Recording
Fools Gold
The Stone Roses
Independently chosen for3 of our lists. Here is what each of them said.
- Released
- 1989
- Label
- Silvertone
- On
- Madchester, The Waxonia Desk — Both Rooms, and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred
- Updated
- 2026-08-29
Analysis
6 sections, the first drop of 3 at 0:44, 17% of the way in.
- Tempo
- 112.3 BPM
- holds throughout
- Key
- A minor
- estimated from the pitch content
- Dynamic range
- 5.6 dB
- moderate range, typical of a modern master
- Length
- 4:15
- measured from the YouTube master
The record, end to end
Click the track to jump · ← → move between sections
- 0:00Aintro0
- 0:37Asteadybar 18
- 1:20Asteadybar 38
- 1:56Bpeakbar 55
- 2:21Cbreakdownbar 67
- 3:25Dsteadybar 96
Drops at 0:44 (bar 21), 1:56 (bar 55), 3:29 (bar 98). 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
- 0:37
- Energy
- 0
- Brightness
- 100
- Density
- 100
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling · instrumental · one of 3 stretches of the same music (A)
- Lasts
- 0:44
- Energy
- 35
- Brightness
- 73
- Density
- 58
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling · instrumental · one of 3 stretches of the same music (A)
- Lasts
- 0:36
- Energy
- 40
- Brightness
- 46
- Density
- 59
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · instrumental
- Lasts
- 0:25
- Energy
- 100
- Brightness
- 7
- Density
- 0
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning · instrumental
- Lasts
- 1:04
- Energy
- 27
- Brightness
- 74
- Density
- 33
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling · instrumental
- Lasts
- 0:50
- Energy
- 84
- Brightness
- 0
- Density
- 11
- 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
- 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
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 Madchester
A funk break lifted off a Bobby Byrd record, a wah-wah guitar and nine minutes of nobody hurrying. An indie band's biggest single is essentially a groove with some singing on it, and the country followed.
Picked by The Waxonia Desk — Both Rooms
An indie band's biggest single is a groove with some singing over it. The exact point the two rooms merged, and they stayed merged for about three years before the doors went back up.
Picked by The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred
An indie band's biggest single is a groove with some singing on it, and a whole country followed them across the floor. The hinge record of British music.