Vivid

Average

Notes of early REM. I thought I would like it more than I did.

Aged badly

Never heard this before. Found this interesting at times it sounds ahead of its time and other times it’s very 80’s rock. The vocals just reminded me of all the rubbish hard rock/Nu metal that was around in the 00’s, that put me off it. Really isn’t an album I’ll come back to, but appreciate why it’s on the list.

Quel mélange étrange...drum assez métal, guit glam rock, bass funky chanteur et tounes trop pop pour le son du band... quand c'est plus funk ça se tient plus (what's your favorite color genre) Première toune quand le chanteur entre on dirait du soundgarden😄 Clairement ils ont influencé beaucoup de band à venir genre RHCP, RATM, Primus un peu et le grunge en général. Les tounes sont bien écrite, c'est pas juste un loop de groove, c'est surprenant à plusieurs endroits. Broken heart c'est hilarant: gros beat de drum full reverb ds l'snare pis un solo de bass un peu too much😂🤣😂La ŕealisation est soignée mais un peu victime de l'époque (Mick Jagger à l'harmo ?!? WTF?!?!) Est-ce que c'est le fun à écouter? Une fois peut-être. le réécouter ? J'irais pas jusque là... il y a du solo de guitare 80s à la pelletée, un peu too much tant qu'à moi... pis que dire de la bass slap? Tout le monde aime ça c'est certain😆

C’est un peu drôle. C’est comme un band d’afro-Américain qui font de la musique de blancs qui font de la musique de noirs. Ça a biaisé positivement mon écoute. Peut-être parce que la partie « Funk » de l’affaire est moins loose. Les gars sont bons, mais le son vieilli vraiment mal. Le propos est important et pertinent par contre. « I want to know », on dirais « New Kids on the block » avec de la disto. Il y a quelques bon riffs (Desperate people). Bon petit solo de bass sur « Broken hearts ». Le remix de « Funny vibe » est meilleur que la vrai. Je me souvien que lrsque j’étais au Cégep, Will Cahloun était partout dans les Modern Drummer. J’était donc allé écouter ça et j’avais trouvé ça vraiment mauvais.

J’aime le métal, moins le funk. J’entends sur cet album du Faith No More, du Mr Bungle, du Primus et même du Rage Against The Machine, donc sûrement une grosse influence pour ces groupes. Les musiciens sont bons, mais j’ai de la difficulté avec la façon de chanter. Cult Of Personality fonctionne bien.

Yeah, ok. Not bad, good energy, not my favorite.

That's not bad but it's not the kind of music I like. There is a cover of The Clash's song.

God, this didn't age well at all. The overall sound (gated drums, clean distortion on guitars, reverbed vocals...) is everything you can criticize about the eighties, and the crossover fusion compositions are hackneyed and cliché. That's too bad, because the socially conscious lyrics are very interesting. But the music is just awful. During those years, hip hop was starting to become what Public Enemy's Chuck D named as the "Black CNN". Of course, Living Colour were not so far from that objective themselves when it comes to their lyrics. But If you want to feel the true power of political messages uttered during those days, coupled with powerful sounds of Black America looking for true emancipation (even if some of those hip hop sounds also admittedly sound a little dated today), go to Public Enemy, BDP, the Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy, The Goats and other bands like this instead. And if really you want to delve further into rock-funk-rap crossover landmark albums with a political agenda, maybe go a few years later, when the genre was finally out of its awkward infancy with stuff like Rage Against the Machine or Body Count. You can't blame Living Colour from trying to open doors that had not been opened before (apart by Parliament/Funkadelic, maybe) But sometimes, beginnings are not the most interesting moments of an overall story... Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 967 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 13 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 7 Albums from the list I will *not* include in mine (as I think many others are more important): 11 (including this one)

