Digging new Lenny album. As others have said nothing ground breaking. But honestly, I don't think most of us expect that from him right? It's a good solid consistent album. To my ears, it's a companion piece to the 5 album. Def more on the RnB/Soul side as opposed to the more rock oriented vibe of his last few releases. Imo. Good stuff.

Bfunkthe1 said:

Digging new Lenny album. As others have said nothing ground breaking. But honestly, I don't think most of us expect that from him right? It's a good solid consistent album. To my ears, it's a companion piece to the 5 album. Def more on the RnB/Soul side as opposed to the more rock oriented vibe of his last few releases. Imo. Good stuff.

I agree completely - it reminds me a lot of the 5 album.

Loving the songs SuperLove, Liquid Jesus and B&W America....

Also digging the synth solo on Looking Back On Love....

I did love his first album 'Let love rule' when it first came out, and i did like many of the songs on his second album, but after that i somehow lost interest in him.

My main issue with him is that he borrows a lot from other artists from the past, but that he doesnt do something fresh and inspirational with these influences. He is very good at copying Lennon, Sly and Jimmi on a superficial level, but there his music is otherwise very shallow. It doesnt help him that most of his lyrics are like children nursery rhymes: 'lets be nice to eachother, and this world will be a better place' on the most blatant level... lol

People sometimes accusing Prince of doing the same. Indeed Prince also borrows a lot from several musical legends (black and white), but he isnt offering a carbon-copy of their music: he incorporates there influences, and mixes them in more original, often surprising ways... a song like Delirious is an electro-take on fifties rockabilly, Lenny would just perform a song in 50's rockabilly style...Prince uses elements of Lennons songs on ATWIAD, and mixes it with elements of the Minneapolis sound, while Lenny releases songs that sound like outtakes from Revolver...

Next to him too blatanly copying others, his songwriting has become very clumsy and lazy after his first few albums. The melody and riffs of a song like 'Fly away' are just toecurlingly blatant.

I am sorry, Lenny showed promise during his early years, but IMO he hasnt developed since, in fact: i think the quality of his music and lyrics have detoriated since.

Riverman37 said:

I did love his first album 'Let love rule' when it first came out, and i did like many of the songs on his second album, but after that i somehow lost interest in him.

My main issue with him is that he borrows a lot from other artists from the past, but that he doesnt do something fresh and inspirational with these influences. He is very good at copying Lennon, Sly and Jimmi on a superficial level, but there his music is otherwise very shallow. It doesnt help him that most of his lyrics are like children nursery rhymes: 'lets be nice to eachother, and this world will be a better place' on the most blatant level... lol

People sometimes accusing Prince of doing the same. Indeed Prince also borrows a lot from several musical legends (black and white), but he isnt offering a carbon-copy of their music: he incorporates there influences, and mixes them in more original, often surprising ways... a song like Delirious is an electro-take on fifties rockabilly, Lenny would just perform a song in 50's rockabilly style...Prince uses elements of Lennons songs on ATWIAD, and mixes it with elements of the Minneapolis sound, while Lenny releases songs that sound like outtakes from Revolver...

Next to him too blatanly copying others, his songwriting has become very clumsy and lazy after his first few albums. The melody and riffs of a song like 'Fly away' are just toecurlingly blatant.

I am sorry, Lenny showed promise during his early years, but IMO he hasnt developed since, in fact: i think the quality of his music and lyrics have detoriated since.

Yep...........

I've listened to most of the tracks from this album on Youtube and I have to say I'm quite impressed by many of them. It sounds like Lenny's done what he has always wanted to do with this record. There are a few tracks that are reminiscent of the not so great (okay, piss poor) previous 2-3 albums that he did, but in overall I think he's done a great job capturing some of the essential qualities of the music of the past decades.

"Black And White America" and "Looking Back On Love" in particular are wonderful homages to 70s soul (Gil Scott-Heron, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield).

It may be retro, but it's really well done and shows how much this guy simply loves music. I just can't dislike this one.

I'm going to see him live tonight in NY. I'll report back.

JoeBala said:

I'm going to see him live tonight in NY. I'll report back.

WHERE!?

DAV123 said:

JoeBala said:

I'm going to see him live tonight in NY. I'll report back.

WHERE!?

Terminal 5 in midtown manhattan. I won tixs(you can't buy them)!!! That's why I'm trying to sell my Sara Bareilles ticket(saw her twice she is amazing live). If you are in the area I'd say stop by to try to get a ticket from someone who came alone or try craigslist.

