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Are You Gonna Go My Way
Believe
Come On And Love Me
Heaven Help
Just Be A Woman
Is There Any Love In Your Heart
Black Girl
My Love
Sugar
Sister
Eleutheria
Are You Gonna Go My Way, released in early 1993, was a key turning point in Lenny Kravitz's career. Building on the retro rock, funk and soul influences of his first two albums, it leaned more heavily into classic rock, with a rawer sound and more prominent guitar work.
Kravitz produced the album himself, playing many of the instruments himself, while thematically it touched on personal freedom, race, war, and spiritual reflection and love. Lots of love.
The title track received heavy airplay and became a major international hit, helped by a music video directed by Mark Romanek. While it wasn’t initially released as a commercial single in the U.S., it still reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Modern Rock chart.
The album went on to sell over two million copies in the U.S. alone and helped cement Kravitz's reputation as a serious rock artist.
"It was magic," Kravitz told Classic Rock. "It was like being in the middle of a storm. Things were crazy, everything was spinning around me. I was all over the place. I was a kid in the middle of all this madness."
Every week, Album of the Week Club listens to and discusses the album in question, votes on how good it is, and publishes our findings, with the aim of giving people reliable reviews and the wider rock community the chance to contribute.
Other albums released in March 1993
- Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? - The Cranberries
- Stain - Living Colour
- Frank Black - Frank Black
- Animals with Human Intelligence - Enuff Z'nuff
- Coverdale/ Page - Coverdale/Page
- I Hear Black - Overkill
- The Polyfuze Method - Kid Rock
- A Real Live One - Iron Maiden
- For the Beauty of Wynona - Daniel Lanois
- Independent Worm Saloon - Butthole Surfers
- Phobia - The Kinks
- Ask Questions Later - Cop Shoot Cop
What they said...
"Song for song, it's his most consistent album, although by the end of the record, his painstaking reproduction of classic rock sounds begins to appear a bit too studied, suggesting that Kravitz may have hit a creative wall. Nevertheless, that does nothing to diminish the enjoyment of this record." (AllMusic)
"Yes, there’s dreck here: The title track is another of his overblown, teenager-aping-Hendrix rockers, and there’s more than one misguided attempt at a love song. But when Kravitz hits the mark – and he does so often enough that it must be talent rather than luck – the results can be serenely beautiful or grippingly tuneful." (Los Angeles Times)
"Kravitz still tips his hat to the past; the main guitar lick of My Love, for instance, recalls the Beatles’ I’ve Got a Feeling. But overall, he has pared down the gimmicky arrangements that spoiled Mama Said, replacing them with the scrappy, homemade feel of a pop obsessive banging around in his basement studio. The ballads are soft and fuzzy, while the rockers are as taut and simple as a stretched rubber band." (Entertainment Weekly)
What you said...
Henry Martinez: Ah, the Curious Case of Mister Kravitz. (Sounds like Agatha Christie.) But there's no mystery here. Lenny tries to follow up Mama Said, which is the better album, but falls short. Even one of his earlier champions, Robert Plant, bemoaned how the title track sounded like a rewrite of The Wanton Song. It put Kravitz in the uncomfortable position of explaining whether he was an imitator or innovator.
I respected that he sought out '70s recording equipment to achieve his sound, but it's the songs that matter. His first two LPs are the ones worth having in your collection, highlighted by Let Love Rule, Always On The Run and It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over. However, major props to Lenny for being LENNY - ultracool performer, actor and vibe setter. Give the man credit for that. (5/10)
Brian Hart: I love Lenny and his hippie vibe. I think he’s super talented and I love how diverse he can be. He hits to all fields – rock, funk, soul, etc. That being said, I just haven’t been able to find a complete album I can connect to. Are You Gonna Go My Way has four songs I really love (the title track, Believe, Heaven Help and Is There Any Love In Your Head), but I find the rest unremarkable. Don’t get me wrong, none of the other songs are bad, they’re just not memorable.
