HTDAAB was a fantastic album, but it needed a bit of reworking. It wasn't handicapped like POP to the point where a whole re-recording seemed necessay, but it could have been better.
LAPOE needed to be redone in the studio. The song could've been mixed louder or re-recorded, but that tune was just too damn quiet. It needed the volume of say, All Because of You, which blew out the speakers in my car when I first played it, for it to really come alive.
Shorten One Step Closer by a good thirty seconds. Although it feels like the opposite of The First Time, as being the sort of sonically different track from the rest of the album as TFT was to Zooropa, it's just too long. Cut out all of the empty space, and it's a superior track.
A Man And A Woman needed to go. It's a downer, clumsy, and a bit tedious. The song never evolves, never changes, and it has a general feel of being uninspired.
Replace A Man And A Woman with Are You Gonna Wait Forever?. This song exists as a stark contrast against A Man and A Woman, as it is a upbeat, almost party song that would've fit in nicely with Fast Cars and Vertigo.
Fast Cars needed to be on every single release. It's such a strong track, a real rocker, and either it, or it's earlier form Xanax and Wine should've helped headline the album right alongside Vertigo.
Make Smile the bonus track. It's good, but not quite as good as the rest of the tracks. Still, it should have been on some form of the album's release.
With all these changes done, alter the track order. This album seemed disorganized, lacking track flow and order. This order would make more sense.
1. City of Blinding Lights
2. Vertigo
3. Love and Peace or Else
4. Are You Gonna Wait Forever?
5. Miracle Drug
6. Original of the Species
7. All Because of You
8. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
9. One Step Closer
10. Crumbs From Your Table
11. Yahweh
12. Fast Cars
*Smile [Bonus Track]
You can't quite listen to my proposed album, unless you make some audio changes to LAPOE, but give it a whirl if you know your way around Audacity or Garageband and have the sort of file you can mess around with in those programs. Then, re-arrange the tracks and give it a listen. You'll be surprised what a difference these simple changes make.
1. City of Blinding Lights
2. Vertigo
3. Love and Peace or Else
4. Are You Gonna Wait Forever?
5. Miracle Drug
6. Original of the Species
7. All Because of You
8. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
9. One Step Closer
10. Crumbs From Your Table
11. Yahweh
12. Fast Cars
*Smile [Bonus Track]
...
Agree with everything you said, except I've never noticed a volume issue on Love and Peace, but I listen mainly on my iPod which has been automatically volume adjusted.
Scarily, save for the addition of Are You... (a fantastic song) you've given the same tracklisting I swapped mine to in iTunes (I had Man and a Woman after Crumbs).
I've worked out how to crop songs in Audacity but how do you alter sound levels??
Posts: 1259
Location: Massachusetts // Songs of the week: Cedars of Lebanon, Moment of Surrender, No Line on the Horizon, Walk Out Into the Streets. And Red Light.
Was listening to Smile today and wondered, like everyone else, why it didn't end up on HTDAAB...really great song.
My alterantive track listing for Bomb:
1. City of Blinding Lights
2. Vertigo
3. All Because Of You
4. Love and Peace of Else
5. Miracle Drug
6. Original of the Species
7. Crumbs From Your Table
8. Smile
9. A Man and a Woman
10. Sometime You Can't Make It On Your Own
11. Yahweh
12. Mercy (bonus track)
Singles:
Vertigo // Native Son (b-side) // Fast Cars (b-side)
COBL // Are You Gonna Wait Forever (b-side) // One Step Closer (b-side)
OOTS // OOTS Killahurtz Casa de Angels Mix (b-side)
Smile // A Man and a Woman (acoustic) (b-side)
1. City of Blinding Lights
2. Vertigo
3. Are You Gonna Wait forever?
4. Miracle Drug
5. Sometimes
6. Love and Peace
7.All Because of You
8. Crumbs
9. A Man And a Woman
10. Fast Cars
11. Yahweh
12. One Step Closer
01. City Of Blinding Lights
02. Vertigo
03. All Because Of You
04. Smile
05. Original Of The Species
06. Miracle Drug
07. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
08. Love And Peace Or Else
09. Crumbs From Your Table
10. Fast Cars
11. Yahweh
12. Mercy (Bonus Track)
Singles:
Vertigo // Native Son (B-Side) // Are You Gonna Wait Forever? (B-Side)
Love And Peace Or Else // Sunday Bloody Sunday - Live from Slane (B-Side) // Yahweh (Alternate Version)
COBL // Flower Child (B-Side) // All Because Of You (Alternate Version)
OOTS // Neon Lights // Walk On (Live from Slane)
Crumbs From Your Table // I Will Follow (Live from Under the Brooklyn Bridge) // Instant Karma (The band hadn't recorded this yet, but I think it would fit with the theme, as I see Crumbs as U2's Instant Karma)
When I first bought it, (before reading the track listing) I thought that there was going to be a song named "How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb." It sounded like a good song title. I agree that One Step Closer didn't really belong. However, I like the begining. Up to where the vocals enter. It would have been a good instrumental single. Oh, and sorry to get off-topic, but my fav. is Original of the Spieces.
Or the Live-Studio Vertigo played on banjo could have taken the place of One step.
Oh, in addition, I think A Man And A Woman is good . (When I'm in the mood) don't turn that into a sex joke. I can say that right? I'll look at the rules again right after this.
I guess my last post was OK. I wouldn't really count the second-to-last sentence fully as "sexually explisit" If it is, get rid of it. And if it is, please accept my appology.
Sorry, I just got way off-topic. Back to Dismantling the Atomic Bomb!
Posts: 1259
Location: Massachusetts // Songs of the week: Cedars of Lebanon, Moment of Surrender, No Line on the Horizon, Walk Out Into the Streets. And Red Light.
Or the Live-Studio Vertigo played on banjo could have taken the place of One step.
Oh, in addition, I think A Man And A Woman is good . (When I'm in the mood) don't turn that into a sex joke. I can say that right? I'll look at the rules again right after this.
LOL, I think people have said much worse on here.
I really like A Man and a Woman as well; I don't think it and Smile can really be compared with each other. They just sound like two different songs altogether, both really good. AMAAW either sounds cute and cliched or deep and meaningful, depending on your taste.
I also like AYGWF, but as it is, I don't think it's strong enough to be on the album. Take it back into the studio, give it more control and better vocals, and it could easily follow Vertigo as the album's second-most rocking song.
. (When I'm in the mood) don't turn that into a sex joke.
I can say that right? I'll look at the rules again right after this. 
