11/10/24
The massed horns, relentless grooves, and bold improvising that would come to define Fela's aesthetic sound positively revolutionary on these essential early recordings. This album heralds a series of increasingly politically-charged LPs Fela would release over the next three years. It was the first album on which Fela deliberately and explicitly challenged the authority of the Nigerian regime and the actions of its enforcers. Lyrically inspired by a police raid on Kalakuta in April 1974, the song is dark and addresses the Nigerian police's violence and apparent immunity from prosecution. Musically, Alagbon Close marks the transition between highlife jazz and Afrobeat. It was the first of Fela's albums to carry a sleeve designed by Lemi Ghariokwu, whose artwork became an integral part of the Afrobeat message.