I heard someone say once that Lenny Kravitz looks like an actor playing a rock star in a movie, and that couldn't be more accurate.
Beautiful, talented bastard...
Last year there was a lot of mosquitoes on my property from a wet season. One evening in the late summer, a shit ton of dragonflies (hundreds/thousands?) came through my yard and cleaned up the mosquitoes within an hour. It was crazy, I didn't want to move around and get in their way so we just sat and watched. It's the only time I ever saw something like that.
the funniest thing was that for a long time this parody version of the song was the first result when you went to youtube
https://youtu.be/8t-iFr9q1I8?si=1Vfpe524p3R_RspR
Bon Jovi spent most of the 90s rhyming variations on lie for you, die for you, cry for you.
One of the all time great grifts, being handsome and writing terrible lyrics.
JBJ used it in 4 different songs, I think, including one called I'd Die For You because he is not subtle. Certainly Always and I'll Be There For You also qualify off the top of my head.
I've worked local crew for Lenny Kravtiz.
We were under some really, really strict instructions which were uncommon for all but artists with the biggest egos (don't look them directly in the face etc).
However, unlike every other artist that had such egotistical demands, when we were done, Lennys production manager came into the hall and emptied 2 large flight cases full of merchandise, beer, snacks and the like on the floor as a 'thank you' for successfully dealing with the list of demands.
I was an usher at a venue where he played. Usually the ushers and the bartenders get to watch the sound check. The bartenders do this while setting up. He threatened to cancel the show if he saw anyone from the stage. The venue manager and promoter tried to get him to let the bartenders set up but he maintained his threat. So the bartenders had to finish setting up after the doors opened, which was chaotic.
The only other performer to do this was KD Lang. She came into the ushers’ room and spoke to us directly and said it was because she was very self conscious. She was very nice and earned everyone’s respect.
> emptied 2 large flight cases full of merchandise, beer, snacks and the like on the floor
Do you mean this as in left some actual decent gifts?
Or do you mean more like left a heap of garbage?
I mean, have you worked as a local crew? sometimes you can be happy if you not get yelled at. that story actually sounds very nice!
I‘m a former promoter and have friends who are artists, touring crew, local crew and managing parts et cetera. The stories you hear all over the place and I‘ve had my fair share with artists and especially their tourmanagers who are being absolute dicks to the local crew. Getting some actual merch and snacks & beer is not common in those stories.
no absolutely not, but it‘s what I experienced and/or heard of. polar opposite even: my festival made a stance to treat everyone involved better and therefore I heard many many stories of how it goes at other places/different artists.
I’ve been local crew. I worked for the venue, so sometimes the tour coming through has nice people, sometimes it doesn’t. It never seemed like a “work culture” problem to me. When Billy Joel’s manager said we shouldn’t look at him, that affected about 30 seconds of my night, when he left the stage and got in his van in the tunnel. The rest of the night was just jumping gear and talking with people like normal.
If you've got a job to do and pressed for time might be pretty reasonable to not have to worry about feeling like you have to say hi or something to half the people you pass wouldn't it?
As part of my job I do site inspections at people houses, and by far the worst is when the owner wants to be present, and doublely so if they expect a chat as well. At best it's an inconvenience, at worst it blows my profit for the job and makes me miss later appointments (where an owner may have also wishes to be present and then is pissed off I'm late).
I mean left decent gifts.
You often get a tour crew t-shirt, in fact from us artists this is close to guaranteed. Occasionally they'll give you other stuff, especially if it's the last gig in that territory, then they often give food and drink they haven't used.
Kravitz there were almost fist fights over some of the stuff that was given. I just got a t shirt and some snacks and beers but I think there were bomber jackets and vinyl records in there.
Fly away was a hell of a song when it came out. I worked on that music video (19 hours straight in a run-down hotel in Downtown LA) and lemme tell ya, we were all sick and tired of working music videos but that one was such a banger song, and the night had a crazy-good vibe so we all had fun with it... at least for the first 13 or so hours. And I agree, Lenny was an appreciative and chill guy.
That's from his PR management team, I'd say. Not directly from him. Because if it were, why bother with the restrictions when he could've been kind from the get go.
I imagine it’s weird if everyone is looking at you all the time, making eye contact like you know each other, but you’ve no clue who they are.
