New Living Colour Out 9/15!

Living Colour - The Chair In The Doorway

When was the last time you thought about Living Colour?

I'll admit that it had been awhile for me. As a world famous blog writer such as myself (come on, allow me my delusion and I'll owe you one "No, those jeans do not make your ass look huge" when the time comes), I brave a constant influx of promo CD's each week and am constantly faced with the question of which ones to listen to, much less review.

I mean, the great thing about having your own world famous rock blog is that you get to write about music and bands you already love. Why anyone who has ever read my blog would send me a promo copy of the latest Tim McGraw or Michael Buble CD is beyond me. Of course, how can one blame them? They know that when I sprinkle some of my world famous He's A Whore rock blog glitter upon a CD, people listen and shit happens.

So, yes, I'm gonna sprinkle a little of that glitter on the new Living Colour album, The Chair In The Doorway (which must come as a welcome surprise to Mick Jagger's Goddess In The Doorway, who is probably pretty tired of standing by now). As I inserted shiny plastic disc into the nearest player, one question came into my mind that I would have asked had the band been there with me:

1. Why bother, guys? The industry is a shell of its former self, kids cannot be bothered to listen to anything remotely challenging (unless, of course, you consider Katy Perry avant garde), and bands who were best known for a song they did twenty years ago, but still have high hopes for their new album, have their work cut out for them.

I don't mean to be dismissive or jaded, but I've seen so many cool records fall by the wayside over the past few years because the industry doesn't realize that there is actually an audience of adults out there who would gleefully spend money on new music if they knew about it. News flash: Not everyone has their own world famous rock blog, for which they receive tons of free promo CD's. If I didn't, I can tell you with 100% certainty that I would not know there was a new Living Colour CD coming out on September 15.

[deleted diatribe about why the success of insultingly lame bands like Daughtry and Nickelback is evidence of how starved for new music said demographic happens to be.]

So, yeah, the last time most of you guys gave Living Colour the time of day, their lead singer was running around in a wet suit. For those hoping for "Cult Of Personality 2", no dice. Still, there is a lot to like about this album.

For example, Corey Glover still writes songs about those who continually get the short end of the stick, the constant fight to overcome getting the short end of the stick, and sticking it to those who continually give others the short end of the stick. Vernon Reid still plays a mean guitar, working his mix of virtuosity and love for angular musical juxtapositions into every available nook and cranny.

In fact, the first few songs on the album almost sound like the band is trying to remind the listener who they are, not wanting to throw anything unexpected at them. Kinda strange for a band that has always challenged themselves to break new ground with each record, but probably the result of a couple hard lessons learned when past albums fell on deaf ears.

Of those first few songs "DecaDance" stands as a song that could bring a few older fans back into the fold.

"Behind The Sun" and "That's What You Taught Me", on the other hand, unveil a sleeker, more streamlined Living Colour. One of my gripes about some of the band's latter work was that I just didn't hear songs as much as I heard tight, muscular jams. Well, these are great songs and its great to see Living Colour remember that once you build a sound foundation (i.e., a good song), any jamming that may commence is just gonna be that much more spectacular.

In true 90s fashion, the band closes the album with the hidden track "Asshole", which is actually one of the better songs on the album. Did the band feel it was too against-type to not include it on the album in proper fashion? I dunno, but its quite refreshing to see the band reveal a sense of humor and break from their trademark sound, if only briefly.

For those who think bands like Living Colour are forever trapped in the 80's - or 90's as the case may be - this is only true if you make it so. By listening, and hopefully buying new music by veteran bands such as Living Colour, you play a part in changing that bullshit preconception.