Time's Up

One of my absolute favourite albums of the 1990s. Fantastic rock, metal and funk played by a fabulous band. Vernon Reid is an all-time guitar legend. Live they were great at the time, but I also saw them this year and it was a lot of fun. Glover has lost his energetic movement and the drum- and bass solo's were unnecessary, but hearing all the great songs of the first three albums was a delight.

A solid 4, really, but I marked at 5 because "Love Rears Its Ugly Head" is such a great song.

4.5

Interesting pick, it brings something to the table that is missing from the original list.

Not quite as connected to this as their first album, but still enjoyed it. Really loved the song Type!

Living Colour is badass

Can we just take a moment to appreciate how cool the singer’s voice is? There is a lot to enjoy on the album, but the vocals are the highlight for me. I was surprised to find that Love Rears Its Ugly Head seemed familiar, as prior to listening I’d have said I only knew Cult Of Personality by this band. I didn’t recognise any track titles before listening. Anyway, the guitar is groovy, but with enough distortion to get you rocking. The vocals are crisp. I like this. Banging album.

Pretty good. Lots of great memories listening to it again. Not as great as the first album but still a good listen.

A lot of variety in the genres.

Not listened to any ton of this band but t always liked what I heard. Feel like this was more challenging, both musically and conceptually. Not pulling punches or sugar coating anything. But in a good way. Demanded and rewarded attentive listening. Glad for the recommendation.

Hard rock, heavy metal, funk metal, art rock. Ni fu ni fa.

Lo que viene siendo un grupo de rock de los 90. Canciones guitarreras, normalmente con el mismo tempo, buena voz, pero sin hacerlas únicas. Puede gustar, pero también parece un poco predecible

Nah nah nah

My experience listening to this was almost identical to my experience listening to Vivid, the Living Colour album that is actually on the official list. So I'll repost that here: Really enjoyed this album. Why aren't there more Black rock bands? Started out mid-level but as the album progressed I loved the diversity of Genres they played with. Early tracks reminded me of 80s Hair rock, later tracks reminded me of Barenaked Ladies. Some ska, reggae, metal, and even rap in there. FUN. GOOD JOB GUYS. My only real complaint is... does this album achieve anything that Vivid doesn't? Do we need a second/different Living Colour album here? I'm not sure.

Time's Up is as cool as you expect Living Colour's stuff to be, it's rocky, it's jazzy, it's funky and it's a good listen. It lacks the punch of some of their best work but stuff like Information Overload is a quality deep cut and there are some cool guest spots too. I gave Vivid a 3/5 on the main list and this is on the same level, just solid good-time music.

Guys. Comeon Ok. It's not as bad as I thought 3

This should tick my boxes. I'm a guitar teacher, love a good riff, a funky beat, and high energy music. But it just sounds like such a product of its era, including treble-heavy production and overly earnest singing. I should feel something from it, but feel nothing. Not unpleasant, but not particularly pleasant either. Definition of a 3.

Sorry, as much as I've tried (and I *did* try again here), I never could enjoy Living Colour's music. I find their melodies flat overall, the production values of the albums they released in their heyday aged like milk, and the studio performance on the first couple of tracks is even out of pace from one instrument to the next, which is surprising coming from musicians with such a stellar reputation live. Sure, Vernon Reid is a technically proficient guitar player, but that can't redeem the late eighties sins this record is filled to the brim with, so apparent in its first half (gosh, that awful gated drum sound!). As a matter of fact, it was incredibly difficult for me to reach the end of this LP. "Type" goes on forever for no discernible reason, and in spite of its endearing main vocal hook, "Information Overload" probably has the most cloying and heavy-handed hard-rock riffs I have heard in a while. Add the expected virtuosic solo that actually doesn't bring much on the table. It's too bad, because the last leg of the album explores interesting turf at the eleventh hour. The softer and more lush jazz-funk tones of "Under Cover Of Darkness" fare far better than the rest, and Queen Latifah's featuring there is pretty on point in an old-school hip hop fashion. "Fight The Fight" and closer "This Is The Life" are distinctly atmospheric cuts that sound almost prog, and feel quite nice overall. And "Solace Of You" displays Afro-beat flourishes that aged pretty well compared to the American band's main late eighties shtick. That's the thing, though, isn't it? Living Colour are not remembered for those deep cuts today. They are remembered for said main shtick, mixing hard rock, funk and soul in a not-so-neat package in my ears. And in a somewhat close pot-pourri genre, I vastly prefer Fishbone, Faith No More or Bad Brains. So, in spite of that pretty good last leg in *Time's Up*, this one is no-brainer for me. 2/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums. 7/10 for more general purposes: 4.5/5 for the musicianship and production values + 2.5/5 for the artistry. Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ----- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 46 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 57 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 109 (including this one) --- Hey, Émile. J'ai enfin trouvé le temps de répondre ! Regarde sous la review de *Young, Loud And Snotty* des Dead Boys !