Vivid
Studio album by
Living Colour
ReleasedMay 2, 1988 (1988-05-02)[1]
Recorded1987–1988
Studio
Genre
Length49:09
LabelEpic
Producer
Living Colour chronology
Vivid
(1988)		 Time's Up
(1990)
Singles from Vivid
  1. "Middle Man"
    Released: 1988[2]
  2. "Cult of Personality"
    Released: July 14, 1988
  3. "Glamour Boys"
    Released: 1989
  4. "Open Letter (To a Landlord)"
    Released: 1989
  5. "Funny Vibe"
    Released: 1989

Vivid is the debut studio album by American rock band Living Colour, released on May 2, 1988, by Epic Records. It was one of the most popular albums of 1988, peaking at number six on the US Billboard 200 chart and being certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Musical style

Musically, Vivid has been described as a hard rock,[3][4][5][6] heavy metal,[7][8] funk metal,[9][10] alternative metal,[11] and funk rock album,[12] with elements of funk,[4][5][13][14] soul,[4][5] jazz,[5][13] pop,[13][15] rap,[13] arena rock,[14] punk rock,[14] and avant-garde jazz.[14]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Blender[16]
Chicago Sun-Times[17]
Kerrang!4+1⁄2/5[18]
NME8/10[19]
The Philadelphia Inquirer[20]
Pitchfork9.0/10[21]
Rolling Stone[14]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[22]
The Village VoiceB[23]

In The Philadelphia Inquirer, Ken Tucker commented that Living Colour "defies musical stereotypes by evincing influences that include Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jimi Hendrix, Roxy Music and Sly Stone to yield a fierce, funny album."[20] Mark Sinker of NME likewise highlighted the band's diversity of influences, including their embrace of older musical styles "that even metal heads haven't taken seriously", and concluded that Vivid "lives up, simultaneously, to the pinhead directness of Zeppelin and the total Texas-New Yorker strangeness of Ornette Coleman's Prime Time."[19] "In its own way," wrote Rolling Stone critic David Fricke, "Vivid is an open letter to rock & roll itself, a demand for equal time and respect from a music that is Living Colour's birthright."[14] He added that the album "will not change the world single-handedly, but it's a timely reminder of why it's always worth trying."[14] Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in The Village Voice, finding that "while it's momentarily exhilarating to hear this all-black band come power-chording out of the box, after a while the fancy arrangements and strained soul remind me of, I don't know, Megadeth."[23] The album came in at #15 on the 1988 top-25 'albums of the year list' in Kerrang!.[24]

Among retrospective appraisals, AllMusic reviewer Greg Prato deemed Vivid "one of the finest hard rock albums of the '80s – and for that matter, all time."[3] In Blender, Michael Azerrad recalled that the notion of "four black musicians playing heavy metal" made Vivid "newsworthy", while adding that as "the black-rock trend never panned out", years after the album's release Living Colour's chief legacy lies in its music, noting Vivid's "landmark" fusion of "hardcore, funk and avant-jazz."[16] J. D. Considine, writing for the 2004 edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide, was most impressed by how Living Colour "backs its musical vision with insight, offering pointed, perceptive social commentary through songs such as 'Funny Vibe' and 'Open Letter (To a Landlord).'"[22] Calling Vivid "a crucial document in Black rock music", Pitchfork's Stuart Berman opined that the album's legacy endures through later artists who have "flowed through the cracks in the industry barriers that Vivid breached, and, in their own unique ways, have each inherited the mission of reclaiming Black creators' frontline position at rock's vanguard, both under- and above-ground."[21] Vivid is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[25]

Awards and accolades

Grammy Awards

Year Winner Category
1990 "Cult of Personality" Best Hard Rock Performance
Accolades for Vivid
Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Rolling Stone US 100 Best Albums of the Eighties[26] 1989 64
LA Weekly US Chuck Klosterman's Favorite Hair Metal Albums[27] 2011 23
Loudwire US The 50 Best Metal + Hard Rock Debut Albums Ranked[28] 2015 33
Loudwire US Top 80 Hard Rock + Metal Albums of the 1980s[29] 2016 37
Rolling Stone US The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time[30] 2017 71
KEXP US Top Albums of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022)[31] 2022 637

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Cult of Personality"Vernon Reid, Muzz Skillings, Corey Glover, Will Calhoun4:54
2."I Want to Know"Reid4:24
3."Middle Man"Glover, Reid3:47
4."Desperate People"Calhoun, Reid, Glover, Skillings5:36
5."Open Letter (To a Landlord)"Reid, Tracie Morris5:32
6."Funny Vibe"Reid4:20
7."Memories Can't Wait" (Talking Heads cover)David Byrne, Jerry Harrison4:30
8."Broken Hearts"Reid4:50
9."Glamour Boys"Reid3:39
10."What's Your Favorite Color? (Theme Song)"Reid, Glover3:56
11."Which Way to America?"Reid3:41
Total length:49:09
  • Track 10 runs 3:56 on original CD issues, and 1:41 on original vinyl and remastered CD issues.
2002 CD reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Funny Vibe" (Funky Vibe Mix) 3:43
13."Should I Stay or Should I Go" (The Clash cover)Mick Jones2:27
14."What's Your Favorite Color? (Theme Song)" (Leblanc Remix) 5:39
15."Middle Man" (Recorded live at Cabaret Metro, Chicago; November 9, 1990) 3:49
16."Cult of Personality" (Recorded live at the Ritz, New York City; 1988) 4:59