Vivid by Living Colour (1988) This is an album that’s not exactly bad, but it’s far from good. The only song that rises (slightly) above average is the opening track “Cult of Personality”, and the only performance that shines is the multidimensional Hendrix/Santana-influenced guitar work by Vernon Reid. He shows real talent. But the band Living Colour would not have had much success if not for the backing of one Mick Jagger, who provides very minor cameo harmonica hooks on “Broken Hearts”. Meh. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s greatest virtue was displayed in the (somewhat opportunistic) fortitude he demonstrated in his 1956 “Secret Speech”, where he denounced the “cult of personality” that had developed around three-years-dead Joseph Stalin. One may justifiably wonder where Khrushchev’s fortitude was when he was climbing his own ladder to power by doing Stalin’s evil bidding in Ukraine during some of the Soviet tyrant’s worst years, but the charge of a “cult of personality” caught hold, resonated, and propelled Khrushchev to global recognition. (I highly recommend the delightfully funny movie The Death of Stalin, where the “cult of personality” is satirized, and the part of Khrushchev is played by Steve Buscemi.) But in the opening track of this album (“Cult of Personality”), Living Colour harnesses recollections of Malcolm X, JFK, Gandhi, FDR, and Mussolini to put a moral question mark on the concept. As political philosophy, the song is clunky, incoherent, and impotent, but safe. The marketing guys would have had no problem with it. Nor would sugar daddy Mick. It was harmless enough to win a Grammy. The eclectic remainder of the album is all over the genre map, from hard rock “I Want to Know”, “Middle Man”) to thrash metal (“Which Way to America?”) to rock/thrash/funk (“Funny Vibe”) to . . . well, you get it. A conveniently skippable record if you’ve got more important things to do. 2/5

Vernon Ried was a guitar guy in the '80s haven't heard from him since. This is okay but maybe not my cup of tea anymore

Desperate People and Open Letter are the shining, glowing spots on this late 80s, cultural wannabe metal/funk hybrid - bits of Faith No More, Pearl Jam and lots of RHCP - but generally it's forgettable

Eh some good bits quite a lot of very meh bits

Generic feeling. Bass was nice, vocals made me stop the album and go listen to Genesis.

Not my cup of tea. Interesting band and great musicianship, but I didn't find the songs to be all that catchy. 2/5

not my thing.

I feel like I don't understand who this band is at all. It felt all over the place.

Voy a ser sincero, no he acabado de escuchar este disco por lo que la nota va a ser totalmente irreal, pero las tres primeras canciones no las he disfrutado. Seguro que algún día lo volvere a escuchar y diré : ah, está guay. Pero hoy no será ese día.

Oh no. This is the dumb wrestler's entrance music. Oh no. No wonder that song has over 82 million plays... This has colored this whole album... 80s rock isn't quite for me.

First few tracks had me leaning toward a 3, but by 2nd half I was over it. Other than Cult of Personality, +1 for Desperate People.

Ohne

Glamour Boys oft gehört, wohl gute Festivalband

usch och fy

Spretigt. Mest klassisk hårdrock men även en del funk, metal osv. Något med rösten som jag inte gillar.

Not really my kind of music

Cult of Personality and jaunty late 80s rock. If you get a chance, check out the music video.

I was surprised by the opening riff of “Cult of personality” – to put immediately in mind of a sort of post-cock rock, sedate Killswitch Engage was not what I was expecting. A ripping solo later and, in spite of my better judgement, I’m ready to throw some horns up and worry about authoritarianism with LC. And then it comes crashing in, for better or worse, my better judgement. The record starts to ask me if I’ve wondered what “Sussudio” would sound like with Iron Maiden stood in front of Phil’s kit – and I just haven’t. I have never wondered. There are a couple more jams in there: “Funny Vibe” is like a less nauseating this-era RHCP, and “Which way to America” moves at precisely the same tempo as my pool’s pump (I was guiding the creepy crawler around by this stage of the album) – fun! But then there’s “What’s your favorite colour?” – sidebar: grammatical inconsistency is sort of Living Colour’s thing; a British-English U in their band name, but not in their song titles; a question mark when asking about colour, but not when asking for directions – a question the band answer in the song … yes, Living Colour, or “Glamour Boys” which sounds suspiciously like the inspiration for “Under the sea” from the Little Mermaid. There’s nothing to dislike here, really. Tight, accomplished musicianship and a well-committed to bit. But dear me must the world have been ready for grunge by the time “Vivid” had finished with it.