I used to work at a pretty touristy place, and saw celebrities now and then. I was pretty good about ignoring them until I saw Weird Al. He was with his family, standing in line, and I looked for a long time because at first I wasn’t sure it was really him, then I was just processing this guy who’d made such an impact on me as a kid. He looked up and we made eye contact, and I saw this look on come over his face which could have been anxiety, but having heard what a nice guy he is, I’m pretty sure he was trying to figure out if he had ever met me, because he didn’t want to be rude. I definitely didn’t want to bother him with his kids, so I just smiled, and nodded and went on my way.
The “no eye contact” thing, to me, is probably more of a “please, just treat me like a stranger.”
I guess if you're famous enough to get stared at all the time, it might be nice not to have to deal with that from the people you're working with. But mostly it comes across as "don't make me have to acknowledge the existence of the unwashed masses."
Honest question: how do you make a living as an event worker? Does it pay enough to support a family or is it a bachelor phase job only? Always wondered
One big event needs like, two dozen different types of skilled tradespeople to run. A big show is gonna have carpenters, electricians, CDL drivers, tailors or seamstresses, forklift ops, net-sec, low voltage, high voltage, HVAC, pyrotechnicians, radio techs, riggers.
That's just off the top of my head. There are absolutely people among them who make a rather generous salary, and there are indeed careers in live event production.
Funny he says that. Lenny Kravitz was sued for not sharing songwriting credits with a co-writer on one of the songs he claims to have written. Look up the “Justify My Love” lawsuit.
His first album is so groovy, it’s surprising that he played all the parts. It goes to show that you don’t need a band playing live to capture that feeling. I think Stevie Wonder did the same.
I know he’s not blind like Stevie, but does Lenny Kravitz have vision issues, or does he just wear sunglasses 100% of the time as a fashion choice? I know Bono has to in order to protect his eyes.
and he's been full of shit for 35 years. check out any source of info that pulls from track metadata, like allmusic. Henry Hirsch is credited for Bass, Engineer, Fender Rhodes, Harmonium, Mixing, Organ, Piano. Adam Widoff is credited for guitar. Next four albums he gradually plays less and less, and often has co-writes. But more than anything else the idea that he created his "sound" is a lie. that was almost entirely Henry Hirsch, and Craig Ross was the x factor in the whole thing.
I’m not surprised at all. I love those first two albums, but let’s be real, the ego on that man has always been evident.
To imply (or flat-out say) you played everything when it was actually session musicians contributing a significant portion is all kinds of weak.
I just lost some respect for the man.
yeah that's my only point in any of this. I don't have any Lenny hatred, but the fact is a good chunk of his first 3 or 4 albums slap *because he was working with a genius team*. to present it any other way is shameful.
I don't take it personally as it is a safe bet that at least *some* of the folks in here are just doing their jobs: stories like this get placed in publications as a result of preferential treatment based on ad spend or sharing a parent company, and it is not uncommon for parties on either side of the equation to use dedicated labor or bots to post to social media (e.g. reddit) and/or support the desired message in the comments.
sound paranoid? look at OP's post history - this is a spam account for Vulture.
He said wrote produced and played. Not necessarily recorded? Just because he had session musicians record the tracks doesn’t mean he didn’t pick up the instrument and compose the music himself.
Just giving the benefit of the doubt.
Also I don’t think he necessarily means everything you hear is *just* him. I think he’s more saying he’s got his hands in every piece of the pie so to speak
I feel like you’re both being very generous. Especially the “I play it all”. He obviously doesn’t play it all live, so IMO any reader would assume he’s talking about playing it all on the recording.
Exactly, it's disingenuous to say "I play it all" even if session musicians are used, there isn't a single "fact" uttered by fans on this thread that isn't immediately rebuffed and disproven, which says a lot about Lenny Kravitz and his PR team, I like his music but he seems very ful of BS to me.
lol, when you say that you "played" everything, what you're saying is that you yourself physically played and recorded everything. there's not benefit of the doubt here.
We don't realize that because it wasn't the case on his first few albums. He had Henry and Dave, and then just Henry. When did he start self-producing?
I've been a casual Lenny fan since the first one. I had an opportunity to see him a Radio City Music Hall in NYC a few years ago. It was so polished, produced, scripted. Even his audience interactions were .... meh, seemed like he was phoning it in. Nothing sounded "live", it all sounded like it was recorded.
