[music] Lenny Kravitz, 5 (1998)

Virgin Records
Total Running Time - 66:23

Personnel
Lenny Kravitz - Lead and background vocals, Guitar, Drums, Bass, Keyboards, Percussion; Craig Ross - Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion; George Lake - Keyboards; Terry Manning - Toy piano; Michael Hunter - Trumpet; Harold Todd - Sax; Cindy Blackman - Drums; Jack Daley - Bass; Nehemiah Heild, Sunovia Piere, Natalie Dekoning, Angie Stone, Stefanie Bolton, Tenita Dreher, Susan Marshall, Jacquie Johnson - Background vocals

1. Live
2. Supersoulfighter
3. I Belong to You
4. Black Velveteen
5. If You Can't Say No
6. Thinking of You
7. Take Time
8. Fly Away
9. It's Your Life
10. Straight Cold Player
11. Little Girl's Eyes
12. You're My Flavor
13. Can We Find a Reason

With Kravitz, it always seems to come down to who he's been listening to, or alternately ripping off mercilessly, lately. This time around, it seems like it's Prince -- 5 has definitely got that Minneapolis funk/rock vibe happening, as far as I can tell. That being said, this isn't a bad Prince album at all. Not a great one, but certainly not bad. Kravitz actually pulls off the style somewhat convincingly, with a depth that strikes me as uncommon to artists who insist on playing most instruments themselves. And though I've criticized him before for the same reasons, self-indulgence and ego actually complement the sound of the tunes, derivative as they may be. At least it works here.