Bono’s young voice vs. older voice

[Marien]

I know this one is well-known by all of us, but please listen to both Rome 2010 and 1989 versions with your eyes closed and tell me which one gives you the chills and makes you want to jump around and dance and cry the most..... I know my answer.

That's not what I'm talking about exactly, you can prefer the performance you choose, this is a question that has to do as much with the performance as with the listener, I know my answer too.

What I'm talking about is that some posters are saying Bono's voice is completely wrecked and comparing him with singers that can't actually sing their songs any more, saying that Sting and Paul MaCartney are in better conditions and that's simply not true.

His voice has been consistently good for the last two European legs, I've been following the tour this year from Turin to Rome with 10 shows, the last one was as good as the first if not better, even the fact that you compare this lattest performance of Bad with one from so long ago speaks for itself, you can prefer either one or the other, they are different, I don't doubt that, as I don't doubt we are talking about a great singer now and back then.

 

[U2387]

That's not what I'm talking about exactly, you can prefer the performance you choose, this is a question that has to do as much with the performance as with the listener, I know my answer too.

What I'm talking about is that some posters are saying Bono's voice is completely wrecked and comparing him with singers that can't actually sing their songs any more, saying that Sting and Paul MaCartney are in better conditions and that's simply not true.

His voice has been consistently good for the last two European legs, I've been following the tour this year from Turin to Rome with 10 shows, the last one was as good as the first if not better, even the fact that you compare this lattest performance of Bad with one from so long ago speaks for itself, you can prefer either one or the other, they are different, I don't doubt that, as I don't doubt we are talking about a great singer now and back then.

Great post!!

What I've underlined especially.

 

[Yahweh_OMG]

That's not what I'm talking about exactly, you can prefer the performance you choose, this is a question that has to do as much with the performance as with the listener, I know my answer too.

What I'm talking about is that some posters are saying Bono's voice is completely wrecked and comparing him with singers that can't actually sing their songs any more, saying that Sting and Paul MaCartney are in better conditions and that's simply not true.

His voice has been consistently good for the last two European legs, I've been following the tour this year from Turin to Rome with 10 shows, the last one was as good as the first if not better, even the fact that you compare this lattest performance of Bad with one from so long ago speaks for itself, you can prefer either one or the other, they are different, I don't doubt that, as I don't doubt we are talking about a great singer now and back then.

Then of course I follow you on the fact that his voice has been very very stable on this tour. I also clearly don't agree with the ones saying his voice is now shit. It is far from it. However, the original question was old vs young voice, and there is a difference.

 

[cathou_u2]

Then of course I follow you on the fact that his voice has been very very stable on this tour. I also clearly don't agree with the ones saying his voice is now shit. It is far from it. However, the original question was old vs young voice, and there is a difference.

Of course there's a difference, the question is maybe not only young vs old, but how, you, as a listener, prefer it. Do you prefer to hear an exuberant young voice, raw and "untamed", or would you rather hear a voice which has a level of maturity to it, some control and stability.

Both are amazing, but I know some days I need more of that Bono "yelling in the mic"/Out of Control while others I prefer the B man hitting high notes like on SYCMIOYO.

The mere fact that he possess such a range of voice is amazing in itself!

 

[Cactus Annie]

Oh, what you mean is that you prefered his voice in the past because he 'jazzed it up' more often. Now I get what you're trying to say.

 

[doctorwho]

I also know people who've been U2 fans since the 1980's who think Doctorwho and Peter are flat wrong. In fact, I am one myself.


FTR, I think Bono sounds as good now as he has in 15 years.
That is all.

I'm digging up this old thread. Yeah, yeah - you hate me. I get it. Skip to the next topic.

I'm doing this to say three things:

1) I agree fully with the poster's last point.

2) I fully disagree with the poster's first point. Wrong? I am "wrong"? What does this word mean?

I stand by what I posted much earlier in this thread - there are times where Bono's voice now sounds much better than in the past.

But, this brings me to the third point:

3) Now that I have U22, I hear both utter brilliance and some disappointment in Bono's vocals. Sometimes Bono of today isn't as good. There. I said it. Happy?

To clarify, the disappointment comes from what I call "lazy" Bono. My guess is that he's just trying to save his voice for the entire tour - he's learned from past mistakes. Unfortunately, that leads to a somewhat lackluster vocal performance in some songs.

But hearing Bono of today, I'm reminded more of Bono from his very early years. Instead of relying just on his voice, as he did so much of during the JT and Love Town tours, he relies more on his actions. Sure, he's done this for ages now, but with the late 90's and early 00's, his voice wasn't always there. Now that it is fairly strong, Bono has a nice combination of vocal chops and antics.

This makes me wonder what's ahead.

