RECORD REVIEW : A Naive, Nervy ‘Let Love Rule’

LENNY KRAVITZ

“Let Love Rule.” Virgin

Kravitz is the hottest comer in the hippie wanna-be sweepstakes. His debut includes titles like “Flower Child” (an ode to wife Lisa Bonet) and overflows with enough exhumed peace and love to maybe make even Wavy Gravy choke. There are delusions of grandeur plenty in Kravitz’s debut, not just in the lyrics, but also in the such sources as Lennon (circa “Plastic Ono Band”) and Prince (psychedelic era).

This shocking derivativeness would be plenty irritating if--dang--he didn’t first derive from such great sources and then pull it off with such naive nerviness. Start with the drug-themed “Blues for Sister Someone,” which sounds like the Purple One screaming his own ravaged version of “Cold Turkey.”

There are moments here where he comes close to finding his own voice, or at least avoids someone else’s: “Mr. Cab Driver” is a fun, angry, minimalist rocker about what it’s like to be black and not be able to hail a taxi. Much here bodes that Kravitz may have a great album in him when he gets a little less young , puts the incense away and combines his idealism with a pragmatist work ethic.