Recording
Planet Rock
Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force
Independently chosen for2 of our lists. Here is what each of them said.
- Released
- 1982
- Label
- Tommy Boy
- On
- Electro and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred
- Updated
- 2026-08-29
Analysis
11 sections, the first drop at 0:15, 4% of the way in, 13% of it spent climbing.
- Tempo
- 129.2 BPM
- holds throughout
- Key
- Ab minor
- estimated from the pitch content
- Dynamic range
- 3.1 dB
- compressed hard — very little between the quiet and the loud
- Length
- 6:22
- measured from the YouTube master
The record, end to end
Click the track to jump · ← → move between sections
- 0:00Aintro0
- 0:16Bliftbar 9
- 0:47Bbreakdownbar 25
- 1:01Bbuildbar 33
- 1:51Bsteadybar 60
- 2:46Cpeakbar 90
- 3:00Dsteadybar 97
- 3:20Csteadybar 108
- 3:48Bbreakdownbar 123
- 4:24Esteadybar 142
- 4:48Boutrobar 155
Drop at 0:15 (bar 9). A drop is a moment, not a stretch — marked on the track above rather than shaded across it.
0:00 · A · intro
opens the record below its own average energy · sung
- Lasts
- 0:16
- Energy
- 0
- Brightness
- 8
- Density
- 0
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
a short rise that does not resolve — a fill or a transition, not a build · sung · one of 6 stretches of the same music (B)
- Lasts
- 0:30
- Energy
- 83
- Brightness
- 47
- Density
- 67
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning · instrumental · one of 6 stretches of the same music (B)
- Lasts
- 0:15
- Energy
- 62
- Brightness
- 70
- Density
- 93
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
energy and brightness climbing without a break · sung · one of 6 stretches of the same music (B)
- Lasts
- 0:49
- Energy
- 68
- Brightness
- 66
- Density
- 89
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling · sung · one of 6 stretches of the same music (B)
- Lasts
- 0:55
- Energy
- 73
- Brightness
- 50
- Density
- 75
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · sung · one of 2 stretches of the same music (C)
- Lasts
- 0:14
- Energy
- 100
- Brightness
- 0
- Density
- 27
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling · instrumental
- Lasts
- 0:20
- Energy
- 83
- Brightness
- 62
- Density
- 24
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling · sung · one of 2 stretches of the same music (C)
- Lasts
- 0:28
- Energy
- 79
- Brightness
- 32
- Density
- 57
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning · instrumental · one of 6 stretches of the same music (B)
- Lasts
- 0:36
- Energy
- 32
- Brightness
- 100
- Density
- 100
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling · sung
- Lasts
- 0:24
- Energy
- 60
- Brightness
- 70
- Density
- 70
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
the closing fall · sung · one of 6 stretches of the same music (B)
- Lasts
- 1:34
- Energy
- 48
- Brightness
- 57
- Density
- 88
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
Brightness and density are scored against this record's own sections, not against music in general — they say how its parts differ from each other, and nothing about how it compares to anything else.
- drums
- the drum kit, separated from the mix
- bass
- the bass part, separated from the mix
- vocals
- the voice, separated from the mix
- other
- everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings
Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names.
- intro
- opens the record below its own average energy
- lift
- a short rise that does not resolve — a fill or a transition, not a build
- breakdown
- energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning
- build
- energy and brightness climbing without a break
- steady
- holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling
- peak
- sits at the top of this record's range
- outro
- the closing fall
Measured from the YouTube master on . Section labels describe how the energy of the recording moves, not its musical form — a machine can see loudness climb and jump, it cannot hear a chorus arrive. Anything we were not confident enough to state is left out rather than shown with a caveat.
Ranked No. 1 in Electro
Two Kraftwerk records, an 808 and a Bronx sound system. The single most generative record in this entire corpus: techno, electro, Miami bass and most of what followed all point back at it.
Picked by The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred
Two German records, an 808 and a Bronx park. The most generative four minutes in this entire corpus — techno, electro and half of pop start here.