Strut (album) explained

Strut
Type:studio
Artist:Lenny Kravitz
Cover:Lenny Kravitz - Strut.png
Recorded:2012–2014
Studio:Gregory Town Sound[1]
Genre:Rock
Label:Roxie Records, Kobalt
Producer:Lenny Kravitz
Prev Title:Black and White America
Prev Year:2011
Next Title:Raise Vibration
Next Year:2018

Strut is the tenth studio album by American rock musician Lenny Kravitz. It was released on September 23, 2014 and was the first release on Kravitz's own Roxie Records, with distribution by Kobalt Label Services. The record also produced five singles released both in 2014 and 2015.

Background

This album is his first one released by his own label Roxie Records—named after his mother, actress Roxie Roker. In an interview for Huffington Post Kravitz explained that the name Strut is "...about being proud and confident about who you are. Whatever you are. Because we're all different. We're all freaks of some sort. That whole thing about being "normal," I don't even know what that is. We're all different. That's the beauty of life. It's about embracing who you are, and walking tall and proud".[2] He also mentioned that "the music itself is about love and relationships", "grit and glamour, all together", and "a lot of sensuality".[3]

Kravitz wrote all the songs on the album, except for "Ooo Baby Baby" written by Smokey Robinson and Warren "Pete" Moore, and played various instruments as well. He decided to cover "Ooo Baby Baby" while filming where he played character Cinna, the stylist to Jennifer Lawrence's heroine. He heard it in a makeup trailer, and the song pleased him so much that he soon decided to include it as twelfth title for the new album. The lead single, "The Chamber", was released on June 24, 2014. The video is set in Paris, a city where Kravitz has been living on and off for the past nine years. In 2011, he was even awarded the France's highest cultural honour—Order of Arts and Letters.

Strut Tour

List of concerts, showing date, city, country and venue
DateCityCountryVenue
North America
October 11, 2014SochiRussiaOlympic Park
October 22, 2014MoscowCrocus City Hall
October 24, 2014Saint PetersburgLedovy Dvorets
October 26, 2014HelsinkiFinlandHartwall Arena
November 1, 2014MinskBelarusMinsk-Arena
November 3, 2014ŁódźPolandAtlas Arena
November 5, 2014BerlinGermanyO2 World
November 7, 2014FrankfurtFrankfurt Festhalle
November 8, 2014StuttgartSchleyer-Halle
November 10, 2014MilanItalyMediolanum Forum
November 12, 2014ViennaAustriaWiener Stadthalle
November 13, 2014PragueCzech RepublicO2 Arena
November 15, 2014MunichGermanyOlympiahalle
November 16, 2014MunichSwitzerlandHallenstadion
November 18, 2014OberhausenGermanyKönig-Pilsener-Arena
November 19, 2014AmsterdamNetherlandsZiggo Dome
November 21, 2014AntwerpBelgiumSportpaleis
November 23, 2014ParisFranceBercy
November 25, 2014GenevaSwitzerlandGeneva Arena
November 26, 2014DijonFranceZénith de Dijon
November 28, 2014LyonHalle Tony Garnier
November 30, 2014NicePalais Nikaïa
December 1, 2014MarseilleLe Dôme
December 3, 2014BordeauxPatinoire de Mériadeck
December 6, 2014LondonEnglandThe SSE Arena Wembley
December 8, 2014LilleFranceZénith de Lille
December 9, 2014Esch-sur-AlzetteLuxembourgRockhal
December 11, 2014Saint-HerblainFranceZénith Nantes Métropole
December 15, 2014ŁódźPolandAtlas Arena
December 17, 2014ViennaAustriaWiener Stadthalle
December 19, 2014PragueCzech RepublicO2 Arena

Critical reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 71, based on five reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[4] Strut was ranked No. 35 on Rolling Stones 50 Best Albums of 2014 list: the song "New York City" was described as "the best tune Mick Jagger didn't get around to writing in his Studio 54 days".[5]

