Zombie

🧟

Not really feeling this one today. I rated the Kuti-Baker album four stars, but I can't quite wrap this one around my brain. I feel like I want to see it live and feel the heat and the sweat and it's just not there. They should have hit me with this one a few months ago.

Chill vibes with a poignant message. Fela Kuti always brings the goods, and Zombie is no exception.

Enjoyed it. Interesting background too. 3.5/5. Raising to 4.

Endte opp med å spille bonussporene her også fordi jeg bare ville ha mer. For en opptur etter å ha slitt meg gjennom Steely Dan

If the average track length on your album is over 13 minutes long, it better be good to get any favours from me. Thankfully, it does clear that bar.

Great album! I've been meaning to delve into a bit more Fela. Can definitely here influence on Talking Heads here. The political context around it is interesting too.

So good! Thought the bonus tracks weren’t quite as good, but the og tracks from the original release are brilliant funky and fun

4/5. Fela Kuti’s life story and music is a rabbit hole that I would reccomend any music lover goes down, so much bizarre and fascinating stuff there. This album sees him use his signature afrobeat sound to satirize the Nigerian military, something that the military did not respond kindly to as they burned his “compound” to the ground and severely beat both him and his mother.

Aside from the story of the album, it also just sounds great. The opener and title track is a danceable banger, and same goes for “Mr follow follow.” I especially love the vocal chants on the former where a lot of the satire comes in with lines like “go on kill” and “go on die.” One of many essential listens in Fela Kuti’s discography and an essential jazz/afrobeat album in general.

This is true revolutionary music. Fela Kuti and his family were targeted because of their politics. Fucked up but the music and the spirit lives on

I don’t think I’d ever properly engaged with Fela Kuti’s music until today. Of course, I had often seen his name in the music press, and musicians such as David Byrne, Brian Eno and Paul McCartney have spoken highly of him and I very likely may have listened to one compilation. But obviously I didn't pay much attention to it. A mistake. The blend of rock, funk and jazz that he created, driven by Tony Allen’s precise drumming, is downright mesmerising. "Zombie", released in 1976, is often cited as one of the highlights in his discography, which comprises at least 45 albums. The original album features just two tracks: the title track, "Zombie", and "Mister Follow Follow". As is not uncommon with Kuti, the lyrics are highly political. Kuti repeatedly criticised those in power and specifically the military junta in Nigeria. But even without understanding the lyrics, you can sense the anger, energy and sincerity in this music. Fela Kuti was a man with a clear musical — and evidently political — vision. I must listen to much more of his work.

First listen. Knew of Fela Kuti, but never spun this up before.

Got a real groove, but each track is just way too long. Start off each track thinking it’s good and by the end of it I just feel relieved it’s over.

I can respect this, and can see why people would love it. Definitely glad it’s on this list and that I’ve therefore listened to it.

Just not for me. 3

4.5
Short album but really lively, the story behind it is incredible too

Not a fan. I thought it was fairly annoying, especially the background vocals. Other than that, I just didn't love it.

Not the biggest fan of 10+ minutes songs, but the music itself isn't bad at all.

I love this shit man. See that album cover? Fela singing in the face of several gigantic soldiers? One of the best covers I’ve ever seen. Opening track an anti-authoritarian smash hit criticizing the army? Not to mention it’s an incredible song in its own right. I sadly found out I had the wrong songs, or at least a different version of this release than the original. Which is fine, I prefer this version; it’s more overtly political and a bit shorter. “Mr. Follow-Follow,” the other track on the album, is fucking superb. I’m gonna have to listen to a bunch more of Kuti’s work after this. He’s always been an artist who I kind of put off listening to, but admired. And this is the real reason why. Because it’s fucking incredible.
10/10

Interesante. Algo que jamás hubiese escuchado de no ser por esta lista. No es algo que volvería a escuchar pero que disfrute de escuchar.

Just a bit too long for me, but I appreciate the boppiness of the music truly. The first track was my favourite rather

Things I learned today:

I can sometimes enjoy Afrobeat.

The term 'World Music' is now widely considered dated and racist.

This guy married 27 women in one day.

I was also going to throw in a joke about "my horn section" but I decided against it.

There's apparently lots of different versions of this floating around...the one I heard had just two songs, Zombie and Mr Follow Follow. But those two songs left me wanting more! The titular track, especially, has a killer groove. It's pretty decent stuff, my first introduction to afrobeat or anything adjacent to it. Imagine hearing this and wanting to raid the guy's commune and kill his mother. Insane.