Customer Reviews

War Live

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This by far is one of the best live sets to listen to. Just hearing the band feed off the crowd is tremendous. Recorded when War was just beginning to achieve cross-over success this set combines Top-40 hits with a grittier, down and dirty sound. Each member gets a turn to shine in the soptlight. Although I originally bought this because I liked "Cisco Kid" I found out that Cisco was by far not the best song here. In my opinion "Slipping into Darkness" is one of the best live songs ever recorded. Broken into 2 parts it ends up being about 17 minutes of pure joy. Another great surprise is "Get Down" a funk-driven, semi-protest song about race relations and police brutality.

I would HIGHly recommend this to any War Fan (unless you think Low Rider was their best), any funk fan, or just about any live music fan.

One of War's great works...live in concert. If you never saw War in person--this album is filled with excellent songs, sung with an intimacy that makes you feel as if you are a member of the live audience at the funkiest show ever! A show you will never forget!!! Music, voice, quality is excellent, the CD is claiming to be a remaster.

This is an excellent jam album. The tracks run from 6 to 20 minutes long. It is just under 80 minutes long (wonder why they didn't put it on one disc).

Each song is done in long and lazy manner. There is some energetic jamming here and there, but it is mostly a laid back album. Each of the musicians gets a chance to stretch out and the album is filled with one great jam after another on all sorts of instruments.

If you like the tight radio hits, like Cisco Kid, you might not like this album. Here, Cisco Kid is played in a much looser style. A similar album in style to this would be Chicago Live at Carnagie Hall (only without the soul and Latin influences).

My love affair with the music of WAR goes all the way
back to my parents love affair with their music in
the early 1970's. WAR, Mandrill, Santana, Tower Of Power,
Earth, Wind & Fire, New Birth, The Ohio Players,
Average White Band and many others were just some of
the staples that they played around our house
when myself and my brothers were growing up.

From 1970-1979, WAR could do no wrong to me! (-:
I knew every song, every album, and later on when their
catalogue was remastered, I owned every one of them
(again) on CD. Fresh off the success of the their
albums "All Day Music", "The World Is A Ghetto" and
"Deliver The Word", it was the summer of 1974 when
WAR, who are in my humble opinion, one of the baddest,
musically diverse and criminally underrated bands of
the 70's, whose influence and success has been basically
forgotten today, released one of the best LIVE albums
(BAR NONE!) of the 1970's! Though today only the
realest and hippiest familiar with that era will acknowledge it.

WAR LIVE rocks, funks, grooves, has amazing attitude
and atmosphere, and the musicianship is stellar!
But such was the artistic bar in the music industry
at that time that you had to BRING IT, because you had
so many incredible artists back then who were
INDEED BRINGIN' IT!! (-:
Just put it on....let the vibes flow through,
and let the sounds of WAR circa 1974 take you
to another world! There no junk tracks...
just an extended jam session the likes of which you'll
never hear again in this day & time!
God Bless The Old School Generation's Music,
and I feel so blessed that I'm old enough to have
been around when some of that music was current and
can now turn on the younger generation,
(those who are so inclined to feel it that is!)
to that period from the late 60's to the mid 80's
when truly original soundscapes were being created
from scratch!---No samples and no damned auto-tune! (-:
I hope & pray that WAR finally makes it into the
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2011, because they are long overdue!

First off...the very sparse intro,as done by E.Rodney Jones from the long ago defunct WVON(1450 AM/Chicago),for this spectacular high-energy live set zoomed me back to my childhood. That radio station was at the entire forefront of Black radio on Chicago's South & West sides during the late 60's and well into the 70's. The sonic interplay and virtuosic performances from each WAR-rior
shall leave you stunned and amazed (as it has me!!). I get the same thrill from hearing this double disc package as when one of my older brothers put this classic on his Pioneer turntable some 30 years ago! An absolute MUST have for that true WAR impressario. When I saw 'WAR-LIVE' pop up on my screen,I was compelled to claim my very own copy BEFORE they were painfully sold out. If the early studio offerings of this gritty n'earthy septet turns you on...do yourself (and your REAL urban music collection)a favor,BUY THIS PRODUCT!!

I was in Chicago for the taping, and I'll never forget the experience. Have been to many a concert, but this was one of the best. The energy and pure musical joy experienced that night were incredible. I have both the original vinyl which I played so much, had to purchase a 2nd copy because of the scratches. NOW have the cd version which I keep in my car. Have also made ipod copies for the gym and travel, so that I'm never without it. My young daughters love it as well, even tho one of the numbers is kinda PG rated for language (it's really quite hilarious as B.B. Dickerson and Howard Scott go into a musical mini-rant against the 1st mayor Daley.) These guys have always blown me away with how tight they've kept their sound. This album is a keeper! I thought that they had disbanded, but now the original 4 are back together under a new group name: the "Lowrider Band." (Found them on YouTube this week.) I've gotta research to find out if they'll be recording again as well as performing in Chicago area!!!

Should have gotten the CD sooner, but always expected to find a new or used copy at a better price. War's continuing popularity prevented bargains on this title. The day I bought the album on MP3 from Amazon, it was selling used for $12.50 + $2.98 freight, where new it was still available at $19.95. Could it be the free market telling us that this is a very high value performance?

I saw War live several times. The first time Eric Burden was the front man and they were performing in a college gymnasium.

I owned many of their albums on vinyl, including this one which is a DOUBLE album, and have now replaced all of them with CD/MP3.

There can be no fave/best track on this release, because every track is a live jam version of a rock anthem. Listening to it now.... why oh why did I wait so long?

You know War's music, even if you don't know the name of the band, because we constantly hear their music in movies, commercials and TV shows. If you know the band, and know that you already love their music, then I promise you, this live work is everything a superb live jam can be.

Having been familiar with War from some of their commercial hits(Lowrider,etc.), I was curious when I came across this album on vinyl at a used record shop about ten years ago. Being a lover of live music I bought the album and hastily went home and dropped it on my turntable. This one of the most powerfully played live sets ever made. "Cisco Kid" and "Slipping Into Darkness" give listeners a dose of thick basslines and excellent instrumentation, purely high intensity funk/rock at its best. These two songs both exceed ten minutes in length and are worth the price of purchasing the CD alone. That being said, the shorter songs can't quite measure up, but they make for good listening none the less(check out "All Day Music"). The decade of the 70's brought us some great live albums by artists like Donny Hathaway, Aretha Franklin, and B.B. King. This album easily ranks among them.

I hate it when greedy record companies do this:

The total track time of both discs runs under 78 minutes. So, this album could have been consolidated onto one disc, with no editing, and released at a one-disc price.

Captured live in Chicago IL, this is documentation of War in peak form on stage in support of 1972's "The World Is A Ghetto" release. "Live" went on to produce another top 40 hit ("Ballaro") for the band in 1974. This, during a time when live LP's didn't usually produce hits. Released towards the end of 1973 as a double LP (their fist since 1970's "Black-Man's Burdon"), "Live" would eventually sell over a million copies and give War their fourth gold record in a row.

After one listen, one can't help but think why Burdon parted ways with this band. War's "Live" is proof of the animals they could be on stage with their tribute to Cook County's finest (militant fashion), in the show stopping long version of "Get Down". "Slippin Into Darkness" is also performed with even more intensity than it was in the studio. They offer up other hits as well like the classic "The Cisco Kid" and "Sun Oh Son". This is a must have release, a great live performance.

olofpalme63