Mmhmm

Mmhmm
Studio album by Relient K
Released	November 2, 2004 April 28, 2005
Recorded	Dark Horse Studios
Genre	Christian rock, Post-hardcore, Christian punk
Length	50:22
Label	Gotee, Capitol, Mono Vs Stereo
Producer	Mark Lee Townsend, Matt Thiessen
Professional reviews
AbsolutePunk (90%) link Allmusic link Jesus Freak Hideout link Cross Rhythms link
Relient K chronology
Deck the Halls, Bruise Your Hand (2003) Mmhmm (2004) Apathetic EP (2005)
Alternative cover
Cover to the Japanese pressing of the album.

Mmhmm (also MMHMM, MmHmm, and mmhmm) is the fourth full-length album by Christian rock band Relient K, released in November 2004. This album is especially notable for two reasons: First, it marked their debut on Capitol; and second, it was Brian Pittman's last CD with the band. In addition to being released on Capitol and Gotee, Mmhmm was re-released on vinyl on Mono Vs Stereo. The re-release includes a song originally from Apathetic EP, called "Apathetic Way to Be". The singles "Be My Escape" and "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been", both found on Mmhmm, boosted Relient K's mainstream popularity. Although the song "High of 75" was never released to mainstream markets, it spent fifteen consecutive weeks in the CCM top ten.^{[citation needed]}

Mmhmm earned the group u Canadian Juno Award nomination for Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year in 2006. In 2005, Mmhmm was certified Gold by the RIAA for sales in excess of 500,000 units in the United States. It has sold over 800,000 copies in the United States^{[citation needed]}.

Track listing

All songs written by Matt Thiessen

0. "Mmhmm" (pregap hidden track) - 0:16

1. "The One I'm Waiting For" – 3:02

2. "Be My Escape" – 4:00

3. "High of 75" – 2:27

4. "I So Hate Consequences" – 4:01

5. "The Only Thing Worse Than Beating a Dead Horse Is Betting on One" – 1:13

6. "My Girl's Ex-Boyfriend" – 2:28

7. "More Than Useless" featuring John Warne – 3:50

8. "Which to Bury, Us or the Hatchet?" – 4:11

9. "Let It All Out" featuring John Davis – 4:21

10. "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been" featuring John Warne – 3:52

11. "Maintain Consciousness" – 2:52

12. "This Week the Trend" – 2:59

13. "Life After Death and Taxes (Failure II)" – 4:23

14. "When I Go Down" featuring John Davis – 6:42

On the vinyl re-release, "Apathetic Way to Be" is added as track ten.

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Singles

Christian Radio-Only Singles:

• High of 75
• I So Hate Consequences
• Life After Death and Taxes (Failure II)

Credits

Band

• Matt Thiessen – lead vocals, guitar, piano
• Matt Hoopes – guitar, backing vocals
• Brian Pittman – bass
• Dave Douglas – drums, backing vocals

Additional personnel

• David Henry – cello
• Chris Carmichael – violin, viola
• David Bunton – additional vocals on "I So Hate Consequences", "Which to Bury, Us or the Hatchet", and "Life After Death and Taxes (Failure II)"
• Kevin Kiehn – additional vocals on "I So Hate Consequences"
• John Davis – additional vocals on "Let It All Out" and "When I Go Down"
• John Warne – additional vocals on "More Than Useless" and "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been"
• Anthony Lucido – additional bass
• Rob Roy Fingerhead – banjo, additional guitar, additional percussion
• Mark Lee Townsend - producer

Notes and trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (June 2007)

• A hidden track can be found by rewinding the first track ("The One I'm Waiting For") until -00:20 seconds. The clip consists of the background vocals from the end of the track "My Girl's Ex-Boyfriend". This is why the back cover of the album lists a track 0 called "Mmhmm". Also on the Japanese and the vinyl re-release, the hidden song "Mmhmm" is placed at the beginning of the album.
• "Life After Death and Taxes" is the sequel to the song "Failure to Excommunicate", which can be found on the band's second album, The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek. This is why it has the subtitle "Failure II" on the back cover of Mmhmm, and it is also why the two songs end with the same violin solo. In concert, "Life After Death" has been bookended by the beginning and end of "Failure."
• Current Relient K bass player John Warne did guest vocals on the songs "More Than Useless" and "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been", before he joined the band.
• Relient K drummer Dave Douglas sings solo on three songs for this album. He sings back and forth on the verses of "I So Hate Consequences" with Matt Thiessen, as well as back and forth on the verses of "More Than Useless" with Matt Thiessen and John Warne. He also sings the first verse of "Life After Death and Taxes (Failure II)".
• Relient K bass player Brian Pittman left Relient K after recording this album, to join the new Christian metal band Inhale Exhale.
• The song "More Than Useless" was actually written before the album Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do was released, and was originally intended to be recorded for that album. However, it was saved for "Mmhmm".
• Matt Thiessen has said that the one big reason the album is titled Mmhmm is because there are so many different ways to pronounce it. He also said that they wanted something short and concise, and something that would make people look foolish when they tried to pronounce it.
• Jay Leno mispronounced the album's name when the band performed on his show, and Thiessen said they should have probably explained the title so there would not have been a mispronounciation.
• The song "Life After Death and Taxes" is a play on words from Ben Franklin's quote "but in the world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes."^[1]
• The Japanese pressing for this album is known as "ビー・マイ・エスケイプ", which is Japanese for "Be My Escape".
• Three songs on the album exactly or almost exactly quote the line "You took my heavy heart/And made it light": "When I Go Down", "Let It All Out", and "High of 75".
• The Relient K songs "Be My Escape" and "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been" can be added to the Christian video game Dance Praise via the Dance Praise Expansion Pack Volume 3: Pop & Rock Hits.
• The song "Be My Escape" was used for the 2006 men's tennis U.S. Open to transition to commercial breaks.
• "Be My Escape" and "High of 75" have similar guitar intros, but are not exactly the same, as it is sometimes claimed.
• The song "Be My Escape" was also used in a commercial for KERA's TV show "High School: The Best and The Rest".
• Matt Thiessen said once in an interview with Icthus that he once compared faith to jumping off a cliff. [1] This comparison was in the song "Life After Death and Taxes (Failure II)", which is found on this album.
• Christian music artist John Davis sings the solo on the second verse of "Let It All Out".
• The track "Which to Bury, Us or the Hatchet?" can be found on the Warped Tour 2006 compilation.

References