ka·lei·do·scope:

Date: 1817
1 : an instrument containing loose bits of colored material (as glass or plastic) between two flat plates and two plane mirrors so placed that changes of position of the bits of material are reflected in an endless variety of patterns

2 : something resembling a kaleidoscope: as a : a variegated changing pattern or scene <the lake a kaleidoscope of changing colors -- Robert Gibbings> b : a succession of changing phases or actions <a... kaleidoscope of shifting values, information, fashions -- Frank McLaughlin>

Col·lideo·scope:

Date: 2003
1 : a portal through which opposing (colliding) and often conflicting views of the real world are presented in an asymmetrical, jagged, disturbing and dark picture

2 : the new album from Living Colour

Living Colour spent the late 1980s and early 1990s reinvigorating a rock music world that was dominated by new wave acts and hair bands. A trio of studio albums (Vivid, Time's Up and Stain) earned the band acclaim, Grammy awards and healthy record sales, as the New York based outfit introduced its unique hard rock sound that also included large doses of a variety of styles, including jazz, punk rock, hip-hop and African music. On Collide0Scope, the first full Living Colour album in ten years, the band takes a back-to-basics approach with much of the material - in fact, this album may include the fewest number of flashy Vernon Reid guitar solos, which, along with singer Corey Glover's soaring vocals may be the most identifiable components of the Living Colour sound. For a band that has never shied away from creating elaborate soundscapes and is coming off a long hiatus, this could be a risky career move. The music does not suffer, however, and the result may be one of Living Colour's better albums.

Lyrically, the content is straightforward and direct. The loose theme of the album is life in the world we all woke up in after the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, when hijacked planes destroyed the Twin Towers in New York and crashed into the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. The aptly named album presents a view of a world where one's sense of security has been shaken, right and wrong are no longer clearly discernible and the term "freedom" needs a new definition. Prior to September 11, many of us looked through a kaleidoscope that showed us an altered but pretty view of reality. Collide0Scope deals with the collision of differing ideals, dogma and lifestyles - and the picture we see is hardly the neat, pretty and symmetrical one that the kaleidoscope gave us.

The album kicks off with where Stain left off, with the heavy riffs of "Song Without Sin". The song deals with the well known Christian Bible concept that we are all sinners, so who is any of us to play the role of accuser, judge and jury to someone else, a fairly grass roots message. The suggestion is clear, however - is the Western world in general, and America in particular, worthy of its self-assumed role of world policeman?

The next track, "A ? of When", quickly brings the energy level to maximum levels, with an equally heavy punk flavored song whose words are a play on the phrase so often uttered by President George Bush, Attorney General Richard Ashcroft, Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, and all of their cronies - that there will definitely be another terrorist attack so the real question is not "if" such an attack will occur, but "when". Reid's guitar takes effectively creates a sense of ominous danger that interplays well with the siren effects, and bassist Doug Wimbish and drummer Will Calhoun propel the song forward relentlessly, painting the picture of paranoia that many people feel as a result of the never-ending yellow-, orange- and even orange-plus alerts that we see in news reports daily. The song's lyrics are a bit on the repetitive side, but the bridge is especially strong and Glover's manic performance is up to the task of presenting the message.

"Operation Mind Control" is a fuzzy, noisy song that takes some of the images and phrases fed to us by the news media and turns them on their head to show some of the hypocrisy in the words. The western media, which now routinely makes mini-series out of wars by packaging them with neat little names supplied by the American government like "Operation Iraqi Freedom", is really engaged in its own battle for America's soul - Operation Mind Control. In this battle, news outlets like CNN and MSNBC are effectively the American government's state TV just as much as al Jazeera is to the Arab world. The rhythm is almost in march time, and the listener can almost picture the band stopping on one musical break in the song in faux salute to Commander in Chief Bush. Without directly getting into whether the American government is right or wrong in its post September 11 wars, the song effectively communicates that we need to be careful to listen to what we are being told by our media - in the end much of it is propaganda not unlike that we accuse the other side of using.

The most powerful track on the album, "Flying", comes next. "Flying" returns to the moments surrounding the September 11 attacks, and the subject matter here completely puts all politics aside and deals with the human reality faced by thousands of people in the Twin Towers. Glover provides a plaintive vocal for the piece, which immediately grabs the listener with the words,

Without mentioning the attacks directly, the listener's attention is immediately grabbed for what is a short but chilling tale of desire, hopes realized and dreams destroyed. The song's narrator has just gotten up enough confidence to ask a co-worker out on a date when the first airplane strikes the tower. In an instant, the pair must decide to take their own destiny in their hands. The song's chorus also brilliantly contrasts the ugliness of the events with the amazing beauty of the New York day on which they occurred:

Writing as someone who was in New York city at the time of the attacks, the song's lyric is amazingly concise and clear, and brought tears to my eyes. Musically, this is a good pop song that will hopefully receive considerable airplay. Politics aside, the most important thing to remember about the events of September 11 is the effect of those events on ordinary people, something this song captures well.

