Ho deciso di scrivere una recensione su Vivid perchè amo il funk rock e perchè Blood Sugar Sex Magik dei Red Hot Chili Peppers, capolavoro del funk rock ed uno dei miei dischi preferiti, è già stato recensito troppe volte (e nemmeno tanto bene...).
Vivid è uno dei pochi album che esprime autenticamente quel sottegenere musicale del rock miscelato al funk che è il funk rock. I Living Colour in questo album includono pesanti chitarroni in salsa hard rock ma alternano a queste, numerosi pezzi degni di maestri funk quali Funkadelic, Sly Stone (forse esagero).Un funk sporco e strafottente; i Living Colour saranno tra gli esponenti principali della prima ondata del crossover, oltre ai già citati Red Hot Chili Peppers, i Faith No More, i Rage Against the Machine e i Primus di Les Claypool.
Uno stile originale quello dei Living Colour, già apportato dai RHCP negli anni '80 ma calibrato diversamente da Corey Glover alla voce e dalla chitarra vivace di Vernon Reid.
Ed è proprio Vernon Reid che dimostra le sue qualità nella traccia portavoce dell'album; Cult of Personality, stilisticamente è la classica canzone hard rock, ricca di emozione e dal ritornello adrenalico. Vernon Reid in Cult of Personality è superbo nel gestire la sua chitarra incendiaria, sfociando in un assolo tra i più importanti della storia del rock, tant'è che figura tra i migliori 100 assoli della musica. Middle Man e Open Letter (to a Landlord) seguono la riga di Cult of Personality; riff potente e batteria messa a ferro e a fuoco.E nergia e passione si fondono insieme in Desperate People e in Which way to America mentre troviamo autentiche song d'impronta funk: Glamour Boys, dal ritmo funkeggiante in apertura, sfoggia un ritornello hard rock e Funny Wibe è una lezione di intreccio e distorsione di genri musicali, crossover allo stato puro.
Un disco che si impone tra i baluardi della musica nera anni '80; un gruppo sottovalutato e quasi ignorato dal pubblico europeo ma in America song come Glamour Boys e Cult of Personality hanno coinvolto una fascia numerosa di pubblico. Molti dicono che il loro successivo Time's Up è un lavoro più maturo ma quello che viene espresso in quel disco nasce da Vivid, a mio parere il capolavoro della band... Time's up, che anch'io apprezzo, può piacere di più ma è da Vivid che parte il tutto...
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Cult of Personality (04:54)
(And during the few moments that we have left
We want to talk right down to earth in a language
That everybody here can easily understand...)
Look in my eyes, what do you see?
The Cult of Personality
I know your anger
I know your dreams
I've been everything you want to be
I'm the Cult of Personality
Like Mussolini and Kennedy
I'm the Cult of Personality
The Cult of Personality
The Cult of Personality
Neon lights, a Nobel Prize
When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You won't have to follow me
Only you can set me free
I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face on your T.V.
I'm the Cult of Personality
I exploit you
Still you love me
I tell you one and one makes three
I'm the Cult of Personality
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi
I'm the Cult of Personality
The Cult of Personality
The Cult of Personality
Neon lights, a Nobel Prize
When a leader speaks, that leader dies
You won't have to follow me
Only you can set you free
You gave me fortune
You gave me fame
You gave me power in your God's name
I'm every person you need to be
I'm!
The!
Cult!
Of!
Per!
Son!
Al!
Ity!
I'm the Cult of
I'm the Cult of
I'm the Cult of
I'm the Cult of
I'm the Cult of
I'm the Cult of
I'm the Cult of
I'm the Cult of
Personality!
(Ask not what your country can do for you...)
(The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!)