 

[Globo14]

I personally think Bono's voice right now is the best it's been since ZooTV. I didn't think it was amazing in 2009, but after his back surgery, he seemed to put more into it.

There were times in the 80's (particularly JT and lovetown) where it sounded like he was putting TOO much power in, almost to the point of shouting.

 

[digitize]

Personally, I think it's hard to find much better vocals from Bono than in late 2006.

 

[Peterrrrr]

What I realy like is the when he hit the high notes in the last recent days they are so much more powerful. I have write it before that the high note "WOS"
is a very good example. The sound he get in his voice is incredible powerful, the same vith the "Wide Awake" part in Bad from Rome/Glastonbury(in the end of the song). He want able to sing like that in the 80s/90s.

And the raw power returns then and then, UTEOTW and IGCIIDGCT in the clip:
Bonos high notes, vocal highlights from 360 tour era - YouTube

But he is smart enough to not use it to much, we all know what happens if, but here is something that is unique for him now; he can combine the new "powerful clean voice sound" in high notes with raw power.
In the clip I posted there is a few highlights from MOS, first he screams a very powerful line and fast goes up to a clean operatic sound.

 

[rennowba]

The glastonbury show was probaly the best ive heard bonos voice (the parts that were great,as the mic seem to go abit low half way through the gig) in person. Ive been going to see u2 live since the elevation tour so i can only rate it since then.

For me his voice has always been incrediable live whenever ive seen him.

You can notice a few notes he leaves out now though like the "feels" in vertigo sometimes some of the "woos" in elevation. I noticed he had changed the chrous of the unforgetable fire on the 360 tour manily to suit his voice, also in bad he normanly changes bits of that to suit him.

Bonos voice is by far the best lead vocal voice ive ever heard live,even on his bad days!

 

[j72]

"1983-1993 were his best years (peak being 1986-1989). Nothing he's done in the past seventeen years can touch that era. Period. End of story.

You can cherrypick some high notes he's hit all you like, his voice just doesn't sound as good anymore. Not his fault, just the way it is."

Totally respect and am interested in your opinion PhilsFan, i love his Bono's early voice too but i also think his later voice has many great qualities. Views about what is "best" and "when" remain to me Very subjective according to easc individual person, along with many other topics U2 or otherwise.
. Guess a great deal of folks on here are one in our love for U2 but not the same in certain views if you'll pardon the very cheesy pun. enjoying this thread though- cheers folks

 

[PhilsFan]

The sound he get in his voice is incredible powerful, the same vith the "Wide Awake" part in Bad from Rome/Glastonbury(in the end of the song). He want able to sing like that in the 80s/90s..

Hate the way he sings "wide awake" in Bad now. He only holds the note in wide and then does that awful lazy breathing thing through awake.

WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE awake. Just sounds atrocious compared to the prime vocal period.

 

[LemonMelon]

There's absolutely nothing Bono can do now that he couldn't in the 80s or 90s.

Maybe he'd win a pie eating contest.

 

[redhill]

There's absolutely nothing Bono can do now that he couldn't in the 80s or 90s.

Maybe he'd win a pie eating contest.

I'm not sure he could have done almost anything he does now in the very early 80's...The nuance, falsetto, talk / sing / low baritone, operatic voice, etc..

 

[redhill]

Hmmm

Not sure Sting has lost too much (and thus maybe not the best example for comparison's sake of someone whose voice is "shot")..or at the very least he reclaimed it...

Sting Message in a bottle( sting swears at fan). The sage newcastle 5/2/2012 - YouTube

Check 3:35

 

[Hollow Island]

Bono's voice doesn't have the range, power, richness, dexterity, or nuance that it did in the 80s and early 90s. He damaged it by not singing properly, screaming too much, and smoking. It's still good, but are people so in love with His Shortness that they're deaf?

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Bono's voice doesn't have the range, power, richness, dexterity, or nuance that it did in the 80s and early 90s. He damaged it by not singing properly, screaming too much, and smoking. It's still good, but are people so in love with His Shortness that they're deaf?

IMO he has more range now than he had in the 80's, but let's be honest your never going to agree

 

[Von Schloopen]

Bono's voice doesn't have the range, power, richness, dexterity, or nuance that it did in the 80s and early 90s. He damaged it by not singing properly, screaming too much, and smoking. It's still good, but are people so in love with His Shortness that they're deaf?

That's a great way to set up your position: Insult anyone who's going to disagree with you. You do understand that this tone is why many here don't enjoy conversing with you or respect what you have to say?

How is someone supposed to approach a post like this? "Yes Hollow. You're right. I deaf and that's why I no agree with you. Thanks for pointing that out. My opinions is wrong and you know lots of stuff. You're the king of musics opinion and internets."

Is that actually what you're looking for? Cause it's the only logical answer I can see to the patronizing question asked in your post.

 

[Hollow Island]

That's a great way to set up your position: Insult anyone who's going to disagree with you. You do understand that this tone is why many here don't enjoy conversing with you or respect what you have to say?

How is someone supposed to approach a post like this? "Yes Hollow. You're right. I deaf and that's why I no agree with you. Thanks for pointing that out. My opinions is wrong and you know lots of stuff. You're the king of musics opinion and internets."

Is that actually what you're looking for? Cause it's the only logical answer I can see to the patronizing question asked in your post.

I didn't mean to insult anyone, but thank you for speaking on behalf of Interference anyway. Maybe I'd be better off making arguments that have no bearing on reality.

I understand that text isn't the best conveyor of levity, but do you really need to take it so seriously that you feel the need to insult me (in an incredibly juvenile manner)? It is entirely possible that people are so enthralled by Bono that they can't see how his voice has degraded. People, particularly the super fans, are often incapable of separating their appreciation of the artist from the objective quality of the work.

However, I stand by my statement: His voice was much better from, say, 84-95, by any criteria there is to measure the quality of a voice. It's probably better now than it was in the early 80s or from 97-04, but he's definitely not at peak level. His voice has changed a lot over 32 years, and while some people may like his current voice the most it is not "better" in any way.

 

[Hollow Island]

IMO he has more range now than he had in the 80's, but let's be honest your never going to agree

It depends which part of the 80s. He easily has a better range than he did from 80-83, but he can't touch 84-88.

 

[j72]

See i don't know folks. I'm just back from work and i'm too tired to say much butPERSONALLY i love Bono's vocal on recent songs like sometimes you can't make it on your own (especially live). Also (for example when i look at the world and then white as snow, cedars of lebannon, songs like these. I think his voice is changing, evolving, if admittedly a different beast than in earlier times. Can't stand it on stuff like man and a woman and stand up comedy though i admit.

 

[lemonfly]

There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that he abused his voice during shows during the latter half of the 80's and combined with heavy smoking it had a detrimental effect. His voice was at its weakest during 97-03, recovered some of its strength during the Bomb era and during 360 he learnt to make the best use of it like a driver being careful with an old clapped out Ferrari which he knows will never be in mint condition again. Compared to some of Bono's peers (Stipe, Gahan, Rose) his voice is nowhere near as good as it was in his heyday. IMO a singer's responsibility is to take the utmost care of their voice. Just as guitarists don't handle power tools for shits and giggles, so singers should stay away from heavy smoking. Bono clearly didn't and all the albums from Pop onwards have suffered for it.

 

[OpenG180]

Perhaps his best vocal ever was the Clannad collaboration "In a Lifetime" (1985). Funny thing it's not even a U2 recording...

 

[doctorwho]

There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that he abused his voice during shows during the latter half of the 80's and combined with heavy smoking it had a detrimental effect. His voice was at its weakest during 97-03, recovered some of its strength during the Bomb era and during 360 he learnt to make the best use of it like a driver being careful with an old clapped out Ferrari which he knows will never be in mint condition again. Compared to some of Bono's peers (Stipe, Gahan, Rose) his voice is nowhere near as good as it was in his heyday. IMO a singer's responsibility is to take the utmost care of their voice. Just as guitarists don't handle power tools for shits and giggles, so singers should stay away from heavy smoking. Bono clearly didn't and all the albums from Pop onwards have suffered for it.

I agree with all you say, except for the "Bono's peers" bit. Michael Stipe? Axl Rose? Dave Gahan? Stipe has a miniscule range and is not a great singer, IMO. His voice works for his songs - and that's true for a lot of bands. They write music that works with their lead singer. But comparing Bono and Stipe is not logical. Gahan has a very deep voice - good singer, but very limited range. Sing that deep and you'll never have to worry about not hitting a high note - there aren't any. Rose? I admit, I haven't heard any recent Rose, but Rose from the past was all about this weird screaming voice.

If you want to compare Bono to anyone, use Freddy Mercury or Jim Kerr. Both of those artists would belt out their tunes. Mercury was known for his fantastic range. I would contend that the Bono of '86-90 was like them.

Bono made a conscious decision NOT to sound like that come 1991, but I'm sure he could have belted that way for a few more years.

But the toll of smoking, over-singing, constant touring, not having proper vocal training, alcohol and even age hit him hard come the mid-90's. I was stunned at some events in '95 and '96 when Bono sounded like a fraction of the singer he was. In contrast, shortly before Mercury's death, while he might not have quite had the power in his voice - due to illness - he certainly had the range and sweetness of it. I think smoking was the main problem for Bono. One can smoke and sing, but one can't sing like Bono wants and smoke.

