Maps of Music

Mama Said (1991)

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

This was Kravitz's first album to enter the US Top 40, yet the RIAA still lists it as platinum even though it has sold enough copies to be certified double platinum.

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Album story

Overview

• Mama Said: second studio album by American rock musician Lenny Kravitz
• Released April 1991 by Virgin Records
• Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash took part in the recordings
• Slash co-wrote and played on 'Always on the Run'
• Slash also played on 'Fields of Joy'
• 'All I Ever Wanted' was co-written with Sean Lennon
• The album has sold enough copies to be certified double platinum

Background

• Follows Kravitz's debut album Let Love Rule
• The single 'It Ain't Over 'til It's Over' raised public interest and launched Kravitz's international career
• The album sold more than three million copies worldwide
• It helped establish Kravitz's popularity in the market

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

• Rolling Stone (Elysa Gardner): calls the album disjointed and lacking freshness, and judges Kravitz's talent more recreative than creative
• Chicago Tribune (Greg Kot): calls him a promising but minor artist until he transforms his influences instead of copying them
• Q (Phil Sutcliffe): says he is not so much influenced as tie-dyed to the bone by the late '60s, yet sounds truly inspired
• The Village Voice (Robert Christgau): advises listeners to think Prince and George Michael rather than Hendrix and the Beatles, and later gives a two-star honorable mention

Reappraisal

• AllMusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine): in a retrospective review, says Kravitz downplayed some of the joy of his previous album for a more polished and studied sound, calling it a thoroughly enjoyable guilty pleasure
• Record Collector (Terry Staunton): finds it even more accomplished than its predecessor, with traditional guitar rock and sweet soul merged confidently

Records

• First Kravitz album to enter the US Top 40, reaching number 39 on the Billboard 200
• Sold 1.88 million copies in the US as of November 2002
• Reached number 8 on the UK Albums Chart
• Certified double platinum by sales, but the RIAA still lists it as platinum
• Sold more than three million copies worldwide

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

Trivia

• Kravitz first collaborated with guitarist Craig Ross on this album
• 'All I Ever Wanted' was co-written with Sean Lennon, who also played piano on the album
• The single 'It Ain't Over 'til It's Over' was added to the soundtrack of the Brazilian telenovela Vamp
• Slash co-wrote and played on 'Always on the Run' and also played on 'Fields of Joy'

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

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