No Line on the horizon's drum sound

[eddyjedi]

I've been revisiting NLOTH recently and I have to say, of all the albums, the drum sound is the worst by a mile. I know Larry recorded on a electric drum kit in Fez and it's really noticeable, nothing sound like it has atmosphere to me like his drumming sound tends to normally have. It comes across processed and lacking personality. particularly on Stand up comedy, Breathe and Boots.

That's not to say the drumming isn't good, it's great, some of his finest work, I just think the recordings aren't a patch on the previous albums. Anyone agree?

[Tumbling Dice]

I like the drumming on Cedars.

[eddyjedi]

Yeah cedars has some atmosphere.

[Thunder Peel]

To be honest, I actually thought the drum sound on NLOTH was better than the last couple of albums. It sounded too tinny and buried on ATYCLB and HTDAAB, at least to my ears. As a drummer I love being able to hear percussion clearly and I felt NLOTH delivered that, even though some of the songs were recorded with an electronic kit. I'm not a fan of those by any means but at least it put Larry further up in the mix.

[EnduringChill]

I love the drumming on the song NLOTH and on GOYB, but the title track's drumbeat is too quiet, which makes me mad because it's a really great beat.

[BringCitrus]

I've said this many times before.... the drum recording on the 00 albums is really bad. They need to get back into Windmill Lane and do what they used to do. I don't care if its not a recording studio anymore... just do it. Right now, it sounds so flat.

[Thunder Peel]

I think a lot of the 00 albums just had muddy drum sounds, something which I find baffling considering their 80's and 90's albums sounded great. City of Blinding Lights is one of the tracks I've struggled with the most. I love the song but the drum recording is really confusing; it sounds like two tracks merged into one, almost like Larry is playing with brushes and sticks at the same time. It's a bit difficult to describe but I've always had trouble deciphering exactly what's being played. The drums on NLOTH sound clearer, something that I really love. ATYCLB and HTDAAB are both great albums; I just wish the drums were clearer and more upfront in the mix.

[nbelcik]

Yeah City of Blinding Lights has a very unusual drum track, when I play that song I only play live versions. But other than that I like the drum sound on Bomb, I also like it on certain tracks on ATYCLB, such as Walk On and WILATW. It always seems like there's a few songs on each album where the drums are just mixed wrong or double tracked or just don't sound right, which I find weird.

[imaginary friend]

The one change I'd make to NLOTH would be to change the drum mix/levels on every track except MoS and Cedars. You know the "Let me in the sound" part from Boots? The drums would be cranked like that on every track aside from those two.

As far as ATYCLB goes, I'd love to pump up Beautiful Day's  and Elevation's drum tracks, too. Wouldn't touch the drum mix on any song from Bomb, though.

[Dali]

The drum sounds on both HTDAAB and NLOTH suffer from the overly loud mastering which elevates the loudness level of the quieter parts of the music, thereby taking away from the punch of the drums.

[JTBaby]

The drum sounds on both HTDAAB and NLOTH suffer from the overly loud mastering which elevates the loudness level of the quieter parts of the music, thereby taking away from the punch of the drums.

This

The mastering is just one of a multitude of problems with HTDAAB (the main other one being that's it's a steaming pile of crap). It's not as bad on NLOTH but still there. Just another victim of a sad trend towards "mp3-ing" music.

[Droo]

I find it amazing just how good quality Zooropa and Pop sound compared to HTDAAB and NLOTH.

[Thunder Peel]

I find it amazing just how good quality Zooropa and Pop sound compared to HTDAAB and NLOTH.

I've always admired the production of those albums as well. However, I still find myself yearning for a proper remaster; it wouldn't take much to clean those albums up.

[david]

Yeah I have to agree. Listening to 00's U2 albums it sounds like they are playing with an inferior drummer to the guy that pounded the sh!t out of his kit in the 80's and (to a lesser extent) 90'. I'm no musician, but to me Larry's drumming sounds more technically proficient and sophisticated on NLTH than on any album since Pop or possible before. It's just that it's so far back in the mix it is near impossible to decipher.

[Droo]

Oh, his drumming on NLOTH is very good. His drumming on Cedars of Lebanon in particular I find arresting.