Vivid (Living Colour album)

Vivid is the debut studio album by the American rock band Living Colour, released on May 3, 1988 through Epic Records. It was one of the most popular albums of 1988, reaching No. 6 on the US Billboard 200 chart and certified double platinum by the RIAA. The album is also featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[13] In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Vivid as 71st on their list of The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.[14]

Vivid
Studio album by
Living Colour
ReleasedMay 3, 1988 (1988-05-03)[1]
Recorded1987–88
Studio
Genre
Length49:13
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: 1988
  4. "Open Letter (To a Landlord)"
    Released: 1988
  5. "Funny Vibe"
    Released: 1988
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Chicago Sun-Times[4]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal8/10[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[6]
Kerrang!4.5/5[7]
The Philadelphia Inquirer[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]
Spin Alternative Record Guide7/10[11]
The Village VoiceB[12]

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:49:13

(Note: 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
Chart (1989) Peak
position
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[15] 2
US Billboard 200[16] 6
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[17] 15
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] 92

Awards

Grammy Awards

Year Winner Category
1990 "Cult of Personality" Best Hard Rock Performance

References
  1. "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database". RIAA. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  2. @LivingColour (July 14, 2020). "Cult was second single. Middle Man first. Wiki is wrong (often)" (Tweet). Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Twitter.
  3. Prato, Greg. "Vivid – Living Colour". AllMusic. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  4. McLeese, Don (April 18, 1988). "Chapman, O'Connor bring fresh air to popular music". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  5. Popoff, Martin (November 1, 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 198–199. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
  6. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
  7. Watts, Chris (May 7, 1988). "Living Colour: Vivid". Kerrang!. No. 186.
  8. Tucker, Ken (April 28, 1988). "Living Colour: Vivid (Epic)". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  9. Fricke, David (June 16, 1988). "Living Colour: Vivid". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 2, 2007. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  10. 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.
  11. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  12. Christgau, Robert (May 24, 1988). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  13. Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (February 7, 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
  14. http://www.theprp.com/2017/06/21/news/rolling-stone-share-choices-100-greatest-metal-albums-time/
  15. "Norwegiancharts.com – Living Colour – Vivid". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  16. "Living Colour Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  17. "Charts.nz – Living Colour – Vivid". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Living Colour – Vivid" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
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