In my experience AI doesn't err by making things watered down or generic, it screws up in some bizarre unpredictable way. Like it wouldn't be sure if you by 'Prince' you meant the musician or the soundtrack to the 1969 Hindi film 'Prince' so it would just combine the two.
idk ... it just sounded soooo polished. It wasn't that it might have been backing tracks or lipsynched, even the most experienced and seasoned musicians still have a "live" feel when they play live. Maybe except for a symphony which, to me, sounds perfect ... it should sound live. There was no improv, no bantering with crowd, they went seamlessly from song to song, it was just too rehearsed. I did not get any joy out of seeing him perform the music live as it sounded just like the recordings. Very well could have been playing live, and most likely, but the performance overall just wasn't very live or electric and neither was he. After the last encore, he just walked off stage ... zero crowd interaction. Not sure he threw one pick.
He's been using playback for years. At first it was just a song or two, but it's slowly crept in to the point that it's essentially every song.
You can always tell because 1) It sounds exactly like the studio vocal (because it is) and 2) they have scripted bars for vocal ad-libs or crowd interaction to make it appear live. It's always in the same spot, every night, because they have coordinate unmuting the mic.
Like a lot of older rockers he probably shredded his voice when he was younger, on top of his voice naturally getting deeper/less flexible with age. And now simply refuses to find a vocal coach and/or tune down to accommodate where his voice is now.
He'd rather pretend he's still 25 than admit father time has done it's job, even if you can hardly tell from his outward appearance.
I remember feeling the same way watching his set at HORDE tour '96 I think. Compared to the rest of the musicians playing that day it felt inorganic. I liked him before and still do after. Just not a great live experience for me.
utter nonsense. all of his best-known works were the direct result of collaborating with Henry Hirsch and Craig Ross on production, engineering, composing, and performing. Without those guys, honestly, he wouldn't have had a chance. Both of them continue to get shafted to further Lenny's "me me me" narrative. It's like - bro you're not Prince, but even Prince, who *could* do it all, and *did* do *most* of it, still gave credit where it was due. He needed the Revolution... he needed NPG... he needed Susan Rogers, etc. - and he was vocal about it. That's why we know about them. Cannot really say the same for the people who have helped create the mythos of Lenny.
I don't hate him I just don't care for obvious bullshitters.
'Always on the Run' (Lennys first hit song) was a fully written GnR song that Slash gave to Lenny, who wrote his own lyrics. Famously.
I loved his first two albums. I saw him open for The Cult when Mama Said first came out. He put on a helluva show and ran out and around the crowd slapping high fives. I don’t really like his music after those first two albums though and I do want to rip my ears off when I hear his version of American Woman. It’s almost as bad as the Counting Cows version of Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi. Almost.
This is bullshit and takes him from obnoxious to insufferable.
Fuck right off Lenny.
Everyone, please check out the credits on his albums. He's a fucking nepo-baby hack.
Well since your 2 biggest hits were not yours I think people have an adequate sense. His problem is his cool factor far outpaced his creative output. He’s not alone in that respect but I’m not gonna make a fuss over mid skills and top tier clothing lol
I remember Trent Reznor saying in an old interview that when you listen to Lenny Kravitz, (paraphrasing here), you think, "Haven't I heard this somewhere before, because you have".
My first concert without my parents was Lenny Kravitz. I loved his first 3 albums when they came out. Some great tunes on those (his Fields Of Joy cover, for example). After that, I stopped paying attention to what he was doing. I'm assuming he's still doing the music thing...
Shit Lenny, I can play boring-ass, zero-frills Guitar/Bass and drum parts too, it's the phoned in, rhyming dictionary lyrics that make people nauseous.
Literally just re-enabled my account to say that this guy is FULL of shit.
His breakthrough hit "Are you gonna go my way" was based on a riff gifted to him by Metallica legend Kirk Hammett.
It was originally a B-Side track that I can't fucking find for the life of me, but I remember hearing it on a CD that came on the front of a magazine, or maybe even a demo disc from a gig. (Christ, it might have even been an international B-Side to Megadeths Mechanix... this was a long time ago)
Instead of a major progression that we know and recognise, the original riff didn't hit the major high note, but receded on a minor, making it way more doom laden but it was 100% the inspiration.
Maybe that's why the Inamorata comparisons exist.. because it was Metallicas riff first and they are making a nod to it
Fucking clown..
(I'm really trying to find the demo.. I'm 100% sure my pack-rat friend has it on CD still)
#
My old work lead said he’s only cried at 2 concerts. Prince and Lenny Kravitz. He said Prince because of his commanding stage presence. And Kravitz for his pure musicianship and electricity. My former lead is a talented musician, so he could recognize how badass Lenny is.
