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List Price: $34.99 | | Label: Mvp
Salesrank: 1379856
Released: February 2, 1996 |
| Our Price: $23.50 |
| Used Price: $1.50 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Editorial Review:
Lenny Kravitz Photos
More from Lenny Kravitz
Baptism | 
Greatest Hits | 
Mama Said |
Description of Circus:
On the opening cut of Lenny Kravitz's latest album, Circus, the rock star falls just short of completely writing off his own existence. The song: "Rock and Roll Is Dead," a standard indictment of the fabled rock and roll lifestyle ("You're living for an image...you got five hundred women in your bed"). It's ironic, though, that Kravitz himself has always played rock star to the hilt--not in any gross display of decadence, but rather through his pronounced narcissism and pretentiousness. If rock and roll really is dead, surely the Lenny Kravitzes of the world would have slunk their way into extinction by now.
Kravitz's continued adherence to his ridiculous, often-parodied rock star stance is what makes him--even more than his decidedly retrograde music-- an anachronism. And while bands like Urge Overkill get away with Kravitz-like stud rock because they riff with their tongues firmly planted in their cheeks, Kravitz is all the more difficult to stomach because he's so lacking in irony.
If it's possible to separate the music from the silly rock star that created it (or if you actually dig Kravitz's pose), Circus turns out to be a better-than-average classic rock record. "Magdalene" bursts with as much melody and enthusiasm as Matthew Sweet power-pop; the mid-tempo "Can't Get You Off My Mind" sways like the country-flavored rock of the '70s; and "Don't Go and Put a Bullet in Your Head" is driven by a surprisingly nonretro drum machine beat.
Circus is interesting as well for its heavy religious content. Though Kravitz's hippified vision of world harmony goes back to his first single, 1989's "Let Love Rule," never has he sounded more overtly Christian than here on songs like "God Is Love" and "The Resurrection." Traditional Christians might find his mix of sexuality with religion offensive, and secular rock fans might find his beatitudes creepy. Still, if gangster rap or left-wing folk music are valid themes for pop music, there's certainly room as well for Kravitz's religious convictions and positive vibe. --Roni Sarig
Circus Reviews:
Rock N Roll Is Dead? 
2009-11-11 - There were probably a lot of critics and music fans who were waiting in the 90's to give Lenny Kravitz a hard time for the things they DID'NT like about him. There was his mimickry and lack of originality for starters but mostly the fact he took his music career seriously. All of this criticism had it's effect on Kravitz by this time and on this album he penned a series of very dark hued songs,full of distorted blues riffs and the flavors of Hendrix in a dreary state of mind. "Rock N Roll Is Dead" says it all;the guy is obviously tiring from all of the hype,positive and (usually) negative that surrounded him and was trying to exhaust a specific sound so,once people lost interest he could move onto something different. As we'd see that would meet with mixed results but overall,most of the songs on this album are built around similar style structures,with little variation in the pieces which was more common on earlier (and more varied) albums like the excellent Mama Said. In addition to the reoccuring themes of fatique and paranoia there is also a pronounced religious flavor to the point where there's even a song called "God Is Love". There are two songs here that point to a possible different direction for this album. The ferocious rocking funk of "Tunnel Vision" is a groove that really pointed to something good but,it sadly ends before it can quite work into ones subconcious. "Don't Go And Put A Bullet In Your Head" is among the darkest songs here as it focuses on economic hopelessness and thoughts of suicide but,at the same time it has this warm folksy soul kind of rhythm where that same darkness actually works to make the music of the song stronger. Has these been the primary musical focus of the album and it had gone from there it might've been really good. Through most of it though he just seems to be going through the motions of his retro psychedelic blues-rock. He had all the stuff to make it,perhaps even on the funkier end:a strong sense of groove,the voice and most importantly that ability to take important (and often tragic) human issues and spin positive concepts off of them to offer hope. In this case all of this shone through but sadly wasn't channeled through the best kind of material to make it among his strong efforts.
One more spin on the merry go round
2009-05-16 - 3 1/2
Lenny's fourth studio was still intriguingly rocking enough to warrant a listen, but one could hear apathetic or redundant qualities beginning to creep into the compositional approach.
I thought it was decent.
2009-03-23 - I really wasn't too familiar with some of lenny kravitz's earlier work, considering that he's been making music for almost 20 years now. That being said I decided to check out Circus, I think this album was amazing on some levels and kind of bland on other levels. I think that this is a great rock album but compared to lenny kravitz's other albums and singles this has to be the most different, and interesting. Can't get you off my mind had a country twang to it which I actually thought was interesting. Im glad that he decided to stick it and do something different. My favorite tracks were tunnel vision and Circus. I think those have to be the two hidden gems on this cd. Overall, I'd this album is interesting and should be given a listen to but if possible get it the free way. I wouldn't pay to much money for this cd. Overall, if your an avid kravitz fan, or like rock in general then this is the album for you to get. Also, some of the tracks kind of follow the grunge trends just a bit because of the times!
deep circus 
2008-03-22 - this is one of lenny's best, it's different funky rock'n'roll,but you wont be disappointed if you buy it...
Lenny rules
2007-03-10 - I never understood why Lenny never got the respect he deserved sooner. I really appreciate his earlier work maybe even more than his more famous things. This one and particularly the song circus make this a must have for any lenny fan.
