Maps of Music

Raise Vibration (2018)

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

The album was recorded on an island where Kravitz has long lived, and its single 'Low' carries vocal extracts from Michael Jackson.

Key places

Where the album was recorded (2018)

Recording site Gregory Town Sound — The album was recorded at Gregory Town Sound on Eleuthera island in the Bahamas, where Kravitz has long lived. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Raise Vibration: eleventh studio album by American rock musician Lenny Kravitz
• Released 7 September 2018 on Roxie Records via BMG Rights Management
• Twelve compositions addressing multiple issues facing the world
• Described as a socially-conscious album
• Kravitz plays most of the instruments himself
• Longtime guitarist Craig Ross and keyboardist/orchestrator David Baron are the only other collaborators, apart from string and horn players

Background

• Kravitz explained he struggled with serious writer's block while trying to focus on this album
• "It's Enough!" is a song against corporate greed, political corruption, and racism
• "Low" explores the perils of his near-mythical sensuality, with intonations alluding to past intimate relationships
• "Low" was released as a single and video about six weeks before the album
• "5 More Days 'Til Summer" was released as the third single and is much more upbeat than "Low" and "It's Enough!"
• "Johnny Cash" was released as the fourth single, a tribute to the country singer who died on September 12, 2003
• Kravitz says he met Cash and his wife June Carter in 1995, when he was flatmates with Rick Rubin in Los Angeles

Recording

• The album was recorded on Eleuthera island, Bahamas
• Kravitz has long been a resident there and says many of his songs were written while staying there
• Vocal extracts from Michael Jackson appear on "Low"

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ja.wikipedia.org · ko.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

• Metacritic: average score 62 out of 100 from six mainstream reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews"
• Paste Magazine (Madison Desler): asks where Kravitz stands after 30 years, and says the album sends mixed messages
• Rolling Stone (Kory Grow): says the album seems meant as a resistance anthem in the Trump era, with his signature blend of rock and soul, love and social outrage
• Slant Magazine (Zachary Hoskins): says the lyrics are the album's more serious shortcoming, stumbling when they reach for grand proclamations
• Chicago Sun-Times (Mark Kennedy): says Kravitz has given enough meaty tunes to last until he is ready again

Reappraisal

• AllMusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine): rates it 4 out of 5, praising Kravitz's skill as a collector of sounds and as a producer
• bounce (Emi Yamanishi, October 2018 issue): finds no sign of trying to seem young, and sees a different allure in his open acceptance of aging

Records

• France: album chart debut at number 3, 24 weeks in the top 200 in total
• Netherlands: album chart debut at number 8, top 10 for every album since Mama Said
• US Billboard 200: debut at number 43, out of the chart the next week; first album since Mama Said to miss the top 40
• Wallonia (Belgium): single "Low" debuted at 43, peaked at 6, and spent 19 weeks in the top 50

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ja.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Michael Jackson's vocals on "Low" were recorded earlier, in a 1999 session with Kravitz
• That 1999 duet was released in 2010 on Jackson's posthumous album Michael
• Kravitz says he met Cash and June Carter in 1995, after learning his mother had died
• The album debuted at number 43 on the US Billboard 200, the first album since Mama Said to miss the top 40

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

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