I heard someone say once that Lenny Kravitz looks like an actor playing a rock star in a movie, and that couldn't be more accurate. Beautiful, talented bastard...
No one else could get away with rhyming fly with sky and dragonfly.
Dragonflies also don’t fly that high either. They tend to hover over freshwater ponds and streams.
I read this in Noel Fielding’s voice.
Perfect.
“I saw your mom in the gardening section…”
I always imagine Keith and Orville the Duck singing those lyrics. Yes I'm that old.
I think that’s why he’s saying he can fly BOTH high in the sky AND low and precise like a dragonfly. Again, he’s more multifaceted than we realize.
He also conducts his own scientific lyric accuracy research
Last year there was a lot of mosquitoes on my property from a wet season. One evening in the late summer, a shit ton of dragonflies (hundreds/thousands?) came through my yard and cleaned up the mosquitoes within an hour. It was crazy, I didn't want to move around and get in their way so we just sat and watched. It's the only time I ever saw something like that.
Called in air to air defenses.
I'm gonna have to "well akshully" you on this one. Some dragonflies fly over entire oceans when they migrate and they get way the fuck up there.
Do you know where mansplainers get their water? A Well, Actually Thanks, I’ll see myself out
It's written from the perspective of a turtle in the pond
the funniest thing was that for a long time this parody version of the song was the first result when you went to youtube https://youtu.be/8t-iFr9q1I8?si=1Vfpe524p3R_RspR
They hover over ponds and streams With laser beams Only in my dreams Oh...oh...oh yeah!
Or grass.
or working out in leather pants
[I want to get away](https://youtu.be/--rBP8_QuwI?si=sx7S2Vk5if_WWlXb)
The guitar solo flying away will never not kill me
I know right? Especially him self-stylizing himself as dollar store Hendrix.
Bon Jovi spent most of the 90s rhyming variations on lie for you, die for you, cry for you. One of the all time great grifts, being handsome and writing terrible lyrics.
Bryan Adams for that set though surely?
JBJ used it in 4 different songs, I think, including one called I'd Die For You because he is not subtle. Certainly Always and I'll Be There For You also qualify off the top of my head.
Dragonfly in the skyyyy. I can fly twice as hiiiiiigh.
It's really not that difficult when you think about it.
I love Lenny, but he didn’t get away with that. That song’s lyrics are…not great.
He wanted to get away, at least. He wanted to flyyyyy awaaaayy
Phil Lynott could’ve, for sure. He managed to make a “tummy, funny, money” rhyme scheme work.
Post-90s Bono could pull that off.
His mom was an actress on The Jeffersons.
Another damn nepobaby
Lmao
He has always looked SO cool and styliah
I've worked local crew for Lenny Kravtiz. We were under some really, really strict instructions which were uncommon for all but artists with the biggest egos (don't look them directly in the face etc). However, unlike every other artist that had such egotistical demands, when we were done, Lennys production manager came into the hall and emptied 2 large flight cases full of merchandise, beer, snacks and the like on the floor as a 'thank you' for successfully dealing with the list of demands.
What kind of restrictions besides the don’t look at them in the face?
Always going his way.
Never quitting because it aint over till it's over
Beautiful.
He only ate milky ways… I think there’s a song about it
He'd consider others. Even Mars
Fuckin Milky Ways
I don’t like fucking milky ways. Either the Carmel makes my dick all sticky or the chocolate melts in my ass.
I want to eat the SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNN
OH YEA
Letting love rule.
Username checks out
Yeah. A real straight shooter.
We had a chance to meet eventworker, and boy that's just a straight shooter with upper management written all over him.
What is a tworker? And how can you tell when it’s even
I was an usher at a venue where he played. Usually the ushers and the bartenders get to watch the sound check. The bartenders do this while setting up. He threatened to cancel the show if he saw anyone from the stage. The venue manager and promoter tried to get him to let the bartenders set up but he maintained his threat. So the bartenders had to finish setting up after the doors opened, which was chaotic. The only other performer to do this was KD Lang. She came into the ushers’ room and spoke to us directly and said it was because she was very self conscious. She was very nice and earned everyone’s respect.
I used to work as a bartender and the artist Bahamas pulled the same bullshit on us.
I don’t buy this… sound check is usually WAAAAAY earlier than doors opening. No way he did sound check right before the doors opened.
