Non tutti riescono a fare quello che ha fatto Mr. Kravitz. (1)
Alto come una lattina dei distributori automatici, di bell'aspetto, dreadlocks lunghissimi, anima rock blues and soul, patito di Hendrix, Lennon, Sly Stone, Prince, Stefanino Meraviglia e Led Zeppelin, Lenny inizia la sua carriera nel magico starbusiness con quest'album che, a conti fatti, risulta il migliore di tutta la sua produzione. Da lì in poi un declino, povertà di idee e ristagnatura forzata nello stesso brodo primordiale caratterizzeranno una caduta libera senza imbragatura né paracadute.
Al pari di un'altra promessa mancata della "nuova musica nera", Terence Trent d'Arby, Lenny Kravitz qui suona un po' tutto: basso, tastiere, batteria, chitarra e, ovviamente, canta e si fa i cori da solo fin dove può.
C'è chi di ce che si sia fatto il culo on the road prima del successo, che abbia girato di locale in locale per presentarsi al mondo con la sua chitarrina, ma io ho sinceramente qualche dubbio, visto che la madre già apparteneva al mondo dello spettacolo (Ellen Willis, moglie di Tom, nei "Jefferson", remember?) e qualche porta magari gliel'ha aperta al figliol prodigo.
Ma non sono cazzi miei e sinceramente non mi importa, tanto oramai se non hai un calcio in culo è difficile che tu possa andare da qualche parte ai piani alti e, sinceramente anch'io, se fossi un produttore, lo avrei messo subito sotto contratto dopo aver ascoltato un album come questo.
Intendiamoci, Mr. Kravitz non ha inventato nulla, c'é chi lo definisce il copione dei copioni, perché si sentono in maniera imbarazzante tutti gli influssi che ho citato prima in questo disco, specialmente per il Dio mancino della sei corde e per l'occhialuto genietto dei Beatles, ma il pregio di quest'uomo è stato quello di saper fondere alla perfezione una miriade di influenze per dare alla luce un prodotto dalle buonissime e promettenti basi di partenza, rispolverando con prepotenza il vecchio sound 70's.
Il groove di "Sitting on the Top of the World..", con quell basso funky, il blues/gospel a lento incedere di "My Precious Love", il sound '70 - Starsky and Hutch - di "Fear", la sensuale "Does Anybody Out There Even Care", il ritmo di "Mr. Cab Driver", la stupenda ballata in crescendo "Rosemary", scritto a due mani con l'ex compagna Lisa Bonet, la Lennoniana "Be" e l'Hendrixiana "Blues for Sister Someone", da sole valgono l'acquisto del disco.
Tutti gli strumenti suonano (stravolutamente) come usciti da una reunion di blues and soul, con un pizzico di psichedelia degli splendidi anni appena passati, l'album scorre dalla prima all'ultima traccia senza risultare mai pesante e ripetitivo, la disposizione dei pezzi sembra studiata appositamente per incuriosire e non limitare ad un solo ascolto per poi accantonare.
Un album come questo non ha epoca, puoi rispolverarlo quando vuoi e ti lascerà sempre soddisfatto. In una recensione sull'ultimo di Kravitz ho letto che: "Se avesse voluto fare qualcosa di buono lo avrebbe già fatto..".
Bene, io penso che quest'album sia quella cosa buona (e giusta).
(1) Non è da tutti far meglio della prima uscita, se si esce con un prodotto tale..
Neanche lui purtroppo ce l'ha fatta.
