REVIEWS:
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
Living Colour's debut is basically a mix of metal-oriented guitar work from Vernon Reid, soulful, distinctive and quite expressive vocals from Corey Glover, inspirational lyrics, and funky arrangements helped out by a tight rhythm section (which is always necessary for funk). As a result of their dynamics it sounds unlike anything that was out at the time. The band gets their career off to a powerful start with the opener "Cult Of Personality" (one of the most successful late 80s hit singles), which has an immediately memorable riff and hook and highly politicized lyrics.
"Open Letter (To A Landlord)" is another socially meaningful number, which has especially well-written and desperate lyrics which seem to say it all: 'you can tear a building down, but you can't erase a memory, these houses may look old and down, but they have a value, you can't see', and the band's style is musically as adventurous as any point in the record which help make it a major highlight. "Desperate People" can also be counted as a fine example of their interplay, "Glamour Boys" grooves along with style and flair and "Which Way To America?" is simply a great adrenaline rush of a closer.
However, there is a tendency for this album to sound very uneven, especially in the annoying throwaways "What's Your Favorite Color? (Theme Song)" (which is just plain moronic and repetitive) and "Funny Vibe" (an unnecessary and unfocused rap-metal number featuring Public Enemy that diminishes their meaningful lyrical message a bit). The dull Talking Heads cover "Memories Can Wait" also leaves me cold. All of those faults and other lesser tracks aside, though, this is a very worthwhile debut.
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[email protected] (tony souza)
This album was like a breath of fresh air for me when it came out. Most mainstream hard rock/metal bands at that time were shallow and played everything on the 2 and the 4, which can be very boring. This band was different.The rhythm section of Calhoun and Skillings was very creative, creating rhythmic textures that propelled the songs along. The lyrics were much more mature than what the average hair metal bands were writing at the time. I like every song on here. "Funny Vibe" is one of my favorites because it starts out sounding like Rush and then in the middle of the song switches straight into funk. Glovers' singing is fine, and Reids' guitar work is excellent (even though I'm not a big fan of shred guitar playing). Mick Jagger plays harmonica on "Broken Hearts" , the only ballad on here. Simply a great album.
[email protected] (John Schlegel)
In response to Nick's review: I agree with the commentary about the ace musicianship and the praised material, but I don't think the "uneven" songs are that bad. Sure, "Funny Vibe" doesn't match up to gems like "Cult of Personality" and "Open Letter to a Landlord," but it is still a well-done, creatively heavy tune! All of the lesser cuts I can still sit through and modestly enjoy. And Vivid has several great songs to offer, both from the singles and album track galleries. The Caribbean-styled "Glamour Boys" could be cheesy, but it's just too well-performed, and the groove is too hard-hitting and likable; so, in other words, it rocks! And "I Wanna Know" is one of the catchiest, most foot-tappin'-est, guitar-driven pop songs ever! The competent and original performances from everyone push the quality meter over the top for this one. The mixture of funk, pop rock, rap, and heavy metal was pulled off without sounding gratuitous, and it was so ahead of its time. This is a solid, righteous LP, and one of my favorites of the '80s! I give it a 9!
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
It seems that with the commercial success their debut generated, the band could have easily just repeated their funk metal formula, but thankfully, on their sophomore effort they actually attempt to grow a bit more creatively. The signature sound already established on Vivid (the distinct vocals and intense, sometimes almost dissonant and furious guitar work, provocative lyrics, etc.) is still definitely present, but this time, the music is more complex, with neat little shifts in the sound, the melodies are generally catchier at their best, and the lyrics offer very interesting and often biting perspectives on social issues that might have went over the heads of most metal fans, but they sure don't go over mine. Plus, they've added a touch of diversity to the sound here to include such elements as African pop, sound experiments, thrash, and even rap in place. In a sense, this might be the defining Living Colour album in terms of their ambition, though maybe not their best.
The record gets off to a furious burst of energy almost right away with the really furious, punkish title track, and this one definitely has a more intense sound than anything on the debut, with nice tempo shifts and all, but don't think this is gonna be generic speed. Not very many thrash bands would write something as melodically excellent as "Pride" (which is in a quite similar vein to "Cult Of Personality", with its' fine guitar/vocal interplay, provocative lyrics, and extremely memorable chorus) or set up an addictively tight R&B groove on something like "Love Rears Its' Ugly Head", which really suits Corey Glover's vocals. Sure, the spirit of metal is very much alive in the hard-hitting energy of "New Jack Theme" or the power riffing of "Someone Like You", but the melodies and lyrics are just about anything but your conventional metal.