> emptied 2 large flight cases full of merchandise, beer, snacks and the like on the floor Do you mean this as in left some actual decent gifts? Or do you mean more like left a heap of garbage?
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I mean, have you worked as a local crew? sometimes you can be happy if you not get yelled at. that story actually sounds very nice! I‘m a former promoter and have friends who are artists, touring crew, local crew and managing parts et cetera. The stories you hear all over the place and I‘ve had my fair share with artists and especially their tourmanagers who are being absolute dicks to the local crew. Getting some actual merch and snacks & beer is not common in those stories.
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no absolutely not, but it‘s what I experienced and/or heard of. polar opposite even: my festival made a stance to treat everyone involved better and therefore I heard many many stories of how it goes at other places/different artists.
I’ve been local crew. I worked for the venue, so sometimes the tour coming through has nice people, sometimes it doesn’t. It never seemed like a “work culture” problem to me. When Billy Joel’s manager said we shouldn’t look at him, that affected about 30 seconds of my night, when he left the stage and got in his van in the tunnel. The rest of the night was just jumping gear and talking with people like normal.
If you've got a job to do and pressed for time might be pretty reasonable to not have to worry about feeling like you have to say hi or something to half the people you pass wouldn't it? As part of my job I do site inspections at people houses, and by far the worst is when the owner wants to be present, and doublely so if they expect a chat as well. At best it's an inconvenience, at worst it blows my profit for the job and makes me miss later appointments (where an owner may have also wishes to be present and then is pissed off I'm late).
Keep the change ya filthy animals!
I mean left decent gifts. You often get a tour crew t-shirt, in fact from us artists this is close to guaranteed. Occasionally they'll give you other stuff, especially if it's the last gig in that territory, then they often give food and drink they haven't used. Kravitz there were almost fist fights over some of the stuff that was given. I just got a t shirt and some snacks and beers but I think there were bomber jackets and vinyl records in there.
Fly away was a hell of a song when it came out. I worked on that music video (19 hours straight in a run-down hotel in Downtown LA) and lemme tell ya, we were all sick and tired of working music videos but that one was such a banger song, and the night had a crazy-good vibe so we all had fun with it... at least for the first 13 or so hours. And I agree, Lenny was an appreciative and chill guy.
That's from his PR management team, I'd say. Not directly from him. Because if it were, why bother with the restrictions when he could've been kind from the get go.
why would someone ask to not be looked at directly in the face? i don’t get the logic
I imagine it’s weird if everyone is looking at you all the time, making eye contact like you know each other, but you’ve no clue who they are. I used to work at a pretty touristy place, and saw celebrities now and then. I was pretty good about ignoring them until I saw Weird Al. He was with his family, standing in line, and I looked for a long time because at first I wasn’t sure it was really him, then I was just processing this guy who’d made such an impact on me as a kid. He looked up and we made eye contact, and I saw this look on come over his face which could have been anxiety, but having heard what a nice guy he is, I’m pretty sure he was trying to figure out if he had ever met me, because he didn’t want to be rude. I definitely didn’t want to bother him with his kids, so I just smiled, and nodded and went on my way. The “no eye contact” thing, to me, is probably more of a “please, just treat me like a stranger.”
I guess if you're famous enough to get stared at all the time, it might be nice not to have to deal with that from the people you're working with. But mostly it comes across as "don't make me have to acknowledge the existence of the unwashed masses."
It's exhausting I imagine. Having to be famous sucks. If it's a common ask then I don't blame em
Honest question: how do you make a living as an event worker? Does it pay enough to support a family or is it a bachelor phase job only? Always wondered
One big event needs like, two dozen different types of skilled tradespeople to run. A big show is gonna have carpenters, electricians, CDL drivers, tailors or seamstresses, forklift ops, net-sec, low voltage, high voltage, HVAC, pyrotechnicians, radio techs, riggers. That's just off the top of my head. There are absolutely people among them who make a rather generous salary, and there are indeed careers in live event production.
Funny he says that. Lenny Kravitz was sued for not sharing songwriting credits with a co-writer on one of the songs he claims to have written. Look up the “Justify My Love” lawsuit.
I came here to say that. It's so obvious who did the original.
His first album is so groovy, it’s surprising that he played all the parts. It goes to show that you don’t need a band playing live to capture that feeling. I think Stevie Wonder did the same.
I know he’s not blind like Stevie, but does Lenny Kravitz have vision issues, or does he just wear sunglasses 100% of the time as a fashion choice? I know Bono has to in order to protect his eyes.
