A fabulous assortment of artists from different areas of the rock genre give a glorifying tribute to Curtis Mayfield in a sparkling 17-song package. Gladys Knight, Stevie Winwood, Lenny Kravitz, Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, The Isley Brothers, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Phil Collins, Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart, Elton John, Tevin Campbell, Narada Michael Walden, Repercussions, Branford Marsalis.

The very title of Strut makes Lenny Kravitz's intentions for his tenth album plain: he wants to swagger, he wants to get off on his moves. To underscore the whole carnality of it, Kravitz calls the album's opening track "Sex," just the first song in a parade of pleasure, pain, and dirty white boots. Any of the attempted sociopolitical overtures of 2011's Black and White America have been abandoned, jettisoned along with the stylistic excesses that pumped that album to double-LP length. Strut doesn't bother with any of that nonsense. Like so many records from the golden age of the LP, it's just 12 songs and if it weighs in at a slightly hefty 53 minutes, it's because Lenny has a hard time stopping a good groove and Strut consists almost entirely of grooves.

Rock music in the 1980s had completely lost the gritty feel of earlier eras, until Lenny Kravitz rediscovered the magic formula. Kravitz's sonic template combined good old-fashioned rock & roll with glam, soul, and psychedelia, making him a massive success. He made a splash straight out of the gate with his album Let Love Rule. After that, he de-emphasized the flower-power aspects of his music and began moving toward a heavier rock sound. This progression brought him such huge hits as "Are You Gonna Go My Way" and a hard-rocking cover of the Guess Who's "American Woman." Along the way, his flamboyant image, model-like looks, and frequent acting roles made him a fixture in pop-music circles.

John Lennon would have turned 67 in 2007. If alive, he could well be at the forefront of bringing peace to Darfur, where more than half a million have died from violence and disease during four years of rebel discord. So to create awareness of the ongoing conflict, Amnesty International (with permission from Yoko Ono) has mined Lennon's solo work and rounded up nearly two dozen current artists to reinterpret the music, which spans the ex-Beatle's entire post-band catalog (plus a pair from while the Fab Four were still in business). As with any attempt to cover Beatles-related music, results are hit and miss, with kudos going to Snow Patrol and the Postal Service for capturing the starkness of "Isolation" and "Grow Old with Me," respectively, Mexican rock band Jaguares for uncovering the fear and fury in "Gimme Some Truth," and (surprise!) Christina Aguilera for nailing the complex composition and mood of "Mother." Other highlights include Jackson Browne's piano-led "Oh My Love," Green Day's louder straight take on "Working Class Hero," and the Black Eyed Peas turning "Power to the People" into a gospelly protest. Will resurrecting 30-to-40-year-old messages of peace and love be enough to help end the brutalities in Darfur? That remains to be seen. But selecting John Lennon as the author of those messages will make people listen and, with this collection, may keep them listening.

Never let it be said that Lenny Kravitz lives in the past – he knows that 2008 is all about the resurrection of Led Zeppelin, so he's constructed his eighth album, It Is Time for a Love Revolution, as a virtual tribute to the mighty Zep…