Album Review: Black and White America by Lenny Kravitz

There is something off about Lenny Kravitz.  Take this album for instance it has all of these influences from funk to heavy metal and they are all blended together brilliantly to produce fairly mainstream pop.  But there is something wrong and the more I listen to Kravitz the more I'm starting to think the problem is Kravitz himself. 

He's a smart producer and brilliant at blending all of these influences, but his songs lack any sense of emotion or grit.  The particular influences he's drawn to all elicit a gritty feel and sound and yet his stuff feels overly polished and I think part of the problem is the vocalist Kravitz himself.  He's not a very good singer.  He has a good enough voice but as a singer he really brings nothing to the table.  It would be interesting to here this album as sung by someone else.  As a producer he tends to strip out too much of the grit and grime I think, but he adds nothing with his voice and so a song that seems like it should be really good, turns into just something you quickly forget. 

Pair up Kravitz with the right singer and I think you would have something quite striking.  As it is you don't have much. 

Following the Rhapsody rating method I give it 1 out of 5 stars for Just OK.