When it comes to Lenny, I can always find three or four songs I really love on every album. However, I just find the rest are just ok. Are You Gonna Go My Way is a solid album and he’s a great musician. I look forward to the day he releases an all “rock” album because I think that’s his strongest genre. I give Are You Gonna Go My Way a solid 3 out of 5.
Evan Sanders: I was excited when Are You Gonna Go My Way showed up as this week's selection, as I couldn't believe I had never listened to the full album that leads off with an enduring rock anthem. And like many others here, I was underwhelmed.
The strong opener leads into a strange keyboard introduction to what is still a good power ballad with Believe. But then the songs go into a mix of pop, funk and light R&B, trying to be a combination of Prince and The Beatles.
Things pick up again at the end with a haunting Sister, and I liked the reggae song to close out the album, and maybe his opening lyric of "My life is perfect because I accept it as it is" is his statement to fans who wanted 10 different versions of the title song. 6/10
Brian Carr: I think timing is so often key to our thoughts about albums. The first two Lenny Kravitz albums were completely off my radar, but the third, Are You Gonna Go My Way, was released when I was working full time in music retail. This four-year period of time really expanded my musical tastes.
The smash title track moved me only a little, but many of the ballads really resonated with me - Believe, Sister, Just Be a Woman really made me understand the Slash quote about making love to his girlfriend to Kravitz's music.
I also really love the guitar playing on this record – really impressive throughout. Also important to me personally was that a couple of these tunes were among the first songs I learned to sing and play on acoustic guitar.
Maybe Lenny rehashed his influences too much for some, but I was a fan from this point forward. Except when he started recording techno dance stuff, but there’s none of that here.
Gary Claydon: I suppose it depends whether you view his attempts to channel Hendrix, Sly and Prince (and whoever else took his fancy) as mere copycat or a clever amalgam of obvious influences into something fresh & exciting. I firmly side with the former, I'm afraid. Kravitz has a very good voice and is obviously a talented multi-instrumentalist. He is capable of coming up with the odd hooky single, but overall his output is contrived and inconsistent (apart from the lyrics, which are consistently risible).
Like swallows and summers, one good track does not a good album make. What the title track lacks in originality, it makes up for in sheer energy, a cool-as-you-like bass line and an anthemic hook. From there proceedings nose dive sharply into dull and forgettable. 4/10.
John Davidson: When an album opens with a great track like Are You Gonna Go My Way you have high expectations.
Sadly, these are immediately and irrevocably dashed as the next few tracks sound like Terence Trent D'arby paying tribute to The Beatles.
My Love shows some promise but fails to go anywhere and, while Sister is a decent song – elevated by some excellent guitar work – the whiplash transition to reggae with the closing track undermines any positive impact it might have had.
Kravitz has a fine voice, but he wastes it on too many forgettable songs.
I only knew his three UK hits before this week. On the strength of this I'm happy to keep it that way. 5/10.
Nigel Mawdsley: As other reviews have alluded to, Are You Going To Go My Way lulls the listener into a false sense of security before the bland that follows.
Mark Herrington: Amazing how far a killer single gets an artist, at times. Starts well with the aforementioned Go My Way and then the crowd goes mild - the rest is completely forgettable.
If you fancy a really solid album not dissimilar in genre, check out Roachford's Permanent Shade of Blue, a much more consistent funky rock listen than this.
Mike Canoe: I was only previously familiar with the acceleration-encouraging title track of Lenny Kravitz's Are You Gonna Go My Way. When I looked at the track listing, I thought to myself, "Hmmm, that looks like it could be a whole lot of ballads." And, yes, there are a lot of them. Seven out of the eleven songs, by my count, but individual results may vary. The album ended up being a much more mellow listening experience than I anticipated.
