War - The World Is A Ghetto

War - Post Eric Burdon. Be sure to check out the live video at the end of the post, early War live.

Listen to it here or, if you miss all the Ads, on YouTube

War's third album as an act separate from Eric Burdon. It was also far and away their most popular, the group's only long-player to top the pop charts. The culmination of everything they'd been shooting for creatively on their two prior albums.

It featured work in both succinct pop-accessible idioms ("The Cisco Kid," etc.) as well as challenging extended pieces such as the 13-minute "City, Country, City" -- which offered featured spots to all seven members without ever seeming disjointed -- and the title track, and encompass not only soul and funk but elements of blues and psychedelia on works such as the exquisite "Four Cornered Room." "The Cisco Kid" and "The World Is a Ghetto" understandably dominated the album's exposure, but there's much more to enjoy here, even decades on.

Beyond the quality of the musicianship, the classy, forward-looking production has held up remarkably well, and not just on the most famous cuts here; indeed, The World Is a Ghetto, utilizing the most sophisticated studio techniques of the era. Not only does it sound great, but there are important touches such as the phasing in "Four Cornered Room," not only on the percussion but also on the vocals, guitars, and other instruments, and the overall effect is a seemingly contradictory, yet eminently workable, with shimmering blues, even working in a mournful and unadorned harmonica amid the more complex sounds.

1. "The Cisco Kid" – 4:35

2. "Where Was You At" – 3:25

3. "City, Country, City" – 13:18

4. "Four Cornered Room" – 8:30

5. "The World Is a Ghetto" – 10:10

6. "Beetles in the Bog" – 3:51

bonus tracks

7. "Freight Train Jam" - 5:41

8. "58 Blues" - 5:26

9. "War Is Coming - Blues version" - 6:15

10. "The World Is a Ghetto - Rehearsal take" - 8:06

To develop material, War began playing marathon concert jams over which Burdon would free-associate lyrics. In August 1969, Burdon and War entered the studio for the first time, and after some more touring, they recorded their first album, 1970's Eric Burdon Declares War.