Showing posts with label Living Colour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Living Colour. Show all posts

Wednesday 19 June 2019

Living Colour "Stain" (1993)


I may just close the book on this particular musical avenue. A staleness is setting in from a band in steady decline. Their sparkling debut Vivid was quite the experience but since then the re-arranging of influences isn't landing anywhere significant. This time around a tonal rawness and Industrial edge are introduced. Its crass production takes a step back again, the guitar tone has a loose, gritty tone, fit for Thrash and Hardcore riffs but lacking glue. Its on a separate plane from the bass guitar and the musical aesthetic has a sparseness Glover barely holds together with his singing.

His presence is warm in tone, smooth in delivery but the lyrics are handled bluntly. Ideals and topics are persuaded through plain language that sounds so of the time and frankly dated. Its socially and political oriented as you'd expect and the themes range from wealth guilt to sexuality and all of them are expressed with little room for reflection. Essentially I am listing points where this record doesn't resonate. Nothing here is truly awful but the record passes without any attention grabbing moments.

Vernon Reid does get to flash off his advantageous guitaring ability with wild, erupting, dazzling solos however they arise from mediocrity which dampens the impact. There is actually a fair arsenal of thrash and groove riffs in the mix but something in albums raw aesthetic dispels any magic. Auslander is a good example of a track set to bang. Its got a driving Industrial backbone and rowdy baseline yet the two don't gel and the song drifts into a monotone, lifeless drone that chops and churns its way by.

Leave It Alone is about the only song that really has something going for. The rest just gets by on a limb, then Wtff arrives with a turn table break beat jam and the record drops of completely for the remaining few songs. Its a strange record because its loaded with good riffs and interesting elements but none of it fuses and the whole thing is left stiff and stale. Its disappointing but not awful, worth a spin but no more.

Favorite Track: Leave It Alone
Rating: 4/10

Sunday 21 April 2019

Living Colour "Biscuits" (1991)


When it comes to music I am somewhat of a completionist, which leads me too this disposable EP released between albums. It also means a negative blog post, something I am not fond of. Here we have six tracks, comprising of five unreleased songs, three of them performed live and my favorite Living Color song Desperate People, also live. Each track seems to be scared by some jarring feature that taints the whole experience to a rushed throwaway. Two of the tracks feature scratching samples with a generic 80s rawness. Its hard and mixed in over the rest of the music for a disparaging equilibrium that stains mediocre songs with an unfinished feeling. The second of these had potential however. Its Ska basslines and esoteric, dreary, gothic guitars muster interest that's interrupted by tone deaf scratching.

The live performance of Desperate People from Vivid has all the enthusiasm and electricity of a wild show but the music is overplayed, too many variations and additional guitar noise gives an impression of the band getting to into the energy of playing and sacrificing a lot of fidelity. Further into the song Glover falls off key and it doesn't paint a good sell for the live show. On another tracks he moans and groans into the mic in a way that never sounds quite right... I could go on but you get the point, the quality here is sub par and with some bold annoyances on the project it just feels like a quick hash of material pulled together without much thought.

Rating: 2/10


Monday 15 April 2019

Living Colour "Time's Up" (1990)


There was no way I wouldn't pick up another album after discovering Vivid. Its a wonderful debut from the New York band who were fusing genres and setting the sound for 90s Alternative Metal. My excitement brewed when I read this album won a Grammy! That was quickly dispelled on first listen as the production feels a grade lower. The album has a looser, rawer sound, it opens fire with a rattling snare and speedy guitar pummeling that leans towards Thrash Metal. Its a brief moment of intensity that focuses attention on the overall rawer feeling of the record, its drums a fraction more spacious and its busying bass guitar sounds muffled and muddied when in steps up for action. Its energy and charisma comes together with a looseness.

In getting to know the record, a strange feeling of sideways progression emerges. The songs all have the same components, bold and bright, gleaming influences of Metal, Punk, Funk and Hip Hop melding in the cooking pot. This time around its as if they have taken the formula and re-arranged the elements, rather than sharpening or refining its composition. The resulting collection of tracks are rather miss matched in quality, the best of their output seems to revolve around singer Corey Glover and if he can pull of a hook or ear worm chorus. Pride does this wonderfully, with the band laying down a sweet track for his voice to resonate and send goosebumps your way.

There is a distinct shift in the albums topicality. The same social, cultural, economic and racial themes that felt personal and expressive seem spun up in a more commanding and actionable tone as the album is loaded with talking points and statements that stretch from the personal to the political with a broadened attitude. It becomes rather uncomfortable on the safe sex track Under The Cover Of Darkness. It has the tone of a government social influence project, with Queen Latifah dropping in headstrong, empowering lyrics but with that cliche 80s/90s plain flow rap. Unfortunately it has such an orchestrated feeling as she doesn't gel with the track.

The record has many strong moments and engaging arrangements. A wide variety of tones, genre splicing and ideas play out with plenty of grooving riffs and blazing, finger splitting solos but its usually one element firing at a time. The overall themes of these tracks don't come together to often and it play with a patchy flow because of that. Its short intermissions don't offer much either and I'm left feeling lukewarm on the record and wondering if the Grammy was in turn for such an amazing debut.

Favorite Tracks: Pride, Elvis Is Dead, Type, This Is The Life
Rating: 6/10

Saturday 30 March 2019

Living Colour "Vivid" (1988)


The magic of shuffle kicks off another journey as a track other than Cult Of Personality plays and captivates my attention. Its the perfect spark to lure me in and over the past couple of weeks Ive grown to adore this record! When first digging the mood and vibes I thought about how much I loved nineties music, of course this record was a couple years before that decade but Its shades of Alternative and Funk Metal now sound like a precursor to what would blow up in the coming years. You could even trace back Groove Metal back to some of the stomping riffs that appear on this record too. Its been a revelation in some ways, another piece in the puzzle, a key one too.

The group formed in New York a few years prior to this debut album and they arrive on the scene with a really powerful and well formed sound that fuses elements of the aforementioned genres with a Hard Rock baseline, some flavors of Funk and periodic upbeat inflections of cheesy eighties Pop vibes. They pull it off well and roar out the gates with the timeless Cult Of Personality, beyond it an impressive set of songs bring a diversity of well executed ideas thanks to a solid rhythm department. Its led by slamming drum beats that have a little Hip Hop sway to them and alongside punchy baselines that get a couple of songs to step up and flex phenomenal bass playing.

Singer Glover has a fantastic range and pulls off some immense high pitched notes at key moments, he is a well rounded voice at the forefront, lively and emotionally invested. The guitar work is sublime, a range of styles even spanning as far as a Country tang give the songs there tone. The lead playing lines many of them with electric guitar solos that erupt and roar, bursting to life with electricity, showing off technical prowess and slick inspiration. They also drop in with hard hitting riffs and grooves that will have you slamming your head back and forth on many an occasion.

To me, the record walks on many paths and feels like a journey round the world as it explores many ideas, tones and temperaments. The lyrical content and theming also hits a diverse collection of thoughts and problems having personal perspectives, strong feelings and a outlook towards social situations and political problems. The two aspects gel together fantastically and make for a record I can't help think may be somewhat lost to time. I wouldn't say its a classic but it really has a pivotal feel to it, a stepping stone towards the immense music I adore from the early nineties.

Favorite Tracks: Cult Of Personality, Desperate People, Open Letter, Broken Hearts
Rating: 7/10