By: David Schultz

The departure of original bassist Muzz Skillings, brought about dramatic changes in Living Colour, ones still felt more than a decade later. Going beyond the superficial differences between Skillings and Doug Wimbish, Stain and Collideoscope, Living Colour’s first two albums with Wimbish, contained a much harder edge than Vivid and Time’s Up, the albums that launched the band to national prominence. Many of fans that found themselves initially attracted to Living Colour’s wicked blend of New York funk, screeching Hendrix-quality guitar riffs and sociopolitical dialectic fell to the wayside as the music became heavier, the viewpoints less poignant and the wide variety of influences becoming slightly more narrow.

On The Chair In The Doorway, their fifth studio album and first in more than five years, Living Colour recaptures much of what their initial efforts such eye-opening and revelatory affairs. For the opening few songs, Living Colour picks up where they left off: Wimbish and drummer Will Calhoun continued to operate at a level of speed and sophistication that can get lost within the heft of their play, Vernon Reid’s crunches through the avant-metal riffs that have become his calling card and Corey Glover offers his customary array of trenchant observations, even interjecting a little humor into “Young Man.”

At the literal and figurative heart of the album, Living Colour strikes those chords that continue to make them an intriguing band. Living Color plays host to four of the greatest musicians to ever choose rock music as their forte but their strongest quality remains their heart, their warmth and their passion. On “Behind The Sun,” Reid taps out one of his finest guitar riffs, an intricate spiral that melds with Glover’s empathic vocals for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. On “Not Tomorrow,” the near-raga beat swirls beneath one of Glover’s most powerful vocal performances. “Bless Those,” a cocky blues strut that finds Reid channeling the masters of the slide guitar, will say with you simply for the reason that its one of the few songs where Living Colour seems to set their burdens aside and simply have fun.

Labels: Living Colour