When War reunited in 1994 and recorded Peace Sign -- their first album since 1983's Life (Is So Strange), the band's sound hadn't changed very much.
Instead of going high-tech and trying to appeal to urban contemporary tastes, the influential Angelenos continued to offer the type of slow and relaxed yet gritty soul and funk they'd been playing 20 years earlier.
The results is a decent album that's hardly in a class with All Day Music, The World Is a Ghetto or Why Can't We Be Friends?, but it has its moments.
War had long commanded an intensely devoted following in the Mexican-American community, and it's hard to miss the Latin influence on such enjoyable numbers as "Wild Rodriguez" (a fun ode to the "low rider" or "vato loco" culture) and "East L.A." The CD's strongest offering, however, is "Homeless Hero," a poignant and rightly angry reflection on homeless Vietnam veterans.
But despite its strong points, Peace Sign is an album that only War's more devoted followers should invest in -- more casual listeners would be much better off with a collection of the band's '70s recordings.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peace SignHarold Brown, Milton Myrick, Howard Scott | War | Play | 04:30 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | East L.A.Jerry Goldstein, Lonnie Jordan, Howard Scott | War | Play | 05:41 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Wild RodriguezHarold Brown, Jerry Goldstein, Milton Myrick, Howard Scott | War | Play | 04:52 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | I'm the One (Who Understands)Thomas Allen, Harold Brown, B.B. Dickerson, Jerry Goldstein, Lonnie Jordan, Charles Miller, Lee Oskar, Howard Scott | War | Play | 06:07 | 14 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Da RoofJerry Goldstein, Milton Myrick, Howard Scott | War | Play | 07:37 | 17 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | The Smuggler (The Light in the Window)Harold Brown, Jerry Goldstein | War | Play | 05:59 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | U B O.K.Harold Brown, Milton Myrick, Howard Scott | War | Play | 05:33 | 12 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Let Me Tell YouHarold Brown, Jerry Goldstein, Lonnie Jordan, Milton Myrick, Howard Scott | War | Play | 05:47 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Smile for MeE. Baker, Jerry Goldstein | War | Play | 06:30 | 14 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | What IfHarold Brown, Jerry Goldstein, Lonnie Jordan, Milton Myrick, Howard Scott | War | Play | 05:01 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | AngelJerry Goldstein | War | Play | 04:12 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 12 | Homeless HeroJerry Goldstein, Lonnie Jordan, Howard Scott | War | Play | 10:47 | 24 MB | 0 MB |
| 72 mins | 166 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Allen | Composer |
| 2 | Danny Alonso | Assistant Engineer |
| 3 | Abbey Anna | Project Coordinator |
| 4 | E. Baker | Composer |
| 5 | Elsa Barrera | Spanish Vocals, Vocals |
| 6 | Andrew Berliner | Engineer |
| 7 | Aaron Brashear | Cover Design, Label Design |
| 8 | Harold Brown | Composer, Drums, Percussion, Sampling, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 9 | Kerry Campbell | Saxophone |
| 10 | Dave Collins | Mastering |
| 11 | B.B. Dickerson | Composer |
| 12 | José Feliciano | Guest Artist, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals |
| 13 | David Gleeson | Assistant Engineer |
| 14 | Larry Goetz | Engineer, Guitar, Mixing |
| 15 | Jerry Goldstein | Arranger, Composer, Horn Arrangements, Percussion, Producer |
| 16 | Eric Greedy | Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant |
| 17 | Charles Green | Arranger, Flute, Horn Arrangements, Saxophone |
| 18 | Ricky Green | Vocals (Background) |
| 19 | Ron Hammon | Drum Fills |
| 20 | Mic Holwin | Text Editor |
| 21 | Matt Hyde | Engineer, Producer, Programming |
| 22 | John Jackson | Assistant Engineer |
| 23 | Lonnie Jordan | Arranger, Composer, Drum Programming, Guitar (Synthesizer), Horn, Keyboards, Multi Instruments, Percussion, Producer, Sampling, Synthesizer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 24 | Richard Kaplan | Engineer |
| 25 | Gerry Kenbrew | Programming |
| 26 | Jeffrey Mayer | Photography |
| 27 | Charles Miller | Composer |
| 28 | Milton Myrick | Composer, Vocals (Background) |
| 29 | Tetsuya Nakamura | Harmonica |
| 30 | Lee Oskar | Composer, Harmonica |
| 31 | Gene Page | String Arrangements, Strings, Synthesizer Strings |
| 32 | Frank Rand | Project Coordinator |
| 33 | Pat Rizzo | Saxophone |
| 34 | Sal Rodriguez | Drums, Percussion, Vocals (Background) |
| 35 | Sal Rodriquez | Percussion, Vocals (Background) |
| 36 | Jim Schwarz | Assistant Engineer |
| 37 | Howard Scott | Bass, Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Synthesizer), Producer, Sampling, Vocals, Vocals (Background), Voices |
| 38 | Craig Silvey | Assistant Engineer |
| 39 | Glenn Stone | Cover Design |
| 40 | Andy Uduff | Assistant Engineer |
| 41 | Rae Valentine | Drum Fills, Drum Programming, Organ, Producer, Programming, Vocals (Background) |
| 42 | War | Group, Primary Artist |
| 43 | The Waters | Group, Vocals (Background) |
| 44 | Moses Wheelock | Congas, Vocals (Background) |
| 45 | Romeo Williams | Bass |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |