Awesome Music: "Cult of Personality", most notably the epic guitar solo by Vernon Reid, who's been said to be one of rock's most underrated guitarists.
Epic Riff: "Cult of Personality"; some people listening to Malcolm X's "Message to the Grass Roots" speech from the beginning would probably expect the opening riff to begin playing right away after the opening line.
First Installment Wins: Vivid is still their most acclaimed album, and nothing that came after has been able to match it.
Despite "Cult of Personality"'s objective look at past historical figures ("From Mussolini to Kennedy", "Like Josef Stalin, and Gandhi"), suddenly it's an anti-Obama anthem. The song was written in The '80s, long before Obama was even nationally known. It's also been used to describe Donald Trump, although the song came out well before Trump ever eyed the US Presidency.
According to Vernon Reid, "Elvis is Dead" doesn't castigate Elvis like some had believed it too. Rather, the point behind the song is "You didn't see Elvis at the shopping mall."
Once Original, Now Common: While most younger listeners are aware of their importance and impact on Alternative Rock and the development of Nu Metal, they may fail to see just how revolutionary and out-there their music was back when they first arrived. An all-black rock act that mixed hard rock and metal with elements of funk, jazz (including more avant-garde jazz stylings), reggae, hip-hop, and soul, without sacrificing their heaviness, with a funk and soul singer doing rock, an avant-garde jazz guitarist who blended heavy riffing with Hendrixian sonic exploration and an anarchic freeform approach to soloing that sounded like aimless noodling, but was rock-solid from a theory standpoint, a rock bassist, and a drummer who could mix Thrash Metal and jazz fusion styles while also making nods to African folk and electronic and drum and bass all came together to create a band that was like nothing else out there. People who were only around to see the results of their influence, however, are unlikely to be able to completely grasp the scope of it.