Very 80s vibe. Not bad just not for me

Although it varied throughout, was just too 80s rock for me, i didnt enjoy the lead guitars or the vocals

Bog standard rock, lyrics were interesting but cant get excited.

Este grupo (o este disco) me parecen una mezcla de Aerosmith + Guns & Roses + Dream Theater. La música no me pareció desagradable, pero tampoco me pareció particularmente notable.

Meh. Really not my cup of tea. I checked out their more recent albums, and they were better.

Bro, we live in a society, with guitars!

This is the Red Hot Chili Peppers in a butterfly-esque scenario where they decide to throw everything away and hire a discount version of Bon Jovi to parade around as a frontman. Meh.

It has a serious tone problem. One second you'll be listening a hard rock song then the other it'll turn into a 80's pop song. The lyrics don't have this issue as they're all just political lyrics or words about societal problems. I generally liked both sides of this album's spectrum; I just wished it picked a sound to stick to. It took away from the lyrics, which is what I thought they wanted the focus to be on in the first place. Favorite track: Open Letter (To a Landlord)

Most songs are pretty lacking of substance. Another album that is just plain and doesn't belong on this list. Highlights: 1, and 2.

There's nothing terrible here, but also nothing that pricks my ears up. I'm not really sure why it's even on the list to be honest, it's pretty much like 90% of rock bands sounded at the time. Nothing earth shatteringly new.

Not for me. Guitar wankery in EVERY song.. 2 🌟

eh

2.5

Cool riffs and Cult of Personality is a classic, but aside from that it was a bit boring.

loving the beginning. voice is okay? reminds me of someone kinda annoying but i can't place him. lyrics are meh. music is insane though too bad i don't love the vocal part. well this applied to all songs. 2.5.

There are some highs here...but the lows are LOW. A bunch of cringe on this album

1 half decent song rest not worth listening to

// Favs: Cult Of Personality Score: Strong 2 to Light 3

One good tune does not a good album make! Opening track Cult of Personality is a certified nosebleeder! Rest of the album is certified meh. Disappointed in all honesty.

Very interesting. Didn't especially like it, but interesting. Too much guitar pyrotechnics - 'shredding' at the cost of musicality, a pet hate of mine. Very clever but it sounds terrible.

I imagine this is what it would sound like if Huey Lewis tried to do a metal album. 6.1/10

I really enjoyed Cult of Personality, mostly since I already know the song, and that’s about it.

Nope

Ungute Mischung aus Pop und Heavy Elementen

It was a good album. I don't have much to add mainly because it isn't the sort of album that appeals to me at all. I'm sure the content was really meaningful, but it was just packaged in a way that I didn't like. Meh.

2/5

The problem that 2nd (&3rd & 4th) generation hard rock bands are faced with, from my POV, is that by the time they hit the scene, Jimmy & Richie & Tony had taken all the good riffs. These guys have salvaged some passable riffs, the vocalist is good, I like the funky twists, but my anti-commercial radio radar went off way too many times, esp. on songs like "I Want to Know." And the first thirty seconds of "Open Letter" is cringeworthy. I don't usually like covers, but I DO like the cover of "Memories Can't Wait", or I should say I liked the first half: it transforms the song into a party anthem, which it is in a weird kinda way, but then they take two minutes to wind it down. Sheesh.

