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List Price: $8.94 | | Label: Virgin Records Us
Salesrank: 16408
Released: June 29, 1992 |
| Our Price: $3.74 |
| Used Price: $0.01 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Mama Said Track Listing:
1. Fields of Joy
2. Always on the Run
3. Stand by My Woman
4. It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
5. More Than Anything in This World
6. What Goes Around Comes Around
7. Difference Is Why
8. Stop Draggin' Around
9. Flowers for Zo�
10. Fields of Joy (Reprise)
11. All I Ever Wanted
12. When the Morning Turns to Night
13. What the Fuck Are We Saying?
14. Butterfly
Editorial Review:
Sometimes it's fun to take the albums of latter-day rockers and play spot-the-influence, and on Mama Said, it's like shooting fish in a barrel. "Always on the Run," with its punchy horns and emphatic vocals, is cribbed from Sly Stone. "What Goes Around Comes Around," with its understated arrangement and Kravitz's falsetto, is straight out of Superfly-era Curtis Mayfield. "Stand By My Woman" and "All I Ever Wanted," meanwhile, are so directly copped from John Lennon--lyrically, sonically, attitudinally--that it ought to be actionable. Younger fans might not care about any of this, of course, because in and of themselves, Kravitz's songs are tuneful, and they do rock. --Daniel Durchholz
Mama Said Reviews:
Probably his best 
2009-04-16 - This album has an absolutely fantastic first side which in retrospect makes the case as one of the better major rock entries of the 90's...only one year in. Any startlingly honed momentum like that is hard-pressed to maintain and MS is no exception, with a few consciously underdeveloped songs near the conclusion ratcheting the premium retro rocker down a notch, from completely classic to compellingly classy.
A classic 
2008-03-07 - This is what made Lenny the star he is. I continue to rank this album as nothing but great, it has stood the test of time. I wish Lenny would get back to the depth and soul of this album, his recent work simply does not compare.
Lenny is so hot! But anyway...B-
2007-08-15 - This collection is hit after hit after hit (with about 2 1/2 slight misses). Lenny wrote the entire album save for Fields of Joy and the reprise version of said song.
I'm not totally into classic rock at all and we all know that's mainly Lenny's forte but this CD is a keeper. I bought it a couple of years ago at a supermarket and have listened to it a couple of times.
I'm actually listening to it now and getting ready to put all of the tracks onto my iPod because all I have is It Ain't Over....
So basically, if you like Lenny's music, this CD is probably a must-have. You shouldn't be skipping around too much with this album.
4 stars = B-
Lenny Always Stands By His Influences
2006-10-10 - Lenny Kravitz:flower child throwback who,like Prince and Terence Trent D'Arby before him used the bi racial/multi instrumentalist/eclectic style to his best advantage.What does Lenny Krzvitz have that's different from those two artists?Simple-his sound is unapologetically retro.Unlike other retro artists though Lenny even copies the production style,right down to the analog tapes he swears by.That being said 'Mama Said',although recorded in 1991 at the peak of the new jack and grunge revolutions might as well have been recorded in 1973 because there are no synthesizers or heavy electronics on this album-it's ALL live instrumentation.And while very imatative of his influences-namely John Lennon,Curtis Mayfield,Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone those are the best influences to have and he makes their own sounds even better!Much of the CD has the feel of an epic album lengh excursion."Fields Of Joy","The Difference Is Why" and "When The Morning Turns To Night" all have superb arrangements and,uncharacteristically for Kravitz do blend his influences into a cohesive whole,althought still a highly retro neo psychedelic one."Always On The Run" is a slashing funk jam right out of the Sly/Funkadelic school of psychelic funk with punchy horns and Lenny's rowdy singing.Two of the best songs are very Lennon inspired-"Stand By Your Woman" and "All I Ever Wanted",the latter of which actually features Sean Lennon as a guest writer and lyricist.On Lenny's voice however the Lennon-style vocal reverb sounds a lot heavier.Of course one of the two most impressive songs here is the big hit "It Ain't Over Til It's Over",a classic Philly/Chicago soul type ballad with a nice midtempo beat.Lenny's falsetto is beautiful,the arrangement is in the pocket and you can even dance to it-I think it's my favorite Kravitz song.The other is another kind of soul-a very Curtis Mayfield sounding "What Goes Around Comes Around"-I have to give Lenny credit for his DEAD ON Mayfield vocal impression,that is until Karl Denson goes WILD on the sax and the whole songs turns into a totally free jazz extravaganza."Flowers For Zoe" is another song here that's great-a very folksy soul kind of feal with a nice gentle vocal.Overall 'Mama Said' is enough to give Kravitz detractors (and there are an awful lot) a sense that given the proper musical balance Kravitz would be able to synthesize all of his many musical ideas and shadings into something cohesive and distinctly his.But that hardly matters since it seems,especially if an artist is not caucasion (and even if they are) that they will immediately be accused of ripping off or too heavily borrowing from their influences and since this style seems to be such a big part of who Lenny Kravitz is he takes even more flack for it then many.But 'Mama Said' actually does a lot to bring out the many talents and amazing songwriting of Kravitz and gives probably the best impression of him available.
Love Lenny
2006-02-25 - This is the first cd of Lenny Kravitz that I bought many years ago but lost in a divorce. I just recently replaced it and love it just as much as when I first heard it. Lenny rocks! His new stuff is awesome too
