TempoPeek

U2 · The Joshua Tree

Bullet the Blue Sky

Bullet the Blue Sky is in A flat major at 152 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

152 BPM · Allegromedian of 187 analyses · 151.9–152.3 across the middle eight tenths
Key
A♭ major4 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
90%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
187people who ran the extractor
One beat
394.7milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
441.8Hz · +7 cents from A 440
Dynamics
1.92dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.967Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.167Essentia'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

187 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 90% — put it in A flat major, a key signature of 4 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 187 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 152 BPM one beat lasts 394.7 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 98.7 ms and a dotted eighth 296.1 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 76 BPM, counted twice as fast 304. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.8 Hz, which is 7 cents above 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 1.92 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 0.967 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 152 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41578.90.63
Half note2789.51.27
Dotted quarter1.5592.11.69
Quarter note (one beat)1394.72.53
Quarter triplet0.667263.23.8
Dotted eighth0.75296.13.38
Eighth note0.5197.45.07
Eighth triplet0.333131.67.6
Dotted sixteenth0.3751486.76
Sixteenth note0.2598.710.13
Sixteenth triplet0.16765.815.2
Thirty-second note0.12549.320.27

Half time 76 BPM · double time 304 BPM. Every row is one beat (394.7 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. How Did I Fall in Love With YouBackstreet BoysA♭ major152BPM
  2. Brain StewGreen DayA♭ major152BPM
  3. Run To YouWhitney HoustonA♭ major152BPM
  4. LovelandThe B‐52’sA♭ major152BPM
  5. Anything GoesGuns N’ RosesA♭ major152BPM
  6. Three Times a LadyCommodoresA♭ major151BPM
  7. This Is Your LifeCommodoresA♭ major154BPM
  8. “40”U2A♭ major150BPM
  9. Walking ContradictionGreen DayA♭ major154BPM
  10. NightrainGuns N’ RosesA♭ major149BPM

Recordings in A flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 152 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in A flat majorAll songs at 152 BPMA♭ major at 150–159 BPMU2

MusicBrainz collapses 354 recording ids into this one. Recording id de73f389-69c3-4d3f-ab0b-30b1e4748e03.