Shane Gilchrist of Otago Daily Times stated "All his technical ability aside, Kravitz lingers a little too long in a comfortable late-night lounge, swaggering around a framework of riff-rock, reconstituted funk and dirty soul. In short, Strut offers no significant U-turns (unlike previous album Black and White America) nor does it stumble".[6] Lisa Nash of Cryptic Rock mentioned "His albums are like a bag of pick and mix: full of variety, sweet to taste, and will make listeners remember their childhood with fondness. The tracks are generally radio and club friendly and will make people want to dance. The guitar riffs will please the Rock fans, while the Soul fans will love Kravitz’s distinctive voice. Strut is a very solid piece of work and, while not as strong as 2011’s Black and White America, will still please Kravitz’s dedicated followers".[7]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote "Kravitz deploys all his considerable sonic skills on songs that are purposefully trashy and unapologetically fun and the result is pure pleasure".[8] A reviewer of Funkatopia said "The new album Strut from Lenny Kravitz seems like a culmination of raw rock and funk thrown into a blender... His talent and delivery are intense, but there's something here that seems like we’re looking at a puzzle that had some pieces left out. Maybe it's one of those albums that insist on multiple listens to truly embrace what's happening and maybe those awkward feelings are the subconscious identifying great songs".[9]

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2014)! scope="col"
Peak
position
scope="row"
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[10] 22
Swiss Albums (Romandy)[11] 1
scope="row"

Year-end charts

Chart (2014)!scope="col"
Rank
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12] 45
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[13] 73
Dutch Albums Chart[14] 100
French Albums Chart[15] 65
German Albums Chart[16] 83
Italian Albums Chart[17] 70
Polish Albums Chart[18] 29
Swiss Albums Chart[19] 26
Chart (2015)!scope="col"
Rank
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] 115
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[21] 65
French Albums Chart[22] 193

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Erlewine . Stephen Thomas . Lenny Kravitz: Strut . . July 12, 2018.
  2. Web site: Williams . Brennan . Lenny Kravitz On His New Album 'Strut' And His Dream Of Working With Prince . . March 18, 2019 . December 6, 2017.
  3. Web site: Lenny Kravitz struts back with new album . . March 18, 2019 . September 23, 2014.
  4. Web site: Strut – Lenny Kravitz. Metacritic. October 17, 2014.
  5. 50 Best Albums of 2014. Rolling Stone. December 2014.
  6. Web site: Gilchrist . Shane . CD Reviews: Lenny Kravitz . . July 12, 2018 . October 27, 2014.
  7. Web site: Nash . Lisa . LENNY KRAVITZ – STRUT (ALBUM REVIEW) . Cryptic Rock. July 12, 2018 . January 12, 2015.
  8. Web site: Erlewine . Stephen Thomas . Lenny Kravitz: Strut . . July 12, 2018.
  9. Web site: Review: Lenny Kravitz – Strut . Funkatopia . July 12, 2018 . September 23, 2014.
  10. Web site: ストラット. ja. Oricon. October 26, 2023. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20231026225413/https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/184377/products/1090231/1/. October 26, 2023.
  11. Web site: Les charts de la Suisse romande. 18 June 2024. dmy-all.
  12. https://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=2014&cat=a "Jaaroverzichten 2014: Albums"
  13. https://www.ultratop.be/fr/annual.asp?year=2014&cat=a "Rapports Annuels 2014: Albums"
  14. https://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=2014&cat=a "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2014"
  15. https://web.archive.org/web/20180812145738/http://www.snepmusique.com/tops-annuel/top-album-megafusion-annuel/?ye=2014 "Top Albums annuel (physique + téléchargement + streaming)"
  16. https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/album-jahr/for-date-2014 "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts"
  17. Web site: FIMI – Classifiche Annuali 2014 "TOP OF THE MUSIC" FIMI-GfK: un anno di musica italiana. Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Italian. January 14, 2015. January 13, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150113005101/http://www.fimi.it/5233. dead.
  18. Web site: Jakie płyty Polacy kupowali najchętniej w 2014 roku – roczne podsumowanie listy OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Polish. January 19, 2015.
  19. http://www.swisscharts.com/charts/jahreshitparade/2014 "Swiss Year-End Charts 2014"
  20. https://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=2015&cat=a "Jaaroverzichten 2015: Albums"
  21. https://www.ultratop.be/fr/annual.asp?year=2015&cat=a "Rapports Annuels 2015: Albums"
  22. https://web.archive.org/web/20180812150133/http://www.snepmusique.com/tops-annuel/top-album-megafusion-annuel/?ye=2015 "Top Albums annuel (physique + téléchargement + streaming)"