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 (Read more)