Lenny Kravitz releases his tenth studio album entitled Strut and marks his first release from his very own record label - Roxie Records. The album has either 12 or 14 songs depending on which edition you get your hands on.
Lenny Kravitz’s greatest strength is his ability in modernizing his musical influences into something new, and Strut shows that Kravitz pulls it off again.
The only differences that Strut has to offer: Firstly, Kravitz has trimmed down the production, giving the album a more stripped down sound and feel. Secondly, like the title suggests, the album has a swagger and dirty feel that has not been this dominant on any of his previous releases.
In the opening tracks Sex and The Chamber, Lenny incorporates glam rock and new wave sounds to such accuracy that I was convinced that they were old songs that he has been holding onto since the 80’s. Lenny Kravitz channels his inner “Prince” with the sexy rocker called Dirty White Boots. The title track sounds like a funk/ rock version of Lenny’s hit Are You Gonna Go My Way. She’s A Beast is another sexy rocker that has a hint of southern rock, a la Black Crowes. And if anybody thought that Lenny couldn’t recreate the sound of his first records like Let Love Rule and Mama Said, they need to hear Frankenstein.
Strut is by no means a rock masterpiece, and it loses it steam after the eighth track but all in all, it is still a solid rock album that hits the mark, and most of these songs will sound good live.
Lenny Kravitz has been my comfort food of rock n’ roll for many years now. He’s never too deep or heavy, but always satisfying. Besides some of the throw away tracks on Strut, my only other complaint is that I wish Lenny would use a real band in recording his next album. I believe that some real seasoned studio musicians would give Lenny that sonic boom that lacks in some of his recent releases.
Standout Tracks: Sex, The Chamber, Dirty White Boots, Frankenstein, New York City, The Pleasure And The Pain & She's A Beast.