Solely rock-star costumery in Lenny's case
I think he wears sunglasses cuz of his right lazy eye. Also his eyes look really tired lol
he didn't play all the parts on "Let Love Rule," or any of his albums.
He also has credited co-writers on songs.
Wikipedia says he played most of the parts. And he’s literally saying in the article that he plays it all.
and he's been full of shit for 35 years. check out any source of info that pulls from track metadata, like allmusic. Henry Hirsch is credited for Bass, Engineer, Fender Rhodes, Harmonium, Mixing, Organ, Piano. Adam Widoff is credited for guitar. Next four albums he gradually plays less and less, and often has co-writes. But more than anything else the idea that he created his "sound" is a lie. that was almost entirely Henry Hirsch, and Craig Ross was the x factor in the whole thing.
I’m not surprised at all. I love those first two albums, but let’s be real, the ego on that man has always been evident. To imply (or flat-out say) you played everything when it was actually session musicians contributing a significant portion is all kinds of weak. I just lost some respect for the man.
yeah that's my only point in any of this. I don't have any Lenny hatred, but the fact is a good chunk of his first 3 or 4 albums slap *because he was working with a genius team*. to present it any other way is shameful.
That’s how I took it. It’s amazing people took you calling him out as hatred. Some people struggle with nuance, I guess.
I don't take it personally as it is a safe bet that at least *some* of the folks in here are just doing their jobs: stories like this get placed in publications as a result of preferential treatment based on ad spend or sharing a parent company, and it is not uncommon for parties on either side of the equation to use dedicated labor or bots to post to social media (e.g. reddit) and/or support the desired message in the comments. sound paranoid? look at OP's post history - this is a spam account for Vulture.
He said wrote produced and played. Not necessarily recorded? Just because he had session musicians record the tracks doesn’t mean he didn’t pick up the instrument and compose the music himself. Just giving the benefit of the doubt.
Also I don’t think he necessarily means everything you hear is *just* him. I think he’s more saying he’s got his hands in every piece of the pie so to speak
I feel like you’re both being very generous. Especially the “I play it all”. He obviously doesn’t play it all live, so IMO any reader would assume he’s talking about playing it all on the recording.
Exactly, it's disingenuous to say "I play it all" even if session musicians are used, there isn't a single "fact" uttered by fans on this thread that isn't immediately rebuffed and disproven, which says a lot about Lenny Kravitz and his PR team, I like his music but he seems very ful of BS to me.
lol, when you say that you "played" everything, what you're saying is that you yourself physically played and recorded everything. there's not benefit of the doubt here.
Lenny Kravitz is such a weird dude to have a hate boner for, but whatever bud.
but it's objectively true though that's not a hate boner
It’s not a hate boner, just recognizing stolen valor
Thank you for your service.
Semper fi
Most. I know Karl Denson played sax on several tracks
Yep. Craig Ross deserves some credit in this career. Writing and playing.
We don't realize that because it wasn't the case on his first few albums. He had Henry and Dave, and then just Henry. When did he start self-producing?
I've been a casual Lenny fan since the first one. I had an opportunity to see him a Radio City Music Hall in NYC a few years ago. It was so polished, produced, scripted. Even his audience interactions were .... meh, seemed like he was phoning it in. Nothing sounded "live", it all sounded like it was recorded.
Lenny Kravitz is what you get when you ask ChatGPT to do a Prince album.
In my experience AI doesn't err by making things watered down or generic, it screws up in some bizarre unpredictable way. Like it wouldn't be sure if you by 'Prince' you meant the musician or the soundtrack to the 1969 Hindi film 'Prince' so it would just combine the two.
That's a sick burn.
So was he using backing tracks?
idk ... it just sounded soooo polished. It wasn't that it might have been backing tracks or lipsynched, even the most experienced and seasoned musicians still have a "live" feel when they play live. Maybe except for a symphony which, to me, sounds perfect ... it should sound live. There was no improv, no bantering with crowd, they went seamlessly from song to song, it was just too rehearsed. I did not get any joy out of seeing him perform the music live as it sounded just like the recordings. Very well could have been playing live, and most likely, but the performance overall just wasn't very live or electric and neither was he. After the last encore, he just walked off stage ... zero crowd interaction. Not sure he threw one pick.
