Living Colour
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Living Colour. Who? Let me tell you!

One day in class, I was listening to my CD player, and a classmate approached me, slapped the player, and said:

"What are you listening to, Dany?"

Now imagine the scene: it's 8:30 in the morning, you're already dazed from sleep like every single morning, and a clucking hen makes your CD skip (good times when there were no mp3 players and not even anti-shock technology), adding to the fact that this girl, with her nice Lonsdale sweatshirt (and those who were around then will understand everything about her), knows less than nothing about music, what could I respond?

"The Living Colour... why?"

Obviously, at the word Living, her face contorted into a horrific grimace, and she said:

"Whoooooooooo?"

At which point, I decided to go for the less painful path, and tried to explain to her how the various Rage Against The Machine (whoooooooooo?), Korn (whoooooooooo?), Incubus (oh, the ones from Wish You Were Here), Limp Bizkit (so cool! the one who always wears the red cap backward, wonder how he smells!) and Linkin Park (he's super cool and scary) all somewhat derived from groups like Living Colour, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Faith No More. The explanation satisfied her (but in my opinion, in her head, she was still thinking about that half-Chinese face of Linkin Park) and she finally left me to listen to my good CD bought along with all the other Living Colour CDs in a little shop where someone had evidently sold their entire discography at a low price (something I still find inconceivable).

To tell the truth, what I am about to talk about is an EP, but not one of today's EPs meant just to scrape 2 Euros from the most diehard fans, this is a true EP lasting over 30 minutes containing 4 covers, 3 of which are unreleased, and 2 other tracks, one also unreleased and the other in a live version.

But who are these Living Colour? Some of you might wonder. The explanation I gave my classmate was downright pathetic, but the intent was to get rid of her, and it was achieved, so no complaints! Living Colour is simply one of the first bands (along with those previously mentioned) of what was then (the '80s) defined as crossover, a blend (as the word suggests) of different genres like funk, soul, jazz, metal, and pop.
As for their lineup, just know that on guitar and the founder of the band is Vernon Reid, Corey Glover on vocals, Muzz Skillings on bass, and finally William Calhoun. The group got their contract with Epic thanks to an exceptional talent scout like Mick Jagger, and Vernon Reid thus realized his dream of a rock band with only Black musicians.

But let's stop with all this data, this Wikipedia-like information (so there, if you want to know more, go there, I'm not an encyclopedia!). The EP begins with "Talkin' Loud And Sayin' Nothin'" by the spiritual father James Brown, a song that reveals the more funk side of Our Guys, mixed with a deliciously precise electric guitar in the background. The next "Desperate People" is taken from Vivid from 1988, the first album by Living Colour, but it can’t be said that, as good as the studio version was, the live rendition has a completely different effect, revealing all of Glover's vocal skills and Reid's guitar talent even in the long improvisation. Following is a cover of Al Green (outtake from Time's Up), it is the softest track of the bunch and shows the group’s soul side. "Memories Can't Wait" is instead a cover of Talking Heads where Reid's guitar once again shines in all its power and precision. To conclude, there’s a well-deserved cover of Jimi Hendrix, surely the master to whom Reid's guitar style is indebted; the song is faithful to the original but at the same time twisted with frequent scratches that show how much the group anticipates some of the aforementioned '90s bands. The finale is left to "Money Talks", an outtake from Time's Up that shows all the energy of our guys and their ability to create aggressive songs yet still memorable from the first listen, the conclusion entrusted to Glover's wordplay and the outburst of drums and guitar is to be enjoyed in one breath!

I conclude by pointing out that this is an album (EP, indeed!) suitable for both the most hardcore fans (due to the presence of exceptional covers that showcase all of Living Colour's influences) and newcomers who will find here much of what is developed in the other albums.

All I have left is to wish you good listening, and if someone one day tells you they are listening to Living Colour, please avoid the whoooooooooo?