Are You Gonna Go My Way

by Lenny Kravitz

Overview

The cover indicates that Are You Gonna Go My Way is Lenny Kravitz's bid for rock stardom. Designed in the style of an early-'70s record, it features Kravitz in hippie clothing, apparently exposing himself to a photographer -- in other words, he's a dangerously sexy counterculture rebel. That may have been true in 1970, but in 1993, he simply sounds like a weird sideshow exhibit, the man who never lived past 1973. Of course, it's easy to make such potshots, but Kravitz opens himself up to such attacks. No other artist, especially a successful one, has been quite so devoted to the past and ignorant of the present. Since he has considerable talent for songcraft and production, Kravitz isn't nearly as bad as he could be, and Are You Gonna Go My Way is just as enjoyable and more accomplished than its predecessors. This time around, Hendrix is his chief influence, as evidenced by the roaring title track, and he does expand that with his traditional Lennon, Curtis Mayfield, and Prince obsessions. 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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	03/09/1993
Label:	Virgin
UPC:	0077778698425

Tracks

1. Are You Gonna Go My Way
2. Believe
3. Come on and Love Me
4. Heaven Help
5. Just Be a Woman
6. Is There Any Love in Your Heart
7. Black Girl
8. My Love
9. Sugar
10. Sister
11. Eleutheria

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Lenny Kravitz   Primary Artist,Bass,Drums,Chimes,Guitar,Vocals,Soloist,Mellotron,Wurlitzer,Percussion,String Ensemble,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Angie Stone   Guest Artist,Vocals (Background)
Henry Hirsch   ARP Synthesizer,Arp String Ensemble,Bass,Organ,Piano,Strings,Mini Moog,Wurlitzer,Synthesizer
Eric Delente   Violin
Luih-Wen Ting   Viola
Robert Lawrence   Violin
Butch Thomas   Saxophone
Soye Kim   Violin
Allen Whear   Celli,Cello
Carolyn Davis Fryer   Double Bass
Bahamian Goatskin   Junkanoo
John Whitffield   Cello
Andy Newmark   Drums
Frank Murphy   Celli,Cello
Sarah Adams   Viola
Liuh-Wen Ting   Viola
David Domanich   Drums,Guitar (Electric)
Gerry DeVeaux   Vocals (Background)
Michael Hunter   Horn,Trumpet,Flugelhorn,French Horn
Tony Breit   Bass
Michael "Ibo" Cooper   Clavinet,Organ (Hammond)
Craig Ross   Drums,Guitar,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Karl Denson   Horn,Saxophone
Harold Todd   Horn

Technical Credits

Henry Hirsch   String Arrangements,Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Orchestration
Jean Baptiste Mondino   Photography
Per Gustafsson   Booklet
Gary DeVeaux   Composer
Len Peltier   Design,Art Direction
Jean Krikorian   Design
Mick Wilkojc   Producer,Interviewer
Ed Cherney   Remixing
Greg Calbi   Mastering
Greg Di Gesu   Assistant Engineer
Lenny Kravitz   Arranger,Composer,Lyricist,Producer,Orchestration,Horn Arrangements,String Arrangements
Tom Edmonds   Engineer
David Domanich   Engineer
Gerry DeVeaux   Composer,Lyricist
Terry Britten   Composer,Lyricist
Craig Ross   Composer