Happy 15th Anniversary to Lenny Kravitz’s eighth studio album It Is Time For A Love Revolution, originally released February 5, 2008.
For most of my life, Lenny Kravitz has been a constant presence, creating countless memories simply by being a steadfast example of what a rock star is supposed to look, play, write, and sing like.
If you’ve followed Kravitz’s entire career like I have, we’ve had the privilege to bear witness in real time to what will surely be a great film or television biopic. As an emerging young artist, Kravitz was told that his music wasn’t “black enough.” A critique that hopefully is unthinkable in 2023, it was an attempt to racially compartmentalize his musical expression, which countless other artists have had to endure. After his first successful decade as a major label recording artist, we witnessed Kravitz triumph, in some ways to unprecedented heights, becoming the millennial man with his string of colossal hits from 1998 to 2002 and breaking the record for most GRAMMY wins for Male Rock Vocal Performance with four consecutive wins.
By 2008, Kravitz had already reached legendary status, having received worldwide acclaim, with an almost 20-year career that most musicians merely dream of. With his eighth studio album It Is Time For A Love Revolution, Kravitz apparently set out to make the direct lyrical sequel to his 1989 debut Let Love Rule. In the song “Love Love Love,” Kravitz explains, “Don’t need no penthouse mansion / don’t need no Paris fashion / don’t need no shiny golden chain / there ain’t nothing you can give me / I’m already there / I got love,” showing his only desire was to spark a love movement, much like with his inaugural single in 1989 “Let Love Rule.”
Love Revolution’s lead single “I’ll Be Waiting” stands out, not only as an LP highlight, but as an overlooked gem in Kravitz’s storied catalog. Time after time, Kravitz proves to be one of the best at crafting love ballads, and with its musical composition, lyricism, and vocal execution, “I’ll Be Waiting” represents a compelling testament to Kravitz’s skillfulness. Similarly, “I Love The Rain” is another example of Kravitz’s uncanny ability to orchestrate well-thought lyrics and instrumental precision, juxtaposed with his signature vocals.
Songs like “Bring it On” demonstrate Kravitz’s keen ear and ability to place tribute riffs to guitarists of the ‘60ss and ‘70s alongside contemporary production. “Back In Vietnam” highlights his attempts at insightfulness. Again, loving to pay homage to musicians of the late ‘60s, many of whom lent their musical talents to speaking out again the war in Vietnam, Kravitz uses the title to draw parallels with the US involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Watch the Official Videos:
I will admit that I have some personal bias for Love Revolution, songs like “Will You Marry Me” were personal anthems for me in 2008, the year I married the love of my life. Love ballads always sound better when you’re twenty-five years old and gazing into the eyes of the person you plan to spend the rest of your life with, but that is the target audience for power ballad songwriters.
Kravitz’s attempt to spark a love movement in 2008 was both poignant and timely in retrospect, as the US mortgage crisis was impending, along with the fifth year of major troop deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's also interesting that the biracial musician who was originally met with some resistance because he did not comfortably fit into the usual compartments, prelabeled for industry standards, amassed one the most commercially successful string of hits over the past two decades. Both American and international audiences showed that they placed great value on an artist that could effectively blur genres, consistently sound cool, and occasionally give us some great stories to nod to.
For two decades, Lenny Kravitz checked off every box necessary to be a bona fide rock star, and fortunately for his audience, consciously defied convention. By 2008, the kids that were born around the time Let Love Rule was released in 1989 were of legal voting age in the US and America stood on the cusp of electing its first biracial President, for many of the same reasons that Kravitz remained a frontman for the rock genre.
Although It Is Time For A Love Revolution didn’t spawn top ten hits, its brightest moments are strong testaments to one of rock’s most iconic figures as a singer, songwriter, and composer. Now fifteen years old, Love Revolution is a bright spot during a time of uncertainty, a personal favorite among an iconic musician’s revered discography, and a cool story to tell my teenage daughter of how Zoe Kravitz’s dad’s eighth album was a CD on mom and dad’s honeymoon packing list.
LISTEN: