Thin Lizzy · Jailbreak
The Boys Are Back in Town
The Boys Are Back in Town is in A flat major at 163.3 beats per minute.
Tempo
163 BPM · Vivacemedian of 232 analyses · 163.1–163.4 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- A♭ major4 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 99%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 232people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 367.4milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 436Hz · -16 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 2.69dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.912Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.215Essentia's danceability, 0–3
Source: AcousticBrainz, dump of 2022-06-23 (CC0) · MusicBrainz core data, 2026-09-17 (CC0) · how each number is measured. Measured up to 23.06.2022 — AcousticBrainz stopped collecting in 2022, so nothing released after that date is here.
What the numbers say
232 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 99% — put it in A flat major, a key signature of 4 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 232 readings; 99% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 163.3 BPM one beat lasts 367.4 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 91.9 ms and a dotted eighth 275.6 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 81.7 BPM, counted twice as fast 326.6. A score would mark that Vivace, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 436 Hz, which is 16 cents below concert A at 440 Hz — the sort of drift a tape machine or a slightly different mastering leaves behind. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.
The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 2.69 dB: that is how far the level wanders from its own average, so a small number means a loud, flat master and a large one means a recording that still breathes. Its average loudness is 0.912 on Essentia's 0-to-1 scale, which is not decibels and is not comparable to a streaming service's number.
10 other recordings here are in A flat major; the ones listed below are the closest in tempo.
Beats per bar are not in this dataset. AcousticBrainz's analysis reports a tempo, a key and a loudness, and no time signature at all, so this page does not print one — a 4/4 here would be a guess dressed as a measurement.
Keys that fit with A♭ major
Each of these differs from A♭ major by at most one accidental, or shares its tonic. That is the whole of what a mixing wheel encodes; here the relations are named instead of numbered.
Delay times at 163 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1469.7 | 0.68 |
| Half note | 2 | 734.8 | 1.36 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 551.1 | 1.81 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 367.4 | 2.72 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 244.9 | 4.08 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 275.6 | 3.63 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 183.7 | 5.44 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 122.5 | 8.17 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 137.8 | 7.26 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 91.9 | 10.89 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 61.2 | 16.33 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 45.9 | 21.77 |
Half time 81.7 BPM · double time 326.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (367.4 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Wasting My HateMetallicaA♭ major163BPM
- Nip It in the BudThe B‐52’sA♭ major163BPM
- A Change Is Gonna ComeOtis ReddingA♭ major164BPM
- If I Could Turn Back the Hands of TimeR. KellyA♭ major162BPM
- Digging in the DirtPeter GabrielA♭ major162BPM
- SurvivorDestiny’s ChildA♭ major162BPM
- Never Say NeverThe FrayA♭ major162BPM
- Gangsta’s ParadiseCoolio featuring L.V.A♭ major162BPM
- You’ve Got a FriendCarole KingA♭ major166BPM
- Last ChildAerosmithA♭ major166BPM
Recordings in A flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 163 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in A flat majorAll songs at 163 BPMA♭ major at 160–169 BPM
MusicBrainz collapses 126 recording ids into this one. Recording id 7ffd3432-9f45-4c40-a4aa-806db8f2cfcb.