The World Is A Ghetto Marshalltown IA

The World Is A Ghetto

War

Avenue / Rhino Records, 1972

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 02/22/1998

By 1972, the funk-rock group War was just hitting their stride.Coming off their hit with Eric Burdon "Spill The Wine" and hisdeparture from the group, they were beginning to really shape theirown sound and groove, as evidenced in their album All Day Music.

Their 1972 release The World Is A Ghetto was their most successful to thispoint - yet over 25 years later, some aspects of it have not heldup as well as the message the band tried to get across. The musicis still good - it's just overindulgent at times.

Leading off the disc is their first major hit sans Burdon, "TheCisco Kid." A quirky little number which pays homage to the oldtelevision series as well as has fun with it, Howard Scott and crewwhip out a groove within the first few seconds of the song andrefuses to let you go for the four-and-a-half minutes the trackruns. A number two hit at the time, the song still enjoys a bit ofa cult status, even being used in commercials not too long ago(though I can't remember if it was a beer or a jeanscommercial).

The title track is the centerpiece of the album; a slower, moredrawn out number that serves as a reminder to anyone listening thatwe have more in common than we have that separates us. By blendingdifferent musical styles, it tries to draw everyone a little closerin order to get the message across.