Recording
Zombie
Fela Kuti & Africa 70
Independently chosen for4 of our lists. Here is what each of them said.
- Released
- 1976
- Label
- Coconut
- On
- Afrobeat, 1976, Dancing to Bad News, and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred
- Updated
- 2026-08-29
Analysis
12 sections, the first drop of 11 at 0:29, 4% of the way in.
- Tempo
- 129.2 BPM
- holds throughout
- Key
- G minor
- estimated from the pitch content
- Dynamic range
- 7.8 dB
- moderate range, typical of a modern master
- Length
- 12:24
- measured from the YouTube master
The record, end to end
Click the track to jump · ← → move between sections
- 0:00Aintro0
- 0:31Bliftbar 17
- 5:17Csteadybar 171
- 6:34Cpeakbar 212
- 6:56Dbreakdownbar 224
- 7:14Csteadybar 234
- 7:50Cpeakbar 253
- 8:16Bbreakdownbar 267
- 8:34Cpeakbar 277
- 8:59Abreakdownbar 291
- 9:54Bpeakbar 320
- 11:18Aoutrobar 365
Drops at 0:29 (bar 16), 1:20 (bar 43), 1:45 (bar 57), 2:43 (bar 88), 6:33 (bar 212), 7:13 (bar 234), 7:50 (bar 253), 8:33 (bar 276), 9:53 (bar 319), 10:47 (bar 349), 11:12 (bar 362). 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 · instrumental · one of 3 stretches of the same music (A)
- Lasts
- 0:31
- Energy
- 0
- Brightness
- 0
- Density
- 50
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
a short rise that does not resolve — a fill or a transition, not a build · instrumental · one of 3 stretches of the same music (B)
- Lasts
- 4:46
- Energy
- 82
- Brightness
- 71
- Density
- 62
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling · sung · one of 5 stretches of the same music (C)
- Lasts
- 1:17
- Energy
- 78
- Brightness
- 96
- Density
- 62
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · sung · one of 5 stretches of the same music (C)
- Lasts
- 0:21
- Energy
- 100
- Brightness
- 99
- Density
- 37
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning · sung
- Lasts
- 0:18
- Energy
- 60
- Brightness
- 79
- Density
- 70
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling · sung · one of 5 stretches of the same music (C)
- Lasts
- 0:36
- Energy
- 67
- Brightness
- 88
- Density
- 59
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · sung · one of 5 stretches of the same music (C)
- Lasts
- 0:26
- Energy
- 98
- Brightness
- 100
- Density
- 37
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning · instrumental · one of 3 stretches of the same music (B)
- Lasts
- 0:18
- Energy
- 5
- Brightness
- 66
- Density
- 100
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · sung · one of 5 stretches of the same music (C)
- Lasts
- 0:26
- Energy
- 96
- Brightness
- 100
- Density
- 40
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning · instrumental · one of 3 stretches of the same music (A)
- Lasts
- 0:54
- Energy
- 18
- Brightness
- 41
- Density
- 66
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · instrumental · one of 3 stretches of the same music (B)
- Lasts
- 1:24
- Energy
- 90
- Brightness
- 69
- Density
- 39
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
the closing fall · instrumental · one of 3 stretches of the same music (A)
- Lasts
- 1:07
- Energy
- 46
- Brightness
- 59
- Density
- 0
- 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
- steady
- holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling
- peak
- sits at the top of this record's range
- breakdown
- energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning
- 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 Afrobeat
Twelve minutes calling the Nigerian army a column of unthinking bodies. The state responded by burning his compound down, which is the most direct review any record on this site has received.
Picked by 1976
Twelve minutes calling the Nigerian army a column of unthinking bodies, released in Nigeria while that army was in power. They burned his compound down for it and threw his mother out of a window. Nothing else here cost its maker as much.
Picked by Dancing to Bad News
Twelve minutes of the most physically irresistible band on the continent, spent calling the Nigerian army a column of unthinking bodies. The soldiers who burned his compound down had understood it; the dancefloor never had to.
Picked by The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred
Twelve minutes calling the army a column of unthinking bodies, answered by the state burning his compound down. Few records have been taken this seriously by their subject.