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Where does Lenny Kravitz rank? (1 Viewer)

simey said:
Add 2 points for his sex appeal. 
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He was the opener for the Stones on the Steel Wheels Tour and was very good. Soon after, he is the a celebrity in Rolling Stone magazine.  After that, it seemed to be the image was bigger as the music.  Too bad as I really liked the first couple of albums. 
 

just too much style and too little substance for HOF consideration.  

 
Loved his first 2 albums but the last "new" stuff of his I've heard was American Woman. Put on a good live show when I saw him open for The Cult and The Stones but don't think I'd see him as the headliner.

 
Getting back on point, I think Kravitz is generally overlooked by many. He was good for a decent single or two off of each album but never was hugely popular. I would call him fringe popular. Since his albums had a variety of music styles on them, people that liked his rock songs could be disappointed in his other songs and folks that liked more of his pop / soul / R&B vibe may not love his other tracks either. So he's basically survived for 30+ years as a third tier rock / music star with stylish hair and a cool image. He's dated his share of models, actresses, and musicians and is said to be worth $50-60M. I think most people would be more than happy with that as a lifestyle and body of work.

Here's a quality 15+ minute jam for Let Love Rule from Lollapalooza in 2019 where he decides to go sing IN the crowd. Love him or hate him, he is one of the coolest dudes on the planet . . . and many ladies would still swoon over him.

 
Anarchy99 said:
Getting back on point, I think Kravitz is generally overlooked by many. He was good for a decent single or two off of each album but never was hugely popular. I would call him fringe popular. Since his albums had a variety of music styles on them, people that liked his rock songs could be disappointed in his other songs and folks that liked more of his pop / soul / R&B vibe may not love his other tracks either. So he's basically survived for 30+ years as a third tier rock / music star with stylish hair and a cool image. He's dated his share of models, actresses, and musicians and is said to be worth $50-60M. I think most people would be more than happy with that as a lifestyle and body of work.

Here's a quality 15+ minute jam for Let Love Rule from Lollapalooza in 2019 where he decides to go sing IN the crowd. Love him or hate him, he is one of the coolest dudes on the planet . . . and many ladies would still swoon over him.
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He’s the Eric Lindros of Rock, and nothing wrong with that.

 
HOF? No. But then again the Rock N Roll HOF is a joke in of itself IMO.

I loved Lenny’s first 3 albums....love them. The rest? Meh. 

Are You Gonna Go My Way is to this day my favorite from him and a really great retro homage to all his influences. 

Great musician, super cool guy (have met him several times crossing paths in a rehearsal studio my band used to play in a lot in the early 2000’s and his band also used) who is very down to earth and approachable. We even sat right next to each other (coincidence) at a Black Crowes Show on the By Your Side Tour. Was kinda cool rocking out to the Crowes with Lenny Kravitz literally in the seat next to me LOL.

 
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At no time in my life have I made the deliberate decision to listen to a Lenny Kravitz tune. On the flip side, I don't always immediately change the station/stream when one of his hits comes up in the rotation. He's not bad, he's not that good (relative to other widely played artists, he's a top tier musician compared to the total musician population) - he's just kinda innocuously forgettable.

 
Ilov80s said:
They are still essentially a business that has to attract visitors, eyeballs, etc so that’s always going to drive their decisions. May not always be the “right” thing to do. Though you probably don’t want to hear my takes on Green Day vs Phish either lol. 
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Phish sucks.

 
I forgot how comically awful the Grammy Rock nominees were back when Lenny was winning. He was obviously the boomer accepted modern act and therefore the act of choice for voters at the time, but keep in mind this is late 90s/early 00s - not the 70s/80s... :lmao:  

1999

  • Lenny Kravitz    "Fly Away"    
  • Jeff Buckley – "Everybody Here Wants You"
  • John Fogerty – "Almost Saturday Night"
  • John Hiatt – "Have a Little Faith in Me"
  • John Mellencamp – "Your Life Is Now"


2000

  • Lenny Kravitz    "American Woman"    
  • Chris Cornell – "Can't Change Me"
  • Everlast – "What It's Like"
  • Bruce Springsteen – "The Promise"
  • Tom Waits – "Hold On"


2001

  • Lenny Kravitz    "Again"    
  • David Bowie – "Thursday's Child"
  • Bob Dylan – "Things Have Changed"
  • Don Henley – "Workin' It"
  • Nine Inch Nails – "Into the Void"


2002

  • Lenny Kravitz    "Dig In"    
  • Ryan Adams – "New York, New York"
  • Eric Clapton – "Superman inside"
  • Bob Dylan – "Honest with Me"
  • John Mellencamp – "Peaceful World"
 
one thing i know for sure is that lenny kravitz was a singer in the early 2000s take that to the bank bromigos 

 
Just judging by this thread alone, LK is criminally underrated. I’ve been a fan for 30 years. These are his first four albums. All are great beginning to end. Lotta HOFers got in for far less IMHO.

