Back when Living Colour’s third studio album ‘Stain’ was released, critical reception was generally lukewarm. Stylistically, the band’s characteristic blend of hardrock, heavy metal, funk, alternative rock and hiphop-inspired rhythms is still going strong on the album. In hindsight, however, it seems like the album’s darker, more cynical tone failed to strike a chord with mainstream audiences. Personally, I happen to like the darker approach and in my opinion, ‘Stain’ improves upon its awesome, but horribly uneven predecessor ‘Time’s Up’. ‘Stain’ is probably the heaviest album Living Colour released so far and while it can’t live up to the band’s incredible debut ‘Vivid’, it is still one of my favorites.

People who became familiar with Living Colour through quirky, humorous songs like ‘Glamour Boys’ and ‘Elvis Is Dead’ may in deed have been unpleasantly surprised by the rather aggressive approach on ‘Stain’. But the transition is nowhere near as sudden as contemporary reviews may want you to believe. Anger about social injustice was always a prominent feature in Living Colour’s music, they just take a somewhat more pessimistic direction this time around. The band’s humor is still there as well. Most notably in ‘Bi’, but in many other songs, levity was pushed aside to make room for biting sarcasm. And it works.

Living Colour has abandoned none of the styles in their eclectic musical stew, but it has been seasoned with a little more punk and metal than usual. ‘This Little Pig’ and the fantastic ‘Ausländer’ even border on thrash metal, with Vernon Reid churning out aggressive riffs and dissonant chords over Will Calhoun’s pounding drums. But even during the heaviest moments, the soulful vocals of Corey Glover add melody and memorabilty to the proceedings. It’s his voice that turns the likes of ‘Ignorance Is Bliss’ and ‘Never Satisfied’ into catchy rockers. Likewise, the loud bass of then-newcomer Doug Wimbish takes care of the funk element.

‘Stain’ is far from a barrage of heavy riffs, however. The biggest departure is probably ‘Nothingness’, which is a dreamy, synth-laden semi-ballad with an incredible subdued vocal performance by Glover. It breaks up the pace quite nicely. The aforementioned ‘Bi’ also serves its purpose in preventing the tone of the album from getting too bleak. Wimbish makes his compositional presence felt through the awesome bass line that carries the amazing closer ‘Wall’, which starts out somewhat reminiscent reminiscent of Alice In Chains’ ‘Would?’, but quickly evovles into a powerful anthem for tolerance and acceptance.

Not too long after ‘Stain’ was released, Living Colour would fall apart. Officially because of disagreements over the musical direction to follow, but it is difficult to imagine ‘Stain’ not getting the attention it deserved having no influence on it at all. Now that the album is nearly three decades old and unhindered by the need to answer to trends, ‘Stain’ would be my recommendation for people who enjoy Living Colour, but crave a little more stylistic consistency from them. Once again: like any other Living Colour album, it cannot hold a candle to ‘Vivid’, but it is an incredible work that deserves to be heard.

Recommended tracks: ‘Wall’, ‘Ausländer’, ‘Nothingness’, ‘Never Satisfied’