Track Listing
1. Cult of Personality
2. I Want to Know
3. Middle Man
4. Desperate People
5. Open Letter (To a Land Lord)
6. Funny Vibe
7. Memories Can't Wait
8. Broken Hearts
9. Glamour Boys
10. What's Your Favorite Color? (Theme Song)
11. Which Way to America
| Details | | Playing Time: | 49 min. | | Contributing Artists: | Bernard Fowler, Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Mick Jagger | | Producer: | Ed Stasium, Mick Jagger | | Distributor: | Sony Music Distribution ( | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | ADD |
Album Notes
Living Colour: Vernon Reid (vocals, guitar); Muzz Skillings (vocals, bass); William Calhoun (vocals, drums, percussion); Corey Glover (vocals).
Additional personnel: Mick Jagger, Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Dennis Diamond (vocals); Bernard Fowler, Muriel Fowler, Wilfred Fowler (background vocals).
Engineers: Ed Stasium, Paul Hamingson, Ron St. Germain.
Living Colour: Vernon Reid (vocals, guitar); Muzz Skillings (vocals, bass); William Calhoun (vocals, drums, percussion); Corey Glover (vocals).
Additional personnel: Mick Jagger, Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Dennis Diamond (vocals); Bernard Fowler, Muriel Fowler, Wilfred Fowler (background vocals).
Recorded at Skyline, Sound On Sound and Right Track Studios, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Greg Tate.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
Amid the deluge of glam metal that ruled the charts and airwaves in the late-1980s, NYC's Living Colour issued its debut, 1988's VIVID. The album proved to be a much-needed breath of fresh air at the time, as the band was not just limited to hard rock--Living Colour's sound contained punk, funk, reggae, soul, and freeform jazz. And while most other rock bands at the time were obsessed with partying and fast cars, Living Colour added thought-provoking lyrics to the mix (especially on such selections as "Open Letter to a Landlord").
The album-opening "Cult of Personality" remains an '80s hard-rock classic, while such other cuts as the rocking "Middle Man" and "Desperate People," a remake of the Talking Heads' 'Memories Can't Wait," the downhearted "Broken Hearts," the reggae-tinged "Glamour Boys," and the instrumental "Funny Vibe" are all standouts. All the genre-jumping alternative-metal bands of the late-'90s owed a great deal to Living Colour and this classic debut.
Editorial Reviews
Included in Vibe's Essential Black Rock Recordings.
Vibe (02/01/2002)
4 stars out of 5 - ...A headbanger's delight...
Rolling Stone (09/19/2002)
...Even the likes of Eddie Van Halen might lose some sleep over this stuff. But if you've heard Reid, you expected that. The surprise is the songs...
Spin (06/01/1988)
Rolling Stone 3 Stars - Good - Ranked # 64 in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Albums of the 80s survey.
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