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Rating: It was 1990 and even though I wasn't there, I doubt this album sold much; I don't think it's bad, but the fact is that those three years from 1990 to early 1993 were a musical uproar, in the sense that all sorts of things happened.
I actually think this album didn't leave any mark, despite being developed and structured better than the previous "Vivid" from 1988 (while not being any better). The album was probably "overshadowed" by other musical trends that revolutionized the rock world. Living Colour recorded this album and released it at the end of 1990; too late... here comes the grunge ship with Nirvana's "Nevermind" and Pearl Jam's "Ten" (and many others...). Then it happens that after hard years of work, the Red Hot Chili Peppers manage to break through with their supreme "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" and the first sprinkles of rapcore success from Rage Against The Machine are already visible.
All these events kept Living Colour away from the success they had achieved with "Vivid" (although there was still a big hit). A group far too underrated, given that Corey Glover is endowed with a powerful voice and guitarist Vernon Reid handles himself very well. But the money obtained from success does not make an album a masterpiece and Living Colour are the living proof of this. With dedication and commitment, they have been able to produce remarkable albums without falling into the abyss of commercial music.
The album is in pure Crossover style, picking musical genres from here and there; on one hand a mix of Funk and Hard Rock with Heavy tones, on the other the typical passionate energy derived from blues. Despite a fading compared to the more vibrant "Vivid", the album still manages to satisfy in my opinion. While maintaining the standards of "Vivid", Living Colour inject a dose of progressive into their Crossover.
Improvisations, unusual and disconnected tempos recall the most sophisticated Prog of Emerson Lake & Palmer, Yes, and King Crimson (their favorite band) as in Type, a not bad track but lacking in bite. The most successful track is a piece balanced between Funk and Blues Rock; Love Rears Its Ugly Head, a meticulously crafted song, featuring trumpets in funk rhythm reminiscent of the early Red Hot Chili Peppers from "Freaky Stiley" (try it to believe it) and Hendrix-like guitar solos, culminating in a passionate chorus that highlights all of Corey Glover's vocal skills. Things start to get lively with Under Cover of Darkness, written entirely by Glover, still with a funk sound. In New Jack Theme there is a perception of a minimal care in the arrangements that continues also in Solace of You. A return to a mighty hard rock in their Cult of Personality is evident in Information Overload and in Pride, which also exploit a sound with a crossover imprint.
An album that certainly did not thrill, which suffers from its temporal placement, but that can be underrated; it's not a bad record at all, but there are better works even in the crossover and funk rock domain.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
06 Someone Like You (03:49)
Do you remember
The time of laughter
Children playing, life was so sweet
Before our city forgot us
And let the druglord take our street
Pacify me politician
Pacify me with your lies
Blind to the people suffering
Deaf to the children's cries
But I know what to do
With someone like you
Police
They chased my brother
Policeman licensed to kill
Oh how I miss my brother
Good shoes are so hard to fill
Policeman are you happy?
You snuffed a medical student out
Maybe he could have changed the world
I guess we'll never find out
But I know what to do
With someone like you
I know what to do
With someone like you
It's never too late to change your ways
It's never too late to change your ways
Too young
Gave her body
She was afraid of being alone
One baby having another
Sweet baby wants to be grown
But there's an angel on your shoulder
Always speaking to your soul
Listen and your heart will be glad
You'll never have to be alone
'Cause I know what to do
With someone like you
I know what to do
With someone like you
I know what to do
With someone like you
I know what to do
07 Elvis Is Dead (03:50)
Tabloids scream
Elvis seen at a shopping mall
That's the kind of talk
That makes my stomach crawl
Picture a zombie Elvis
In a tacky white jump suit
Just imagine a rotting Elvis
Shopping for fresh fruit
You can't 'cause
Elvis is dead
Elvis is dead
Elvis is dead
Elvis is dead
When the king died
He was all alone
I heard that when he died
He was sitting on his throne
Alas poor Elvis
They made us know you well
Now you dwell forever
In the Heartbreak Hotel
Elvis was a hero to most
But that's beside the point
A Black man taught him how to sing
And then he was crowned king
The pelvis of Elvis
Too dangerous for the masses
They cleaned him up and sent him to Vegas
Now the masses are his slave
Slave? Slave
Yes, even from the grave
Elvis is dead
I've got a reason to believe
We all won't be received at Graceland
I've got a reason to believe
We all won't be received at Graceland
08 Type (06:26)
Stereotype
Monotype
Blood type
Are you my type?
