Strangely, for as popular as their debut 1988 album Vivid had been, spawning the Top 20 hit single "Cult Of Personality" and seeing "Glamour Boys" and "Open Letter (To A Landlord)" garner widespread radio and MTV airplay, few could have guessed that by 1991 Living Colour's career would be in a severe downward spiral.
While 1990's Time's Up had been certified gold for shiopment of 500,000 units, the album sold only a fraction of that amount and had no charting singles so, less than a year after its release, the band's label issued the six-track Biscuits EP.
In addition to a blistering studio versions of James Brown's "Talkin' Loud And Sayin' Nothing" and Hendrix's ":Burning The Midnight Lamp", the EP includes a stirring live rendition of Talking Heads' "Memories Can't Wait" that actually manages to surpass the original.
Even so, at a mere six-tracks, the US version of this EP was much too brief. In Japan, however, NINE additional tracks were included, making it a full-length album. Even more impressive is that included in those nine additional tracks were inspired covers of Pere Ubu's "Final Solution", Bad Brains' "Sailin' On", Led Zep's "The Ocean", Al Green's "Love & Happiness" and, last but least, the Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go".
Very few people know that the Japanese version of the album also features three songs recorded live at the Metro, "Middle Man", "Information Overload" and "Solace of You".
Additionally, the EP would mark bassist Muzz Skilling's last recorded output with the band before departing over "musical differences". The Biscuits EP, itself, eventually went out-of-print and, due to a variety of licensing issues, there are no foreseeable plans to reissue the release, which is unfortunate because the Japanese version would be a worthy addition to their Stateside catalog.
Here's hoping Epic's Legacy label corrects this glaring omission by making the EP available once again, perhaps making the Japanese version available to US fans once and for all.
Here's hoping Epic's Legacy label corrects this glaring omission by making the EP available once again, perhaps making the Japanese version available to US fans once and for all.
I have the japanese CD, was very hard to get at the Time, worth every penny. Same thing with Dread.
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