgatni, hogy minden nüanszot észrevegyek benne. Every song had something new, I really enjoyed the whole album as well. It was noisy in a good way at times, I liked the fact that you could hear so many different instruments and influences. I'd like to listen to it carefully a few more times, to truly get all the nuances.

Innovative and fresh

psychedelic rock revival album

Solid album

“Free Bird” Lenny was the best.

I always liked the singles. The album was even better!

5/5 Cohesive tracklist full of funk and soul, which changes up well and is never boring. I slightly prefer the rockier, poppier second half. Lenny's vocals and lyrics are fantastic. Sitting On Top Of The World 5/5 Let Love Rule 5/5 Freedom Train 3/5 (LEAST FAV) My Precious Love 4.5/5 I Build This Garden For Us 4.5/5 Fear 4.5/5 Does Anybody Out There Even Care 5/5 Mr. Cab Driver 5/5 Rosemary 5/5 (FAV) Be 5/5

Sensational. Lenny rocks.

4-5 Let Love Rule!

I think this is the first album we’ve had that I actually own. This is really good, and forgot how much I enjoyed it. Love Sitting on Top of the World, Let Love Rule and My Precious Love.

I know this album very well I remember one of my friends playing it all the time not my kind of music but definitely tell him to the artist and awesome debut album

Great music across the board. Some sounds like Hendrix, some sounds like the Beatles. Music style changes. Vocal style changes.

Big like

cool

Album aanwezig

10/10 ayo new favorite album just dropped

Wow, awesome. Did not expect to like this at all.

I loved it 30 years ago and is still great

real hard

cool

This is a phenomenal album! I remember the first Lenny Kravitz song I ever heard (American Woman, off of Big Shiny Tunes 4). I thought it was a fantastic song, and really liked his style, but never really delved into his back catalog at all. I found myself enjoying that same sound on this album (rock mixed with strong funk/jazz/blues vibes). This album touches on topics such as peace & love, racism, and religion. The piano breakdown in My Precious Love was fantastic!! Favourite songs : Let Love Rule, Rosemary, Blues For Sister Someone, I Build This Garden for Us, Flower Child Least favourite songs: if forced to pick, Mr. Cab Driver, Freedom Train, Sitting on Top of the World 5/5

Hadn't listened to this since a long time and was reminded what a great album it is. A warm bath!

First time listening to the full album by Lenny Kravitz and my first thought is - Why haven't I done this sooner? It's a very well made album, entertaining from start to finish (although it falls off a little by the end). Mix of rock, at moments hard rock, with blues and soul, resulting in extremely fun record for a wide variety of fans. Lenny was the solo artist on this album - vocals and lyrics, guitars, bass, drums and other instruments were composed and played by him. And you can tell how talented he is. It wasn't over the top at any point, which happens to some other overcomplicated recordings, but also it wasn't too simple, it hit the right mark. Guitar solos felt really at place and in the groove of the song or beat. Additional instruments like sax or trumpet added another layer to the mixture. And finally, it wouldn't be as attractive without great singing voice of Lenny. He could swing in-between slower, more emotional tracks and fast and heavy ones with ease, and you could tell he felt good and comfortable in any setting. I am very surprised with this album, but it easily jumps to the list of my favourites.

From the outset this was a really enjoyable collection of songs with shades of hippie rock, psychedelia, soul and funk. Kravitz is quite obviously a massive fan of late sixties psychedelic rock and this is apparent in the music styles and especially his lyrics; whilst cliched they never jar. He sings enthusiastically throughout and the music has plenty of breathing space. There's a few nice touches like the processed vocal effect on 'Freedom Train' and strings on 'Fear'. Great stuff.

Still love it.

I had honestly only ever listened to fly away before this but this was a great intro into Lenny kravitz. Excellent album and his yelly voice with the production just works

Super-groovy and awesome.

Great groove, I should listen to more Kravitz

I love people like Lenny who sing with such passion. It really gets you into the album and music and lyrics and theme. Phenomenal record.

