Living Colour made a splash in the late 80’s with their debut album, showing off their incredible range, from hard rock to glam pop. One of the few all-black straight-up rock bands getting mainstream attention at the time, breaking through with their hit single “Cult of Personality”, the group grew a loyal following and critical respect. Sadly, that was not enough to keep their momentum going once their second album, Time’s Up, came out and failed to achieve the same amount of success.
This remains a shame today, with the album’s 30th anniversary hitting this year, as there were a number of great songs to be found it, including “Love Rears Its Ugly Head”, the Little Richard-assisted “Elvis is Dead”, and my favorite, the calypso-tinged “Solace of You”. Though the track can be interpreted as a love song or even a song to a higher power, there are lyrics which resonate strongly in the present moment; “They can hurt me, jail my body. I’ll still be free”.
Maybe not a protest anthem, but still an ultimately uplifting song about getting through adversity that deserves a throwback and revisiting today.
The band also recently released a new video for the the track “This is the Life” from Time’s Up, addressing the current protests and seeking to inspire people to make a change by voting this November. Find the video below:
The Indy Review 