Rock duro metálico. Esto no me va a mi.

could be better

I agree with MG's assessment. Black guys rocking out is a nice change of pace, but it gets tiresome pretty quick.

instruments are neat, vox are quite corny. 3/10, not feeling this one

Not at all what I was expecting when it said metal album. confusion out of 5

Not a huge fan of this one. A bit too loud for me in places but there are aspects of it I liked.

Wow this was very samey and in your face. Wasn't a fan

Eh, not so much.

Not bad but not that into it. I thought "Funny Vibes" was a disaster of a song until I looked them up and found out they are a group of all black men, then the lyrics made more sense. Got Huey Lewis and the News vibes at certain points, but Living Colour is more hardcore. The moments when they fused hip hop in were somewhat intreguing. Overall didn't do much for me, was tired of it by the end of the album.

Not timeless

This had some good rhythm, some nice guitar and a good sound but over all it just felt a bit flat. Felt like it was trying to copy a lot of better bands in the same genre rather than being something different.

was ok - felt like songs that would be used at the end of an 80s film about a battle of the bands, with everyone cheering afterwards and carrying the band out of the arena on their shoulders

Good start, getting a mix of Kiss/RHCP vibes as we go along. Moving into a little ballad-y jam? Not my fave, nothing wrong with it but just not really connecting with this.

Blended together, classic rock.

Nice try but nah...

Meh

Nope 1

Dåligt 80tal, nåt försök till att vara lite mer groovy än annat 80tal men lyckas förstås inte. Får mig att tänka på Electric Boys, man väntar bara på att Svullo ska dyka upp och gapa "För fet för ett fuck"

Att Mick Jagger står som medproducent på den här funk metal-smörjan säger mer om Jaggers dåliga omdöme än om skivan.

Det här var det vidrigaste jag hört på länge.

Derivative and dull

Horrid

Not sure how this made it onto the list! It's not awful, but won't be listening again

Bit of a struggle but quite enjoyed some of the more disco / funk bits

Unusual choice. Not unlistenable but far from essential

New to me. Not absolutely unlistenable, towards the middle of the one stars. Tom.

How did Mick Jagger work on this? He should've told them all the songs were ass and to give up.

Best Song: Cult of Personality

Eh I didn’t love, maybe it will grow on me but I also didn’t get much of a chance to listen properly

I wanted to like this, but it was a big disappointment

oh jeez just the intro and i know i'm going to be in for a drag. white man's idea of a protest album i guess Would I listen again: hell no Deserves to be on this list: hell no 1.4

like rhcp and guns and roses have a son. Catchy, but not my type of music

Not my type of music

No

hot ass i’m sorry

I thought this was decent until about halfway through....then the drums started to sound worse and it just took a typical shitty 80s production nosedive. Did anyone tell them they didn't need to make their drums sound like that?

No, not for me

Just horrible, like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers but somehow even worse. One star.

turned it off like 4 songs in this shit is ass 0 stars if possible

Genuinely terrible apart from Cult of Personality - one hit wonders

Loud noise.

I should probably like this more than I do, but it’s not my jam

Generic hair metal

Of their first three albums, this is definitely the least exciting. Reid is a unique talent, no doubt, but that talent doesn't necessarily always translate to a complete, well-formed song. Cult Of Personality is the stand-out track, of course, and although you can pick out the diverse influences, the music still sits comfortably within the funk-rock and hair-hair parameters it aims to revolutionize. Time's Up was a lot more well-defined, and Stain was darker and deeper. Vivid is by no means awful, but 30-plus years have only made an album which once stood out from the crowd blend in with it's peers much more than you might have imagined.

Not sure this qualifies as musical.

skitkass

Dull

I had only ever really known their single. The whole album kind of sounds like the single. It wasn't bad, but I don't think it's good enough to warrant being on this list

qualcosa di decente domani per favore

Bleh not

Lyrics are unbelievably corny and actively bad. Some of the instrumentals were nice, but overall not good. 'Cult of Personality' is the highlight of the album.

listened on a rail replacement bus and hoped that each song would be the last…. 1.5 stars, prob only 2 out of 10 though

Not sure why this was picked but it's just not my thing. Sounds like really bad 80s soft rock

Please stop. That’s enough. I don’t want to hear any hard rock cover of talking heads.

