''Life (Is So Strange)'' is an album by

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, was released on

RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ari ...

in 1983. The band's lineup is not stated on the cover, but composer credits suggest they had been reduced from eight members (on the previous album) to five. The pop art cover references concerns about nuclear war in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, the group's home. The Hollywood Sign appears in the upper right corner, and mushroom clouds are reflected in the woman's sunglasses. The back cover depicts office towers (identifiable as

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

buildings) being toppled by a nuclear explosion. Producer Jerry Goldstein also produced the album ''

Nuclear Blues ''Nuclear Blues'' is an album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in 1980, as their first release for MCA/LAX Records. ''Nuclear Blues'' was produced by Jerry Goldstein, who had previously been known for his work with the band War. Even th ...

'' by

Blood, Sweat and Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura N ...

a few years earlier, which had a cover depicting a post-nuclear urban street scene. One single from the album was issued: "Life (is So Strange)" backed with "W.W. III".

Track listing

All tracks composed by Jerry Goldstein,

Papa Dee Allen War (originally called Eric Burdon and War) is an American funk/rock music, rock/soul music, soul band from Long Beach, California, known for several hit songs (including "Spill the Wine", "The World Is a Ghetto (War song), The World Is a Ghett ...

Lonnie Jordan Leroy Jordan (born November 21, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter. He is a founding member of the American funk band War. Jordan had a number of roles over the years, acting as vocalist and playing guitar, piano, synthesizer, and percussion ...

, Howard E. Scott,

Lee Oskar Lee Oskar (born 24 March 1948) is a Danish harmonica player, notable for his contributions to the sound of the rock-funk fusion group War, which was formed by Howard E. Scott and Harold Brown, his solo work, and as a harmonica manufacturer. H ...

and Harold Brown, except where indicated.

Side one

#"Life (is So Strange)" – 5:58 #"Happiness" – 7:39 #"W.W. III (medley)" – 7:53 ##"The Dawning of Night" ##"Waiting at the Church" ##"When the Nightime Comes"

Side two

#"Shake It Down" (Goldstein, R. J. Ranois) – 4:58 #"Summer Dreams" (Oskar) – 5:00 #"U-2 (medley)" – 9:47 ##"U-2 Part 1" ##"Automatic Eyes" ##"U-2 Part 2" ##"U-2 Part 3"

Personnel

No personnel are listed on the cover, but previous War albums usually credit all members as composers, so the following is the likely lineup. Other instruments such as bass and saxophone may have been provided by the members below, or by session musicians. *

– percussion, vocals * Harold Brown – drums, percussion, vocals *

– organ, piano, synthesizer, percussion, vocals *

– harmonicas, vocals *

Howard Scott Howard Scott (April 1, 1890 – January 1, 1970) was an American engineer and founder of the Technocracy movement. He formed the Technical Alliance and Technocracy Incorporated. Early life Little is known about Scott's background or his early ...

– guitar, vocals

Technical personnel

*Jerry Goldstein and Lonnie Jordon – producers *John Fischback – recording and remix engineer *Chris Huston – recording engineer *Bernie Grundman – mastering engineer *Mike Doud – art direction, design *Lou Beach – illustration {{DEFAULTSORT:Life Is So Strange 1983 albums War (American band) albums RCA Records albums Albums produced by Jerry Goldstein (producer)