Rock band Living Colour left a major imprint on rock music with its 1988 debut album “Vivid,” a collection of songs that spoke to listeners about their political views and day-to-day experiences with style, artistry and creativity.

The chart-topping hit single “Cult of Personality” won the band a Grammy Award for best rock performance in 1989; that year Living Colour also was named best new artist in the MTV Music Awards.

The praise and popularity were attached to a band that fused Vernon Reid’s pyrotechnic rock guitar technique to Corey Glover’s powerful, passionate vocals, with powerhouse drumming by Will Calhoun, as Living Colour claimed a top spot on the charts and in the public consciousness.

Bassist Doug Wimbish, who joined Living Colour in 1992, also held down the rhythm section on notable recordings such as the hip-hop classic “The Message” and “White Lines,” and toured and recorded with the Rolling Stones.

Though often associated with rock, the band’s individual taste for P-funk, metal, blues, jazz and alternative music can also be heard.

“Like Fishbone and Bad Brains before us, we saw us as part of a continuum,” said Glover, calling from his home in New York last month. “They made me want to do stuff.”

The band continued to make music and toured extensively through 1995, then disbanded. Glover, who is also an actor (“Platoon”), gigged with other bands and at a variety of performances, including a tour of “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

A 2000 reunion show at the now-closed, legendary CBGB music club in New York, where the band had performed several times in its heyday, brought the members back together.

“Turns out we still had a lot to say,” said Glover, a Bronx native. “We did so much and said so much, but there’s more.

In 1988, the year of the band’s debut, George H.W. Bush was elected president. In their reunion year, 2000, George W. Bush was elected.

“It’s amazing how things have really not changed much politically,” Glover said.

Living Colour will play a series of shows in Honolulu beginning Sunday at Blue Note Hawaii.

The Hawaii appearances — Living Colour’s first — are part of a global tour in support of the band’s upcoming album, “Shade,” scheduled for release in September. Last month Glover said the band was spending time “working on songs and getting them as ready as we can.”

The shows will be a mix of “acoustic and electric,” said Glover. “A little more energy. Some songs do lend themselves to being acoustic; some, obviously, electric. ‘Broken Hearts’ lends itself to being acoustic. Some songs you wouldn’t think of, like ‘Glamour Boys,’ do, too.”

When the New York-based group disbanded, Glover thought that part of his professional life was over. But fans and music critics often encouraged Living Colour to regroup, and would ask when the band was putting out new music.

“Earlier in our career we sort of chronicled where we were at,” said Glover. “We were known for being political and for our sound. But that’s also about how we were perceived.”

Asked about Living Colour’s role as standard-bearers for African-American musicians in rock, Glover said, “We don’t think of ourselves as leaders. There’s still not a lot of representation. … That is part of why we do this — no representation.”

With “Shade,” Glover said, is “our attempt to really explore the blues — to look at it from our own perspective.”

All four band members are involved in the songwriting process.

“Individually, we are a mix of different personalities, but we understand each other,” said Glover. “We have a language and fluidity, but I get that I might not know where Vernon will end up. It’s always been a collaborative effort to create something bigger.”