Lenny Kravitz- Strut [US Exclusive Edition] 2014

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Strut is the tenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and arranger Lenny Kravitz. It was the first release on Kravitz’s own Roxie Records.
The very title of Strut makes Lenny Kravitz’s intentions for his tenth album plain: he wants to swagger, he wants to get off on his moves. To underscore the whole carnality of it, Kravitz calls the album’s opening track “Sex,” just the first song in a parade of pleasure, pain, and dirty white boots.

[spoiler]Any of the attempted sociopolitical overtures of 2011’s Black and White America have been abandoned, jettisoned along with the stylistic excesses that pumped that album to double-LP length. Strut doesn’t bother with any of that nonsense. Like so many records from the golden age of the LP, it’s just 12 songs and if it weighs in at a slightly hefty 53 minutes, it’s because Lenny has a hard time stopping a good groove and Strut consists almost entirely of grooves. He’ll slip into a sultry slow jam — “The Pleasure and the Pain,” “I Never Want to Let You Down,” and a cover of Smokey Robinson’s “Ooo Baby Baby” that’s fine but unneeded — and he’ll tip his hat to Bill Withers on “Frankenstein,” but he devotes most of the album to disco and glam, dedicating individual tracks to each style (“The Chamber” is pure glitter-ball rock & roll, “I’m a Believer is all foot stomps and handclaps) but usually finding the point at the Venn diagram where it’s all big beats, heavy hooks, and dirty sex. Kravitz deploys all his considerable sonic skills on songs that are purposefully trashy and unapologetically fun and the result is pure pleasure. Reviewed by Stephen Thomas Erlewine of allmusic.com[/spoiler]

01. Sex (Lenny Kravitz, Craig Ross)
02. The Chamber (Lenny Kravitz, Craig Ross)
03. Dirty White Boots (Lenny Kravitz, Craig Ross)
04. New York City (Lenny Kravitz, Craig Ross)
05. The Pleasure And The Pain (Lenny Kravitz, Craig Ross)
06. Strut (Lenny Kravitz, Craig Ross)
07. Frankenstein (Lenny Kravitz, Craig Ross)
08. She’s A Beast (Lenny Kravitz, Craig Ross)
09. I’m A Believer (Lenny Kravitz, Craig Ross)
10. Happy Birthday (Lenny Kravitz, Craig Ross)
11. I Never Want To Let You Down (Lenny Kravitz, Craig Ross)
12. Ooo Baby Baby (Smokey Robinson, Warren Moore)
13. Lift Me Out Of My Head **Bonus Track**
14. It Won’t Feel The Same **Bonus Track**

Lenny Kravitz – vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, Mellotron, bass, drums, chimes, hand claps, Arp string ensemble, wine glasses, mini-moog
Craig Ross – acoustic and electric guitars
James “D. Train” Williams – background vocals
Cindy Mizelle – background vocals
Tawatha Agee – background vocals
Dave Baron – synthesizer programming
Harold Todd – saxophone
Ludovic Louis – trumpet
Mali Hunter – handclaps
Recording Engineer: Tom Edmonds
Mixing: Bob Clearmountain
Mastering: Bob Ludwig

turbo/lossless

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