Reviews list for Living Colour - Vivid (1988)

It’s funny how I occasionally find myself in a situation where I’ve maintained a position on a certain record for many decades only to finally undertake a reassessment of it's value & decide that I don’t think I’ve even heard it before because nothing about it sounds familiar. It doesn’t happen very often but it’s occurred over the last couple of days with the 1988 debut album from New York’s Living Colour. I'm sure that I first discovered them shortly after the release of this record through the inclusion of their big hit & opening track “Cult of Personality” on a compilation I’d acquired & I know that song back to front but the rest of the album? Nup… I can’t honestly say that I recognise a single second of it so I don’t think I actually checked it out even though Living Colour’s 1990 sophomore record “Time’s Up” got quite regular plays around my home as a teenager so this gives me the opportunity to approach it with unbiased ears.

Living Colour were known as one of the big players in the early funk metal movement & became really popular in Australia off the back of their 1991 hit single “Love Rears It’s Ugly Head”. I quite liked them at the time but remember questioning their links to metal & “Vivid” certainly sees me revisiting those feelings as there’s very little genuine metal on this record. I can only think that people have had their opinions influenced by “Cult of Personality” more than anything as it’s clearly the most metal track on the album & even then it’s kind of a heavy metal/hard rock hybrid. The rest of the record sees this talented outfit championing a sound that’s better described as an unintimidating blend of commercial hard rock & bouncy funk rock with some poppier moments scattered across the tracklisting. Unsurprisingly, those poppier tracks are the clear fails here too & “Vivid” is a lot less consistent than I thought it’d be, particularly when you consider the talent on show.

Living Colour’s main focal point is definitely band leader & guitar virtuoso Vernon Reid who absolutely slays here, his exciting jazz fusion guitar solos representing the high point of almost every song. I’m a big fan of his expansive & experimental style & the album is worth listening to solely for his contribution but bass player Muzz Skillings & vocalist Corey Glover also put in stellar performances & you get the feeling that the band was always going to make it big given the collective weight of their musical chops. This makes it a bit of a shame that they opted to explore a few obvious cash-grabbing opportunities on this album because when they extend themselves creatively they’re a more than decent & very likeable unit. Sadly though, poppy filler like “I Want To Know” & “Glamour Boys” see the shine taken off the better material. I’m not sure it sees my score dropping at all but it’s definitely reduced my opinion of Living Colour just a touch.

Ultimately, “Vivid” is a competent rock record produced by a class act that really knew what they were doing. It’s just not one that offers me the sort of appeal to see me returning to it in the future. My childhood memories recall “Time’s Up” being a more complete piece of work but I’m starting to question myself on that now & may have to give it a fresh assessment at some point before committing to claims like that. In the meantime I’ll be raising a Hall of Judgement posting as I really don’t think “Vivid” has a place at the Metal Academy if I’m being honest.