Oh, my. I saw these guys several times (Berkeley Square) when they were touring for the first album, Vivid. Awesome shows that rocked hard. As the years went by, they got more experimental, and they fell out of disfavor with me as their songs got less rock & roll, and Will Calhoun's (drums) chops began to bore me on their subsequent releases.

This show is from CBGB's in 1989, and will be released on Jan. 11th, according to Tower ( http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=3179129 ). I can't wait!

Anyone else a fan?

1. Cult Of Personality
2. Pride
3. Someone Like You
4. Fight The Fight
5. Funny Vibe
6. Sailin' On
7. Information Overload
8. Love Rears Its Ugly Head
9. Soldier's Blues
10. Open Letter To A Landlord
11. Solace Of You
12. Middle Man
13. Little Lies

fp

Great band. Really always lumped into that 80's funk metal scene though-remeber that?!!! Oh dear. Trading leather and spikes for crap shorts and slap-bass didn't really work out in the long run...some good bands came out of that though and this is one of them. Faith No More were another. Not too familair with the later stuff, was it really different?

Vivid had the shortest shelf life ever. Loved it for about a month and a half, and then never touched it again. I don't recall any record ever having been so over-played.

The certainly did used to bring it live, however.

Great band hampered by the idiotic "Black guys(shock, horror) playing rock & roll" label

But do you say the same of Hootie?

Granted, only one of four possesses skin as black as a Moor, but still... I have heard many of the indie-persuasion ridicule Hootie for its blackness, only to cover by saying, Oh, that band's not black enough -- Darius is an Uncle Tom, watering-down his shit to appeal to the pablumizing white culture that has all the money.

I don't know if this hampered them. From what I recall, this was a major factor in their cracking the "big time"--attracting the attention of the press, and Mick Jagger.

I'm not sure that if I played this album again, it would retain any appeal. I grew to abhor this record, mostly for the meatheads who latched onto it once it took off. Reid's an intense guitar player, and they were tight live. However, when examined objectively, "Vivid" is a so-so, decent but not great, hard rock album.

Bill, you may be right that the colour of their skin was a help in their cracking the "big time". What I really meant was that for alot of people they became "the black guys who play rock & roll" instead of just a damn great band. I think they grew tired of that and just wished that people would get over it.

Steve

Yeah, I buy that. It's a large part of why the hoopla that surrounded them was so nauseating. It's easy to see why that would be frustrating and cheapening for the band.

Love their sound but not familiar with most of their material outside the singles. Saw them in '91, and they were awesome.

I listen to Bad Brains and Fishbone more than Living Colour, but there were some really good LC songs.

I'd like to laugh at Corey's penchant for biker shorts, but then I remember I used to look like that, too.

"Love Rears Its Ugly Head" rulz.

I like their first two albums quite a bit, but haven't listened to them in probably 5 years. I had some EP they released later and ended up selling it back. It was awful. Maybe I'll break out Time's Up today.



I'd really be interested in hearing this. I saw LC live one time, and they were really good, but I don't remember them playing any Bad Brains. Did they regularly cover this song?

Yep, been a fan a long, long time, and I will happily disagree with whoever it is that said that Vivid had a short shelf-life - I still listen to it (actually, the remaster with super-cheesy late-80s remixes and a couple live tracks) all the time.

The CBGB set has been available for about three months at http://www.livefromthevaults.com/ (along with a Toad the Wet Sprocket show and a Soul Asylum show.) I have it and it's great - the band is much, much more raw live than on the album and are having a great time. It comes highly recommended. Now if only we could get them to rerelease Dread . . .

Also was a big fan in the early 90s.... I must admit, I haven't listened to their albums in a while now... I only have Vivid and Time's Up. They put on an amazing live show. I think I saw them, Sonic Youth and Concrete Blonde in about the space of a week and a half in Atlanta in the early 90s. Three of the most memorable shows I ever went to as well.

Frosting: heh, I remember those biker shorts... I also remember Corey was partial to Body Glove short suits too. And ditto on the Bad Brains and Fishbone-- probably listened to them more than LC.