MGF Reviews Lenny Kravitz – "I'll Be Waiting" [VIDEO]

Reviews


Lenny Kravitz – “I’ll Be Waiting”
From the Virgin Records album, It’s Time for a Love Revolution (2/8/08)
Directed by Marc Webb

Link to video on VH1.com

It’s been almost four years since Lenny Kravitz last released an album, which is the longest stretch that the singer’s taken between releases in his entire 19-year career. 2004’s Baptism was well-received but nowhere near as popular as his two previous albums, 5 and Lenny (not to mention the 3x Platinum-selling Greatest Hits compilation that dropped in-between them). Kravitz had originally intended to make Baptism a venture into throwback funk, though that idea was scrapped in favor of what he described as a more straight-up rock sound. How Jay-Z was supposed to have exactly figured into that, most of us are still not sure.

By the sound of the new single, “I’ll Be Waiting,” it seems as if Kravitz is still keeping that funk idea on the back burner, as this is more or less a rock/pop ballad. Yes, it obviously has more cajones than, say, “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter, due to Kravitz’s vocals alone, but it will likely appeal to a lot of the same demographic. Expect it to be covered at least once over the course of the upcoming season of American Idol, though it might also work well in those little vignette pieces that they do. Kravitz himself has been hyping the track, too, lately, performing it during both the American Music Awards and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, and it’s been available for purchase on iTunes since November.

Presented as an intimate look into the music-making process, the video for the single is shot in the always alluring grayscale format, though that’s not always necessarily the best decision. In this case, it does work well, as Kravitz is shown playing the piano, singing on the microphone and conducting his own private orchestra. The song itself is a sweet ballad that will have the ladies melting like butter and the guys scooping it up to impress said ladies. And yes, since Baptism, Kravitz has ditched the Jacko hairstyle and is once again rocking he ‘fro. I think we’d all like to the see the dreads back, though, as well as the fantastic, harder blues-rock that propelled singles like “Are You Gonna Go My Way” and “Let Love Rule.” I’m going to continue to ignore and deny that he ever tried to cover “American Woman,” though, because it’s better that way.

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