War Ina Babylon is the masterpiece of Reggae artist Max Romeo, released in 1976. Romeo is backed by The Upsetters, the backing band of Lee Scratch Perry, who was also the Record Producer. The album is best known for hits such as "One Step Forward", "War Ina Babylon" and "Chase the Devil" (later sampled by The Prodigy as "Out of Space")
Tracklist
Side One
- "One Step Forward" (5:15)
- "Uptown Babies" (5:00)
- "Chase the Devil" (3:27)
- "War ina Babylon" (4:51)
Side Two
- "Norman" (4:50)
- "Stealin'" (3:04)
- "Tan and See" (4:36)
- "Smokey Room" (3:03)
- "Smile Out Of Style" (3:32)
Personnel
- Max Romeo: vocals
- Barry Llewellyn, Earl Morgan: male harmony vocals
- Cynthia Scholas, Marcia Griffiths: female harmony vocals
War Ina Babylon provides examples of:
- Album Title Drop:War ina Babylon. Tribal war ina Babylon
- Badass Boast and Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: "Chase the Devil"I'm gonna put on an iron shirtAnd chase the devil out of EarthI'm gonna sent him outta spaceTo find another race
- Capitalism Is Bad: "Norman"Occupation, house masterWho lives off the lessRunning from the east to the westAh, let me tell you soNorman never lose, always winsYet Norman never give a way bitIf you ask for a less, he said he wants moreMore, more
- Corrupt Church: "Stealin'"My father's house of worship has become a den of thievesStealin' in the name of the lord
- Design Student's Orgasm: The album cover, designed by Tony Wright.
- Despair Event Horizon: The person on the album cover.
- Ode to Intoxication: "Smokey Room", an ode to marihuana.
- One-Man Song: "Norman".
- Pep-Talk Song: "Chase the Devil", "Smile Out Of Style"
- Perpetual Poverty: "Uptown Babies".You can hear her mama sayingIt ain't easy, ain't easyAin't easy when you're poor, you seeAnd speaking of life in the ghettoWhere survival is the mottoAnd putting it to youPoverty is a sinUptown babies don't cryThey don't know what hungry is like.Uptown babies don't cryThey don't know what suffering is like.
- Record Producer: Lee Scratch Perry.
- Shout-Out: The Prodigy sampled "Chase the Devil" in their song "Out of Space".I'm gonna sent him outta spaceTo find another race
- Silly Walk: "One Step Forward"One step forward, two step backward
- Sucky School: "Smile Out Of Style"Don't blame the childrenBlame the teachers, they taught the children
- War Is Hell: "War ina Babylon" criticizes the war in our present day world.