Track Listing

1. Cisco Kid
2. City Country City
3. Beetles In A Bog
4. Four Cornered Room
5. Where Was You At
6. World Is A Ghetto

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #181677 in Music
• Released on: 1995-09-23
• Number of discs: 1

CD Description
On THE WORLD IS A GHETTO, War's artistic vision moves one step beyond the preceding ALL DAY MUSIC. The band's multicultural musical stew is better blended, the social commentary of its lyrics more pointed, and its grooves are tighter and meaner. As the title indicates, THE WORLD IS A GHETTO is a dark album, but in the best possible sense--deep, thick beats predominate, as on the alternately punchy and dreamy title cut and the hypnotic "Four Cornered Room". The irresistible "The Cisco Kid" marries a slow Latin rhythm to pulsing funk on a song about the 1950s television hero, and the lively combination sent the tune up the charts. The syncopated backbeat to the New Orleans-flavoured "Where Was You At" is infectious, while "City, Country, City" is an extended instrumentalthat allows each band member to stretch out with Latin, R&B, and jazz-inspired improvisations. One of the best-selling albums of '73, this disc is arguably War's finest.

Customer Reviews

Possibly the best funk album of all time
With the release of this album in 1972 War established themselves as the funkiest band on the planet bar none. In the same vein as the Ohio Players, Kool and the Gang (early stuff), Mandrill and Funkadelic, War's latin influences gave them a distinctive sound that sold millions. Cisco Kid was the dancefloor hit, but the standout tracks are the jazz funk epic City Country City and the mellow moody melancholy of the title track. The preceeding release All Day Music and later releases such as Deliver the Word and Why Can't We be Friends are excellent, but this is War's masterpiece. Absolutely essential and my favourite funk album of all time.

Awesome funky and laid back groooves!
I was a latecomer to the 'WAR' sound - I guess pre 1990 if I had seen an album with that name I might have suspected Heavy Rock or Thrash or something similar... but I picked up a copy of the 'World is a Ghetto' record on the recommendation of a friend and loved it from, oh about the first 10 seconds onwards.

It's funky, groovy, laid-back, and the perfect soundtrack to lazy days spent doing not very much...

Post Eric Burdon War really came into their own, and this is them at their peak, along with 'Lowrider' (their best known song - in the UK it is best associated with an ad campaign for Marmite!)

Anyway, I can't recommend this highly enough!

Latin Funk
This something of a melting pot of influences, a Funky, Jazzy groove, incorporating elements of Latin and Rock music, which undoubtedly arises from the multi cultural line up of the band. British R & B singer Eric Burden had "discovered" War, and there had been a couple of critically acclaimed releases before this one, but "World..." would become their breakthrough album.

War had a distinctive sound, which was honed by the band following their split from Burden. "Cisco Kid" is typical of their best known output, Latin funk workouts, which are at once danceable and laden with memorable hooks. "Where Was You At" and "Beetles..." mine the same seam, but the strength of the album comes with the extended tracks.

Each of these shows the band to full effect. "City Country City" is a masterpiece, which would not be out of place on a Jazz album and "Four Cornered Room" has a dark Sly Stone influence. It is the title track though which has to be the top track on show here, a loping Conga driven groove, which is slightly at odds with the hard hitting lyric.

As the 60's became the 70's, War occupied the same space as the likes of Sly Stone, Herbie Hancock, Isaac Hayes, Miles Davis, the Ohio Players and Earth Wind and Fire. They would go on to make more superb music, but "....Ghetto" is the album that defined them - essential for those interested in Black music.