[Edited 8/31/11 9:34am]

[Edited 8/31/11 11:16am]

Headed to Target to pick this up now... Hope the bonus tracks offer something nice.

djThunderfunk said:

Headed to Target to pick this up now... Hope the bonus tracks offer something nice.

Got mine yesterday. Haven't listened to bonus tracks yet though. Will wait until I can have some chill time to check the whole thing out at once.

It does kinda bug me though folks overseas got a bonus dvd with their special edition. I believe it has interviews, acoustic perfomances, videos etc. Maybe someone can fill us in. If I had my choice I would've preferred that. I'm cool for now though.

Bfunkthe1 said:

djThunderfunk said:

Headed to Target to pick this up now... Hope the bonus tracks offer something nice.

Got mine yesterday. Haven't listened to bonus tracks yet though. Will wait until I can have some chill time to check the whole thing out at once.

It does kinda bug me though folks overseas got a bonus dvd with their special edition. I believe it has interviews, acoustic perfomances, videos etc. Maybe someone can fill us in. If I had my choice I would've preferred that. I'm cool for now though.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to check out the bonus disc later tonight.

I got the Time For A Love Revolution that came with a bonus DVD and it was a bit of a disappointment so I don't wish I could get that version. If they're good, I'll be happy with bonus tracks...

djThunderfunk said:

Bfunkthe1 said:

Got mine yesterday. Haven't listened to bonus tracks yet though. Will wait until I can have some chill time to check the whole thing out at once.

It does kinda bug me though folks overseas got a bonus dvd with their special edition. I believe it has interviews, acoustic perfomances, videos etc. Maybe someone can fill us in. If I had my choice I would've preferred that. I'm cool for now though.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to check out the bonus disc later tonight.

I got the Time For A Love Revolution that came with a bonus DVD and it was a bit of a disappointment so I don't wish I could get that version. If they're good, I'll be happy with bonus tracks...

Same here and yes that dvd was kinda weak. Some very short interview pieces and then some older videos.Lol. This new dvd at least seems to have some full live/acoustic perfomances on it. But someone will have to confirm this for us.

Just spun this one (bonus tracks included).

Expectations exceeded.... this one. Definitely his best work since "5".

EPIC? no. LIFE CHANGING? no.

Damned good Lenny album tho, IMO.

Graycap23 said:

Riverman37 said:

I did love his first album 'Let love rule' when it first came out, and i did like many of the songs on his second album, but after that i somehow lost interest in him.

My main issue with him is that he borrows a lot from other artists from the past, but that he doesnt do something fresh and inspirational with these influences. He is very good at copying Lennon, Sly and Jimmi on a superficial level, but there his music is otherwise very shallow. It doesnt help him that most of his lyrics are like children nursery rhymes: 'lets be nice to eachother, and this world will be a better place' on the most blatant level... lol

People sometimes accusing Prince of doing the same. Indeed Prince also borrows a lot from several musical legends (black and white), but he isnt offering a carbon-copy of their music: he incorporates there influences, and mixes them in more original, often surprising ways... a song like Delirious is an electro-take on fifties rockabilly, Lenny would just perform a song in 50's rockabilly style...Prince uses elements of Lennons songs on ATWIAD, and mixes it with elements of the Minneapolis sound, while Lenny releases songs that sound like outtakes from Revolver...

Next to him too blatanly copying others, his songwriting has become very clumsy and lazy after his first few albums. The melody and riffs of a song like 'Fly away' are just toecurlingly blatant.

I am sorry, Lenny showed promise during his early years, but IMO he hasnt developed since, in fact: i think the quality of his music and lyrics have detoriated since.

Yep...........

Agreed! That's why I like Lenny in a he's cool but I am not checking for him like that kind of way, but I LOVE Prince. I will be checking out this album, though because of the comparisons to 5, which was the last Lenny album I bought.

[Edited 8/31/11 16:19pm]

The bonus tracks on the Target Exclusive are pretty good. I like 5 of the 6, so not bad at all!

And, at only $13.99, totally worth it over the single disc edition.

The package looks nice too, although, I hate having the booklet glued into the case. What a pain in the ass...

djThunderfunk said:

The bonus tracks on the Target Exclusive are pretty good. I like 5 of the 6, so not bad at all!

And, at only $13.99, totally worth it over the single disc edition.

The package looks nice too, although, I hate having the booklet glued into the case. What a pain in the ass...