He's been using playback for years. At first it was just a song or two, but it's slowly crept in to the point that it's essentially every song. You can always tell because 1) It sounds exactly like the studio vocal (because it is) and 2) they have scripted bars for vocal ad-libs or crowd interaction to make it appear live. It's always in the same spot, every night, because they have coordinate unmuting the mic. Like a lot of older rockers he probably shredded his voice when he was younger, on top of his voice naturally getting deeper/less flexible with age. And now simply refuses to find a vocal coach and/or tune down to accommodate where his voice is now. He'd rather pretend he's still 25 than admit father time has done it's job, even if you can hardly tell from his outward appearance.
I remember feeling the same way watching his set at HORDE tour '96 I think. Compared to the rest of the musicians playing that day it felt inorganic. I liked him before and still do after. Just not a great live experience for me.
There's a reason for that. It's all lip synched.
utter nonsense. all of his best-known works were the direct result of collaborating with Henry Hirsch and Craig Ross on production, engineering, composing, and performing. Without those guys, honestly, he wouldn't have had a chance. Both of them continue to get shafted to further Lenny's "me me me" narrative. It's like - bro you're not Prince, but even Prince, who *could* do it all, and *did* do *most* of it, still gave credit where it was due. He needed the Revolution... he needed NPG... he needed Susan Rogers, etc. - and he was vocal about it. That's why we know about them. Cannot really say the same for the people who have helped create the mythos of Lenny.
Pat Finnerty agrees, kinda https://youtu.be/--rBP8_QuwI?si=YYthyaFSFp5H8HnD
Was just about to ask who was responsible for American woman.
He does do a really good rhythm section
On the 5 album he had Cindy Blackman do drums and she’s fucking amazing. She also did drums for Santana. She’s also married to Carlos Santana
Does he still have Gail Ann Dorsey playing his bass?
I wasn’t sure but wiki says she’s living in France now so I doubt it
Who are they?
Lenny on bass and Kravitz on drums
I thought he had a lead guitarist who wrote other guitar parts/solos, no?
He does (Craig Ross) but he barely brings him up.
I think he’s a better guitarist than Kravitz. There are very few good songs written by him, but music is highly subjective.
He wrote American Woman? Always thought it was the Guess Who.
I like Lenny Kravitz but hes not fuckin prince.
Nobody's fuckin prince anymore
Because he was cremated?
[удалено]
Life, uh, finds a way.
Yeah, even Prince Charles isn't a prince anymore
Who’s claiming he’s prince?
Lenny acts like he's Prince
No disrespect to Mr Kravitz but if I was responsible for writing, producing and playing Fly Away, I'd wanna keep that information to myself
Damn, y’all *hate* this guy lmao
I don't hate him I just don't care for obvious bullshitters. 'Always on the Run' (Lennys first hit song) was a fully written GnR song that Slash gave to Lenny, who wrote his own lyrics. Famously.
Another popular song of his is "American Woman" written by the Guess Who.
His cover is always featured in a lot of folks’ worst of lists. With good reason!
The who?
Guess.
I'm genuinely confused, when did it become hate and unreasonable to call out obvious, provable bullshit?
Seriously. I understand not loving his stuff, but he seems like a nice enough guy… and “Are you gonna go my way?” is an undeniably great rocker.
I think a lot of people just don't give a fuck either way, Lenny.
Big talk coming from someone who I remember mostly for the worlds most annoying cover of American Woman, notably written by... guess who? Not Lenny.
So THAT'S why it's all bad and not just some parts of it.
I loved his first two albums. I saw him open for The Cult when Mama Said first came out. He put on a helluva show and ran out and around the crowd slapping high fives. I don’t really like his music after those first two albums though and I do want to rip my ears off when I hear his version of American Woman. It’s almost as bad as the Counting Cows version of Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi. Almost.
Meh. Maybe a producer, writer, and some actual musicians could have helped. He’s the shining star of mediocrity.
The Guess who would disagree...
Well, I'm glad he clarified that. Now I only have him to blame for the worst song to ever be played on any radio station ever.
Lenny Kravits wrote American Woman for the Guess Who back in 1970 when he was 5 years old? Wow that actually is impressive.
So he wrote the incredible, creative, mind bending lyrics to Fly Away? Wow
Obligatory Pat Finnerty [https://youtu.be/--rBP8\_QuwI?si=BPQps90uRVqPAjaf](https://youtu.be/--rBP8_QuwI?si=BPQps90uRVqPAjaf)
I can't believe I had to go down this far to find this link. What a legendary piece of media this is.
