Bono’s young voice vs. older voice

[pcfitz80]

I’ve always seen Bono as having two distinct voices (not including falsetto) over time. “Young voice Bono” being his voice between 1980-83. During this period his voice on one hand sounds very boyish yet it is also a broader, fuller sound than his post 1990 voice. From ‘91 onward he has generally had that older, raspier sound that some describe as sexier. It has that road weary sound that seems to carry the weight of its years and travels on it. The difference between the two is dramatic - If someone was not all familiar with the band and heard “Drowning Man” followed by “One” or “Stay” I would argue that they would not even know it is the same singer. The years from around ‘84-90 were a transition between these two extremes. I think the song where you could first hear his older sounding voice was “Love Comes Tumbling” but on parts of JT as well as much of R&H he sounded a little more like ‘80-83 Bono.

Which voice do people prefer? Personally, I like his voice best on UF which is basically the very beginning of when his voice started to change. He still has the strength of early 80s voice but it is more mature sounding.

 

[quadcaster]

Middle. Nothin beats his early 90's voice IMHO

 

[Catman]

I break up the years like this:

1980-85: Baby Bono

'86-'94: The best his voice has ever, and probably ever will, be.

'95-2002: A tad hoarse

'02-present: His renaissance period. He's "singing like a bird," so to speak.


If I were to say which album/ tour best displayed his vocal talents - Rattle & Hum and the following Lovetown tour, without a doubt. I believe his strong voice carried over to the early 90's, but he intentionally restrained himself, opting for a less boisterous tune and using more falsetto. Around "Passengers," it seems, is when things became a bit creaky. It picked up a bit during some of the songs from the 90's "Best Of" collection, but also still had a few rough spots (thinking THTBA and ES vs. POP remakes, so you can kind of see the turning point).

But yeah, he's singing great now

 

[pcfitz80]

Middle. Nothin beats his early 90's voice IMHO

Interesting. His voice was stronger in the late 80's early 90s than it is now but I think his early 90s voice sounds far more like his 2009 - 2010 voice than it sounds like his eary 80s voice. That is why I catagorize it as 80-83 or 84 vs. post 1990 with the mid to late 80s being the middle even through breaking it up evenly chronologically the 90s are the middle. Basically, I think the biggest change in the way his voice actually sounded was from 83-91, although his voice probably weakened the most between 94-98 his late 90s - 2000s voice still sounds like the same singer as the early 90s, just weaker.

 

[11o´clock]

I like very much his voice, but it was much better in the eighties and ZOOtv.

 

[TheEdge25]

ZooTV was my favorite Bono voice.

I just listened to Ultraviolet (Light My Way) > With Or Without You from ZooTV and it was just so

Oh man. I just shat myself. His voice is so wonderful.

Other examples on ZooTV:
-Angel of Harlem
-The Fly
-Mysterious Ways
-Dirty Day
-Daddy's Gonna Pa
-Streets

 

[11o´clock]

If someone was not all familiar with the band and heard “Drowning Man” followed by “One” or “Stay” I would argue that they would not even know it is the same singer.

It´s happend to me once in 2006, when I heard for the first time An cat dubh from "Boy" apart from the one in Chicago DVD, I was ...

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i'd say 84-95 (except for lovetown) was brilliant.

 

[U2387]

I’ve always seen Bono as having two distinct voices (not including falsetto) over time. “Young voice Bono” being his voice between 1980-83. During this period his voice on one hand sounds very boyish yet it is also a broader, fuller sound than his post 1990 voice. From ‘91 onward he has generally had that older, raspier sound that some describe as sexier. It has that road weary sound that seems to carry the weight of its years and travels on it. The difference between the two is dramatic - If someone was not all familiar with the band and heard “Drowning Man” followed by “One” or “Stay” I would argue that they would not even know it is the same singer. The years from around ‘84-90 were a transition between these two extremes. I think the song where you could first hear his older sounding voice was “Love Comes Tumbling” but on parts of JT as well as much of R&H he sounded a little more like ‘80-83 Bono.

Which voice do people prefer? Personally, I like his voice best on UF which is basically the very beginning of when his voice started to change. He still has the strength of early 80s voice but it is more mature sounding.

I agree Bono's 1980-83 or 84 voice was different than its been since.

However, despite ups and downs and changes in singing styles throughout the years, I still feel strongly that, no matter the era, you can tell its the same person singing. Bono's voice has always been pretty unique.

And though he doesn't sound exactly the same as he did in 1986 or 1992(who does, really), he sounds better in some ways and its always been clear to me that its the same guy singing.

 

[Peterrrrr]

YouTube - U2 Milan 2009-07-07 Ultra Violet (Light My Way)

 

[PhilsFan]

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.

 

[U2387]

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.

Only these are not cherry picked.

We've been over it hundreds of times.

Bono is sounding consistently great these days. Every performance of UV on 360 was as good or nearly as good as the one posted.

You prefer his 80s voice, fine, I do with some things as well- WOWY, Streets, etc. 1986 was his best vocal year for me.

However, what is objectively false is your continued suggestion that Bono sounding great amounts to cherry picked exceptions to the rule of mediocrity these days.

Right now, Bono sounds the most 80s like than he has since, well, the 80s. Listen to him sing NYD and I Will Follow at recent gigs. Witness the improvement in Still Haven't Found and WOWY this leg. Listen to him belt out Glastonbury in a clean, raw, powerful voice.

Bono's voice is leaving very little to be desired these days.

 

[PhilsFan]

What's cherrypicking is saying that he can still hit this high note or that high note. That's not my point. He can still hit high notes, that much is clear. His voice is just thinner because he's older, and thus it doesn't sound as good.

Consistently great these days? By what standards? If compared to his younger voice, then no, he's not sounding consistently great.

I would never insult Bono for having a thinner voice at 50 than at 30. I wouldn't ever bring it up if it wasn't for completely insane threads like this that include claims that he's better now than he was. He's not, and it's really not close.

 

[the tourist]

I wholeheartedly agree with PhilsFan.

 

[An Cat Gav]

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.

This.

his voice back then is one of the major factors that made U2 so huge.

 

[LemonMelon]

 

[65980]

I would specifically identify the period mid-1983 (somewhere on the War tour) to the end of 1986/early '87 (end of recording Joshua Tree album but before the tour) as his best. It was clear, as Bono himself said, that something "broke in (his) voice" on the War tour, when he was singing better than ever before (this is noticeable on Under a Blood Red Sky, for example). He hit incredible heights on the Unforgettable Fire album, and its attendant tour -- there are shows there where his voice on "Bad" alone would have been worth the price of admission. And the Joshua Tree album itself (mostly recorded in '86) might be his finest-ever singing on record. But on that tour, he was kind of on and off -- he had all the power in the middle-range, but the 'kermit' voice in lieu of a falsetto and the sometimes choked performances of "Bad" (not the easiest song to sing) suggest that he wasn't quite as "on" as in '84-'85.

Don't get me wrong, he was still great well after that (and is very good today), but I think, specifically the mid-1983 to early 1987 period is his absolute peak, both studio and live. (I do think, in the early '90s, although he was good, his voice was more often in the lower register or at the extreme falsetto -- however, I don't think his "sweet spot", middle-range voice was as good then as in the mid-80s.)

 

[Saracene]

I find it hard to really compare different ears because Bono's singing is just one part of their overall sound and the general feel of each album. Bono's singing on Boy, for instance, is from way before he really found his voice, yet it suits that album perfectly IMO and I can't imagine the album working just as well with his later-day vocals.

In terms of *just* the voice, I prefer the more lived-in, raspy vocals from ATYCLB and onwards though I freely admit that he doesn't handle some of the older material anywhere as well as he did in the past. And I love his UF voice - it has that magnificent, soaring quality and golden glow about it, without the overbearing pomposity and bellowing that crept into his singing during JT and R&H.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

is that a hill?

 

[mad1]

naturally, his voice will have deepened.

I do love it during UF era, and then jump to Zoo TV era.

I think all other times its sounded coarser.

