Maps of Music

Baptism (2004)

Where the lyrics of Baptism take you, and where it was really made.

Kravitz set out to make a 1970s-style funk album, but the songs he wrote with an acoustic guitar turned it into a straightforward rock record.

Key places

Recorded at Hotel Edison studios, Miami (2004)

Recording site The Hit Factory Criteria — The album was recorded at Hotel Edison studios in Miami, Florida. The map point is set at the city-center level, not at the exact building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Baptism: seventh studio album by American rock musician Lenny Kravitz
• Released 17 May 2004 by Virgin Records
• Produced five singles
• Reached number 14 on the Billboard 200 and number 74 on the UK Albums Chart

Background

• Originally planned as a 1970s-style funk album, simply titled The Funk Album
• Plans changed when he picked up an acoustic guitar to write the songs
• Ended up as a more straightforward rock album, similar to his 1989 album Let Love Rule
• Kravitz was in dispute with his record label during production, as the label disagreed with his changes to the project
• Album includes darker material reflecting his depression and other problems at that time
• Baptism tour began in April 2004 across North America
• Kravitz was the face of the Gap campaign of 2004–2005, and his single "Lady" was used heavily in the company's campaign

Recording

• Recorded at Hotel Edison studios in Miami, Florida
• Rapper Jay-Z contributes to the song "Storm"
• "Storm" was first titled "(I Can't Make It) Another Day" and recorded with Michael Jackson
• Kravitz had earlier played guitar on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint²

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born May 26, 1964 in New York City; American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor.
• Debut album Let Love Rule (1989) blends rock, funk, reggae, hard rock, soul, and R&B.
• Hit singles include "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" (1991) and "Again" (2000), both top ten on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Won four consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance from 1999 to 2002, a category record.
• Has sold over 40 million albums worldwide.
• Acted in Precious (2009) and the first two Hunger Games films (2012–13).
• Founded the creative studio Kravitz Design Inc.

Early life

• Raised partly in New York and partly in Los Angeles; began playing drums at age three.
• Introduced to rock music in Los Angeles, listening to the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Initial critical response ranged from average to negative
• Metacritic: average score of 43 out of 100, based on 10 reviews
• Slant Magazine, Sal Cinquemani: the retro rock style, which had been a guilty pleasure, became sad and limp on this album
• AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine: most songs were lazy, exhausted retreads, and the album was a shame and embarrassment
• Today, Ryan Lenz: the album seems more intent on giving fans something to worship
• ShakingThrough.net, Kevin Forest Moreau: the craftsmanship and charisma that usually carried Kravitz's records are critically missing here
• musicOMH, Caroline Bansal: the production is what lets the album down, with drums too high and guitars too low in the mix

Records

• Billboard 200: number 14
• UK Albums Chart: number 74
• United States: about 551,000 copies sold by March 2008 (Spanish Wikipedia)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Kravitz's single "Lady" was used very heavily in Gap's "How Do You Wear It?" campaign
• Kravitz filmed two Gap commercials with spokesmodel Sarah Jessica Parker, playing the song to her and dancing with her
• "Storm" was first titled "(I Can't Make It) Another Day" and originally recorded with Michael Jackson
• During production Kravitz was in dispute with his record label over his changes to the project
• Kravitz had earlier played guitar on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint²

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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