Zombie

Good stuff

One of Fela's most significant tracks. They're all jams of course, but this one caused such an uproar that the government raided and destroyed his home/commune, beat him within an inch of his life, and killed his mother. Did this stop him? No, he kept right on at it without missing a beat, making even more pointed songs directed at the very same government/soldiers responsible for those heinous acts. And this was simply the boiling point after years of being harassed, abused, and intimidated. He wasn't making this stuff inside the safety of freedom of speech and artistic expression. He was making truly daring and powerful music that mattered. It had consequences, and he knew it. Fela was absolutely fearless in his music and his life.

First of all, what badass history -- somebody died because this music was made? Having never listened to afro beat before, I really enjoy the rhythm with other instrumentals (this is reminiscent of Samba Jazz).
I enjoyed the album and introduction to the genre, 3*.
Favorite track: Zombie

Two track original, or four track rerelease? I went for four, and it was largely worth it, although I do think the first track was the strongest. His back up singers seem a little sharp sometimes. Maybe it's on purpose, who knows.

Album was solid. Not a huge fan of the third track.

My second Fela Kuti album and this one is another masterpiece, I love how a protest album can have such a great vibe to it.
Mental to think how brave it must of been to release this album and the consequences he then faced due to speaking out. The least I can do is give him the full 5 stars.

The first two tracks were quite nice. Pretty upbeat and interesting instrumentation, but I was absolutely done after 20 minutes. It got more of a slog as it went on. The third and fourth tracks I didn't like at all.

This was an absolute joy. Powerful jazz mixed with afrobeat and with a message to boot.

I kind of got the picture by the first song. Sure, it was pretty jazzy and catchy, but I would probably never go out of my way to listen to this again.

Liked the jazz, nothing really grabbed me.

Fela Kuti is a singer songwriter from Nigeria, who is credited with creating the Afrobeat genre of music.

Afrobeat is a combination of African musical styles and American funk/jazz/blues. It also has chanted vocals.

This album is very politically driven, focusing on the unrest and violence in Nigeria at the time. The album title, Zombie, was a metaphor, referring to the Nigerian military's methods. It is believed that this album triggered the attack on his commune, and the resulting murder of his elderly mother.

This music is spectacular, and doesn't feel like 12 minute songs when you listen to it. There is something about it that pulls you in and keeps your interest.

The Spotify link is for the re-release, which happened in 2009, and included 2 more songs, so this is the one I listened to and reviewed.

Overall, fantastic music! Thoroughly enjoyed discovering "afrobeat", which is a genre I didn't even know existed. Will definately listen again.

Favourite songs: Zombie, Mr. Follow Follow

Least favourite song: Mistake (Live at the Berlin Jazz Festival)

4/5

I feel I like Fela is better in small doses. This album really started to sound samey the further I got into it. Decent, but slightly irksome. 2/5

Hieno levy ja siistiä kuulla tästä länkkärivaltavirrasta poikkeavaa vastarintamusaa! 4/5.

I'm not sure what happened, I totally lost myself in the music. Fantastic!

It turns out that I love afro beat! Really fun, engaging, and interesting to listen to, and not as dense or challenging as I would have thought. Brilliant, hope to hear more from Fela and his various bands.
P.s. read the Wikipedia page to see how his government reacted to the success of this album - showing why it was needed.

Killer funky afrobeat album with a powerful antimilitaristic message on top. Definitely a classic worthy of this project.

Nice!

Cool Afrobeat record, but I feel like there is a lot of subtext that I miss.

Ya escuché otro disco de Fela Kuti gracias a esta lista. Interesante ese momento del africanismo a finales de los 70. Musicalmente me parece una buena mezcla de jazz y coros. Recomendable para gente con paciencia. Son 4 canciones de más de 12 minutos todas.

Zumbi