"Everything is Possible, But Nothing is Real"

I didn’t even own Vivid. But I had a subscription to Rolling Stone back in the early 90s. One issue, the featured CD review in the magazine was the the follow-up to Living Colour’s debut, the release Time’s Up. It got a tremendous review. So I purchased it without hearing a note. The review was that good. Of course, I knew their music. You could not get away from “Cult of Personality” back in the early 90s. Plus, “Open Letter (To a Landlord)” and “Glamour Boys” got pretty decent airplay as well, both on the radio and MTV. But I hadn’t felt the need to purchase Vivid.


When Time’s Up was released, I was living in a small rural Louisiana city. I bought all my cassettes at the local discount store. Of course, they had nothing that I wanted in stock. But the two clerks (both moms in their 30s who worked while the kids were in school) who alternated days at the music counter, would special-order whatever I wanted. And then laugh good-naturedly about the bizarre names of the groups, artists and titles. If it wasn’t country music, the moms had never heard of it.

I had them order the new Living Colour cassette for me. When I exited the store and first plugged it in my pick-up’s stereo, I wasn’t ready. The title song, which kicked off the set, began with the sound of many clocks ticking and chiming. Then after three drumbeats, the intro-chorus galloped off at breakneck speed at what seemed to be a fractured rhythm. I was a bit uneasy. At the first verse, the song slowed and hit a groove. Corey Glover, the lead singer, yowled through that verse, and the rhythm section of bassist Muzz Skillings and drummer Will Calhoun rammed the song steadily forward. The guitar of Vernon Reid (the group’s leader) remained masked behind the mix. But after the vocal broke, Reid ripped into a guitar solo worthy of Mr. Hendrix. I was only three minutes into the album, and all I could think was “Holy Hell!”

“Time’s Up” ended abruptly. And immediately, an odd rhythmic vocal began to pulse … followed by (what?) the voice of James Earl Jones. This piece “History Lesson” was smooth and easy, with layered voices of different people with Jones’ speech being the most prominent. The voices gave a quick summary of the black experience in America in less than a minute. (I had a pretty good idea that Living Colour would lose all the southern rockers at this point – but they had already hooked this southern queer).

Next up, the opening riff of “Pride” was quite similar to that of “Cult of Personality” (with the accompanying drum toned down a bit). It was a slower groove than “Cult” but still rocked. “Pride” continued the theme of “History Lesson” emphasizing that “history’s a lie that they teach you in school.” The song just seems to begin again midway through with a repeat of the tough opening riff, and Glover singing soulfully over the hard-rock canvas.

The end of “Pride” bleeds into spooky, arched, synthesized-string chords and then into a funky bass-and-drum line and Glover scatting over the top of the music. And then, after a quick guitar lick from Reid, the horns come in. Dang! I was really hooked now. They were throwing everything in the mix. “Love Rears Its Ugly Head” was a steady throb. The lyrics are pretty entertaining (as you probably can tell from the song title).

Things sped up again with “New Jack Theme” the song that came next. It was another good rocker. Followed by another mid-tempo (determined but not angry) social observation with “Someone Like You.” The album was good and solid. I already knew that the cassette would live in my player for the next few weeks.

And then it got better…

The next song started with a muted bass guitar rhythm and an exchange between Reid and Glover

“Yo, Corey man.”
“Yeah man, whassup?”
“I saw Elvis the other day…”
“Get outta here, man!!!”

Hilarious and driving. It spoke wholly to my inner adolescent. The song stated the obvious: that Elvis was great, but he too had his influences (which happened to be a lot of black artists). The song even included a rap by Little Richard, followed by an incredible sax solo by Maceo Parker. It was awesome.

And the song immediately transitioned into “Type,” my favorite song of the recording. This song is set to the tempo of what seems like a steady but slightly accelerated heartbeat. Again, Glover’s vocals were soulful and deep, matching the appealing sturdy pace of the song. The band had worked all together on this co-op. At six and half minutes, it was the longest song on the cassette, but in my mind, it could have gone on for another five minutes.

And we’re just through the first side, folks…

I won’t do a play by play for the second side. If you are still with me, you’ve already read a lot.
(I will say that “Solace of You” is good for shuffling your honey around the house.)

The CD is out of print now, but you can find Time’s Up in used CD bins quite easily (and I found the album available for download). Vivid had established the group as the next big thing. So a lot of people purchased Time’s Up on the heels of Vivid, but the second CD did not perform as incredibly as their debut. And it’s a shame.
It could be that the social commentary on the second disc was more prominent than on their first offering. And since it was the “Me” 90s, nobody wanted to hear much of Living Colour’s take on current events.

I did go back and purchase Vivid. I listen to it often. It’s a great album.
The critics prefer it to Time's Up.
I’m no critic.