This is one of the best songs ever to come out of the 80's.

Vernon Reid is one of the best and more underrated guitarists to come out of the 80's.

Fantastic performance. Great band.

I think Arsenio was about ready to fellate Corey Glover at the end there

That farking rocked.

And the outfits-- that's some good shiat.

mofroe: I think Arsenio was about ready to fellate Corey Glover at the end there

I think Corey would have let him (always got a "both ways" vibe off him).

"Everybody loves you when you're bi," after all.

IMHO the best song of the 80s. But then we established that last night.

/Who was there?
//Huh? Epic thread, it was.

Pretty good for a live performance. They didn't fark it up at all.

One of my all time favorite songs. They were talking about "Cult of Personality" in the one millionth Religious v Non-religious thread. lets hope they see it

Totally awesome. I love this band and I love this song. Great performance.

I had Vivid stuck in my car stereo for like a year. I thought at first I wouldn't get bored of it. Screw drivers are good at digging tapes out.

This song, and that performance, are full of farking win.

ROKK!

Great performance. What was with Glover's constant handjob motions, though?

uncomfortable old white people at 2:37

They were expecting Pat Boone.

"Mussolini and candy " ?

Well I guess if you play enough notes nobody can tell if you missed one.

I saw these guys on the first Lollapalooza tour and was just blown away by their sheer power and world-class musicianship. Plus Corey Glover can sing like a motherfarker. When they did their cover of Tracy Chapman's "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution," I was sold forever.

Weak albums, awesome live show.

Why are old white people at the Arsenio Hall show in the first place?

uncomfortable old white people at 2:37

To be fair, the lady looks interested and she's smiling, and nodding at her son to her right (love his Miami Vice outfit). It's her grumpy-gus husband to the right that's killing.

Fantastic song, but were they singing to a bunch of rocks dressed like people? How about some energy?

That was farking awesome.

/will be blowing dust off of "vivid"

Awesome song. I played in a band that did this for a talent show when I was a senior in high school. The bassist played about four notes and the bass amp died. We kept going. I was the guitarist. I played as fast as my little fingers would let me for the solos. In key, out of key, somewhere in the next county, does it really matter?

Gotta throw this CD in my car.

I farking hate Vernon Reid's guitar playing. I don't really know why. There's something about it that completely rubs me the wrong way...it's some combination of the tone and the style and the fact that he seems strangely inept for such a good guitarist.

Manic Depression (new window)

CoP is a pretty sick song, though.

Hate that god-awful song.

I'll join in on the "one of the best songs from that decade" posters. It's one of the few songs I never get tired of hearing.

Vernon was one of the few shred guitarists that I really loved. Sure, some of it was speed of light crunch-noodling, but the foundation of the amazingly cool songs he wrote made it work so well. And Muzz and Willie were such experts in their own right (Willie is a fantastic jazz drummer). I was sad when Muzz left, but really loved what Doug Wimbish brought to the table on Stain (very good album that practically no-one heard). Never really liked Tackhead, Doug's previous band, though.

Now that some time has gone by, it's cool to reflect and see what bands from that era really hold water in more than a nostalgia way. For me, a short list of exceptional bands of the early-to-mid 90's with large catalogs of great albums that no one really talks about anymore are:

Living Colour
Faith No More
King's X
Primus
Concrete Blonde
Fishbone

And, to a lesser extent:
24-7 Spyz

Sure, some of these bands are still around in some form or another, but basically, they ran their course and are unknown or simply not remembered by alot of folks (except maybe Primus). But for my money, every one of those bands should have been HUGE and had serious longevity. Grunge helped really put a dent in more stuff than just hair-metal.

Grunge helped really put a dent in more stuff than just hair-metal.


very, very good point. One that is not brought up enough.

The whole audience looked uncomfortable at 2:37. I think GypsyJoker was on to something. This audience was really expecting Pat Boone.

I saw them open for The Stones in 1989. It was a helluva show from beginning to end.

At least that's what my friends tell me, my recollection of the event is a bit blurred.

berniex: "Mussolini and candy " ?

Mussolini and Gandhi

Asian Reporter Trisha Takanawa: Mussolini and Gandhi

Mussolini and Kennedy (Gandhi gets mentioned in a different part of the song)

Just putting in my 2 cents for "Best Song Ever." Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks this.

/My lawn. Let me get you off of it.

That was teh awesome.

Just saw Corey Glover (Danny Glover's kid, BTW for those that di'int know) playing Judas in a production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and he stole the show.

And, yes Virginia, "CoP" is one of the highlights of the 80's.

/DayGlo FTW!

amoricanCrowe:

Just saw Corey Glover (Danny Glover's kid, BTW for those that di'int know)


According to Wikipedia, this is a myth.

