LIVING COLOUR — Vivid (review)

LIVING COLOUR — Vivid album cover Album · 1988 · Funk Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Stooge
Vernon Reid spent a number of years tinkering with the lineup of Living Colour. By the time the band’s lineup solidified and produced their debut album, Vivid, we can hear that Reid made the right choices.

Without a doubt, “Cult Of Personality” is the most popular song off this album, and is probably Living Colour’s most popular song in their whole catalog. Not surprising at all. It’s an extremely catchy tune and a great way to kick off the album.

The level of energy holds up for the next three tunes, as does some solid riffing. “Desperate People” in particular has a damn fine riff that comes in after the intro and also plays during the chorus of the song.

With “Open Letter (To A Landlord)”, we have something of a ballad, more so lyrically than structurally. Starting off with a sorrowful intro with some emotional delivery by vocalist Corey Glover, the song then transforms into an upbeat tune highlighted by a tight groove from the rhythm section of bassist Muzz Skillings and drummer Will Calhoun. Vernon Reid adds additional “Colour” with his supporting fretwork.

“Funny Vibe” is one of the funkiest songs on the album, but it’s also one of the more dated tunes at the same time. A not-so-careful listen will have you spotting cameos by Chuck D and Flava Flav of Public Enemy fame. Dated or not, this song has a great outro!

“Memories Can’t Wait” is a cover of a Talking Heads song. I just heard the original version for the first time yesterday, and have to say they did a fine job of it. It’s faithful to the original, yet still takes on the Living Colour sound. Even though it’s not technically their song, it still is among the strongest songs on the album.

Unlike “Open Letter”, “Broken Hearts” is more along the lines of a traditional ballad. Along with “Cult Of Personality”, this is the song off Vivid that I find myself humming the most. Solo duties fall to bassist Skillings instead of Reid on this track.

Unfortunately, some of these songs didn’t age as well as the others. “I Want To Know”, “Funny Vibe”,“Glamour Boys”, and “What’s Your Favorite Color? (Theme Song)” fall under this category. However, when you piece it all together, the tracks all fit nicely and couldn’t see this album with any one track missing.

Vivid ends with an exclamation mark with “Which Way To America?” which blends the two main elements of their sound with a funky verse and an aggressively delivered chorus with perhaps the heaviest guitar on the album.

Vivid is an excellent way to spend 49 minutes, and deserves four stars!
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