I got quite excited reading the description of the band on Spotify because I've never heard of them, but this is dreadful

Relegated very quickly to background noise & mostly an unpleasant intrusion on my evening

Crap.

There’s nothing here but the single, a baffling choice for the list

Oh, come on.

Fokk þessi tonlist

1. cult of perzonality - 1 2. uuant to knouu - 1 3. middle man - 0 4. open the letter - 1.5 5. funny vibe - 0 6. memoriez - 1 7. boyz - 0 8. color - 0 9. america - 0 10. funny vibe - 1.5 11. ztay or go - 1 12. color - 1 13. middle man - 0 14. perzonality - 1

This ain’t it chief

I like to think of myself as open minded and that there isn't a genre I can't get with but I'm wondering if 80s/90s funk metal might contradict that. Not quite as heinous as Red Hot Chilli Peppers but still not something I can enjoy.

Urla urla pure... a me non piacerà mai

p589. 1988. 1 star. Spinal Tap with an irony bypass. WTF is this doing on the list?

This really was not for me. At times it feels like full on wrestling entrance music, all bombast and bluster without much subtlety. I know it has its fans and I can respect the musicianship, but as an album it does very little for me. It is loud, relentless and just not a sound I connect with. That said, I will give it some credit for Cult of Personality. It is a great tune. Big riff, big hook and undeniably catchy. That track alone drags the album up to a two out of five for me. Favourite song: Cult of Personality. A genuinely strong track. Least favourite: The rest of the album does not do much for me. Album artwork: Fairly forgettable. Nothing that stands out in the way the single does

That was a struggle

Konfuser Funk Rock.

I applaud their bravery and certainly the attampt to cross the divide. The music however is bland 80s rock. I just can't enjoy it I'm afraid.

pretty shit album's weird, like some hippie intro to a kids tv show in the 2000's

Boring

I'm sure it was great in 88 but doesn't hold up well.

This is HORRIBLE! And sums up perfectly why I never liked Living Colour back in the 1980s. Yuck.

“I’m not part of your master plan, I’m just your middleman.” Such is the abysmal state of Living Colour’s lyrics, which blows right past I’m-14-and-this-is-deep level into unheard-of levels of lameness. This is my (probably unfair) impression of this 80-90’s funk rock. Really corny lyrics. I can’t take the Chili Peppers seriously most of the time. How can I take this seriously? And the guitars… just this super thin wall of sound. These blues-tinged, overdriven guitars sound like the intro to every “learn to produce music in Pro Tools” video I’ve ever watched. I don’t know why YouTube content creators think everyone wants to rock like this. It’s so lame. I lost it at “Open Letter to a Landlord.” “Now you can tear a building down, but you can’t erase a memory/ these houses may look all run down, but they have a value you can’t see.” In exaggerated over-earnest gospel rock. Who gave this singer Stevie Wonder to listen to? I hope they regret doing that. I hate hate hate it. 1 star. Haven’t done a proper 1 star in a while. Feels great!

1/5

Blech

Nope

"Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi, I'm the cult of personality" Vacuous guitar solo, riff, repeat etc. For what is obviously quite a big commercial success I can't say I've every heard of them. Fire which I'm very grateful. Blandness personified.

Something about this band... maybe its the songwriting that's utter shit

DNF

Couldn't get into this at all.

Well it's good to know that all of their music is just as bad if not worse than their one hit. DNF

No good!

Och jag som hade lyckats glömma det här.

Månne är de tidiga i gengren, är det därför de är med på listan? Kass är det hur som helst.