Not that mellow is necessarily bad. The beautiful yet heartbreaking Sister is my current favourite. Kravitz's anguished wordless vocalising and Craig Ross's equally anguished guitar solo cut me to my soul. The gentle reggae of Eleutheria is a soothing balm (psalm?) to close the album. Other standouts include positivity anthem, Believe, the ringing psychedelia of My Love, and the spirited pillow talk of Come On And Love Me.
We seem to have had a run of excellently produced albums lately and I would include the self-produced Are You Gonna Go My Way. Even if it's a slower tempo on the whole than I expected it always sounds amazing.
Adam Ranger: Like many, I suspect, I bought this album on release on the strength of that great title track. Sadly, I was disappointed with the rest of the album It did not live up to the promise of that first track.
So, many years later, have I changed my opinion?. After giving this another listen, the answer is No. The title track is still a great song. The remainder of the album is, for the most part, disappointing. It's like Lennny wants to be Prince. All soft and breathy vocals and subdued music. It wakes up slightly on Is There Any Love In Your Heart. And a change of pace for Eleutheria, where he decides be Bob Marley. But other than this, it's forgettable.
Philip Qvist: Lenny Kravitz is another one of those artists where a Greatest Hits compilation will do just fine for me. While Are You Gonna Go My Way isn't a bad album, it was just too diverse for me to fully enjoy it.
A touch of rock here, a bit of R&B there, and then you have reggae influences and a lot of other styles all in between. The result is a very inconsistent and patchy album, with great songs fighting against filler-like material. It's an OK album, but it could, and should, have been much better than what we finally got.
Best tracks for me are Are You Gonna Go My Way (it's still an iconic song), Believe and Sister. Although Lenny Kravitz plays the bulk of the instruments, a special nod must go to Craig Ross who played additional guitars on most of the songs, including the title track, while co-writing three tracks.
Are You Gonna Go My Way is a bit of a "If Only" record - and for that I will give it a 6.5. I still can't believe this album turns 32 this year.
Chris Elliott: A few great singles along the way.... albums are best avoided. Don't get the albums at all - take various 70's influences and make poor versions of the same.
Greg Schwepe: While Lenny Kravitz has always exuded a 100% Rock Star persona, his albums have not always had that flat-out rock mentality going all the way through them. Besides the riff-filled rocker, you have a little R&B, a little soul, and a little funk.
So, on Kravitz’s third release, Are You Gonna Go My Way, that’s pretty much what you get. The title track comes charging out of the gate, and you hear that memorable riff, then it’s doubled with another guitar, then the drums and bass come in. And then you look back and realise how many times that song was used in a TV sporting event promo or commercial. In the early 90s, if you needed a recognisable song to get you pumped, this was it.
Lenny changes gears quickly with the slower Believe. Replete with bells and some strings. Come On And Love Me finds a drum workout along with a funky guitar riff. Some tasty lead guitar breaks add to the vibe.
And to be honest, for me the album really, really drops off after that. It isn’t until Is There Any Love In Your Heart that the RPMs get turned up again. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just that a lot of the songs in between left me wandering in the desert a little. I kind of had to tell myself, “Hey, remember to listen!”
I’m all for a varied album, but I’m trying to figure out if this was to be a laid-back album with two really fast songs, or a fast album with nine slower ones. I hesitate to call some of the album “filler,” but at times, there’s not a lot to keep me engaged. Maybe that is filler, then? Not sure.
Kravitz is a talented performer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. But it seems that he has a couple of really good ones on each release and the rest, not so much. Now maybe if he could take all the really good ones and put those on one end-to-end killer album. And while I own all of Kravitz’s catalogue, I end up doing my own “greatest hits listen” since albums like this don’t hold up the entire way through.
Now, if you see Lenny live, I guarantee you will know most of his set, as he will take the title track from this one, along with the killer songs from other albums and put together a show that will leave you pumping your fist all night. 7 out of 10 on this one for me. Lenny has that cool attitude, swagger, and vibe, just not for the entire album.
Final score: 6.49 (65 votes cast, total score 422)
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