I wonder if in six months to a years time the Target version will be selling for $0.99 like Lotusflow3r?

rialb said:

djThunderfunk said:

The bonus tracks on the Target Exclusive are pretty good. I like 5 of the 6, so not bad at all!

And, at only $13.99, totally worth it over the single disc edition.

The package looks nice too, although, I hate having the booklet glued into the case. What a pain in the ass...

I wonder if in six months to a years time the Target version will be selling for $0.99 like Lotusflow3r?

Lol. well it's actually $4.99 right now. Though at one point, your right, .99 cents. I bought 5 copies then.

I will listen to Lenny's full deluxe edition tonight when I can "chill" in front of my stereo with no distractions. Funny thing is even without bonus disc, this is basically a double "album" more or less.

I believe the vinyl version is 2 lps so there ya go.

Watching the Today show with Lenny and he just said that new release is essenially a double album in the ol' skool sense. Lol.

Interesting point, he's got Gail Ann Dorsey on bass.

Bfunkthe1 said:

rialb said:

I wonder if in six months to a years time the Target version will be selling for $0.99 like Lotusflow3r?

Lol. well it's actually $4.99 right now. Though at one point, your right, .99 cents. I bought 5 copies then.

I will listen to Lenny's full deluxe edition tonight when I can "chill" in front of my stereo with no distractions. Funny thing is even without bonus disc, this is basically a double "album" more or less.

I believe the vinyl version is 2 lps so there ya go.

To be clear I wasn't trying to be funny, I was genuinely wondering if people might save a bundle if they waited before buying it.

Are there any other recent examples of Target exclusives that now sell very cheaply or was Lotusflow3r unique in that regard?

rialb said:

djThunderfunk said:

The bonus tracks on the Target Exclusive are pretty good. I like 5 of the 6, so not bad at all!

And, at only $13.99, totally worth it over the single disc edition.

The package looks nice too, although, I hate having the booklet glued into the case. What a pain in the ass...

I wonder if in six months to a years time the Target version will be selling for $0.99 like Lotusflow3r?

I doubt it. Target does a lot of the exclusive deals but I rarely see a lot of backstock... except in the case of Lotusflow3r. I wonder, since that album was entirely exclusive to Target (as opposed to an exclusive VERSION), if they didn't have many more copies than normal...

Digging the CD. There is a Marvin Gaye type song on there that is great.

Diggin "Looking Back on Love"

PrettyMan72 said:

Diggin "Looking Back on Love"

I was just going to post the same thing. Best song he's done in years. This whole record is the best thing he's done in years.

I was really impressed by that one.

Of course, the first review for this disc that I read happened to call it a throwaway. I think it's just sad that some people that consider themselves music journalists can't handle a single piece of music that has an extended keyboard solo section.

I'm happy that Lenny has had the guts to make this type of stuff.

novabrkr said:

I was really impressed by that one.

Of course, the first review for this disc that I read happened to call it a throwaway. I think it's just sad that some people that consider themselves music journalists can't handle a single piece of music that has an extended keyboard solo section.

I'm happy that Lenny has had the guts to make this type of stuff.

Agreed.

I could care less what "music journalists" say. I usally like what they don't and vice versa so whatever.

I dig new Lenny cd. It's very strong, consistent and entertaining. The exclusive bonus disc from Target is good also. 6 tracks. 4 more upbeat rock/funk tunes and 2 acoustic tracks of Black & White America and Everywhere. A nice addition to 16 track album. Imo.

Finally picked up the deluxe edition today, overall I think it's a solid set of 22 songs but not nearly as funky or rocking as it had been described prior to it's release.

My early favorite is What Do You Want From Me, which starts out sounding very much like a Prince track. I have to believe it will be hugely popular in the clubs.

Most powerful song IMO is The Faith of A Child.

Song that will get the most airplay is probably Boongie Drop.

I still haven't bought it but will soon. Kinda short.

the cd is typical lenny nothing more or less i never took him or no artist to reach like prince does i think how prince expands himself is the beauty of prince.lenny does rock very well his circus cd was one of his best. this cd looking back on love and liquid jesus stands out the most. i would love a song with him and prince. prince has said when lenny is free from his contract that will happen cuz they do jam 2gether

I read some good reviews, haven´t heard the album yet but it seems it´s his best since

Are you gonna go....or Circus.

I loved his albums untill 5 (and bought Baptism in nice-price ) but I´m

glad he´s back. His little "friend" must be jealous (about this album!)