War - Peace Sign (1994)

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.