The boys are back in town. It's been six years since they've released a studio album, but the hard rock/funk metal group, Living Colour, will be coming out with an "introspective" album, The Chair in the Doorway, their fifth release and first on Megaforce Records, on September 15
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The group was started by guitarist, Vernon Reid, in the late 80s and emerged from the Black Rock Coalition. They were part of a funk metal movement that included groups like Jane's Addiction, Fishbone, and Primus, but they had their own unique style, combining heavy metal, funk, free jazz, hard rock, hardcore punk and hip hop, topping it off with potent lyrics that confronted Eurocentrism and racism. Discovered by Mick Jagger, they got notoriety when they began opening for the Rolling Stones, and soon thereafter developed their own following. They went on to have several hits, their biggest one being their Grammy-award winning song, "Cult of Personality," from their Vivid album. They started to run out of steam in the mid-90s and broke up in 1995, only to reunite again in 2000.
Reid and other original members, Corey Glover, Will Calhoun and Doug Wimbish, got together at the end of 2008 at the Sono Studios outside of Prague to record their latest album, which has a wide range of songs from a "soul anthem" to "sacred steel blues." Reid states, “We feel like this is the best record we’ve made yet and we couldn’t be more excited to be releasing it with the legendary Megaforce Records. Some of our favorite bands were or are Megaforce artists, Metallica, Bad Brains, Anthrax, Black Crowes, so it’s an honor to be part of a label with a great legacy.”
They plan to announce a world tour soon, where they'll be performing in North America, Europe, South America, Australia and Asia, and it'll be kicking off this month. Living Colour opened doors for many black "alternative" acts, including Lenny Kravitz and Ben Harper. It will be interesting to see what these, as Rolling Stone dubbed them, "Black-funk-metal pioneers," have to bring to the table this time. It's sure to be funky and raw! For more info, go to: www.myspace.com/livingcolourmusic.
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