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Avg: 4.0 (33 ratings)
- Date Released: August 1, 1990
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Rock
- Label: Epic
- Copyright: (P) 1990 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
An album chock full of killer riffs from undersung guitar-rock heroes
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We Say...
You want killer guitar riffs? Here's an album full of them, in all styles, sometimes several within the same song. Vernon Reid is one of the great undersung shredders, maybe because his New York prog-funk-metal-whatever quartet Living Colour never really had any hits beyond their first, "Cult of Personality," from their 1988 debut, Vivid. But on Time's Up, its 1990 follow-up, Reid goes to town. He plays the way other people can talk: sardonic (the stop-start chording of "Love Rears Its Ugly Head"), determined (the harmonics-laden "Type"), blissed out (the gorgeous African highlife-manqué of "Solace of You," which Vampire Weekend ought to take a listen to), and of course hard, fearsome, and headlong: "Elvis Is Dead," the 13/4 title track, and the strutting "Someone Like You" are all head-turners. Sure, vocalist Corey Glover can be hammy: "Sometimes I wish — I had a heart made of steel!" he bellows on "Information Overload" like the stage actor he was before Reid drafted him into the band. And the lyrics sometimes hit you over the head ("History's a lie that they teach you in school/A fraudulent view called the Golden Rule," goes the chorus of "Pride") rather than upside it the way the guitars do. But when Glover has a lyric to sink into, as on the sarcastic "Elvis Is Dead" ("When the king died he was all alone/I heard that when he died he was sitting on his throne"), he does so with real vigor. And when he doesn't, well, there are all those guitar riffs to distract you.
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They Say...
Although Living Colour's second album, Time's Up, achieved gold certification shortly after its release and eventually won a Grammy award, it performed below expectations when compared to their debut, Vivid. It's not that it wasn't a strong album; in fact, in a lot of ways, it's just as good as its predecessor, but instead of merely copying a winning formula, Time's Up challenged the listener more -- both musically and lyrically. A host of guest artists lent their hands to the proceedings, such as Little Richard, Queen Latifah, Maceo Parker, and Doug E. Fresh, which hints at just how all-encompassing Time's Up is. The few fans that were hoping that the band would streamline their sound and focus on their more pop-oriented material were bludgeoned with the hyperactive thrash title track (comparable to one of LC's biggest influences, Bad Brains). Other tracks, such as the jazz-rocker "Elvis Is Dead," the Zep-stomp of "Pride," and the gloriously pessimistic "Type" showed that success hadn't dulled the group's socially conscious attack. While heavy compositions were plentiful ("New Jack Theme," "Information Overload"), the band's more reflective side was evident by such outstanding tracks as "Fight the Fight," "Solace of You," and "This Is the Life," plus the love-torn ditty "Love Rears Its Ugly Head." Time's Up remains a convincing listen all these years later.
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| 01. |  |
Time's Up |
3:06 |
|
| 02. | |
History Lesson |
0:52 |
|
| 03. | |
Pride |
4:55 |
|
| 04. | |
Love Rears Its Ugly Head |
4:19 |
|
| 05. | |
New Jack Theme |
3:30 |
|
| 06. | |
Someone Like You |
3:47 |
|
| 07. | |
Elvis Is Dead |
3:50 |
|
| 08. | |
Type |
6:27 |
|
| 09. | |
Information Overload |
6:09 |
|
| 10. | |
Under Cover of Darkness |
4:16 |
|
| 11. | |
Ology |
1:07 |
|
| 12. | |
Fight The Fight |
4:32 |
|
| 13. | |
Tag Team Partners |
0:47 |
|
| 14. | |
Solace Of You |
3:35 |
|
| 15. | |
This Is The Life |
6:23 |
|
15 Total Tracks, 57:35 Total Length
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Credits
- Mick Jagger - Vocals (Background) // Mick Jagger - ? // Little Richard - Vocals // Little Richard - Vocals // Don Byron - Clarinet // Don Byron - Sax (Baritone) // Maceo Parker - Saxophone // Maceo Parker - Saxophone // John Aguto - Assistant Engineer // Akbar Ali - Strings // Charles Burnham - Strings // Greg Calbi - Mastering // Will Calhoun - Percussion // Will Calhoun - Drums // Will Calhoun - Vocals // Annette Daniels - Vocals (Background) // Eileen Folson - Strings // Alan Friedman - Programming // Doug E. Fresh - Percussion // Doug E. Fresh - Percussion // Doug E. Fresh - Vocals // Doug E. Fresh - Vocals // Corey Glover - Guitar (Rhythm) // Corey Glover - Vocals // Lolly Grodner - Assistant Engineer // Paul Hamingson - Engineer // Paul Hamingson - Assistant Engineer // Toshi Kubota - Vocals (Background) // Toshi Kubota - Vocals (Background) // Toshi Kubota - ? // Toshi Kubota - ? // Queen Latifah - Vocals // Queen Latifah - Vocals // Jeff Lippay - Assistant Engineer // Yubie Navas - Vocals (Background) // Yubie Navas - ? // Reggie Workman - Strings // Vernon Reid - Guitar // Vernon Reid - Vocals // Alva Rogers - Vocals (Background) // Alva Rogers - ? // Rosa Russ - Vocals (Background) // Muzz Skillings - Bass // Muzz Skillings - Vocals // Ed Stasium - Producer // Ed Stasium - Engineer // Ed Stasium - Mixing // Francine Stasium - Vocals (Background) // Francine Stasium - ? // Derin Young - Vocals // Derin Young - Vocals (Background) // D.K. Dyson - Vocals (Background) // Lex Van Pieterson - Photography
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Other Details
- Instrument:
- Vocals
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