Shade

Rating

Album: Shade
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Freedom of Expression	More Info...
2)	Preachin' Blues	More Info...
3)	Come On	More Info...
4)	Program	More Info...
5)	Who Shot Ya	More Info...
6)	Always Wrong	More Info...
7)	Blak Out	More Info...
8)	Pattern in Time (Skin in the Game)	More Info...
9)	Who's That	More Info...
10)	Glass Teeth	More Info...
11)	Invisible	More Info...
12)	Inner City Blues	More Info...
13)	Two Sides	More Info...

Performer Notes

Shade, the sixth studio album from Living Colour (and the first since 2009's The Chair in the Doorway), opens with an anthemic track full of Vernon Reid's guitar heroics, Corey Glover's impassioned vocals, and a prominent sample from Malcolm X. No, it's not "Cult of Personality," it's called "Freedom of Expression (F.O.X.)," but in a world where African-American hard rock bands are still considered a novelty, you can't blame these guys for thinking not much has changed since their debut album, Vivid, dropped in 1988 -- or at least not as much as a reasonable man would hope. Arriving in 2017, Shade is a somewhat different animal than Living Colour's early (and best-known) work, but there are more similarities than differences. The band's attack is harder and heavier than it was in the '80s, the sly humor that once leavened their albums is largely absent, and their production is more clearly informed by hip-hop in its use of samples and edits, though this is still a hard rock band first and foremost. Shade is also more steeped in the blues than most of Living Colour's previous work, especially on "Who's That" and a fiery cover of Robert Johnson's "Preachin' Blues." But the center of this music is still Vernon Reid's guitar, and he's still a remarkable player, fusing the wail of hard rock, the cry of the blues, and the broad tonal palette of jazz into a musical flamethrower that puts most metal soloists to shame in terms of vision and impact. Glover, bassist Doug Wimbish, and drummer Will Calhoun have the strength and the imagination to keep up with Reid, and while they may take their sweet time between albums, when they come together the results remain taut and satisfying. If defiance and anger are the key operating emotions of many of these songs, that's probably to be expected in 2017, and the full-bodied cover of Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues" only points to how many social ills of the '70s are still plaguing us today. But as Joe Strummer once told us, anger can be power, and the musical and emotional furor of Shade is a powerful and much-needed weapon in a chaotic time. ~ Mark Deming

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Veteran art-metal crew Living Colour stretch across time and genre for another serving of righteous rage. But for sixth album SHADE, they fold blues music into their singular crunch..."

Paste (magazine) - "[N]early 30 years later, Living Colour has finally returned to the blend of graffiti guitar rock that made them the first true alternative to the hair metal nation of the Reagan/Bush era with the excellent SHADE."

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