the mood is darker here than most of his work. he has given interviews that this was a down time for him and his creativity suffered. it has its moments such as the title track. "rock and roll is dead" sounds like a retread of "are you gonna go my way" with a more pessimistic tone. lenny is taking himself too seriously. fans should buy this but casual listeners can skip it.

Because it's Lenny, it is very good. But I feel that it falls behind his previous works.

This may be one of his lesser known albums, but that doesn't mean it's a lesser album. Lyrically it is a bit deep, and maybe dark, but musically it rocks like you would expect it to. Rockers and ballads, they're all here of course. Included are the hits "Rock & Roll Is Dead" and "Can't Get You Off My Mind", but "Beyond The 7th Sky", "Magdalene", and "Don't Go Put A Bullet In Your Head" are good too. I also really like "In My Life Today". So even though this album got stuck between two more popular releases of his, fans shouldn't pass it up. Newbies can check out the "Greatest Hits".

Lenny's dark album, which was more popular in Europe than in the U.S., deserves more credit than it often gets. It's not dark as in evil, but it represents a period in Lenny's life in which he turned the focus inward, and as a result, produced some pretty darn good music.

The album opens with "Rock and Roll Is Dead", observing how rock and roll was about sex & drugs, as opposed to the good old music. The title track, "Circus", is stark and raw, Lenny felt like his life was becoming one great big Circus. The next song ("Beyond...") is a good, driving rock song with the heavy drums and guitar. "Tunnel Vision" is funky and sexy, "Can't Get You..." is your sad love song, "Magdalene" is the story of a modern-day Mary Magdalene.

"God Is Love" isn't what you would expect it to be. It's almost as if Lenny's sad that God is, indeed, love. "Thin Ice" basically warns a brother that he's digging himself into a pit and he'd better get it together. The first, and probably only, ray of sunshine on this album is "In My Life Today", where Lenny figures that God will help him get himself together. "Resurrection" is a bloody good song, you just have to listen to it.

Yes, this is Lenny's darkest and most spiritual album, but that doesn't take away from his expert musicianship. Lenny is one of the best rock musicians out today, and Circus is just another stage in his growth into who he is now-the ideal rock star.

Lenny Kravitz's fourth album is perhaps his weirdest. He had been revelling in the success of his last album 'Are You Gonna Go My Way?', but his life went downhill from there. He split up with his wife, and his mother had died from cancer. So in 1995 he released 'Circus'.
The only word to describe this album is 'weird'. The emotional balance changes throughout the album. The excellent 'Rock And Roll Is Dead' kicks off the album in style, all instruments played by Lenny. The dark and broody title track follows, and despite it's depressing sound, is well produced.
'Can't Get You Off My Mind' is one of Lenny's finest ballards, it's smooth playing and raw emotion equalling 'Stand By My Woman'. But a few of the songs take at least 5 listens to get used to them. 'Beyond The 7th Sky' and 'Tunnel Vision' are the best examples with the former being a rough edged rock track and the latter being a James Brown inspired funk track. 'Magadelene', 'Don't Go And Put A Bullet In Your Head' and 'In My Life Today' are just filler to me. 'Thin Ice' and 'The Resurrection' are half decent tracks but 'God Is Love' put me right off.
The religious content might be a bit too much for the average music fan but I feel that the album was better than '5', his pathetic sell out album to his fans. If you are a die hard Kravitz fan, I feel that you may have mixed emotions if you buy this.