WAR — All Day Music (review)

Album · 1971 · Latin Rock/Soul

3.5/5 · 2011-04-23
Sean Trane

Second album without Eric and fourth overall, ADM faced the credibility test and the task to write some hits or else face the end of their contract. Sooooooo after the first eponymous album without Eric, All Day Music just had to find the charts…. And it did. With an unchanged line-up and a streetwise b&w photo of them, ADM was the first of a few WAR albums to find fame and riches and it was fully deserved.

The opening title track had been already released as an advanced single and this syrupy soul song had paved the way for the album. IMHO, this is a correct track, but hardly the album’s best, nor is it the centrepiece. Much funkier and with a political propos in the lyrics, Get Down is a step up in the album’s progressive spirit. Based on a cool funky bass, the smooth vocal harmonies hide fairly well the angry propos about police harassment and civil rights issues, which were detected and caused heat and friction with the local authorities when on tour. Starting ever so cool over cymbal scratching and a delicious flute, That’s What Love Will Do is a lengthy slow-tempoed track where the group’s lovely vocal harmonies seem to come out straight out of Motown and are underlined by a slow harmonica and interrupted by a salacious sax solo…. The track could almost veer into Barry White territory, if it wasn’t for superior collective aesthetics…. But the best is yet to come as the track turns into There Must Be A Reason and almost comes to a halt, but manages to stay alive by superb a capella collective vocal harmonies, slowly garnering strength and gaining speed to finish up at speed of light in a vocal implosion. Astounding stuff.

The flipside starts on with Nappy Head, a planned film theme (Ghetto Man) that never materialized and part of the melody seems to revisit their superb Spill The Wine track, during their Burdon era. Funnily enough the lengthy guitar solo could be coming from Steely Dan and the call & response between the rhythm section and the lead instruments is fun, despite the backing comedy crowds, but it wears relatively thin on repeated listenings. More interesting is the second centrepiece of the album, the stunning Slipping Into Darkness, a theme that took a few years to really develop. Starting on a slow developing intro, the track takes its sweet time to reach a sublime mid-tempo with its astounding percussion players and their great vocal harmonies. Underlined by Jordan’s Hammond and Lee Oskar’s harmonica, the group’s syncopated rhythm is a pure gas and I’m not sure Bruford or Squire would find their youngs in that fields. At times, this sends chills down my spine, despite my knowing this music for over 30 years. Finishing on a live Baby Brother, a blues capturing the band’s live power, but unfortunately also erasing their superb studio science and vocal

ADM certainly hit the spot and met the goals that were set onto the band, and this would be the door opened for a few more albums of the same calibre, with less pressure.