THEY say that hindsight is 20/20, but when you ask Lenny Kravitz if he’d change anything about his classic album “Let Love Rule” (currently celebrating its 20th birthday) he quickly says, “Not a thing.”
“I listen to this album, and after all these years I hear the mistakes I made, but I wouldn’t fix any of them because this record was true to my life,” the 45-year-old rocker tells The Post from his Miami home.
“I put it on, and I can smell the apartment I was living in . . . this album is who I was 20 years ago.”
In a way, Kravitz — who’s since turned out eight CDs, won four Grammys and most recently wrote and produced one of Michael Jackson’s final recordings — is reliving his salad days through “Let Love Rule.” He usually plays arenas, but this weekend Kravitz is dusting off the music from his much-hailed debut for a five-night residency at the Fillmore.
“I’ve been living in Paris for the past three years, so I’m enjoying being back home, playing a place as small as [the Fillmore]. I want to get close with my fans. I want to feel the feelings I had onstage when I was starting out,” Kravitz says.
Although that may seem as if he’s trying to find his way back to a lost time, Kravitz insists he’s still the same guy. “That first record was all about love, all about God, all about family. Those are the values I grew up on, and I’ve held onto in my music and life.”
When you dissect the record, it’s easy to understand why it remains relevant.
There are no gimmicks, state-of-the-art technology or political statements that date it. The rock songs all have driving melodies and universal lyrics about love, growing up and living life.
Kravitz recalled when he first started working on the record, saying he was tempted to dabble with the cutting-edge technology of 1989. “I bought all this new equipment, but the sound I was getting from drum machines and synthesizers didn’t feel right. I sold all that stuff and I bought a couple of tube amps and guitars and a drum kit . . . and that was it.”
Working alone in the studio, playing all the instruments, dubbing tracks, layering vocals and crafting music that was so out of character with what was being touted in 1989, Kravitz was often accused of being too derivative of classic rock and too retro in his songwriting.
But even though this one-man-band method probably gave the record its purity and focused vision, Kravitz now says it was more of an economic decision than an artistic one. “Essentially, I was by myself in the studio because I didn’t have money to hire a band. That’s really the only reason I didn’t have a band — I wanted one.”
“I had no money, but I had the ability to make the music. In the end, I didn’t compromise the music or my art, and I’m still proud of that. It’s why I believe “Let Love Rule” still stands up after 20 years.”
Kravitz, with his band, will reprise “Let Love Rule” along with his other hits at the Fillmore at Irving Plaza on Sunday, Monday and Oct. 14, 15 & 18.
dan.aquilante@nypost.com