Label URL: www.virginrecords.com

Band URL: www.lennykravitz.com

With every new Lenny Kravitz album comes a new Lenny Kravitz hairdo. The dreadlocks are long gone and now the ‘fro is gone to. Lenny’s latest look seems to be inspired by Michael Jackson’s current ‘do. I think Lenny may want to fire his image consultant or at the very least his hairdresser.

By now, maybe you’ve seen the video for the first single from Baptism, "Where Are We Runnin’?," a retro rocker that’s right up there with Lenny’s best. When I refer to his best, I’m talking about Lenny’s energetic songs like "Are You Gonna Go My Way," "Mr. Cab Driver," "Always On The Run," and even his cover of "American Woman." And this album has a few others, like the super catchy opener "Minister Of Rock ‘N Roll," the short but peppy "California," and chorus-driven "Flash."

Lenny’s got the soulful side too, though. The side that concentrates on slow, love soaked ballads, and Baptism has lots of those, maybe too many. "Calling All Angels," "Baptized," "What Did I Do With My Life," "The Other Side," and "Destiny" are incredibly sedate numbers with Lenny in whispering mode. The problem is that the energy is lost here and most of these songs don’t vary enough.

The Bottom Line: Currently, Lenny Kravitz is one of the only African American artists that actually plays rock n' roll. Every other black artist is a hip-hop star, so I give him major props for keeping the rock n’ roll flame alive. Besides "Where Are We Runnin’?" and a few other tunes, Baptism is not his most rockin’ effort, though. If you like the softer side of Lenny, then this will be right up your alley. If you’re like me and enjoy Lenny’s more reckless side, then you may just have to settle for four songs on this cd.