Editor's Choice...
And this time, "Time's Up" - "Living Color's" second studio album released on August 28, 1990.
So for those unfamiliar with "Living Color" is an American Funk Metal / Alternative Metal band formed in 1984 and which included guitarist Vernon Reid, bassist Muzz Skillings, singer Corey Glover and drummer Will Calhoun.
The band got its name from the fact that all four of its members were dark-skinned, young African-Americans who sought to prove that Metal is not dominated solely by the white race.
(Photo: Legacyrecordings.com)
These are four talented artists who knew how to combine different styles, such as Heavy Metal, Funk, Jazz, Hip Hop, Punk, and Alternative.
Even before Ice-T's "Body Count", "Living Color" members proved that Black Power knows how to bang your head as well as its pale colleagues, while releasing their successful debut album "Vivid" in 1988.
The hit "Cult of Personality" which has a good rotation on MTV, gave the band recognition that soon led them from small shows at the New York "CBGB" to the warm-up act of no less than "the Rolling Stones" and "Guns N' Roses". The album received rave reviews and reached number six on the Billboard 200.
With this momentum and success, "Living Color" arrives in the studio to record their second album.
Similar to the previous album, the band combines different and weird styles such as Jazz, Punk, Blues, Hip Hop Funk, Thrash Metal, and even touches of Electronica.
Believe it or not but the list of artists featured on this album is so eclectic that it includes rapper Queen Latifah, rock and roll star Little Richard, jazz saxophonist Maceo Parker, bassist James Earl Jones and immortal singer Mick Jagger who was also featured on the previous album The band.
Although the album was not as successful as the band's previous album, it is definitely an excellent album, noisier, louder, and in our opinion even better as a whole.
It won the band a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance and gave it a ticket to the first Lollapalooza Festival in 1991, alongside the giant bands of the era.
So let's listen to songs like "Love Rears Its Ugly Head" whose opening includes a sample from Nat King Cole's "Lush Life" song, the song "Elvis Is Dead" which features Mick Jagger and Little Richard and includes the protest phrase "I've got a reason to believe we all will not be received at Graceland" which corresponds with a similar line but with the opposite meaning in Paul Simon's song "Graceland", the track "Information Overload" with the chainsaw guitar intro that for a moment made us think we were listening to a thrash metal song, "Type", "New Jack Theme" which was released as the first single from the album and also includes a protest video clip designed to highlight the gap between classes in the US, "Pride", "This Is The Life" and more.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music