Something during the HTDAAB era, he regained that voice. Listening to him belt out "Miss Sarajevo" was mind-numbing - he sounded MORE powerful than he did during the best LoveTown days.

So no smoking, some vocal training and treating the vocal chords gave him his voice back. Yay! But why renew this thread then?

Even though Bono has it, fear of his past, IMO, has often held him back some now. I hear him singing a bit lazily at times now, something I never heard before. He hums the words, but doesn't always have the passion behind them. And a cautionary Bono - while technically still a solid singer - isn't quite the great singer of the past.

But I'd rather have him burst out one or two times a night during a special song, then twice in every song as he did in the past. That's partly what ruined his voice.

However, Bono will always be oceans above Stipe, Gahan and Rose.

 

[Rachel D.]

Some of Bono's singing in the 80s sounds like screaming compared to what he does now. Hearing "Pride" on the radio makes me cringe for that reason. His voice isn't the same as it was 20 years ago (duh), but it still sounds good.

 

[doctorwho]

Some of Bono's singing in the 80s sounds like screaming compared to what he does now. Hearing "Pride" on the radio makes me cringe for that reason. His voice isn't the same as it was 20 years ago (duh), but it still sounds good.

This is a good example.

I enjoy "Pride" to this day. It was the song that turned me from a U2 admirer into true fan. And I loved Bono's range there - I never heard such range without a man going into falsetto.

But Bono could never reproduce that studio recording in concert - not even in the UF tour. And there's a reason for that. He hits the notes just fine, but there's a bit of studio magic involved as well.

If you have the CD for "Pride", listen to it. There's an extra verse of the chorus ("what more in the name of love"). But this verse has NOT gone through the studio clean-up - it's pure.

Now, some love that because it's pure Bono voice. However, I found it more interesting because it proves how much he strained for that song.

It's great to do that for a song once in a while. But I agree, screaming (as Robert Plant did on a lot of early Zeppelin) is not singing. Bono sings now - and sometimes he'll drop a note or even a key, but he's singing and not ruining his voice. There aren't any cancelled shows due to Bono's vocal problems as there were on LoveTown (and some JT shows).

 

[LemonMelon]

The studio vocal take of Pride is astounding, probably among Bono's finest moments. It's not beyond his range, but it's just high enough that he has to strain a bit, which is often where emotion is conveyed. If you stay too low and refuse to challenge your range, you're not doing justice to the song. Pride is a hard song to sing, and Bono kicked its ass. He never really did again.

 

[digitize]

It depends which part of the 80s. He easily has a better range than he did from 80-83, but he can't touch 84-88.

Nah, he has far better range now than he did... well, pretty much any time after 1985 and before 2005. It's an interesting exercise to listen to Bad from every tour since The Unforgettable Fire. On TUF Tour, he hits the high C "wide awake" part quite cleanly. On TJT tour, it's a complete screamed mess. Lovetown isn't much better. On ZooTV, he did it in falsetto much of the time, but when he didn't, results were somewhat better than the late 80s, but not perfect. On PopMart and Elevation, he didn't even come close. They were both screamed, despite the fact that the whole song was brought down to a lower key for PopMart, I believe. But on Vertigo and 360, Bono seems to hit the note pretty cleanly.

 

[trevgreg]

Something during the HTDAAB era, he regained that voice. Listening to him belt out "Miss Sarajevo" was mind-numbing - he sounded MORE powerful than he did during the best LoveTown days.

Absolutely. The crowd at the show I went to during the Vertigo applauded when he hit the long Pavarotti notes there. Yes, I know not technically, haha. But still.

 

[DevilsShoes]

Bono's always struggled with the high notes in Bad though, even going back to the early days of the UF tour. I think that extraordinary version from Wide Awake in America has kind of skewed people's perceptions of that tour, it's the exception rather than the rule and you could argue whether the band have ever surpassed it. There were plenty of nights back in 84-85 where he couldn't make the note or would just skip it altogether, that's one of the reasons why renditions of Bad during the UF tour are some of the most idiosyncratic, there's a real sense that not even the band know where this is going.

Some people dislike the fact that he had a tendency to scream the note rather than sing it cleanly back in the 80's, well for me, it's meant to be a scream, it's about desperation, it's supposed to be anguished. Technically it may be incorrect, but by applying technique to that song you some how make it clinical, which is not what Bad is about. That's the problem I have with some of the more recent versions, I'm pleased he's rediscovered some range, but I miss the sense of sheer abandon that made those versions from the late 80's so dramatic.

As DoctorWho said, he can still belt out high notes, but tends to be far more restrained and selective of those moments, which I totally understand, but the 'live-wire' Bono of the 80's is so much more compulsive IMO.