War: Galaxy : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Putting a lyric sheet on this album has to rank as one of the more enjoyable surreal acts of the rock & roll season. The lyrics are competent enough, but the idea of anyone listening to War for the words is funny almost by definition. Aside from that, Galaxy is well-crafted, nicely professional funk from a band that has always been interested in musicianship.

The feeling and approach here are reminiscent of good, solid Fifties jazz, and War avoids the synthesizer overkill of the more self-conscious jazz-rock hybrids. Each track proceeds by the same method. carefully built from dense, rhythmic textures and augmented by spare, precise fills. With one or two exceptions, solos are thankfully kept to a minimum. It's not particularly exciting — more speed and energy, or at least some variation from song to song, would have helped — but it's never grating or stupid.

With the exception of "The Seven Tin Soldiers," which occasionally falters, the songs hold up fairly well despite their length. Science-fiction imagery is restricted to the title cut, where it's used for comic effect, but elsewhere the music is straightforward, tight and without frills.