Lenny Kravitz: Live & Acoustic 1994 [CULT LEGENDS]

Why you'll love it

This LP is pressed on 180g vinyl. It catches Kravitz at the height of his Are You Gonna Go My Way success, when the title track had topped the US Mainstream Rock chart and the Australian singles chart.

This edition

• 180g vinyl

About the album

Lenny Kravitz built his name on big, Hendrix-sized riffs, so stripping them back was a bold move. On March 14, 1994, he sat down at Sony Studios in New York for an MTV Unplugged session and played songs from his first three albums with the amps turned firmly down.

"Are You Gonna Go My Way" opens the set, its famous riff reworked on acoustic guitar. "Believe" and "Sister" come from the same 1993 album, recorded in Hoboken with Henry Hirsch, while "Let Love Rule" and "Rosemary" go back to his 1989 debut and "Always on the Run" brings the swagger of Mama Said. "Just Be a Woman" and "My Precious Love" show his softer, soul-singer side, the one the electric records tend to wrap in guitars. His 1993 album had already topped the charts in the UK and Australia, so the crowd knew every word, and the arrangements lean on warm acoustic strumming, soulful vocals and a relaxed groove that suits the room.

It's a warm, intimate snapshot of a rock star at full confidence. Hearing that riff on an acoustic is a bit like seeing a heavyweight boxer in a cardigan; still entirely capable, just cosier.

Also at Kops: more Lenny Kravitz on vinyl · browse Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On Cult Legends (cat# CL80802).