Review: Lenny Kravitz’s Revisits His 1995 LP With ‘Circus (Deluxe)’ – Time To Reassess The Much Maligned Album?

Last week while I was locked in a deep Grateful Dead Blues For Allah listening session/trance, Lenny Kravitz released an enhanced version of his 1995 album entitled Circus (Deluxe). It’s a two disc (CD) set featuring the original album on disc 1, and a few outtakes and live tracks on disc 2. The thing I remember most about when this album came out is how badly the critics hated it. That may have been because the first single announced the news that “Rock And Roll Is Dead.” I would say, at the time in 1995, rock and roll was very much alive…I think it’s still alive today, albeit, flat on it’s back with tubes in it’s nose. Maybe if Kravitz released the track now instead of ’95 he wouldn’t face the backlash. The album only went gold, which after it’s predecessor Are You Gonna Go My Way going 2x platinum, was likely a disappointment for Lenny and his record company. I thought perhaps now, 30 years later, freed from all of the expectations set by that predecessor perhaps now was a time to reassess this dark, little record. I have to admit, I do love Lenny… even though the man does not seem to own a shirt or jacket capable of covering his chest. He’s my age and I have a lot of trouble explaining to my wife why I’m not in similar shape and I’m a bit of a gym rat.

Lenny’s debut album Let Love Rule had come out in 1989 and from that point up until ’93 when Are You Gonna Go My Way came out, every woman I met would either ask me if I’d heard the album, or would put it on to make me listen to it. Lenny had clearly locked up the female, under thirty crowd with that debut. I didn’t hear much of his second album, Mama Said (1991), except for “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over” and “Always On The Run” (which featured on our recent Playlist: Songs About Running/Running Away). I had heard he managed to lose Lisa Bonet around that time which can only be considered tragic on a Shakespearean level. But admittedly, softened up by all those women playing me his debut, when Are You Gonna Go My Way came out in ’93 I was on the bandwagon! The title track is epic rock n roll. Hell, I even went back and bought his debut… it had a lot of positive associations for me. Everyone I knew was into Lenny, the groovy hippy rock troubadour, at that point. I think he even did an episode of the Unplugged series that we all huddled around the TV to watch.

With all that backdrop, expectations were extremely high for the follow up. The critics did their usual “spot the influence” thing with him, citing his tracks as lesser version of Sly Stone, Hendrix or even Prince. That first single, “Rock And Roll Is Dead,” which sounds like a good straight ahead rock song to me now, left me a little cold at first. Who is this guy to pronounce rock is dead? I held back on rushing down to my corner record store. He apparently released the title track, “Circus,” as the second single and I never heard that on the radio. If I had, I’d probably have bought the album. It’s a great, dark song about a relationship on the rocks. Lenny has admitted, in what might be a soft repudiation of Circus, that he was in a dark place while making the record because his mother had taken ill with cancer (and sadly passed). That kind of heavy thing happening with all the added expectations hanging over his head probably made this a rather difficult LP for Lenny. “What kind of circus is this? What kind of fools are we?” indeed.

Like most folks I know, it wasn’t until the third single, “Can’t Get You Off Of My Mind” that we all went rushing to the record store. That song is a classic country rock song. To me it sounded like when the Stones would do a country song. All of us tough dudes can relate to this track although I’ll never understand the line, “And a pocket full of keys that have no bounds.” But I did feel it when Lenny sang, “This is killing me…” I was in a pretty dark place in ’95. That 94-95 era ranks up there with freshman year in college and living in Ft Smith as one of the darkest times of my life, so when I bought the album I actually loved this record but I was in the right frame of mind. I still don’t understand all the hate from critics at the time. This is solid rock n roll. “Magdalene” is a jaunty rocker about a 17 year old girl who wears her pants on her hips too low…” Keep your hands off the kinder Lenny.

Other highlights for me include “Tunnel Vision” a ferocious funky rocker. That song sticks in your head like glue. “Beyond The 7th Sky” while yes, a Hendrix-y rocker, did explore some psychedelic possibilities. “Thin Ice” was another great rock song with a riff I love. “Don’t Go And Put A Bullet In Your Head” is a mellow, stripped down thing and let’s admit it’s just good advice. I’ve liked that song…perhaps because I was enveloped in darkness at the time. If you’re feeling down, it gets better, I’m living proof. “In My Life” is a great acoustic/electric mix of guitars and a statement of resolve possibly rooted in a newfound religious belief. Speaking of religion, the only tracks that left me cold were “God Is Love” and “The Resurrection” but then I’m on record as a pagan. This is truly an album worth going back and discovering again.

Generally I really like the bonus material. He makes the mistake a lot of these deluxe sets make, he gives us a bunch of live tracks but not a full concert. I’d have put the four bonus studio tracks/outtakes on the first disc and expanded the live stuff to a full show. Lenny has never put out a live album so I’m here for any live material we can get from him – I’ve seen him live –  he’s a fabulous performer. On teh outtakes, “Another Life” is another bare metal rocking kiss off. It’s a good track. “Confused” is a great, bluesy/soulful love song. I really like this song. Even after all these years, it’s always the heartbreak ballads that pull me in. “Is It Me, Is It You?” is an industrial style ballad and I can’t say I connected to it. He gives us a version of “Circus – Acoustic Version” and stripped down it just hits harder. It really underscores the melancholy.

The rest of the bonus material is live and I love it. I just wish there was more of it. He really should consider putting out a live album. Highlights for me are “Tunnel Vision,” I can’t get enough of that track and “Are You Gonna Go My Way” on the rock end. We also get live versions of “Let Love Rule” and “Can’t Get You Off Of My Mind” that are spot on. “Always On The Run” just kills! Lenny’s long time lead guitar guy Craig Ross excels on this live stuff. He wraps up with a 12 minute version of “Sister” that also grabbed me. But yes, this reads as a collection of live tracks instead of a real live concert experience. Songs fade out in between which screams “cobbled together” vs bleeding into the next track. They edit themselves to fit on a single disc but at what cost?

You may have missed out on Circus or skipped it because of all of the bad reviews the critics have spewed about it over the years but listening to this album for the first time in a long time, it really has some great moments. It’s better than anything he’s put out in recent years… except maybe Strut, I’ve never understood why that great album wasn’t bigger. Now that the expectations have faded away, give this one a listen at loud volume and reassess it for yourself. I know I’ve been listening to that original CD I bought in ’95 a lot as of late… You can turn to your significant other and say, “Hey baby, you ever heard this Lenny Kravitz album?” Oh my, I’m having flashbacks…

Cheers!