Then again, I'm pretty sure Wikipedia is also a myth.

great performance..as usual for that band.

re: the song...too long. one thing most rock bands don't get is that a short, repetetive riff featured so prominently, needs to be delivered in under three minutes.

guitar solo should be at about the 2 minute mark, and wrap this biatch up with the quickness.

another classic example of a song that should be way shorter...iggy pop's lust for life.

brevity is king all, folks

ridcullylives: I farking hate Vernon Reid's guitar playing. I don't really know why. There's something about it that completely rubs me the wrong way...it's some combination of the tone and the style and the fact that he seems strangely inept for such a good guitarist.

I have to agree with you. I've played the guitar since 1981 and when this song came around and everyone was buzzing about Vernon I didn't get it. His solo in that song sounds like utter crap to me. I'm a fan of technical virtuoso's, but he's not one of them.

I also remember reading a quote from him saying "A black man has to be twice as good as a white man to get any attention" or something like that that pissed me off.

Give me Randy, Eddie, or Dimebag. You can have your Vernon.

That rocked balls.

There really aren't enough all black rock bands

really.

I keep waiting for a certain all black rock band to release something. Black Jack Johnson.I saw them at Coachella Fest a few years ago. Epic lineup. Mos Def-vocals,Doug Wimbish-Bass,Bernie Worell-Keyboards,Will Calhoun-Drums,Dr Know(Bad Brains) Guitar. Rocked my balls till this very day!

One of the best songs by one of the best bands, of the 80s or ever. I remember waiting outside a record store at midnight when their third album, Stain, came out. I remember seeing the, at the U of Chicago at all places, and they were just awesome. The opening act? Bad Brains, who also brought down the house.

As for the solo in Cult of Personality, it's supposed to sound all garbled. To really get at Reid's technical side, listen to Open Letter To a Landlord, Type, Elvis is Dead, Solace of You and some others.

I remember both this performance when it happened and also when they were on SNL. I also remember listening to Vivid in my yellow Sony Sports Walkman, god knows how many times while I was in high school. Also listening to Time's Up, which I had on transluscent yellow vinyl, a million times. Thing with Living Colour is that not only does Vernon Reid play a ton of styles, so did Muzzy Skilling, who was replaced by Doug Wimbish, and Will Calhoun. Calhoun at one point was in 8 bands, each playing somehting different. And all that comes out with Living Colour, and it's awesome.

Also worth a listen, though it's hard to find, the albums Vernon Reid made with Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society and Defunkt. Nothing at all like Living Colour, but mindblowing stuff.

Plus you could do worse than to study up on harmony by picking apart what Vernon does.

sadbad: There really aren't enough all black rock bands

No shiat. Or well there are all black rock bands around, but the recrod labels, even small ones aren't interested. In Chicago you can hear one of the best guitar players on the planet, Pistol Pete, who has put out a couple albums in Japan but that's it. Steve Vai thinks Pistol Pete is a superior guitar player. Vai doesn't care he's black, but the people who run record labels? Yeah, they do.

And really it's just not just black rock bands, but black bands in general that have become almost nonexistant. At one time, there was one black band next to the other on the top 40 charts, Earth Wind and Fire, Kool and the Gang, the Gap Band etc etc etc. Now they're a rare thing and kind of marginalized, no matter how good. Robert Randolph and the Family Band, should be getting a lot more attention then they are getting. But I've never seen them pushed on any mainstream rock stations. And even though Prince gets lots of attention even now, how often is it for him as a musician?

didn't the win the grammy for worst pants ever?
do they study Rex Kwon DO?

I *love* this video... truly a great performance of an awesome song.

Love that song. Killer tough to play in GH3, but damn, it's totally worth it every time.

/goes off to rock

sadbad: There really aren't enough all black rock bands

really.

Yeah, I really miss those guys- why the hell did they break up, anyway? They were there.

/Freaking GREAT guitar.

SoxSweepAgain: why the hell did they break up, anyway? They were there.

Actually Living Colour reformed a few years ago.

Thanks, subby, now I'll have that and Epic (Yeah, I know, different band.) in my head for a few days.

Shucks. :-)

And while I prefer it when guitarist keep it simple, there IS something to be said for when they can play licks like Vernon Reid did. It fit the style of the song, not to mention the band, perfectly.

Love the song, but gotta disagree on the great guitarist part.

His solos are audio scribble.

Yes, I know he's one of the few masters of Coleman's theories. However, no one else bothers to study them because what looks fantastic on paper sounds like crap when you play it.

But, I will say it again - great song.

WhyteRaven74: SoxSweepAgain: why the hell did they break up, anyway? They were there.

Actually Living Colour reformed a few years ago.

Not only that, they'll be putting out an album in 2008.

According to Wikipedia, anyway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_Colour

And we all know how reliable Wikipedia is, don't we?

Holy crap what a performance. We need more of that.

OMFG

Living Colour was one of the best rock shows i EVAR saw