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Somewhere along the line in his career, he fully absorbed his pantheon of Sixties and Seventies influences and began to sound like no one but himself. The confidence that results from that growth -- along with the knowledge that comes from having made records for fifteen years -- is apparent throughout this album.
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Q MagazineCrass, brash, open freeway excess at its best. If only he didn't spend half the album apologising for them. [Jul 2004, p.118]
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A respectable effort.
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Entertainment WeeklyAnyone else offering up such hokum would do it with tongue fairly deep in cheek. Not Lenny Kravitz. [21 May 2004, p.76]
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He can still work a guitar and woo the pants right off of you, but after listening to another round of patchouli-soaked ballads like "Baptized" and "What Did I Do With My Life?" you really begin to consider running the other way.
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There's precious little rocking to be found, and the turgid numbers that make up Baptism's bulk are bogged down by insipid clichés and half-hearted tempos.
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Kravitz has evolved merely from one set of retro-70s surfaces to another, with uncharacteristically uninspired hooks.
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It's a shame and embarrassment, and hopefully it will be a temporary slump like Circus.
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There are some sturdy tunes and hooks, but not much more: the songwriting is often bland, the singing generally charmless.
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MojoTired and contrived-sounding.... Baptism? Craptism, more like. [Jun 2004, p.102]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 16 out of 41
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Mixed: 5 out of 41
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Negative: 20 out of 41
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May 5, 2013
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Oct 20, 2011
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DannyZJul 31, 2007