Underground System was among the better recordings of Fela's late career, comprised of two extended tracks, the title cut and "Pansa Pansa." "Underground System" starts off with rhythms that are far faster and more urgent than those on most of Fela's characteristically lengthy tracks.
If that sounds like a marginal quality upon which to judge a song as a standout, well, something like a much faster and played-as-though-we-mean-it tempo really does help to differentiate it from the singer's generally similar output of the 1980s and 1990s.
The backup singers also come in quickly with infectious chants, prior to a typical Fela lyric observing the difficulty in enacting positive political change in Africa.
Hearing them sing in tandem with Fela instead of doing call-response patterns, as they do during much of the 28-minute cut, also makes for a refreshing variation.
"Pansa Pansa," at a mere (for Fela) 17 minutes, also gets your attention more than his average effort, with rapid propulsive beats and sprinkles of slightly dissonant jazzy piano.
The 2001 CD reissue on MCA adds a half-hour song from his 1990 album, ODOO, which is considerably slower and moodier than the prior two tunes, the beginning emphasizing mournful electric keyboards and sax soloing.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Underground SystemFela Kuti | Fela Kuti, Fela Kuti & Egypt 80 | Play | 28:27 | 65 MB | 189 MB |
| 2 | Pansa PansaFela Kuti | Fela Kuti, Fela Kuti & Egypt 80 | Play | 17:20 | 39 MB | 121 MB |
| 3 | Confusion Break Bones (C.B.B.)Fela Kuti | Fela Kuti, Fela Kuti & Egypt 80 | Play | 29:10 | 66 MB | 180 MB |
| 74 mins | 171 MB | |||||
| 74 mins | 491 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oyinade Adeniran | Sax (Tenor) |
| 2 | Rotimi Afariogun | Guitar (Bass) |
| 3 | Adebiyi Ajayi | Drums |
| 4 | Lekan Animashaun | Sax (Baritone) |
| 5 | Chioma Elostuba | Vocals |
| 6 | Jacqueline Grandchamp-Thiam | Liner Notes |
| 7 | Jean-Pierre Haie | Concept, Preparation |
| 8 | Keji Hamilton | Piano |
| 9 | Mabinuori Idowu | Liner Notes |
| 10 | Francis Kertekian | Spiritual Advisor |
| 11 | Fehintola Anikulapo Kuti | Vocals |
| 12 | Fela Kuti | Composer, Guitar, Keyboards, Piano, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 13 | Fela Kuti & Africa 70 | Arranger, Cover Photo, Piano, Producer, Sax (Tenor), Vocals |
| 14 | Fela Kuti & Egypt 80 | Primary Artist |
| 15 | Emmanuel Louison | Production Coordination |
| 16 | Bernard Matussiere | Photography |
| 17 | Oye Moses | Trumpet |
| 18 | Michael Obeatta | Congas |
| 19 | Dele Olayinka | Congas |
| 20 | Sodi | Mixing Engineer |
| 21 | Rikki Stein | Liner Notes, Project Administrator |
| 22 | Alexandra Stephanakis | Photography |
| 23 | Stephen Ukem | Trumpet |
| 24 | Oma Umude | Vocals |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |