Song · Living Colour
“Open Letter (To A Landlord)” by Living Colour
From the EP Cult of Personality (1988)
“Open Letter (To A Landlord)” by Living Colour appears on 11 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1990 and 2005. It was first released in 1988 on the EP Cult of Personality. Its best result is #478 on the Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,825 alternative song of all time.
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"Open Letter (To a Landlord)" is the slow burner on Vivid, Living Colour's 1988 debut album, and it was pulled as the record's fourth single: a power ballad with Vernon Reid's guitar giving it weight and bite.
The British press was split. Malu Halasa in Record Mirror called Reid a reputed virtuoso but found the song practically atonal, without a pop melody anywhere, while Ian Gittins in Melody Maker argued the band deserved much more applause than they'd been getting.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 478 | Z-Rock | Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990) | 1000 |
| 1994 | 622 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) | 1000 |
| 1999 | 885 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 936 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 942 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 942 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2002 | 533 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 927 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2003 | 929 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2004 | 927 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 926 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
Also listed as: Open Letter to a Landlord; Open Letter To A Landlord; Open Letter (to A Landlord); Open Letter (to a Landlord); Open Letter (To a Landlord).
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