Best of War

"The Hits," reads a legend on the cover of the War edition of Universal Music's discount-priced best-of series Icon, and for the most part, that's what this 12-track compilation delivers. War scored a series of rhythmic, Latin-tinged pop/rock hits in the early '70s, and all of the band's Top 20 singles are here in chronological order, starting with the novelty "Spill the Wine," on which they backed Eric Burdon, and including Top Ten favorites like "The Cisco Kid," "Why Can't We Be Friends?," and "Low Rider." For some reason, the compilers have opted to omit the Top 40 hit "Ballero" (which reached number 33 in the Billboard Hot 100) and substitute the funky album track "Southern Part of Texas," from the LP Deliver the Word. That was not one of War's hits, but everything else here was. ~ William Ruhlmann