 On "In Your Name", the rage returns. "In Your Name" approaches the subject of our elected officials engaging in war in the names of the people they represent:

The back to basics rock sound takes a back seat here, as Living Colour takes a stab and working with electronica and effects, and they do well with it. The song is still heavy (this is not New Order), and the words powerful, representing a direct attack on those who wage war to advance their own goals, claiming to represent the objectives of others, whether the latter is the general American (or Western) public, God, the freed Iraqi people.

Collide0Scope also features a couple a few cover songs, the first of which is Back in Black, the AC/DC classic. The approach is straightforward and true to the original - and that is not a bad thing. Maybe Living Colour heard the recent cover of this song by the Hives, which attempted to infuse the song with a new energy but largely fell flat and sounded lightweight. Upon first listen, it appears Living Colour has not done much with the song, but listening to the original and the LC cover back to back will show that while the band stuck to the approach AC/DC took with it, they successfully managed to increase its intensity by speeding up the tempo and adding a bit of typical LC power to the rhythm. Interestingly, some of the lyrics take on new meaning when sung by a black rock band, but in the end, this is one great rock band paying tribute to another by playing a great rock and roll song - 'nuff said.

The next two tracks pay homage to women on the fringes of society. The first, "Nightmare City" is spoken from the point of view of a city dweller who observes his "ghetto queen", who "speaks without saying a word, ... screams without being heard... living in nightmare city" - but this ghetto is not necessarily Compton, Harlem, Kingston. It really could be any city in today's world, from Beverly Hills to Baghdad, where just existing in the face of daily life's struggles is difficult. Her strength, and her ability to find hope "in these days of rage" amaze the observer of the ghetto queen. The woman is seen as a matron, a figure worthy of great respect and near awe. "Lost Halo" is a tribute to another type of woman that is almost invisible in society. This track is a reprise of a song that first appeared on a Vernon Reid solo album, but Living Colour succeeds in making the song a bluesy, soulful song of admiration, and Glover's vocal performance is quite good. This time the observer is amazed by the diamond in the rough, an exotic dancer who "blinds us scum with heaven's light". He sees her, of course, as an angel who has lost her halo, and he even wonders if she will regain her halo when she leaves this life. Probably some readers of this review will recognize the feeling of respect the speaker has for this woman...(!)

"Holy Roller" is a good, old-fashioned blues stomp, complete with hammond organ playing by David Sancious. The album Time's Up featured Living Colour's last direct exploration of the blues, "Love Rears Its Ugly Head", but "Holy Roller" is more traditional, more simple, and ultimately, more satisfying. The way the blues are meant to be - three chords and the truth!

The outlook gets bleak with the next few tracks. "Great Expectations" is spoken from the point of view of someone whose hopes have been cut down to size by the reality of the world in which he lives. No longer does he does he aspire to change or save the world - he realizes he can't even save himself. In the end he prefers to stand still and let it all come to him, rather than fighting a losing battle. "Choices Mash Up" is progressive in structure and style, a concatenation of song pieces that contrast in tempo and rhythm. The message is about mass-consumerism, being reduced to a sales demographic, and the greed for material things that many have become accustomed to, trying to fill the holes of happiness with "stuff". Because of the non-conventional style of the song, it is not an easy song to digest and may come across better live, where its progressive nature has allowed the band to improvise in interesting ways over the last several months.

"Pocket of Tears" is a strong track that continues the line of thinking of the previous songs. The speaker has come to the realization that in the end, he is barely a blip on the radar screen; the world existed before him and will eventually go on without him. After all of his efforts in life, the beauty and the ugliness of the world will continue, largely unaffected by his endeavors, and he will be buried "in the cold, cold ground". "Pocket of Tears" is one of the album's stronger songs, a brooding piece whose dark, haunting feel carries the subject matter.

The next track is "Sacred Ground", which first surfaced in an angrier, heavier version on the "Pride" album. This reworked version, which is the album's first single, is more melodic than the original. "Sacred Ground" is a tribute to native peoples everywhere who stand up in protection of their tribal lands, in the face of those who would destroy customs and history in order to make a profit. People are their history and customs, it's all sacred.

The album returns to its loose theme with "Tomorrow Never Knows", the classic John Lennon / Beatles tune. Hope is somewhat restored after the resignation of the speaker in "Pocket of Tears". Yes, the world will go on, without us, but in the end it will all be fine. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, but we do know that somehow, in some form, there will be a tomorrow and maybe the best approach is to sit back, relax and let it happen. The song then segues into "Nova", a short instrumental piece which somewhat continues the musical theme of LC's take on "Tomorrow Never Knows", sounding hopeful in spite of it all. Not coincidentally, the song is named for Wimbish's daughter. The word nova implies newness and hope, and when things are at their darkest, our children really do embody our greatest hope for the future.

Collide0Scope brings together a rejuvenated Living Colour, and the band has grown from its experiences and other musical projects during its 10 year hiatus. Fans expecting the band to pick up where it left off may have a hard time with this album, because they didn't pick up where they left off, and actually, how could they, after a decade has passed and so much in their lives and the world around them has changed. Likewise, with its diversity of styles and influences, radio programmers will have a difficult time trying to fit this album into a specific genre - which, really, is nothing new for this band. This album is Living Colour in 2003, and it is a strong body of work. One can only hope that it is not another ten years before they decide to release their next.