Lenny Kravitz - Greatest Hits (2000)

GREATEST HITS FORTNIGHT (FEBRUARY 6-19, 2012)

I've owned a couple of Kravitz's early releases on cassette and I've heard most of his catalog, so I feel comfortable saying that he's more of a singles guy than an album guy. If that's true, then a greatest hits album by Kravitz should be great. This is. I guess you could try to categorize his music as psychedelic rock or funk rock, but to me, this is simply rock music and this CD is one of the most solid rock albums in my collection. I don't think I'm alone in my opinion: this is Kravitz's best selling album, having sold over 10 million copies. Kravitz always impresses me not only as a songwriter, but also a complete instrumentalist and producer. I usually listen to this in my truck, but this morning I've got my headphones and I've become aware of how Kravitz uses stereo sound like they did back in the '60s, putting certain instruments in the left channel, others in the right, some in the middle. You just don't hear that anymore. He's a master of the studio, but I'd like to see him live at some point.

Interview with Kravitz about this greatest hits compilation

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #2

Tracks:

	Song	Year	Hot 100	Mainstream Rock	Modern Rock
1	Are You Gonna Go My Way	1993		1	2
2	Fly Away	1998	12	1	1
3	Rock And Roll Is Dead	1995	75	4	10
4	Again	2000	4		65
5	It Ain't Over Til It's Over	1991	2
6	Can't Get You Off My Mind	1996	62
7	Mr. Cab Driver	1990		50
8	American Woman	1999	49	3	7
9	Stand By My Woman	1991	76
10	Always On The Run	1991		40	8
11	Heaven Help	1993	80
12	I Belong To You	1998	71
13	Believe	1993	60	15	10
14	Let Love Rule	1989	89	23	5
15	Black Velveteen	1999		24	29

Kravitz has included a healthy 15 tracks here. Artists sometimes add a new single to their greatest hits packages and they're normally not very good. Here the single, Again, is one of the strongest cuts on the disc and won a Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. The only songs I normally skip are Can't Get You Off My Mind and Stand By My Woman. Stand out tracks include the aforementioned Again, plus Are You Gonna Go My Way, Fly Away, Always On The Run (with a guest appearance by Slash), Believe, Let Love Rule, and Black Velveteen.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: This CD probably owns the record for most time spent in my truck. Perfect music for driving around.

Previously revisited for the blog:
It Is Time For A Love Revolution (2008)