''The World Is a Ghetto'' is the fifth

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American band

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 ...

, released in late 1972 on

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

. The album attained the number one spot on ''Billboard'', and was ''Billboard'' magazine's Album of the Year as the best-selling album of 1973. In addition to being ''Billboard'''s #1 album of 1973, the album was ranked number 444 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine's original list of

the 500 greatest albums of all time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indust ...

. The title track became a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

Cover

The cover illustration, a light-hearted drawing showing a Rolls-Royce with a flat tire in a ghetto, was drawn by Howard Miller, with

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 ...

credited with album concept. It uses a blue and black colour pallet as a reference to the melancholy nature of the album.

Alternate formats

The album was also made available in a 4-channel

surround sound Surround sound is a technique for enriching the fidelity and depth of sound reproduction by using multiple audio channels from speakers that surround the listener ( surround channels). Its first application was in movie theaters. Prior to sur ...

(

quadraphonic Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic and sometimes quadrasonic) sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of a listening space. The system allows for th ...

) mix in the

8-track tape The 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8; commonly called eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, and eight-track) is a magnetic tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when the compact cassette, wh ...

format (United Artists UA-DA178-H).

Critical reception

In a contemporary review for ''

'', Gordon Fletcher said ''The World Is a Ghetto'' found War progressing further in the arena of soul and jazz music, and "closer to total mastery of their music as they attempt to use it to communicate the essence of ghetto life".

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

was less enthusiastic in ''

Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is a monthly American music magazine, based in Detroit, whose main print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. Influential criti ...

'', believing he "should love this big Afro-roots band" in theory, but was critical of the fairly slow quality of the music and the lyrics, calling it " blackstrap-rock". He singled out the "jazz pretensions" of "Four Cornered Room" and "City, Country, City", finding the latter's rhythmic foundation solid but the song too long and mawkish. In a retrospective review, Bruce Eder from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

said the album's music encompassed "not only soul and funk but elements of blues and psychedelia" and a "classy, forward-looking production" comparable to

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

's 1970 album ''

Curtis Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin from the Old French ''curteis'' ( Modern French ''courtois'') which derived from the Spanish Cortés (of which Cortez is a variation) and the Portuguese and Ga ...

'' and

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

's '' What's Going On'' (1971). ''

The Crisis ''The Crisis'' is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois (editor), Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Mi ...

'' journalist Bruce Britt identified ''The World Is a Ghetto'' as one of the few Black rock recordings that became a classic within the

pan-African Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement ext ...

community during FM rock radio's segregation of African-American rock acts in the 1970s, a viewpoint echoed by music historian Jefferson Morley. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' critic

Geoffrey Himes Geoffrey Himes is an American music critic who has written weekly for ''the Washington Post'' since 1977. He also wrote for '' No Depression'' as a contributing editor in its first print era in the late 1990s to the early 2000s and has written for ...

names it an exemplary release of the

progressive soul Progressive soul (often shortened to prog-soul; also called black prog, black rock, and progressive R&B) is a type of African-American music that uses a progressive approach, particularly in the context of the soul and funk genres. It developed ...

development from 1968 to 1973.

Track listing

All tracks composed by

(Papa Dee Allen, Harold Brown, B. B. Dickerson,

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 ...

, Charles Miller,

Howard E. Scott Howard E. Scott (born March 15, 1946) is an American funk/rock guitarist and founding member of the successful 1970s funk band War. Biography Scott grew up in Compton, California. He began playing bass at a very young age under the guidance of ...

Side one

The Cisco Kid The Cisco Kid is a fictional character found in numerous film, radio, television and comic book series based on the fictional Western character created by O. Henry in his 1907 short story "The Caballero's Way", published in '' Everybody's Magaz ...

" – 4:35 #"Where Was You At" – 3:25 #"City, Country, City" – 13:18

Side two

#"Four Cornered Room" – 8:30 #"

The World Is a Ghetto ''The World Is a Ghetto'' is the fifth album by American band War, released in late 1972 on United Artists Records. The album attained the number one spot on ''Billboard'', and was ''Billboard'' magazine's Album of the Year as the best-selling a ...

" – 10:10 #"Beetles in the Bog" – 3:51

CD bonus tracks

In 2012 the album was re-released on CD in a 40th anniversary expanded edition with 4 previously unreleased bonus tracks. #"Freight Train Jam" - 5:41 #"58 Blues" - 5:26 #"War Is Coming -

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

version" - 6:15 #"The World Is a Ghetto -

Rehearsal A rehearsal is an activity in the performing arts that occurs as preparation for a performance in music, theatre, dance and related arts, such as opera, musical theatre and film production. It is undertaken as a form of practising, to ensure t ...

take A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production. Film In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each s ...

" - 8:06

Personnel

;War *

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 lif ...

– guitar, percussion, vocals *

B.B. Dickerson BB, Bb, or similar, may refer to: In arts and entertainment *BB, abbreviation for a catalogue of works by Béla Bartók * ''BB'' (album), by Mod Sun (2017) *"BB Talk", 2015 song by Miley Cyrus * BB (Transformers), a character in the franchi ...

– bass, percussion, vocals *

– organ, piano, timbales, percussion, vocals * Harold Brown – drums, percussion, vocals *

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 ...

– conga, bongos, percussion, vocals * Charles Miller – clarinet, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, percussion, vocals *

– harmonica, percussion, vocals

Charts

Singles

Singles from the album include "

" backed with "Four Cornered Room", and "

" backed with "Beetles in the Bog".

References

External links

War-The World Is A Ghetto at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Is A Ghetto 1972 albums War (American band) albums United Artists Records albums Albums produced by Jerry Goldstein (producer)