War
's third album as an act separate from
Eric Burdon
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
-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"
"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
is of a piece with
Marvin Gaye
's
What's Going On
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis
, 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) shimmering
, even working in a mournful and unadorned harmonica amid the more complex sounds. ~ Bruce Eder