purplethunder3121 said:

jackson35 said:

leeny is better than prince.

I don't khow about leeny but Lenny is NOT a better musician than Prince.

lenny kravitz knows how to play on key.

He's hot....who cares what kind of instrument he plays

robertlove said:

He's hot....who cares what kind of instrument he plays

funksterr said:

Fiona01 said:

So he can play drums, bass, guitar and piano - big whoop.

I've seen him on keys and at the most he just plonks out a couple of chords - he's certainly no Tori Amos. His guitar playing is average, all the difficult solos are played by that guy who looks like he wants to be Marc Bolan. All of Lenny's solos are ridiculously simple.

I don't get why people think he's talented just because he plays a lot of instruments. He doesn't play a single one of them that well.

Everything you said is absolutely true, but I never heard anyone say he was a musical genius, or any of the ridiculously high praise you hear about Prince (who is not as good as advertised). Lenny's music is generally cool and enjoyable and so long as his ego doesn't get out of whack I won't say anything bad about him.

prince gets high praise because he is outrageously talented, and no, prince is every bit as good as advertised. Then again its hard to explain that to someone who thinks prince isn't more than a 5/10 on any instrument he plays.

That's all.

Let love rule, motherfuckers.

I Love Lenny, i love when people hate on him

They have not heard every album he has ever done his early albums have dozens of instruments on them and sounds that incorporated blues,funk, new wave, rock & country. Sure some of his later albums where mixed but as of recent he has even produced his own material. Sure you can think he's only ok at every instrument. But Lenny is not overrated i'm a huge fan but i don't hold him in regards to Prince, Stevie, Frank Zappa etc.

Lenny was in a boys choir when he was 10 till he was about 18 or 19 and he started playing guitar at around the same time so music has been in his life for a long time, the man bleeds music and he works hard. So people can hate him it's w/e but i know from listening to his albums the man is very talented and that's all that matters to me

And as Timmy said Let Love Rule, motherfuckers

Leny IS an instrumentt

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Who gives a shit if a bunch of kids at Guitar Center can outnoodle his, or anybody's ass. It doesn't add up to a great overall musician. I can impress people at GC. But songwriting is another story altogether.

It's not an exaggeration to say that I can easily name off FORTY Lenny songs that I love listening to on a very regular basis. He's written scads better songs than...I don't know, Hootie, Rob Thomas, Carlos Santana, Sheryl Crow. People who've sold shitloads of records.

How are the live shows?Never seen him live.

Imaginative said:

Fiona01 said:

So he can play drums, bass, guitar and piano - big whoop.

I've never been too good at math, but if I'm counting right, that's four instruments more than I've ever seen Michael Jackson play on stage. I think Lenny is rated pretty accurately by most; talented with some great songs but not earth shattering.

Are you seriously comparing the musical talents of Michael Jackson to Lenny Kravitz????

Any sap can learn to play a few guitar chords. How many 12 year olds can reduce people to tears with their God given vocal talent??

hhhhdmt said:

funksterr said:

Everything you said is absolutely true, but I never heard anyone say he was a musical genius, or any of the ridiculously high praise you hear about Prince (who is not as good as advertised). Lenny's music is generally cool and enjoyable and so long as his ego doesn't get out of whack I won't say anything bad about him.

prince gets high praise because he is outrageously talented, and no, prince is every bit as good as advertised. Then again its hard to explain that to someone who thinks prince isn't more than a 5/10 on any instrument he plays.

this thread ain't about Prince.

Fiona01 said:

Are you seriously comparing the musical talents of Michael Jackson to Lenny Kravitz????

Any sap can learn to play a few guitar chords. How many 12 year olds can reduce people to tears with their God given vocal talent??

No comparison really.

One of them is a great vocalist and the best Song & Dance man there ever was. (But still just a Song & Dance man.) Kind of like a really great Sammy Davis Jr. or Al Jolson (except Al Jolson put on black face, MJ put on white).

The other is a great all around musician, who (by your admission) can play multiple instruments and composes, arranges and produces virtually ALL of his material ALONE (and produced a track for MJ), and is capable in performing in multiple genres.