Personnel

Living Colour

Additional personnel

  • Mick Jagger – harmonica on track 8, backing vocals on track 9
  • Chuck D – rapping on track 6
  • Flavor Flav – social commentary on track 6
  • The Fowler Family – additional backing vocals on tracks 2 and 5
  • Dennis Diamond – carnival barker on track 8

Production

  • Ed Stasium – producer and engineer on tracks 1-8 and 10, mixing on tracks 9 and 11
  • Mick Jagger – producer on tracks 9 and 11
  • Ron St. Germain – engineer on tracks 9 and 11
  • Paul Hamingson – engineer on tracks 1-8 and 10, mixing
  • Danny Mormando, Debi Cornish, Stephen Immerwahr, Mike McMackin, Tom Durack, U.E. Natasi – assistant engineers
  • Greg Calbi – mastering

Charts

Certifications

Region Year Certification
United States (RIAA)[1] 1994 2× Platinum

References

  1. 1 2 "Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  2. ↑ @LivingColour (July 14, 2020). "Cult was second single. Middle Man first. Wiki is wrong (often)" (Tweet). Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Twitter.
  3. 1 2 3 Prato, Greg. "Vivid – Living Colour". AllMusic. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 Pratt, Greg (December 1, 2016). "Hall of Fame Countdown: Living Colour's Vivid". Decibel. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Living Colour: Vivid - Album Of The Week Club Review". Classic Rock. November 19, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  6. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Everything Is Possible: The Very Best of Living Colour - Living Colour | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  7. ↑ Fritz Hahn, Rhome Anderson (April 16, 2013). "Nightlife Agenda: Don't stop the music edition". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  8. ↑ Prown, Pete; Newquist, Harvey P. (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-7935-4042-6.
  9. ↑ Light, Alan (September 6, 1990). "Living Colour: Time's Up". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Top 8 Iconic 'Funk Metal' Albums". Ultimate Guitar. October 18, 2020. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  11. ↑ Lawrence, Mike (February 24, 2014). "The 25 Best Alternative Metal Albums". Metal Descent. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  12. ↑ McIver, Joel (July 24, 2016). "The 10 Essential Funk Rock Albums". Classic Rock. Archived from the original on June 6, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Heller, Jason (July 9, 2013). "One of Living Colour's hits illustrates an era in transition". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Fricke, David (June 16, 1988). "Living Colour: Vivid". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 2, 2007. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  15. ↑ Ives, Brian (May 2, 2018). "Living Colour 'Vivid' Resonates in the #BlackLivesMatter Era". Loudwire. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  16. 1 2 Azerrad, Michael (October 2002). "Living Colour: Vivid". Blender. Vol. 1, no. 10. p. 142. Archived from the original on August 20, 2004. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  17. ↑ McLeese, Don (April 18, 1988). "Chapman, O'Connor bring fresh air to popular music". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  18. ↑ Watts, Chris (May 7, 1988). "Living Colour: Vivid". Kerrang!. No. 186.
  19. 1 2 Sinker, Mark (May 7, 1988). "Black Rock Rebirth". NME. p. 31.
  20. 1 2 Tucker, Ken (April 28, 1988). "Living Colour: Vivid (Epic)". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  21. 1 2 Berman, Stuart (November 20, 2022). "Living Colour: Vivid Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  22. 1 2 Considine, J. D. (2004). "Living Colour". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 491. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  23. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (May 24, 1988). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  24. ↑ "Rocklist.net...Kerrang! End of Year Lists". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  25. ↑ Wazir, Burhan (2006). "Living Colour: Vivid". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Universe Publishing. p. 589. ISBN 978-0-7893-1371-3.
  26. ↑ "100 Best Albums of the Eighties". Rolling Stone. November 16, 1989. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  27. ↑ Westhoff, Ben (December 6, 2011). "Chuck Klosterman's Favorite Hair Metal Albums". LA Weekly. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  28. ↑ "The 50 Best Metal + Hard Rock Debut Albums Ranked". Loudwire. November 18, 2015. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  29. ↑ "Top 80 Hard Rock + Metal Albums of the 1980s". Loudwire. January 13, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  30. ↑ "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. June 21, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  31. ↑ "Top Albums of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022)". KEXP. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  32. ↑ "Chartifacts > Week Ending September 23, 1990 (from The ARIA Report Issue No. 37)". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved November 20, 2022 – via Imgur.com.
  33. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Living Colour – Vivid" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  34. ↑ "Charts.nz – Living Colour – Vivid". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  35. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Living Colour – Vivid". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  36. ↑ "Living Colour Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  37. ↑ "Top Selling Albums of 1989". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  38. ↑ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1989". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 24, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  39. 1 2 3 "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  40. 1 2 3 "Mainstream Rock". Billboard. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  41. ↑ "Rock Digital Song Sales". Billboard. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  42. ↑ "Alternative Song Sales". Billboard. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  43. ↑ "Hard Rock Song Sales". Billboard. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
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