LIVING
COLOUR - Collideoscope
(2003)Corey Glover: lead vocals
Vernon Reid: guitar, vocals, sound design
Will Calhoun: drums
Doug Wimbish: bass
Living Colour are back! One of the best 90's rock band has finally released a new album after a break as a band.
The new album Collideoscope starts where Stain stopped. A truly angry album, with truly distorted guitar, and Glover's voice is as distinctive as always.
Song Without Sin starts this long-awaited album with heaviness, with Reid guitar devastating our speakers. There's also a sitar here and there.
A ? Of When features a typical Reid riff. Glover unleashes a good dose of melody with his voice, even when the song is anything BUT melodic =) I have the impression that Wimbish bass is a bit hidden in the mix, as you can hardly hear it, as the song is tight and sinked in distortion. Now does this gives you an idea of the angryness of this record?
Operation: Mind Control is overly distorted: even Glover's voice is muddy and dirty. Sounds a lot like an old punk song slowed down. A bit repetitive maybe. At this point of the album we've not heard a solo by Vernon Reid yet, and that's a pity...
Flying features a change in mood: Clean guitars for a staccato chord sequence... Wimbish bass is finally up in the front. I love this song, very melodic and very well-crafted. Also it features the return of Reid's solos: needless to say it's WEIRD! Vernon hasn't lost his magic touch for original, out-to-lunch guitar lines.
In Your Name starts again with distortion. This time it's drum time to be covered in dirt. Also there are several samples here to augment the industrial feel. The new Living Colour sound a lot like the angriest Nine Inch Nails... Again I can't hear Wimbish's bass...
Back in Black is a cover of the AC/DC classic... Living Colour stay pretty close to the original. Here we can hear all the instruments clearly, as the foursome opted for a clean mix. Glover put his throat to a hard work... Vernon unleashes a groovy bluesy solo, and also adds his touch of alternate-picked frenzy... Nice track!
Nightmare City features the reggae wibe of Glover's voice introducing us to another distortion-driven rollercoaster ride. Cool background vocal arrangement too.
Lost Halo reminds me a lot of old LC's songs... Slow, haunting guitar mixed with single note fills. Another solo, very Reid-y =) Typical LC ending too.
Holy Roller is a funky number , very groovy. I also prefer this kind of sounds, as every bandmember is clearly audible and not covered in mess. Sounds a lot like old Zeppelin riffs, very Seventies feel to it.
Great Expectation is another groovy track with the good dose of silences.
Poket Of Tears slows down everythin' a little. It's Wimbish's bass the main character this time. Very moody, we needed a break =) Good solo too.
Sacred Ground has a happy soundin' start, which turns into the usual aggro riff. Oriental-soundin' solo that's very cool.
Collideoscope is not an easy album, as you have to listen to it several times to fully appreciate it.
Just give it a try, and you won't be disappointed. Living Colour has returned blinkin' their eye to the
more modern sounds in metal today. DIRTY is the key word.
Flying, Nightmare City and Holy Roller are in my humble opinion the best tracks, in which Living Colour proove that they are potentially one of the best bands these days. I don't love too much the sounds of this album as I found them too often too distorted and muddy, and I have also to admit that I think that Reid has taken quite a step back in guitar solos.
I think that in Stain he did a great job even as a soloist, playin' groovy and also melodic lines, while in Collideoscope he comes back to his earlier solo style, with so lightnin'-fast licks that you can hardly hear what he's playin.
But then, there are also cool lines here and there. Also sometimes the songs can sound quite repetitive,
as the choruses are not as strikin' as in LC's past albums. I mean, there's not another 'Leave It Alone' here.
Rating: 8
(reviewed by Max)