“And during the few moments that we have left we wanna talk right down to Earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand” then BOOM one of the most iconic guitar riffs in all of history. What a fucking way to start an album. Now I’d be lying if I said I knew even one more song than “Cult of Personality” and as iconic as that song is, I can confidently say I’m okay with just knowing that song. While enjoying music from this time, I feel like most can agree that the 80s was a time that music took a turn to buttrock movie style songs to give Rocky and Marty McFly backtracks to run through while Marty tries to fuck his mom or something I can’t remember. I digress. This album is the perfect encapsulation of the melody of an antagonist who has just been put down on his luck and after three songs, you pretty much get the point. The only breakup in this album that makes you go “what in the fuck were they thinking” is tossing a soft rock love song? I think? titled “Broken Hearts” where I can picture being played at some white trash wedding for the couples first dance song in the local Arkansas YMCA. Finally, and doing a complete injustice to it, is a cover of Should I Stay or Should I Go that I can only imagine Mick Jones wants removed from the face off this Earth. It’s one thing to be a bad singer and be unique about the way you think to find your own sound, but here it just doesn’t work for me. I’m gonna stop writing this before I get angry with this album. Cult of Personality can only take you so far!

I did not finish listening; I was busy but also tbh starting to worry this might just not be for me

Weak limp wristed corporate rock/pop. They probably have this album as sanctioned party music in sweatshops. Awful. Best Tracks: Cult of Personality; Open Letter (To a Landlord); Glamour Boys

I really liked the first song Cult of Personality and was looking forward to the album based on that. But then the rest of the album came and went and it was.... not good. This was mainly a strange mix of 80s pop and metal, neither of which I really care for. Then starting at Broken Hearts the songs take a turn and become a completely different genre for exactly two songs. They were okay. But it speaks to the tone management of the album. Later the transitions from Funny Vibe to Should I stay or Should I Go to What's Your Favorite Color is equally confusing.

Not my cuppa tea thanks.

Tyylillisesti järkyttävää hevi-funk-kasaripop-sekamelskaa, ja koukut (tai yritykset luoda niitä) typistyvät 80-luvun harhakuvitelmiksi.

No thanks

Heavy guitar riffs, Van Halen-esque guitars. I can tell they’re good musicians but this is just not my cup of tea, it doesn’t do anything for me. To me it’s dull. Power chording. And I really don’t like the singer’s voice it’s just so bland. I sit through every LP and this is a chore. Actually the funky bits are ok and there are some good lyrics in here.

Smell the glove

Glamm-y mess

Help me

Appalling 80s plod rock, only improved by some slap bass, which ISN'T an improvement. Go away.

A bit bland for me, and the heavy rock aspects definitely not my thing.

Funk metal shouldn't exist.

Not worth a second listen.

Shite

The vocalists voice is very grating, the lyrics dumb, the instrumentation very bland

Gostei de apenas uma música, que por sinal é a mais ouvida: Cult of Personality. Tem algumas músicas ok mas no geral é um álbum esquecível, sem personalidade, existe muitos outros de hard rock que fazem o mesmo mas fazem melhor.

Yuck!

Awesome album portrayal of their name but listened to 3 Hard Rock songs and it’s a Hard No for me

Thought this was terrible

Dull, didn't find much to excite or challenge me.

Not my thing

Over produced fashion rock, I can appreciate they’re good musicians but the showboating is not for me.

A steaming turd of an album. Who knew lasts 80s hard rock/fusion could be so bland.

Production is good. Unlikely to revisit.

Nah. Funk metal is not my bag

Really bad shit.

I do not like this music. The first track was a song I remember from GTA San Andreas. I found it annoying then, and I find it annoying now.

This sucked

This one just did not resonate with me. Though technically impressive, the tracks are all over the place and just do not mesh with one another. There's additionally too much push-and-pull between overlong choruses and indulgent shredding that make the songs 1-2 choruses too long imo.