Minimalism
Abstract expressionism
Postmodernism
Is it?
We are the children of concrete and steel
This is the place where the truth is concealed
This is the time when the lie is revealed
Everything is possible, but nothing is real
Corporate religion
Televangahypnotism
Suffer till you die
For the sweet-bye-and-bye
Science and technology, the new mythology
Look deep inside
Empty
We are the children of concrete and steel
This is the place where the truth is concealed
This is the time when the lie is revealed
Everything is possible, but nothing is real
Everything that goes around
Comes around
Hypothetical
Theoretical
Circumstantial evidence
Irrelevance
Don't think twice
Just roll the dice
Pay the price
Snake eyes
We are the children of concrete and steel
This is the place where the truth is concealed
This is the time when the lie is revealed
Everything is possible, but nothing is real
We are the children of concrete and steel
This is the place where your fate has been sealed
This is the time when your life is revealed
Everything is possible, but nothing is real
Everything that goes around
Comes around...
09 Information Overload (06:11)
Sometimes I feel
Like my mind will explode
Sometimes I feel
Like I've got no control
Sometimes I wish
I had a heart made of steel
Sometimes I wish
I couldn't feel
Information overload
Information overload
Information overload
Information overload
They say the future...it's on a microchip
Don't you know we're all on a sinking ship
Only ten percent control all the rest
Only ten percent decide what is best
Information overload
Information overload
Information overload
Information overload
Information overload
Information overload
Information overload
Information overload
I don't want to live like this
Still ain't no cure for the summertime blues
I'd like to shake these blues but I'm still paying dues
My blues so deep you might think they're black
My blues so deep there ain't no turning back
Information overload...
10 Under Cover of Darkness (04:17)
Touch without seeing love with no feeling
Stealing a moment...under cover of darkness
I'd like to kiss you let my lips caress you
Sending sparks of passion up your spine
But doing so means saying no and even
The thought would be a crime
I like to touch your skin even if it is a sin
I'd rather burn than not touch you
I might just go mad thinking what I might have had
And all the things I'd like to do
Chorus:
Safe seduction isn't what it is
Sexuality isn't what it appears to be
It's what you think you see
I want to make you hot
Touch that spot and send you on a trip
But my consequence is abstinence
And Lord knows I just can't slip
I want to feel you/the real you
Not the projection that you let me see
The safest sex is when it's not skin to skin
It's very simple let your mind go free
Chorus
To do or not to do that is the question
Over and over you're prone to suggestion
And I simply can't condone the fact
That you want to make your bed my home
Let's say I take this man as my lover
And he swears that there will never be another
But really he doesn't give a damn about safe sex
And with all these other girls he has a taste test
Well the thrill doesn't outweigh the consequences
Therefore I am using my common senses
To let you know I adore you
But I'm afraid I'm not the one for you
Chorus
12 Fight the Fight (04:33)
We are all fighting the same fight
We are all in the same war
We are all in the same revolution
You got to know what you're fighting for
We are all fighting the same fight
We are all in the same war
We are all in the same revolution
You got to know what you're fighting for
Yelling and kicking trying to stay alive
All the time eyes on the prize
But does anybody hear my cries
Tell me something do I qualify?
TV telling me we're just the same
What they're talking is the same old game
Tell me if I'm just like you, why can't I do the things
That you do (huh)?
If war's the key, what door will it open?
Is peace the answer, then what's the question?
War is hell
Peace is hell
Love is hell
Oh what the hell
My heart beats just like yours
When I dream my mind soars
But no fantasy can pay my bills
Another dream unfulfilled
We are all fighting the same fight
We are all in the same war
We are all in the same revolution
You got to know what you're fighting for
We are all fighting the same fight
We are all in the same war
We are all in the same revolution
You got to know what you're fighting for
Fight the fight
In the war
In this revolution
You got to know what you're fighting for
14 Solace of You (03:38)
�Solace of you�
When it hurts to be out there
where no one will care
I've got the solace of you
Frustrated by the people lying
But I keep on trying
I've got the solace of you
When I can't think straight
And there's no escape
I've got the the solace of you
Gotta go inside back where we started
back to the beginning
'Cause that's where my heart is
They can hurt me jail my body
I'll still be free
I've got the solace of you
They can take my land
tell me I'm not who I am
I've got the solace of you
A wise man said to know thyself
'Cause in the end there's no one else
Just the solace of you
Gotta go inside...
gotta go inside
back to the beginning
Gotta go inside
back to the beginning
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