The unfortunate and ridiculous notion that the relationship between black musicians and aggressive, guitar-based rock music is a rare and odd one has always vexed me greatly. Luckily, there have always been prominent exceptions to this fictional rule, from Jimi Hendrix and Arthur Lee during the '60s to Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy in the '70s all the way up to the emergence of '80s underground legends Bad Brains.

Another major link in this disturbingly small but vital chain arrived at the tail end of that latter, ever image-conscious decade, in the form of a four-piece led by the powerful, soulful vocals of Corey Glover and the frenetic, creative riffing of guitarist Vernon Reid. Perhaps some of the band's somewhat surprising success can be attributed to the sheer novelty of a black, mainstream hard rock band, but I'd like to follow what, for me, is the unusual path of optimism and deflect this theory. I'd rather believe that music fans recognized a great band when they heard one, showing the sophistication to marvel at the way Living Colour incorporated all styles of pop and rock music to create something substantial amidst the fluff of hair metal and other styles relatively ignorant of music history. I could have easily chosen here any of a half-dozen tracks from 1988's excellent Vivid, but this one stands out as one hell of a heavy rock stomp through music's primal corridors. Colour notwithstanding.