So good

Que disco raro! No porque sea malo ni nada... Siempre asocié a Kravitz con algo mas rockero y no lo tenia tan blusero. Me encantó, creo que mas que la musica que hace normalmente. Tiene unas pinceladas de Hendrix que quedan excelentes con lo espaciadas que están. Es una lastima que haya encontrado otra identidad y no haga tanto de esto, aunque probablemente tambien sea que evolucionó en la forma de hacer musica y no sea tan cruda. No se si habría lugar para un Hendrix hoy, tanto como para un Lenny así. Faveado.

Aun con un contenido lírico discreto (aunque certero en ocasiones) el álbum es una pasada. Una faceta maravillosa de Kravitz, mezclando soul, pop rock 60 de UKs, blues y pequeños destellos de psicodelia. Un buen 9

Loved this! The instrumentals and tone are great. A mix of relaxing and energizing.

hard

Absolutely incredible.

no co mam powiedzieć no zajebiste, każdy utwór bez wyjatku, najbardziej chyba be, empty hands i blues for sister someone

Amazing. Just amazing.

Maybe I just don't understand the dislike for this album. I found it really enjoyable. Clearly influenced by the music that was around at the time and music from eras past. Lenny does it really well on this debut. I was really surprised to find that he played the majority of the instruments on this album. It sounds good, front to back, flows together nicely, and has a nice variety.

First time listen. And I was blown away.

Favorite Track: I Built This Garden For Us

I was surprised to see so many negative reviews for this album. I liked it. A little slow / samey at some points, but it was soft and smooth and I’m a sucker for debut album.

I was never big on Lenny, but after listening to this I need to give him a second listen.

It sounded a little flat at first but it got better so it's a four.

An interesting combination of funk/soul and rock. Probably just my bias talking, but I feel like it would have been better at times to lean more into the rock side.

A good rock album

Low budget Jimi Hendrix meets Anderson .Paak

This album really gave me empathy for my husband. I feel like this is what it’s like to try to have a conversation with me when I’m hyperfixated on something. I say the same shit, the conversation moves along, then I go back to the same shit over and over. I actually kinda liked it tho

kinda funky at points, kinda classic rock-y at points. a little sly and the family stone, a little beatles. does it feel kind of like a knock-off of prince at points? yeah, kinda. does that make it a bad album? no, not really. it's pretty enjoyable and there are some fun moments on here. still, there's nothing that totally blew me away - the best thing here is probably the title track and, although good, nothing particularly mind blowing. still, it was a fun listen.

Mä oon varmaan kuunnellut liian vähän Kravitzia. Tämähän nimittäin toimii. Päivitettyä Hendrixiä ja paljon monimuotoisuutta! 4/5

This is a good time. Not as good, in my opinion, as some of his later work, and it leans a bit to heavily on religiosity and hippie aesthetic, but Lenny is so cool he just about makes it work. 3.5 album if we had half stars, but I'll bump it to 4 stars because I'm a Lenny Kravitz fan, even if this isn't my favorite album.

It feels like Lenny Kravitz should've been bigger. Maybe it's because I really only know him from his cover of "American Woman," or maybe it's because his peak seems like it was when I was younger than ten. I don't know. But it feels like he should've been bigger. Maybe he was. Anyway. This was a fun album. The production feels ahead of its time, honestly. For being of the late 80's, it shook all the familiar trappings of the rock production listeners had become used to - lots and lots of reverb, synths, and an attitude that meant taking yourself too seriously. None of that is here, and I am 100% here for it. This feels like a party, and that Kravitz wants the listener there. There's some hard rocking dance music, some slow jams that last for five or more minutes, and some loud horns that (at least for me) really tie some of the songs together. It isn't all great, but man is it a fun listen. It's soulful, it's rocking, it's spiritual, it's funky, it's immediate, and visceral. And I really, really enjoyed listening to this. And I can absolutely seen why it's on this list. What an album. Four stars. Standout Tracks: Sitting on Top of the World, Let Love Rule, Does Anybody Out There Even Care, Mr. Cab Driver, Blues for Sister Someone, Flower Child

4 stars

Mamma Said was a great album before I understood it was enthusiast music. The reason it worked was Lenny. Let Love Rule is more authentic, not everything was produced to be airwave ready and that's what sets this apart from most all of his other music.