10 U_ THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAPER Life And Art MARCH 1989 10 . TE NTIOAL OLLGE EWSAPE Lie Ad At *MARCH 1989mm What's your favorite color? Living Colour's debut album Vivid introduces an irresistable metal-funk hybrid, the product of an accomplished guitarist (Vernon Reid) wedded to a hook-savvy, incredibly tight band. "What's Your Favorite Color?" and the Mick Jagger-produced "Glamour Boys" show off the band's ability to funk it up with the best. But it is on truly driving tracks like "Middle Man" and the electrically bombastic "Cult of Personality" that Living Colour vividly dis- plays what metal bands always purport to be but seldom are. Reid is hands down the guitarist of the year. Add Corey Glover's passionate lyrics and you have an explosive one-two punch. U Rob Nelson and Pat FitzMaurice, The Badger Herald, U. of Wisconsin, Madison Fishbone lead singer and saxophonist Angelo Moore during one of the band's manic live concerts on the Truth and Soul tour. Funky Fishbone mixes soul with potent politics By Andrew Lee The Tulane Hullaballoo Tulane U., LA Powered with the poetics of urban frustration and hard grooves, Fishbone has defied the obscurity into which most bands going against the trend fall. This funky sextet is different, not because they wear makeup or use fancy effects, but because they actually sound diffe- rent. And their latest effort, Truth and Soul, keeps that spirit alive. The Fishbone sound does not rest squarely on its well-crafted, bouncy pop melodies, but willingly strays into fits of speed, heavily distorted guitar hooks and cries of anger. There is subtlety, but mostly there is a steady groove. Like their predecessors Curtis Mayfield and high lords of funk Sly and the Family Stone, Fishbone imposes a message on top of their tight, highly listenable music. The theme of the low value that had been put on the life of the black male echoes in "Ghetto Sound- wave" (were they sure they got the right one/did they know he was the only son?), the hard fast version of "Freddie's Dead," "Slow Bus Movin'" (subtitled "Howard Beach Party") and "Question of Life." The message gives the music strength by avoiding the sort of forgett- able sloganeering that has soiled the reputation of "message music." (Stevie Wonder's "Don't Drive Drunk" comes to mind.) Truth and Soul has nearly captured the raunch and energy that make Fish- bone, dubbed "the houseband from hell," one of the liveliest, most able live acts imaginable. By venturing past the stigma of a party band that could so easily fall into their lap, Fishbone smacks of genius with a style all its own. AND ON THAT NOTE .. . Truth and Soul, the latest release from the amazing amphibians, Fish- bone, is a rock/ska/funk album with jaz- zy overtones. Only a talent-packed band could manage to merge these musical style& into some sort of solid sound. Sheila Gallagher, The Review, U. of Dela- ware Waterboys wax traditional, rarely falter on new LP By Steve Crawford The Daily Texan U. of Texas, Austin 0 On their new album, Fisherman's Blues, the Waterboys not only examine their musical heritage, but revel in it. With the help of the folk group De Danann, they take everything Irish - from traditional reels to ballads to poet- ry to Van Morrison - and appropriate it into their own unique style. After a fairly rousing start with title song, the album really takes off wiO "We Will not be Lovers," a swirling, powerful statement of unrequited love. Mike Scott's pleading vocals and Steve Wickersham's angry fiddle create a beautiful and moving call-and-response wail over the backing rhythm. A pretty ballad, "Strange Boat," and an excellent cover of former Waterboy Kurt Wallinger's "World Party" precede the album's most affecting song, ani& aginative and spirited cover ofVan Mor- rison's "Sweet Thing." Morrison's subtle tune becomes a thunderous celebration of love in Scott's hands. The second side contains more hom- ages to the Waterboy's musical influ- ences. The best of the songs on side two has to be "When Ye Go Away." The solemn melody of the tune proves that Scott and The Waterboys are as musi- cally capable in quiet moments as thg are in frenzied ones. The only weak moment on Fisher- man's Blues is "The Stolen Child," a musical piece of W.B. Yeats' poetry. And at least it's the result of a failed experi- ment rather than some coldly calcu- lated attempt at touching the heart and purse strings of a gullible public. o Disney tunes . tians' "Cruella DeVille" with vicious slander, not unlike that on The Replace- ments' own "Waitress in the Sky." Stay Awake's smorgasbord musical style is not for those with narrow tastes. How many people can groove to Buster Poindexter and then segue into Yma Sumac's gurgly operatic reading of "I Wonder" from Sleeping Beauty? For the most part, though, the trans'- tions between songs are graceful and seamless, and the sum of this album's varied narts is surnrisin-ol oven Living Colour: Muzz Skillings, Corey Glover, Vernon Reid and William Calhoun. Don't sleep through all-star tribute 1 By Dan Bernard The Daily Illini U. of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Stay Awake is not your typical star- studded schmaltzfest of a tribute album, but rather a gold mine of nostal- gia and revelation. Some genius named Hal Willner gathered together a more-than-eclectic troupe of artists to toast Walt Disney's musical themes. There are cutting-edge rockers like Tom Waits, Sinead O'Con- nor and Suzanne Vega; soulful singer- songwriters long missing, like James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt and Harry Nilsson and cool jazz artists like Betty Carter and Sun Ra. Lush orchestral arrange- ments fill the gaps to give the album a strong composite feel. And most of the pairings are success- ful. Los Lobos really shine as they charge through a rollicking, zydeco- inflected rave up of "I Wanna Be Just Like You" from The Jungle Book. The Replacements bash through a campy, lan-hann rendition of 1.001 Dalma. John Linnell of the zany They Might Be Giants at a New York show in support of the two-man band's new album, Lincoln.