Let Love Rule

Mama Said

Are You Gonna Go My Way

Circus

 
i'll add now:

I think for sure he's a hall of famer.   I mean you can look at some acts that have recently got in: The Cars, Roxy Music, ELO, Yes, Nine Inch Nails, T Rex. 

i think Lenny is their equal or greater.  Other than "The Cars", most of those bands served a niche.  Lenny served the masses.   Its not such an easy thing to do.

quote:   Kravitz has had sales of approximately 40 million albums alone worldwide  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_Kravitz_discography

 
pecorino said:
Compare that one Runaway Jim which clocked in at 59 minutes versus, oh I don't know, When I Come Around. It's apples versus oranges. Or I should say, it is sales versus musicianship. The Hall of Fame has come down squarely on the sides of sales.
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I would rather listen to When I Come Around 50x in a row than Runaway Jim once though. 

 
tommyboy said:
i'll add now:

I think for sure he's a hall of famer.   I mean you can look at some acts that have recently got in: The Cars, Roxy Music, ELO, Yes, Nine Inch Nails, T Rex. 

i think Lenny is their equal or greater.  Other than "The Cars", most of those bands served a niche.  Lenny served the masses.   Its not such an easy thing to do.

quote:   Kravitz has had sales of approximately 40 million albums alone worldwide  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_Kravitz_discography
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So you celebrate his entire catalogue.

 
tommyboy said:
i'll add now:

I think for sure he's a hall of famer.   I mean you can look at some acts that have recently got in: The Cars, Roxy Music, ELO, Yes, Nine Inch Nails, T Rex. 

i think Lenny is their equal or greater.  Other than "The Cars", most of those bands served a niche.  Lenny served the masses.   Its not such an easy thing to do.

quote:   Kravitz has had sales of approximately 40 million albums alone worldwide  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_Kravitz_discography
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Songs Drafted in the Ongoing Genrepalooza Draft:

  • Yes 8
  • The Cars 7
  • ELO 6
  • Roxy Music 5
  • NIN/Trent Reznor 4
  • T. Rex 4
  • Lenny Kravitz 0
----

Lenny loses, I don't make the rules :shrug:  

I will say for myself the above tracks - Lenny seems like a moment in time and a sound that hasn't aged well (that 90s overproduced loudness, I just tried to listen to Circus because I certainly don't remember it being great... it's a tough listen IMO), while the rest of that list are legends for reasons. 

 
tommyboy said:
i'll add now:

I think for sure he's a hall of famer.   I mean you can look at some acts that have recently got in: The Cars, Roxy Music, ELO, Yes, Nine Inch Nails, T Rex. 

i think Lenny is their equal or greater.  Other than "The Cars", most of those bands served a niche.  Lenny served the masses.   Its not such an easy thing to do.

quote:   Kravitz has had sales of approximately 40 million albums alone worldwide  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_Kravitz_discography
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The Cars, ELO (mainly Jeff Lynne), and NIN were far more influential than Lenny.  I think that plays better in music HOF discussions.  Now a group I think is a lock but isn't in is Three Dog Night.  Basically had a lot of hits but not real influential.  I think you need some of the latter.  

 
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pantherclub said:
On no level is Green Day bigger than phish (unless you are talking about album sales but even then its close).  And thats the point "mainstream appeal" is exactly what has tanked the hof.  
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As an aside, Green Day has more than 10x the record sales of Phish. 
 

Eta - oops, hipple 

 
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Gr00vus said:
At no time in my life have I made the deliberate decision to listen to a Lenny Kravitz tune. On the flip side, I don't always immediately change the station/stream when one of his hits comes up in the rotation. He's not bad, he's not that good (relative to other widely played artists, he's a top tier musician compared to the total musician population) - he's just kinda innocuously forgettable.
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This is more or less where I am with Lenny.

We are 394 rounds into the Genrepalooza 4 draft and not a single Lenny song has been picked. "Innocuously forgettable," indeed. 

 
Phish tour sales are strong because most fans, if they could, would go to every show on a tour. As is, many go to several shows each tour. Fewer people buying more tickets.

I'd never see Green Day back-to-back nights on tour. It'd be the same show, or thereabouts, I think. If Phish came to town for 3 shows, I'd love to go to all 3 if I could. You will never see the same show twice (doesn't mean they're all good...I've been to crappy ones).

That said, Green Day is an order of magnitude a bigger deal/influence in the RR world. Not even close, IMO. I'm not even sure Phish is on the radar.

Always On The Run is a great tune.

 
Ilov80s said:
I would rather listen to When I Come Around 50x in a row than Runaway Jim once though. 
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To each his own, of course, and I am not looking to convert anyone to Phish. It's already tough enough to get tickets. Nonetheless, I find statements like this odd, since I am certain you have never listened to the particular recording that was mentioned. It's kind of like food--I encourage everyone (myself included) to try anything at least once. How can you know that broccoli is not to your taste until you try it?

 
FairWarning said:
The Cars, ELO (mainly Jeff Lynne), and NIN were far more influential than Lenny.  I think that plays better in music HOF discussions.  Now a group I think is a lock but isn't in is Three Dog Night.  Basically had a lot of hits but not real influential.  I think you need some of the latter.  
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ELO was massive in the 70's. Prog rock people love their first few albums, then they became a hit machine. 

The Cars had arguably one of the top debut albums of all time. Great band.

Lenny has two... maybe three songs that the average 40-50 y/o has heard and would say "oh yea, I like that song". ELO and the Cars probably have 10-15 apiece. Even if you're not a big fan, you know and heard their stuff repeatedly. 

Like any artist that has a hit or two, Lenny has his hardcore fans that will talk about how brilliant his early work was/etc, but I agree with that he's fairly forgettable in an all-time sense. I don't even think he's Robert Palmer level. 

 
pecorino said:
To each his own, of course, and I am not looking to convert anyone to Phish. It's already tough enough to get tickets. Nonetheless, I find statements like this odd, since I am certain you have never listened to the particular recording that was mentioned. It's kind of like food--I encourage everyone (myself included) to try anything at least once. How can you know that broccoli is not to your taste until you try it?
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I really like Phish, but they have definitely settled into a very comfortable niche catering to the hardcore, who buy tickets over and over and over again, and go crazy for whatever songs are being played at the show, whether the songs themselves are any good or not. Only Phish can have people go nuts for a song like "Contact" or Halley's Comet".... and "OMG, they are breaking out <insert song last played in 2014> tonight!!"

Don't get me wrong - the talent there is astonishing. The 13-night Baker's Dozen run where they didn't repeat a song, yet still left 13 packed houses satisfied... I can't think of any other band that would even attempt that. But honestly, most people aren't going to care about what Trey and Mike did at the <insert time> mark of <song title> on <show date>, and really, that's what it's all about. 

 
pecorino said:
To each his own, of course, and I am not looking to convert anyone to Phish. It's already tough enough to get tickets. Nonetheless, I find statements like this odd, since I am certain you have never listened to the particular recording that was mentioned. It's kind of like food--I encourage everyone (myself included) to try anything at least once. How can you know that broccoli is not to your taste until you try it?
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I’ve listened to a lot of Phish. Back when owning CDs was a thing I had A Live One, Lawn Boy, Hoist, Junta and Billy Breathes. I was a much bigger fan of them in the 90s than I am now. Perfectly fine band, just not really my thing anymore.

 
Joan Baez, Janet Jackson, Donna Summer, Madonna and Randy Newman (are among, so, so, so many countless others that have absolutely nothing to do with rock and roll) are ALL in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  So, with that in mind then yes, absolutely, I think there's room for Lenny Kravitz.  God almighty, at least he's written and performed rock and roll material and at least he can play a guitar instead of just standing there using it as a prop like so many others in the RNR HOF.

 
Sullie said:
Joan Baez, Janet Jackson, Donna Summer, Madonna and Randy Newman (are among, so, so, so many countless others that have absolutely nothing to do with rock and roll) are ALL in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  So, with that in mind then yes, absolutely, I think there's room for Lenny Kravitz.  God almighty, at least he's written and performed rock and roll material and at least he can play a guitar instead of just standing there using it as a prop like so many others in the RNR HOF.
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I think the part that gets a little overlooked is the RNR HOF’s goal is to honor rock but also those that have influenced rock. That creates a very wide net for them to pull from. 

 
Ilov80s said:
I think the part that gets a little overlooked is the RNR HOF’s goal is to honor rock but also those that have influenced rock. That creates a very wide net for them to pull from. 
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Yes, the RNR tree has very deep roots, and a lot of branches.  

 
simey said:
Yes, the RNR tree has very deep roots, and a lot of branches.  
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Agreed. A lot of people get too caught up in a narrow definition of "rock and roll". 

I still think the R&R HOF's selection process is very poor, but not because how they choose to define rock and roll. 

 
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