Page 8-Wednesday, May 19, 1982-The Michigan Daily .4 Records War -'Outlaw' (RCA) War has been described as an Afro- Cuban-Jazz-Rock-Blues band ever sin- ce their inception in 1971. Outlaw han- dily demonstrates their musical ver- satility. From the poignant theme of "The Jungle" which describes life in the inner city to "Baby, it's Cold Out- side", a soulful ballad, War proves that they can handle almost any style of music with ease. "The Jungle," a brilliant medley com- posed of four sections ("Beware, it's a jungle out there," "The Street of walls,". "The Street of Lights," and "The Street of now") is the black man's answer to Pink Floyd's stunning The Wall. "The Jungle" is bitter, cynical and yet hopeful that things will get better. This piece also brings back memories of War's earlier smash "The world is a Ghetto". It is certainly a fine commen- tary on today's society. It's obvious from listening to this album that War is extremely adept at handling anything they play. The time is ripe for their inimitable music which defies stereotyping. Because groups like The Police, Hall and Oates, and Prince are all crossing over with great success, War should be able to stay on the current bandwagon which they helped to create. Whatever style of music you crave, Outlaw can provide. -Elizabeth James Third World-"You've Got the Power' (Columbia) A friend recently complained to me that many people believe all reggae is basically the same and you either like it or you don't; who's playing really makes only a small difference. Jimmy Cliff only vaguely differs from Dennis Brown and (local pretenders) I-Tal just comes from a different country. However, this just isn't so. Third World provides a good example of a group whose musical style, ap- proach, and purpose contrasts strongly with its reggae contemporaries. Unlike, say, Aswad (whose album covers prominently feature Ethiopan colors), Third World is not blatatly or even ac- tively political. Unlike Black Uhuru, Third World does not defiantly espouse rastafari dictates. Instead, this Jamaican ensemble prefers to dilute itself into the "spirit" of reggae, something bland and carefully prepared enough to be easily and painlessly consumed by the sup- posed masses of people who just want to try a little reggae to make sure they're in vogue. ("Hey, this is real funky new dance music, huh? Let's smoke something, waddya say?). On this album, Third World even recorded in California and recruited Stevie Wonder to produce, arrange, sing, and write-to make sure everything would go smoothly in the attempt to "spread the word" to the (paying) American audience. Well, theymay sell a fewTecords, but I believe that moderately discriminating ears will soon detect the hollow ring to those electric drums. You can almost spot the contrivance in the album cover, with its commercial colors and oddly grinning faces. And of course the songs: Wonder's supposed blockbuster "Try Jah Love," and his "You're Playing Us Too Close" come closest to adequacy, but there are too many silly things like "Jah Jah Children Movin' Up." Meant for the most easily sated children, evidently. I would assume most people, whether they like "reggae" or not, will "have the power" to resist this rather insipid travesty. -Ben Ticho 4 4 Conversation sparkles in Dinner With Andre' (Continuedfrom Page 7) movie doesn't show us much except the two men talking. That could have been a problem if the dialogue were not as interesting as it is. Gregory and Shawn are quite convin- cing playing roles fashioned after themselves. Although they have no climactic arguments and their voices never range far from ordinary conver- sational tones, what they say is just so damn interesting that it is reason enough for youto watch the movie. Perhaps the film could be released on a record or presented on radio. It would probably be better that way, because the movie isn't intended to overwhelm you with action; anything that inter- venes between the conversation and your listening must be deleted. Most movies made from plays have scenes added to make the production more interesting and visually exciting. This movie deliberately goes the other way, letting the film play as unimpor- tant a role as possible to allow the wor- ds uninhibited access to the viewer. Louis Malle gets the director credit on the film, but I wonder just how much influence he had on the finished product. Certainly his efforts were directed at the actors rather than at the cameras. The results are unquestionable, no matter who gets the credit. My Dinner With Andre is an in- triguing film that does everything it can to not be a film. That it succeeds is due to the imagination and wit of Shawn and Gregory. Two people sitting still, an ab- sence of extravagent camera movements, no symphonic score, no special effects-it sounds doomed to failure, if not outright un-American. You wouldn't think two hours of ram- bling philosophical discussion could be interesting. It is. Support the March of Dimes 51RTH DEFECTS FOUN .ON 4 4 4 4 4 9,oway1 yr2Zl&c4hw