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''War of the Gods'' is an album by soul singer Billy Paul. The album was produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and arranged by Bobby Martin and Lenny Pakula. Released in 1973, the album reached #12 on the Billboard soul chart and #110 on the pop chart. The single "Thanks for Saving My Life" was a top 40 hit reaching #37 on the pop chart and was a top-ten soul record reaching #9. In 2012, Big Break Records remastered and reissued the album on CD with bonus tracks and new liner notes. ==Release and Critical Reception== A departure from his previous albums, ''War of the Gods'' contains only six songs, nearly all of which are extended psychedelic soul song suites. The thought-provoking album cover suggests that the listener is in store for a spiritual journey of sophisticated, challenging music. Fusing jazz, soul, funk, Latin, rock, and pop, the album is unlike anything Paul released before or since. In the new liner notes for the 2012 reissue, Paul calls it "the best album I’ve ever done in my life." Stephen McMillian recounted Paul's appearance on ''Soul Train'' to promote the album: In addition to the hit single "Thanks for Saving My Life," the album's title track was released as a white label, promo-only single in two different, shorter forms. "War of the Gods (Part I)" was the A-side at 5:37 while "War of the Gods (Part II) was the B-side at 4:42 (PIR single AE7-1080, 1973). The A-side is included as a bonus track on the BBR 2012 reissue. Also, "The Whole Town's Talking" was issued as a single in the UK (PIR single S 2225, 1974) and that shortened version of the album track also appears on the 2012 reissue as does the 4:00 single version of "I Was Married" (PIR single 3538, 1973). In 2012 Paul explained why "War of the Gods" is his favorite among the songs he has recorded: "It's very spiritual, and it tells people about war. Me and Marvin Gaye were tight and he did "What's Going On." I said to him I have to do my version and I went for it. Things that had happened in my life had affected me, and I wanted to tell the world how important it was, how important people were and most importantly how important God was. If anything the song is even more important and relevant today. A lot of my songs have had that effect." Joe Marchese of ''The Second Disc'' provided a detailed review of the BBR reissue, concluding: "Though ''War of the Gods'' isn’t one of the singer or label’s most accessible albums, it’s doubtless one of the most provocative and passionate." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「War of the Gods (album)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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