Following some heavy-duty offerings from West Coast funk masters War, including an expansion of The World is a Ghetto and a box set of latter-day studio work for last year's Record Store Day Black Friday - Rhino kicks off 2025 with a release of previously unheard live material from the band's tour of Japan, more than half a century ago and featuring the band's classic line-up.

Live in Japan 1974 will be available worldwide as a 2CD or 2LP set on February 5. The set includes 14 tracks (three less on the vinyl) culled from sets in Shizuoka, Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe. Liner notes by Cory Frye feature new insights from Lonnie Jordan (the band's co-founder and longest tenured member) and producer Jerry Goldstein. (An exclusive single CD release, featuring a custom sleeve with obi and liner notes from local journalists, will hit stores in Japan a week earlier.)

These sets feature War in their arguable prime. Jordan (vocals/keyboards), Harold Ray Brown (drums/vocals), Lee Oskar (harmonica/vocals), Howard E. Scott (guitar/vocals) and the late Thomas "Papa Dee" Allen (percussion/vocals), B.B. Dickerson (bass/vocals) and Charles Miller (saxophone/vocals) spent the preceding two years on an incredible high; 1972's The World is a Ghetto was crowned the top-selling album of 1973 by Billboard, and follow-ups Deliver the Word and War Live (culled from a 1972 run of shows in Chicago) were both certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. After spending much of '74 on the road, first in America then across Europe, the band made their debut appearances on stages in Japan and received a similarly rapturous response. And the interplay between group and crowd would pay dividends: the liner notes offer from Jordan and Goldstein how the cultural exchange planted the seeds for one of their signature Top 10 hits, 1975's "Why Can't We Be Friends?" (The album of the same name, which also featured the smash "Low Rider," will turn 50 this year, and smart money would place it as a priority for some sort of celebration from Rhino later on.)

You'll hear extended versions of War's biggest hits up to that time on Live in Japan 1974, including "Slippin' Into Darkness," "The World is a Ghetto," "Gypsy Man," "Me and Baby Brother" and the No. 2 "The Cisco Kid," which is the first track from the album to stream as heard above. Pre-order links for the worldwide 2CD and 2LP sets are below, along with the track list. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)

Live in Japan 1974 (Avenue/Rhino R2 72124, 2025)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

* exclusive to 2CD

Disc 1

1. The World is a Ghetto
2. Southern Part of Texas
3. The Cisco Kid
4. So *
5. All Day Music
6. Don't Let No One Get You Down

Disc 2

1. Lotus Blossom *
2. Gypsy Man
3. Band Intro
4. Intro to Slippin' Into Darkness - Lee Oskar
5. Slippin' Into Darkness
6. Me and Baby Brother
7. Shizuoka Chant
8. Where Was You At *