The World Is a Ghetto (40th Anniversary Expanded Edition)

War's fifth album (and its third without singer Eric Burdon), released in late 1972, was the group's most successful. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts and was named "Album of the Year" for 1973 by the magazine. Two singles—"The Cisco Kid" and an edited version of "The World Is a Ghetto"—went top 10, impressive considering how advanced and adventurous the music was. The seven-piece band wrote its songs communally, and each member was given considerable room to explore. Charles Miller's clarinet and saxophones gave War a jazzy edge on the 13-minute "City, Country, City," while the band's percussive elements—performed by everyone, but especially heightened by drummer Harold Brown and conga man Papa Dee Allen—brought a polyrhythmic sound far beyond standard-issue rock and pop music. Funk, blues, and psychedelia melt together in a definitive post-'60s vibe. "Four Cornered Room" is simply devastating. The 40th-anniversary expanded edition includes a rehearsal take of the title track and three additional jams from a band at the height of its powers.