03 Middle Man (03:47)
�Middle man'
I don't have a need to be the best
Don't want to be just like the rest
Just stay who I am
Just an ordinary middle man
Give me the happy medium
Don't want to be the one whose leading them
I've got no master plan
Just a simple Middle man
Standing on a fine line between this and that
Just biding my time waiting for a sign
to tell me that I'm something special
My ideas are mine alone
Not yours, not theirs, but I care
I hurt for you, but not with you
I love that thing that's inside you
but I'm not your fan
I'm a stranger in a strange land
I'm your middle man
But I'm not your fan
I'm a stranger in a strange land
I am your middle man
Middle man yeah, yeah
I'm not your fan
I'm just a middle man
yours, theirs, but I care
I've got no master plan
Just stay who I am
Just a middle man
05 Open Letter (to a Landlord) (05:32)
�Open letter (to a landlord)�
Now you can tear a building down
But you can't erase a memory
These houses may look all run down
But they have a value you can't see...
This is my neighborhood
This is where I come from
I call this place my home
You call this place a slum
You wanna run all the people out
This is what you're all about
Treat poor people just like trash
Turn around and make big cash
chorus:
Now you can tear a building down
but you can't erase a memory
These houses may look all run down
but they have a value you can't see
Last moth there was a fire
I saw seven children die
you sent flowers to their family
But your simpathy�s a lie
Cause every building that you burn
is more blood money that you earn
We are force to relocate
from the pain that you create
Chorus
We live here for so many years
Now this house is full of fear
For a profit you will take control
Where will all the older people go?
There used to be when kids could play
Without the scourge of drug�s decay
Now our kids are living dead
They crack and blow their lives away
Chorus
You've got to fight
You've got to fight
you've got to fight for your neighborhood...
You've got to fight
For your neighbor.
06 Funny Vibe (04:20)
(V. Reid)
No, I'm not gonna rob you
No, I'm not gonna beat you
No, I'm not gonna rape you
So why you want to give me that
Funny Vibe!
No, I'm not gonna hurt you
No, I'm not gonna harm you
And I try not to hate you
So why you want to give me that
Funny Vibe!
09 Glamour Boys (03:39)
The glamour boys swear they are a diva
The glamour boys have it all under control
Always dancing and always laughing
The glamour boys are playing the role
The glamour boys never have no money
The glamour boys wear the most expensive clothes
The glamour boys are always at the party
Where the money comes from heaven only knows
I ain't no glamour boy - I'm fierce
I ain't no glamour boy - ooh
I ain't no glamour boy - I'm fierce
I ain't no glamour boy
The glamour boys live off their ambition
The glamour boys have it all figured out
A very, very dubious position
When you got no clout
The glamour boys' whole life is a gamble
They might get over or fall flat on their face
But if one does, there's no need to worry
Another G-Boy will take his place
I ain't no glamour boy - I'm fierce
I ain't no glamour boy - ooh
I ain't no glamour boy - I'm fierce
I ain't no glamour boy
The glamour boys don't think about tomorrow
The glamour boys just need tonight to play
But just like things you can't afford on credit
Time catches up and you have to pay
The glamour boys are always on the guest list
You'll always find them in the hottest spots in town
They'll be your friend if you have fame or fortune
If you don't they won't be hanging 'round.
I ain't no glamour boy - I'm fierce
I ain't no glamour boy - ooh
I ain't no glamour boy - I'm fierce
I ain't no glamour boy
I ain't no glamour boy - I'm fierce
I ain't no glamour boy - ooh
I ain't no glamour boy - I'm fierce
I ain't no glamour boy - no no!
(What do you mean my credit's no good?)
11 Which Way to America? (03:41)
(V. Reid)
I look at the T.V.
Your America's doing well
I look out the window
My America's catching hell
I just want to know which way do I go to get to your America?
I just want to know which way do I go to get to your America?
I change the channel
Your America's doing fine
I read the headlines
My America's doing time
I just want to know which way do I go to get to your America?
I just want to know which way do I go to get to your America?
Go west young, go west young man
Don't want to crossover
But how do I keep from going under?
Where is my picket fence?
My long, tall glass of lemonade?
Where is my VCR, my stereo, my T.V. show?
I look at the T.V.
I don't see your America
I look out the window
I don't see your America
I want to know how to get to your America
I want to know how to get to your America
America
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Altre recensioni
Di Blackdog
Il riff granitico di 'Cult of personality' anticipa le liriche politiche consapevoli e disilluse di Glover.
Un caso clamoroso di riappropriazione del verbo Rock mutuato dalle proprie radici culturali blues da parte di afroamericani.