[Edited 6/22/11 10:57am]

abigail05 said:

Who gives a shit if a bunch of kids at Guitar Center can outnoodle his, or anybody's ass. It doesn't add up to a great overall musician. I can impress people at GC. But songwriting is another story altogether.

It's not an exaggeration to say that I can easily name off FORTY Lenny songs that I love listening to on a very regular basis. He's written scads better songs than...I don't know, Hootie, Rob Thomas, Carlos Santana, Sheryl Crow. People who've sold shitloads of records.

I feel ya.

[img:$uid]http://i45.tinypic.com/2952v48.gif[/img:$uid]

Imaginative said:

Fiona01 said:

Are you seriously comparing the musical talents of Michael Jackson to Lenny Kravitz????

Any sap can learn to play a few guitar chords. How many 12 year olds can reduce people to tears with their God given vocal talent??

No comparison really.

One of them is a great vocalist and the best Song & Dance man there ever was. (But still just a Song & Dance man.) Kind of like a really great Sammy Davis Jr. or Al Jolson (except Al Jolson put on black face, MJ put on white).

The other is a great all around musician, who (by your admission) can play multiple instruments and composes, arranges and produces virtually ALL of his material ALONE (and produced a track for MJ), and is capable in performing in multiple genres.

[Edited 6/22/11 10:57am]

But MJ did know how to play intruments and he wrote&composed a lot of his songs?

Emancipation89 said:

Imaginative said:

No comparison really.

One of them is a great vocalist and the best Song & Dance man there ever was. (But still just a Song & Dance man.) Kind of like a really great Sammy Davis Jr. or Al Jolson (except Al Jolson put on black face, MJ put on white).

The other is a great all around musician, who (by your admission) can play multiple instruments and composes, arranges and produces virtually ALL of his material ALONE (and produced a track for MJ), and is capable in performing in multiple genres.

[Edited 6/22/11 10:57am]

But MJ did know how to play intruments and he wrote&composed a lot of his songs?

He did, but Lenny wrote and composed EVERY song he was ever done on his albums. And also co wrote hits like jUstify My Love for Madonna. And he also wrote songs for MJ, Barry White and others in the 90's.

Timmy84 said:

abigail05 said:

Who gives a shit if a bunch of kids at Guitar Center can outnoodle his, or anybody's ass. It doesn't add up to a great overall musician. I can impress people at GC. But songwriting is another story altogether.

It's not an exaggeration to say that I can easily name off FORTY Lenny songs that I love listening to on a very regular basis. He's written scads better songs than...I don't know, Hootie, Rob Thomas, Carlos Santana, Sheryl Crow. People who've sold shitloads of records.

I feel ya.

[img:$uid]http://i45.tinypic.com/2952v48.gif[/img:$uid]

I love Let Love Rule, Mama Said, Are You Gonna Go My Way, Lenny & It Is Time For A Love Revolution

Good albums there

Gunsnhalen said:

Emancipation89 said:

But MJ did know how to play intruments and he wrote&composed a lot of his songs?

He did, but Lenny wrote and composed EVERY song he was ever done on his albums. And also co wrote hits like jUstify My Love for Madonna. And he also wrote songs for MJ, Barry White and others in the 90's.

I'm not trying to take anything away from Lenny. I was replying to a poster who didn't seem to recognize what MJ was able to do or achieved as a musician.

Emancipation89 said:

Gunsnhalen said:

He did, but Lenny wrote and composed EVERY song he was ever done on his albums. And also co wrote hits like jUstify My Love for Madonna. And he also wrote songs for MJ, Barry White and others in the 90's.

I'm not trying to take anything away from Lenny. I was replying to a poster who didn't seem to recognize what MJ was able to do or achieved as a musician.

Oh gotcha

Emancipation89 said:

But MJ did know how to play intruments and he wrote&composed a lot of his songs?

I am aware that he could play some instruments, just not well enough to perform on them live. Ever.

I'm also well aware that he wrote 26 songs all by himself over a period of 18 years (Off the Wall through HIStory).

Imaginative said:

Emancipation89 said:

But MJ did know how to play intruments and he wrote&composed a lot of his songs?

I am aware that he could play some instruments, just not well enough to perform on them live. Ever.

I'm also well aware that he wrote 26 songs all by himself over a period of 18 years (Off the Wall through HIStory).

There are countless unreleased songs he wrote as well. I'm sure you're smart enough to know how to find some leaked ones. They're quite amazing.

How well one plays intruments shouldn't directly affect your judgement of how good of a musician that person is IMO. I think it should all come down to the quality of music in the end. You can be a "multi-intrumentalists" like Justin Bieber and Will.I.Am and still choose to make beat-based music.

Also, assuming his ability of playing instruments just based on the fact that he never performed on stage with playing instrument doesn't make much sense to me. I think Michael had the ability to connect with the audience without playing instruments and that was his performance style and that was his choice. Whether it's a dance song or a ballad, you can see how he sings a song with intense facial expression and elegant body movement to interpret the song in his own way. Almost like watching a Musical theatre.

...

Why must almost thread on here have to end with an MJ comparison

I mean whether it's Prince, Stevie, Marvin, Terence Trent, R Kelly, Little Richard. etc

MJ MUST be brought up no matter what the subject is. These men are all there own musicians and all have there own thing leave them be, and not have ot bring MJ to every thread... Lenny is not like Michael he is his own man, with his own records he doesn't need MJ comparisons like everyone else

^^^ Sowwy. But I was kinda indrectly making a point that how well one plays instruments doesn't have much to do with how good of a musician that person is Because intruments are not a tool to show-off in front of public. You don't have to be able to play electric guitar like Hendrix to compose great songs with guitar sound in the background. Personally I don't know how well Lenny Kravitz plays instruments but I love his songs and I think his songwriting ability is quite amazing. And I think people should focus on that and not on how fast one can move his fingers on the piano or guitar...when they judge someone as a musician...

lastdecember said:

Cinnamon234 said:

I agree. Lenny is hardly even rated in the first place, so I don't see how he can be overrated.

Yeah totally agree i never hear Lenny mentioned as a musician, shit i dont even hear him getting some props for sustaining a career, i dont think he is held in some form of high regard or even put on a level where you can say "he doesnt deserve that" i think hes a good musician, knows his chords, knows how to put a good batch of hooks in a song, has taken from his influences, and he can write too, i dont know why everyone feels that everyone has to be a pioneer or GOD like musician.

This is an important point. Sometimes on this board (and elsewhere) folks act like every musical contribution has to be earth shattering for it to be enjoyable/worthwhile. I think its imporant to remember that some music can just be simple and pleasant to listen to, and that is fine.

^ To some people, "if it ain't groundbreaking it ain't shit".

And it's odd someone says one is overrated when he's been harshly criticized for being a doppleganger in the first damn place.

So overrated by whom? From what I've heard, he's UNDERRATED actually.

Emancipation89 said:

^^^ Sowwy. But I was kinda indrectly making a point that how well one plays instruments doesn't have much to do with how good of a musician that person is Because intruments are not a tool to show-off in front of public. You don't have to be able to play electric guitar like Hendrix to compose great songs with guitar sound in the background. Personally I don't know how well Lenny Kravitz plays instruments but I love his songs and I think his songwriting ability is quite amazing. And I think people should focus on that and not on how fast one can move his fingers on the piano or guitar...when they judge someone as a musician...

Sorry Emancipation hugs

Wasn't trying to sound mean, it's just a pet peeve of mine not directed at you hehe

Yeah I hate when people use his name (Michael's) in vain. Not directed at anyone, just in general. Honestly he has nothing to do with the rating of Lenny Kravitz. Can't even focus on the topic anymore because the same people come here arguing about Michael. But I'll shut up about it.

[Edited 6/22/11 13:08pm]

let's all stop fighting and enjoy this...

Lenny comes in around the 4:00-5:00 mark

Gunsnhalen said:

...

Why must almost thread on here have to end with an MJ comparison

I mean whether it's Prince, Stevie, Marvin, Terence Trent, R Kelly, Little Richard. etc

MJ MUST be brought up no matter what the subject is. These men are all there own musicians and all have there own thing leave them be, and not have ot bring MJ to every thread... Lenny is not like Michael he is his own man, with his own records he doesn't need MJ comparisons like everyone else