Billboard — Of all the bands pursuing comebacks this fall, Living Colour is certainly among the most welcome. But the band’s first release since 2003, “The Chair in the Doorway,” is too scattered — and occasionally silly — to make a serious re-impression. The parts are all here: guitarist Vernon Reid is a monster (behold him on “Bless Those,” the album’s funkiest moment) and singer Corey Glover retains a solid volume of howl. But the group is stuck deploying its skills in pursuit of quite a few rock-funk clunkers with lyrics from the blank-alienation handbook — stuff like, “I thought I had control/I felt I lost my soul/I can’t get outta this hole” (from “Out of Mind”), and so on. Happily, “The Chair in the Doorway” is back-loaded and hits a stride in its more measured second half, including the snaky first single “Behind the Sun,” the stomping “Hard Times” and the melodic “Taught Me.” Unfortunately, a good bit of it comes off as colorless.
Jeff Vrabel is a humor columnist for the GateHouse news service, editor-in-chief of Hilton Head Monthly magazine and a music writer whose work has appeared in Paste, RollingStone.com, Billboard, Playboy, All About Jazz, No Depression, the Chicago Sun-Times, Backstreets, brucespringsteen.net and several furious Neil Diamond fan message boards. 
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I’m a long time Living Colour fan. I think you’re right about the lyrics…at times. They haven’t had an album as lyrically compelling as “Time’s Up” and as lyrically artistic as “Stain.”
That said, their musicianship has never fallen off nor has their album conception. Each album is a mix of styles. They’ve never been a band that has maintained a consistent “style” or theme of music throughout an album. But that’s something a fan accepts from them. It’s not a lack of conception on their end, but rather a natural byproduct of the wide scope of musical styles they play. The only album that had relative stylistic consistency was “Vivid.”
This album really has some great tracks on it. I was much happier with it than “Collideoscope”–although, I loved the “Tomorrow Never Knows” cover. The hidden track, “Asshole,” is my favorite and “Bless Those” is great too.
Vernon’s exploration of blues riffs makes this album very enjoyable to listen. It really showcases his versatility. But all of the band members are recognized gun-slingers on their respective instruments.
I admit that this album doesn’t measure up to some of Living Colour’s previous albums, but that shouldn’t discourage anyone from buying it. “The Chair in the Doorway” is a quality album and a great addition to a music collection.
And, for the record, Living Colour is a band that must be seen live. I saw them play in CT. They performed “The Chair in the Doorway” in its entirety. You don’t realize how sublime this band is until you’ve seen them live!
Hi Vitalogy, thanks for the comment. You’re right about Vernon – he’s pretty much a monster – and I do see your point about the competing styles. But I couldn’t get past some of those really clunky lyrics, and I kind of thought there were some production problems as well; I wanted a little more sonic punch, even on that second half. But as you said, it’s probably a record better experienced live, which I hope to do sooner than later. Thanks for stopping by and reading.