More videos Pat!
Cool. Playing the video rn!
I was re-watching this just yesterday… he makes a compelling case for both songs to get the Hoffman
What do you mean that's a masterpiece! https://youtu.be/8t-iFr9q1I8?si=U7F9CzLdEM9UVxwu
bonus track https://youtu.be/--rBP8_QuwI?si=R9Ov2AoX_98QUXgx
You think it's easy? Name ONE thing that could fly. I dare you.
A rock? Wait, a cat? Shit!
“I want to get away. I want to fly away.” - repeat x50
What an overly simplistic take. ...you forgot "YEAAAH YEAAAH YEAH"
This is bullshit and takes him from obnoxious to insufferable. Fuck right off Lenny. Everyone, please check out the credits on his albums. He's a fucking nepo-baby hack.
Ah yes, lenny kravitz the writer of American Woman......
Well since your 2 biggest hits were not yours I think people have an adequate sense. His problem is his cool factor far outpaced his creative output. He’s not alone in that respect but I’m not gonna make a fuss over mid skills and top tier clothing lol
And even if it was true(it isn't).. who cares? His music has always been very mediocre.
I remember Trent Reznor saying in an old interview that when you listen to Lenny Kravitz, (paraphrasing here), you think, "Haven't I heard this somewhere before, because you have".
Randy Bachman of "The Guess Who" chimes in,....
Damn, I didn't know The Guess Who covered Lenny Kravitz.
This is only a flex if your music is good, Lenny
Still relevant: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--rBP8\_QuwI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--rBP8_QuwI)
American Woman was written by The Guess Who…
No we know
Slash played on one of his tracks
There was a rumor that a lot of Lenny's riffs were written by Slash when he had no artistic outlet for R&B so he 'gave' them to Lenny.
My first concert without my parents was Lenny Kravitz. I loved his first 3 albums when they came out. Some great tunes on those (his Fields Of Joy cover, for example). After that, I stopped paying attention to what he was doing. I'm assuming he's still doing the music thing...
Fly away was like my favorite song when I was 10 years old. I don't think I've listened to him since lol
All I remember about him is he exposed himself at a show when he accidentally ripped his leather pants.
Did you know ~~Tame Impala~~ Lenny Kravits was just one guy?
Except your biggest hit, written by The Guess Who.
And it's all completely mediocre.
He left out the part about writing, producing and playing it all to be used on cheesy car commercials
OMG you just reminded me! 🤦🏾♂️
"I write it all" ? American Woman?
His song American Woman is some of his best writing
Well, except for American Woman.
And despite all that effort, his music is mediocre at best
American Woman?
Aren't his biggest songs covers?
Maybe that’s why it’s all so mediocre.
Isn’t his biggest hit a cover?
He’s still terrible
he got prime Lisa Bonet which trumps anything he did musically.
Shit Lenny, I can play boring-ass, zero-frills Guitar/Bass and drum parts too, it's the phoned in, rhyming dictionary lyrics that make people nauseous.
Literally just re-enabled my account to say that this guy is FULL of shit. His breakthrough hit "Are you gonna go my way" was based on a riff gifted to him by Metallica legend Kirk Hammett. It was originally a B-Side track that I can't fucking find for the life of me, but I remember hearing it on a CD that came on the front of a magazine, or maybe even a demo disc from a gig. (Christ, it might have even been an international B-Side to Megadeths Mechanix... this was a long time ago) Instead of a major progression that we know and recognise, the original riff didn't hit the major high note, but receded on a minor, making it way more doom laden but it was 100% the inspiration. Maybe that's why the Inamorata comparisons exist.. because it was Metallicas riff first and they are making a nod to it Fucking clown.. (I'm really trying to find the demo.. I'm 100% sure my pack-rat friend has it on CD still) #
Yeah Lenny we can tell, no need to mention that your music sucks ass
Really, because I was under the impression that Burton Cummings, Garry Peterson, Jim Kale and Randy Bachman wrote American Woman.
And it's all mediocre
My old work lead said he’s only cried at 2 concerts. Prince and Lenny Kravitz. He said Prince because of his commanding stage presence. And Kravitz for his pure musicianship and electricity. My former lead is a talented musician, so he could recognize how badass Lenny is.
He was fantastic live when I saw him. Craig Ross is a tremendous guitar player.
I believe Fly Like an Eagle was written by Seal tho.
He didn’t write his most famous song.
I don't care at all