Audio CD review:
War - Anthology (1970-1994)

War - Anthology (1970-1994)

Band: War Title: Anthology (1970-1994) Rating: Release Date: 1994-10-18 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Tobacco Road - War, Loudermilk, John D. 2: Spill the Wine - War, Allen, Papa Dee 3: They Can't Take Away Our Music - War, War [1] 4: Sun Oh Son - War, Allen, Thomas 5: Lonely Feelin' - War, Allen, Sylvester 6: All Day Music - War, Allen, Papa Dee 7: Get Down - War, War [1] 8: Slippin' into Darkness - War, Allen, Papa Dee 9: The Cisco Kid - War, Allen, Thomas 10: The World Is a Ghetto - War, Allen, Papa Dee 11: City, Country, City - War, Allen, Thomas 12: Where Was You At - War, Allen, Sylvester 13: Gypsy Man - War, Allen, Papa Dee 14: Me and Baby Brother - War, Allen, Papa Dee 15: Deliver the Word - War, Allen, Thomas 16: Ballero - War, Allen, Thomas 17: Why Can't We Be Friends? - War, Allen, Thomas 18: Low Rider - War, Allen, Papa Dee 19: Don't Let No One Get You Down - War, Allen, Thomas 20: Summer - War, Allen, Thomas 21: L.A. Sunshine - War, Brown, Harold 22: River Niger - War, War [1] 23: Galaxy - War, War [1] 24: Youngblood (Livin' in the Streets) - War, Allen, Sylvester 25: This Funky Music Makes You Feel Good - War, War [1] 26: The Music Band - War, Allen, Papa Dee 27: Outlaw - War, Allen, Sylvester 28: You Got the Power - War, Allen, Papa Dee 29: Cinco de Mayo - War, Allen, Papa Dee 30: Life (Is So Strange) - War, Allen, Papa Dee 31: Don't Let No One Get You Down - War, Allen, Thomas 32: Peace Sign - War, Brown, Harold

Good Listen! SO I bought the Anthology on Amazon and really like it. Seemed like every time I listened to i70's ClubFM on my PC I heard a song and would say "I like this; who is the artist?" It was always WAR. I can't compare it to their other CD's, but as a part-time fan it is great. . . has most of the songs I love to hear. WAR is hell-aciously good! " In between listeners will get a superb overview of WAR's unique fusion of sounds and styles, jazz, funk, Latin music, you name it, its all here and so are the hits. This two-disc "Anthology" comprises the majority of WAR's biggest hits spanning their 1970 start with Eric Burden all the way up to their 1994 comeback single "Peace Sign. Listening to both CD's you'll recall how many hits this prolific group had and at the same time wonder how they came to be so overlooked and marginalized. WAR was never afraid of social commentary as witnessed by "The World Is A Ghetto," "Peace Sign," "Why Can't We Be Friends?" and "Slipping Into Darkness. " These tracks were THE soundtrack of the 1970s and who doesn't get a big smile on their face hearing "Low Rider," "Spill The Wine," "Cisco Kid," and "Summer. " These tracks are all here along with many other favorites and perhaps a song or two you'd forgotten. One key problem however is that the versions here are the truncated versions of the songs that were used for radio airplay or the 45 singles of the era rather than the longer LP versions of the songs. As a result if you're familiar with the LP versions or prefer the extended jams going on there you're NOT going to be pleased with these. That was a bit of a buzz-kill for me which is why I can't give this five stars. There may be better "greatest hits" compilations out there for WAR-heads, but if so I'm not aware of it. This compilation will suit most casual fans but WAR-heads are advised to consider carefully. Wonderful! I received this for Christmas when it first came out and this set instantly made me a huge fan! I am not so keen on the '92 version by the Hispanic MCs, but the rest of this set, which includes an impressive booklet with eye-catching photos, is a great way to start collecting on this groups music!. classic album one album i couldnt live with out i bought it once before and lost it so i had to buy it againg. the ultimate cruising album. Everyone needs to make War If War is one of your favorite bands, this one is probably not for you, although the booklet that accompanies the double CDs is an excellent comprehensive history of War from their early '60s roots to the date of this release in 1994. Any serious fan of '70s music should have some War in their possession. This set is best for the casual fan who liked War but doesn't have any particular desire for a complete collection. War was the only group to do the Latino/soul/pop/rock thing nearly as well as Santana, and they were funkier. They came to the attention of the music world through the efforts of former Animals singer Eric Burdon, who, along with Danish harmonica virtuouso Lee Oskar, was looking for new direction and found this bunch of African-American musicians who had been heavily influenced by Latin rhythms. He renamed them from "Nightshift" to "War," stating that no one with a name like that could be overlooked, with everyone talking about peace as they were in 1969. He was right about the band's talent, and he was right about the name. It stuck. Burdon led the band for two LPs, including their big hit together "Spill the Wine," and then went his own way while War climbed the ladder to stardom with their own hits like the lovely "All Day Music" and sparse "Slippin' Into Darkness," each of which established their career-long pattern of members sharing vocals with no one lead singer. It was 1972 when they really hit it big, with "The World Is a Ghetto" and "The Cisco Kid. " It's here that this anthology hits its most unfortunate theme, by including truncated versions of their songs. War was famous for their extended jam sessions, both live and in the studio, and including 4-minute single edits is like trimming Grateful Dead concerts down to half-hour TV show length. Yeah, what's there is great, but what's NOT there is good too. This is why the set is best for casual fans only, those of us who just want to have some good War in our possession. When you want to hear this kind of music, little else hits the spot. In spite of that kind of exclusion, the set is also to be lauded, in my opinion, for covering an entire 25-year span of music. That's an anthology in its proper format, and while the music on Disc Two doesn't come up to the quality of that on Disc One, I'm glad to have it too. By the time we've run through the many hits of War, with those named above as well as "Gypsy Man," "Me and Baby Brother," "Ballero," "Why Can't We Be Friends," "Summer," and their ultimate classic "Low Rider," there's plenty of space for sampling their other works as well. The sound quality is as good as one could wish, the aforementioned 50-page anthology booklet (lots of visual art but lots of text as well), and even the packaging itself, is top quality. I would like longer versions of some of the tracks, particularly "The World Is a Ghetto," but still recommend this set, especially if you can get a slightly used or otherwise unopened copy at the lower price. You can see a complete list of all War discography, or go back to the War tabs