Mullen taking a raincheck in HTDAAB? (plus U2's mellowest album?)

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jick

jick

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Here are the portions of the album that have no drum part, or negligible drum part or little drum part:

-Miracle Drug 0:00-0:45
-Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own 0:00-2:59
-Love And Peace Or Else 0:00-1:30, 3:28-4:04
-City Of Blinding Lights 0:00-0:48
-One Step Closer To Knowing 0:00-3:14
-Yahweh 2:27-2:56

Based on the above, the top 3 mellowest songs off the album are:

1. One Step Closer.. (3min14sec total)
2. Sometimes... (2min59sec total)
3. Love and Peace... (2min06sec total)

To put things in perspective, these are the hard facts and statistics. Numbers don't lie. The total would be 10:21 out of 48:55 of the album, or a grand total of 21.2% of HTDAAB has little or no drums. That is more than 1/5th of the album! And I have not even factored in the fact that on the 78.8% of the time when Mullen can actually be heard drumming, the drums are still low in the audio mix.

Add the lack of drumming to my previous observation that the word "heart" was used in 7 of 11 songs (63.4%) and "love" in 6 of 11 songs (54.6%), we get an album that has more indiscriminate use of the word "love" and "heart" than your regular balladeer or mushy boyband. There is no doubt in my mind that this album is mellow.

But has there ever been an album of this magnitude of mellowness? I think the last album this mellow (which I think was U2's mellowest album ever) was POP. Remember how drumless most of If God Will Send His Angels, Miami, Velvet Dress, and the beginning of Wake Up Dead Man were? While I don't have the POP album with me now to do a statistical analysis, I bet POP is right up there with HTDAAB when it comes to "mellow moments."

So I'd like you guys to participate in this thread with your comments and observations on all this raw statistical data I have uncovered. What are your theories behind this?

For me, it could be either:

a) HTDAAB showcases Bono's songwriting (which is in almost top-form) and Edge's return to his guitar soundscapes, so they decided to put Mullen in the backseat for this album, otherwise if all the instruments were begging for attention - it would distact the listener and make the album less cohesive; or,

b) U2 have simply mellowed with age and have decided to play softer songs and leave the hard rocking to the younger bands of today; or,

c) a combination of A and B.

Nevertheless, I am stumped at the fact that I really like HTDAAB despite its mellow nature - yet U2's mellowest album ever, POP, isn't one of my favorites. On the flip side, one of U2's more rocking albums, ATYCLB, is one of my favorites.

I guess this just goes to show U2's versatility as a band.

Cheers,

J


PS: Feel free to correct me if any of my mathematical computations are wrong.
 
AussieU2fanman said:
:banghead:
Click to expand...

I think this post should actually be taken seriously ... personally, I found it interesting, although I don't have anything substantial to contribute right now.
 
Honestly who could give a stuff. He's picking out something completely obscure to analyse about the album so people think he's interesting and has a 'unique perspective' on things. He's very transparent this character. And yes more :banghead: !
 
Based on the increased prevalence of the electronic piano in this latest album I project that the Edge is considering a departure between albums to train as a concert pianist. The ratio of guitar part to piano part in this album was 7.9462:1 - a dramatic increase from All That You Can't Leave Behinds 12.4534:1 and the overall U2 ratio of 11.6542:1.

The cowbell featured only 3 times.
 
paulrg said:
Based on the increased prevalence of the electronic piano in this latest album I project that the Edge is considering a departure between albums to train as a concert pianist. The ratio of guitar part to piano part in this album was 7.9462:1 - a dramatic increase from All That You Can't Leave Behinds 12.4534:1 and the overall U2 ratio of 11.6542:1.

The cowbell featured only 3 times.
Click to expand...

Interesting observation. However, I beg to disagree.

First, concert pianists aren't really fond of the electic piano and vice versa. I don't ever recall Edge playing on a grand piano so I guess his urge so suddenly go all-out-piano is well in check.

Second, while I haven't done my computations on the guitar to piano ratio (I think it might be too time-consuming) - I have a feeling your computations are skewed. When you did the ratios, did you include the different layers of guitars? On some songs in HTDAAB, as many a four or five guitars can be heard. Also, I find it important to know how you got your conclusion in computing for ATYCLB's electric piano part. Your statistics may be skewed if you count the electric piano on Beautiful Day. While that part was really an electric piano, it wasn't hand-played -- only pre-programmed with the drum loop.

I'd appreciate more data on how you came up with those ratios as I find that study quite interesting.

Cheers,

J
 
Last edited:
Jick, you're like the Fox Mulder of the Blue Crack Board, always looking for an angle.

And Gosh darn it, I love you for it!
 
Jick-

I've 2 suggestions for you, since you obviously have entirely WAAAYYYY too much time on your hands with nothing better to do than analize the percentage (!) of drumming on HTDAAB.

