The Music Band


The Music Band is an album by the American band War, released on MCA Records in 1979. It peaked at No. 41 on the Billboard 200.
In 1979, War considered changing its name to The Music Band, possibly regarding its old name as too aggressive for modern times. But by the time this album was released, they decided to keep the name War, and make "The Music Band" the title of a series of albums, of which this is the first.
The album marked the group's first personnel changes since lead vocalist Eric Burdon's departure in 1971. B.B. Dickerson left during the sessions, but appears on some tracks, while others feature his replacement, Luther Rabb. Composer credits can be used to determine which bassist played on which tracks. Another new member was Alice Tweed Smith, the group's first female vocalist, and also the first member not to be included in composition credits, which had always included the entire group previously.
The cover art printing method was somewhat elaborate. Instead of normal four-colour printing, it used cardboard painted solid red, with metallic silver print. Embossing was also used, especially on the back cover where ink-free embossing illustrates a tall marching bandleader's shako hat, the logo for the Music Band series. The inner gate fold for this album has a full colour photo of the group, and the album also came with a lyric and credits inner sleeve. The track listing on the back cover shows songs in a different order from their actual appearance.
An edited version of "Good, Good Feelin'" was released as a single, backed with "Baby Face " from the earlier Galaxy album. "I'm the One Who Understands" was later re-recorded for the album, ☮ (Peace Sign).

Critical reception

The [New York Times] praised War's "deliberate attempt to embrace Latin musical styles and Chicano concerns."

Track listing

Side one
  1. "The Music Band"

Personnel

War
Technical personnel