During a time of heightening awareness for rap and hip-hop,
Living Colour’s 1988 debut of Vivid, laden with a furious
combination of rock, funk, blues and social consciousness,
completely shattered the time’s stereotypical expectation of
four black men from New York City.

Vivid would rise to No. 6 on the charts, backed by the
Grammy-award winning, Top 20 hit “Cult of Personality,”
and secure Living Colour a place in rock ’n’ roll
history. On Dec. 19, 1989, the band brought its powerful sound back
to NYC’s famous CBGB nightclub, where they had spent years
prior refining their style.

Despite a lackluster recording quality, Live at CBGB showcases
the intense energy with which Living Colour performed their songs,
both good and bad. The musical ability of Corey Glover (lead
vocals), Vernon Reid (guitars, vocals), Muzz Skillings (bass,
vocals) and William Calhoun (percussion, vocals) is immensely
clear, but tunes such as the uninspiring “Someone Like
You” and punk influenced “Sailin’ On” ache
for Glover and Reid’s respective abilities to be put to
better use.

Throughout the recording, Skillings and Calhoun create a
relentless musical force that drives every song and lays a solid
foundation for the guitar and vocals. Calhoun’s exhibition of
drumming aptitude is exceptional, squeezing so much into the
smallest spaces that it feels like he may not make it to the next
beat, but somehow manages to at the very last second. A song such
as “Information Overload” really affords the bass and
drums an opportunity to open up and play around with the rampant,
fiery syncopation they consistently give to each tune.

The bombastic guitar talent of Reid — reminiscent of Eddie
Van Halen or even Jimi Hendrix — is most prominently
displayed in his solos. Sometimes however, in songs like
“Fight the Fight” or “Soldier’s
Blues,” it takes far too long to get to the fat, meaty
sections of the tracks. Other times, Glover’s heavily
chromatic vocal lines seem to overshadow Reid’s, as well as
the rest of the band’s playing.

When the band is running on all cylinders, they are capable of a
potent range of intriguing, diversified jams that would guarantee
them as classics. Live at CBGB offers a fine palate of Living
Colour’s musical styling, but the studio albums such as
Vivid, or even the more recent Collideoscope, are more refined.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars