War’s classic mid-Seventies albums anticipated disco, and the band easily adapted when dance music came to dominate the late Seventies and early Eighties. Released ten years after their landmark The World Is A Ghetto, it is at first hard to believe that Outlaw is a product of the same band. The panting four-on-the-floor boogie of “You Got the Power” and “Outlaw” are as good as any disco music from 1982, but could this be the War of “Slippin’ Into Darkness” and “Cisco Kid?” Gradually, the old War reveals itself. The band’s longstanding taste for musical adventure comes through in the reggae inflections of “Just Because,” while “Baby It’s Cold Outside” features a solo spot from Lee Oskar, the man who helped legitimize harmonica solos in rock music. By the end of the album, there’s no mistaking it. The moody, lumbering riff of “I’m About Somebody” echoes “The World Is A Ghetto,” while “Cinco De Mayo” is a party song dedication to the band’s longtime Latino fan base. The times had changed, and they may have changed War, but no amount glamour could disguise the band’s true colors.