With rap so pervasive in today’s pop market, it’s hard to believe that Living Coloür’s rap-metal fusion was still a striking departure in 1988, when the group’s debut, Vivid, was first released. But the roots of Rage Against the Machine and Linkin Park are right here, tangled up in the knotty guitar blasts of Vernon Reed, who’s now delving further into rap-rock fusions with DJ Logic, Prince Paul, Slick Rick, and various members of Living Coloür as Yohimbe Brothers. (Their debut, Front End Lifter, recently came out on Rope-A-Dope.) Although the rhythm section were hard as titanium, Reed and singer Corey Glover were the band’s political and artistic brain trust. (In the reunited version of the group playing today, new bassist Doug Wimbush takes on a bigger creative role.) Sampling Malcolm X and singing about the corporate takeover of urban residences, Living Coloür bare their worried heart on track after track here. The issues of racism and inequity are chewed like bones, with Glover’s steely, soaring voice and Reed’s gnashing, unpredictable guitar licks providing the teeth. To this day, nobody has mixed raw power, social issues, and jagged virtuoso playing with the same intensity and musicality. This reissue is augmented by five remixes, live tracks (including ripping takes on "Cult of Personality" and "Middle Man"), and a brass-knuckled cover of the Clash’s "Should I Stay or Should I Go" that illustrates Living Coloür’s poised balance of muscle and melody at every turn.

(Vernon Reed and DJ Logic perform a Yohimbe Brothers show next Friday, November 1, at the Paradise. Call 617-423-NEXT.)