1. Go to school. Really, people with a college degree or higher education are proven to get farther in life, and will contribute their skills in a positive way towards society (generally speaking, not always).

2. If you're already out of school, get a job. Working for a living is not a bad way to go, and may provide you with a postive outlet for the obvious intelligence and tenacity you possess.

reach for the sky.
 
AussieU2fanman said:
:banghead:
Click to expand...

I second on that *LOL* :banghead:

Although, I thought this was a hard rocking album?!

"A Man and A Woman" is really growing on me
 
JOFO said:
Jick-

I've 2 suggestions for you, since you obviously have entirely WAAAYYYY too much time on your hands with nothing better to do than analize the percentage (!) of drumming on HTDAAB.

1. Go to school. Really, people with a college degree or higher education are proven to get farther in life, and will contribute their skills in a positive way towards society (generally speaking, not always).

2. If you're already out of school, get a job. Working for a living is not a bad way to go, and may provide you with a postive outlet for the obvious intelligence and tenacity you possess.

reach for the sky.
Click to expand...

Once again, an attempt to divert the attention of the readers from the real topic of this thread. Please, let us refrain from personal attacks and let us deal with the topic at hand.

Speaking of college education, I have a post-graduate degree but I still don't make as much money as Mullen, who can take a raincheck on this current album and still earn millions. I'd like to believe Mullen has gone farther in life than I have thus far. I have a stable job, I just seem to have too much time because I belong to a different timezone so I post while most of you are working/studying.

So what do you really think about the new album and it's lack of drum parts? Let's stick to the topic at hand please.

Cheers,

J
 
Ahh the joys of trolling.

So drums = non-mellowness to you?

Never mind that LAPOE is full of distorted guitars and compressed bass. We'll just ignore that detail. :rolleyes:
 
Jick,

I don't mind your posts. However I am curious what you do for a living. I just want to get an idea where you are coming from.

Thanks.
 
jick said:
Here are the portions of the album that have no drum part, or negligible drum part or little drum part:

-Miracle Drug 0:00-0:45
-Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own 0:00-2:59
-Love And Peace Or Else 0:00-1:30, 3:28-4:04
-City Of Blinding Lights 0:00-0:48
-One Step Closer To Knowing 0:00-3:14
-Yahweh 2:27-2:56

Based on the above, the top 3 mellowest songs off the album are:

1. One Step Closer.. (3min14sec total)
2. Sometimes... (2min59sec total)
3. Love and Peace... (2min06sec total)

To put things in perspective, these are the hard facts and statistics. Numbers don't lie. The total would be 10:21 out of 48:55 of the album, or a grand total of 21.2% of HTDAAB has little or no drums. That is more than 1/5th of the album! And I have not even factored in the fact that on the 78.8% of the time when Mullen can actually be heard drumming, the drums are still low in the audio mix.
Click to expand...

Well, if you all remember from a past interview, Larry commented that he didn't like the fact that Steve Lilywhite didn't focus on drumming (and bass) as much as guitar and vocals. So, part of this could be because of the producer. And yes, I acknowledge that the longest drumless song - OSC - was produced by Eno/Lanois.

Just a thought.
 
mkjc said:
Jick,

I don't mind your posts. However I am curious what you do for a living. I just want to get an idea where you are coming from.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Since I am not a premium member, I cannot receive private messages or send them. Shoot me a private email at atyclb4ever at yahoo.com if you wanna discuss private matters.

But rather than simply not minding my posts, I'd like to know also what you actually have to think about this lack of drumming in the new album. Thanks.

Cheers,

J
 
paulrg said:
Based on the increased prevalence of the electronic piano in this latest album I project that the Edge is considering a departure between albums to train as a concert pianist. The ratio of guitar part to piano part in this album was 7.9462:1 - a dramatic increase from All That You Can't Leave Behinds 12.4534:1 and the overall U2 ratio of 11.6542:1.

The cowbell featured only 3 times.
Click to expand...


My computations show the g/p ratio as 7.8942:1 on HTDAAB. I have submitted my data to the U.O.S. (University of Obscure Statistics) in Nome, Alaska. I would expect that I am proven right. Afterall, I have run my numbers on my super-cool 486 w/math co-processor (remember those!!:up: )
 
Maybe Larry's back was acting up again. POP was drums-lite because he wasn't physically able to sit at the set. So maybe he took it easy during these sessions.

We know (as well as we can know anything about the band) that they write mostly by jamming, and keep jamming away until they get it perfect. If Larry wasn't up to marathon sessions at the kit, they might've written around it, using the best of what he was able to contribute and leaving the rest drums-less, rather than have him fill in the gaps with boring, standard, uninspired, recorded-in-15-minutes bits.
 
Amazing, we are debating whether or not a proportionate amount of drums in this album = rockin'. :eyebrow:

As much as I love this forum some stuff is so inane it's ridiculous.:ohmy:

By the way the musicians in U2 serve the music not the other way around.
 
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