In any case, the most particularly rewarding stretch of music here comes in the middle, on which the gang seriously starts questioning social issues in such a provocative and even clever fashion, without forgetting to write good music or melodies to them. "Elvis Is Dead" in particular is a blast, as the band proceeds to mock the media's baffling obsesssion with some dead guy from Graceland, with cleverly satirizing lyrics and a pounding musical backdrop. "Information Overload", while a bit overlong, brings to the forefront society's current obsession with technology, and it's really interesting how chaotic the music and melodies are in this one, with screaming guitar soloing at the beginning and furiously played riffs to perfectly symbolize the song title. And of course, there's the biggest hit here in "Type", the social prejudice anthem whose intense power riffing effectively melds with a very striking pop chorus ('we are the children...') and a nice coda that brings everything to a good conclusion ('everything that goes around, comes around...')
The final stretch of the album is also a good one in its' own right. Sure, it might have a couple short, overly silly, filler tracks (the bass solo fest of "Ology" and the idiotic "Tag Team Partners"), but "Under Cover Of Darkness" has quite an unsettling slightly hip-hop influenced edge due to the subject matter of the lyrics (the darkness of sexual harassment) and effective rap in the middle by Queen Latifah, while "Solace Of You" is that aforementioned very pretty excursion into African pop, providing a lighter tone to the proceedings before the closing 'epic' "This Is The Life" becomes a glorious, slightly dark anthem that, essentially, tells the listeners the power is in their hands. A good way to end the album as a whole. Maybe the whole thing isn't quite great ("Fight The Fight" has an interesting guitar approach but not much of a melody, and the more conventional material here doesn't quite catch fire) but it is a very high 7 to Vivid's very low 7, and makes for a somewhat rewarding and often challenging listen.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
Tensions between Corey Glover and Vernon Reid led to the band's breakup shortly afterwards, so their third full length studio effort Stain proved to be their final word. The lineup change for this one was bassist Doug Wimbish replacing Muzz Skillings, and his playing gives the record much more of a bottom ended, dark funk edge. Add that to a somewhat heavier guitar tone, anti-social melodies and often bitter and angry lyrics and you have a somewhat inaccessible, but imposing, twist on the already original Living Colour sound. The combination of those elements does indeed catch fire for quite a bit of the album, particularly within the first six cuts.
The opening "Go Away" seems to be the most explosive and searing of the lot, with a damn heavy riff, and an irresistibly dark, catchy and funky chorus that features the lyrics of, 'I see the starving Africans on TV, I feel it has nothing to do with me' that should give you a pretty decent clue of what Stain shoots for in terms of mood, and the similarly hard-hitting "Ignorance Is Bliss" and "Leave It Alone" also feature cutting Reid riffs, powerful vocal yells, with the latter having some symphonic elements in the verses, and that amazing rhythm section, also including drummer William Calhoun, who has a huge hand in the songwriting duties here. "Bi", meanwhile, adds tongue in cheek social commentary to the mix with a pretty cool hip hop / techno influenced ending, while the heavy as hell slow grind of "Mind Your Own Business" turns into a faster chorus of unpredictable tempo changes, and the furiously rocking "Auslander" closes out the album's most unstoppable run.
The rest of the band's swan song doesn't quite match it, but there are a few other strong, quite unique songwriting triumphs, such as the emotionally charged string-drenched ballad "Nothingness" (a Calhoun contribution), one of the album's most in your face cuts in "This Little Pig", the heavily tense closing riff rocker "Wall" (which is marred a little by a ridiculously meandering, unfocused ending). Only the somewhat pointless spoken word track "Hemp" and the hip hop influenced sound collage "WTTF" are really noticeable detractions - however, they don't ruin the album by any means, as one of the most unique bands of the last 10 or 15 years are still able to end their career on a high note. Strong work.
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COMMENTS
[email protected] (tony souza)
After their debut, Living Colour released Time's Up, an album I feel is even better than it's predecessor. When Stain came out, I was very excited to hear what it would sound like. While not a bad album, it still doesn't measure up to the first two. "Go Away" is a fine opener, "Ignorance is Bliss" with it's catchy riff, sounds like it could have been on Time's Up (a good thing) and Nothingness is a beautiful ballad. However, the experiments on the latter part of the album fall flat. Those songs come off as very tuneless and dull. That, for me, knocks the rating down a notch.