Elenco tracce testi e video
02 Let Love Rule (05:42)
Love is gentle as a rose
And love can conquer any war
It's time to take a stand
Brothers and sisters join hands
We got to let love rule
Let love rule
We got to let love rule
Let love rule
Love transcends all space and time
And love can make a little child smile
Can't you see this won't go wrong
But we got to be strong
We can't do it alone
We got to let love rule
Let love rule
We got to let love rule
Let love rule
03 Freedom Train (02:50)
It's on the freedom train
Come on dance on the freedom train
06 Fear (05:20)
I smell the fear that rains inside
The thought of children who must oblige
To tainted dreams and polluted seas
The missing moon and melting trees
A mist of doom and clouds of pain
Toxic waste and acid rain
The passing of our ignorance
A lifetime spent in abstinence
Living in fear
Living in fear
I can't tell you no lies
Living in fear
Living in fear
Conditioning to hate and them to blame
Their search for God is just the same
Machines for hearts, how warped a view
Forgetting that they're human too
Waiting like a branded steer
Who first will launch the burning spear
When every day may be your last
You think we'd learn from our past
Living in fear
Living in fear
I can't tell you no lies
Living in fear
Living in fear
I smell the fear that rains inside
The thought of so many lives denied
More wounded soldiers, another burning flag
And rows and rows of body bags
No time for tears as the night falls cold
The days survivors crawl back in their holes
As for the rest they're shipped back home
Home to the rows of white tomb stones
Living in fear
Living in fear
I can't tell you no lies
Living in fear
Living in fear
07 Does Anybody Out There Even Care (03:42)
The dream is lost
Don't let it slip away
Or bloody days won't be far away
Cause when there's no more sin
There's no where you can run
Does anybody know how many lives we've lost
Can anybody ever pay the cost
What will it take for us to join in peace my friends
Does anybody out there even care
Wake up world before it's too late
It's time for love to conquer hate
And when that battle's won
We all can live as one
Does anybody know how many lives we've lost
Can anybody ever pay the cost
What will it take for us to join in peace my friends
Does anybody out there even care
Riots in the streets, men dressed in white sheets
Is that what we want
A little boy hanging from a tree and a burning cross
If we can learn that we're one we can overcome
Before this takes us all
We'd better catch ourselves before we fall
Does anybody know how many lives we've lost
Can anybody ever pay the cost
What will it take for us to join in peace my friends
Does anybody out there even care
08 Mr. Cab Driver (03:50)
Mr. Cab Driver won't you stop to let me in
Mr. Cab Driver don't you like my kind of skin
Mr. Cab Driver you're never gonna win
Mr. Cab Driver won't stop to pick me up
Mr. Cab Driver I might need some help
Mr. Cab Driver only thinks about himself
Mr. Cab Driver
Mr. Cab Driver
Mr. Cab Driver don't like the way I look
He don't like dreads he thinks we're all crooks
Mr. Cab Driver reads too many story books
Mr. Cab Driver pass me up with eyes of fire
Mr. Cab Driver thinks we're all 165'ers
Mr. Cab Driver fuck you I'm a survivor
Let me in
Mr. Cab Driver
Mr. Cab Driver
09 Rosemary (05:28)
Little Mary was five years old
Her parents left her, she was out in the cold
Alone to live and find her way
In this great world of heartache and pain
Eyes of brown, matted locks of gold
Her flowered dress is tattered and soiled
Tear stained cheeks, her feet cold and bare
Who could have left a child so rare
Rosemary your day will come
He loved you so He gave His only son
Keep the faith in your soul
Stay down on your knees
I'm beggin you please
Hold onto the beads at your heart
A burning heart and tired eyes
Howling winds for lullabys
No one there to soothe her fright
Nowhere to turn but the inward light
Because life is for believing
That your heart can turn to gold
All you need is Christ to receive it
There's eternal life for every soul
Rosemary your day will come
He loved you so He gave His only son
Keep the faith in your soul
Stay down on your knees
I'm begging you please
Hold onto the beads at your heart
He loves you He needs you He wants you
So don't let Him down
12 Empty Hands (04:43)
He rode in town on a white horse
With nothing in his hands
He came to gather his people
And take them to his promised land
When he came he knew there would be bloodshed
But still no violence made his places
He came to fight in a battle
With no guns or money
But with his empty hands
With his empty hands
They said hey boy what you lookin' at
As they eyed his dreaded mane
He said my father has sent me
I've come back to reclaim
The children whose hearts
Were so whole and pure
Now it's you who'll die in pain
So they lynched the man
Who fooled the word
And all the children gathered
In his empty hands
In his empty hands
13 Flower Child (02:56)
Dressed in purple velvets
With a flower in her hair
Feel her gentle spirit
As the champa fills the air
She wears rubys on her fingers
Tiny bells upon her toes
She's the finest thing
I've ever seen
Love that ring inside her nose
Flower Child yeah
Flower Child yeah
She's a psychedelic princess
On a magic carpet ride
And where her trip will carry you
Is somewhere you can't find
She's on a plane of higher consciousness
Meditation is the key
She's got her shit together
Cause her soul and mind are free
Flower Child yeah
Flower Child yeah
She's a child of Martin Luther
As a freedom fighter she
Speaks of liberation on the land
And on the sea
Her eyes are made of sunshine
And her lips are jelly sweet
Flower Child yeah
Flower Child yeah
Carico i commenti... con calma
