Lenny Kravitz is still obsessed with the '70s, and for good reason: he's found endless inspiration in the work of Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder, and a decade's worth of soul men.

Kravitz hasn't lost the funk on 5, but the sound here drifts dangerously close to the Me decade's shallowest end, when disco seemed to rob R&B of its soul.

So the passion Kravitz has shown on early albums is strangely diluted (aside from the album-closing epic "Can We Find a Reason?").

5 is the singer's first foray into digital technology, but despite a few modern effects at the edges, he's doing essentially the same as before--only colder.

-- Steve Appleford (Read more)