 

[shart1780]

Before Unforgettable Fire I don't like his voice at all. It's so throaty and forced. From JT to R&H he had a technically great voice but it didn't seem as consistent to me live and he still didn't seem to have total control over it. His early to mid 90s voice is his best IMO. It wasn't as powerful as the 80s, but it was much more consistent and he added a lot of style and character to it (HMTMKMKM, Lemon, UTEOFW, One etc.). Pop and the late 90s was easily his low point IMO. In Pop his voice was completely lacked range and power. ATYCLB to Bomb was alright, it was definitely more consistent and it sounded great at times, but it lacked power. He sounds great now. His voice is even better live than on NLOTH. He's got a lot of his power back. He sounds better than he has since the early to mid nineties. Listen to Ultraviolet live. It's awesome. Hopefully he takes better advantage of his newfound power on the next album. Although I have to admit he sounds awesome on MOS and NLOTH.

 

[Peterrrrr]

Why is everyone so impressed by screaming and straining? Because thats what he did the whole time in the 80s, throat singing sint hard.

The latest years I have study alot how a correct voice should sound, before I could listend and enjoy for an exampel All Along The Watchtower from 1989-12-26 - Dublin. If I listend to it now I only hear it as a singer that hasnt the technique and power to hit a note correct and its only screaming at all.

Listend to Bad from JT, LT and ZooTV tour, the Wide Awakes is terrible, scream, straining...
And then listend to a few Vertigo/360 versions when he hit the note with a lot more power and without straining.

The only thing that was better before was the falsetto, his falsetto today is near the falsetto he got on Popmart(yes he had a realy nice falsetto on popmart). Also the stamina was better in the younger years.

To me the 360 tour is the first tour when he combine real correct singing with alot of power togheter with some uncorrect screaming(but not the whole time), also the flasetto is pretty good.
To me he did his finest moment ever on Ultraviolet(2009-07-07 - Milan).

Also IWF, NYD, WTSHNN, Pride is played alot faster and Bono does an great job even on that these days.

 

[Vlaco]

26/12/1989, yes I take emotion (and a great sound) over proper techniques any day.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

Why is everyone so impressed by screaming and straining? Because thats what he did the whole time in the 80s, throat singing sint hard.

i know this isn't addressed at me specifically or anything, but i'm certainly not impressed by it. lovetown was great in that it was a whole tour devoted to parts of the world that usually don't get entire tours devoted to them (aside from maybe any bands from that area), yes. but other than that, it's a huge mess. the entire band wasn't happy and bono just ruined his voice. like you said, he screamed instead of singing. of course it's impossible to determine how much damage he did to his voice on that tour or how he'd sound now (or would've sounded in the 2000s) had he not sung like that, but i think all can agree he did damage his voice. between that and the band being so miserable and upset about everything that they almost broke up, it's pretty much my least favourite tour of theirs. perhaps the only good thing that came out of their attitudes and feelings after its end was the 90s goodness.

 

[Peterrrrr]

26/12/1989, yes I take emotion (and a great sound) over proper techniques any day.

The only emotion he could use in the voice back then was anger(screaming), today he can scream(if you dont believe listend to my 360 clip on youtube). SYCMIOYO, MOS, IALW, WTSHNN(Slane), Amazing Grace(from 360 tour) is all more emotion in. The sad sound he can get now is alot better then only the anger scream he got in the 80s.

 

[mad1]

Bono's singing voice during transition of All I Want Is You, to Streets, at Slane is fuking amazing!

 

[U2girl]

The early years - 1980-1980 annoying tone

The low end comes in 1984-1989 sweet tone, if a bit heavy on the screams

The falsetto is added with great effect 1990-1994 but the natural tone is gone due to smoking

Decline 1995-2003

Return to the form 2004 - present (a little too much shouting on Bomb but very good live on Vertigo tour and 360, consider the virtual same abilities as opposed to the massive loss between Zoo TV and Popmart there were also 5 years apart)


My favourite would be a mix of Zoo TV ability, that clean mid-to-late 80's tone, but with the technical know-how he's learned in this decade.

 

[Drowningman]

As a personal opinion, I feel his best vocal work was in the late 80s and early 90s.

the very early years were where he was still learning but he had such a strong voice that made up for any technical ability he might have lacked. After mid 90s his voice has not been the same and yes, he can still hit a few of the notes but its not consistant anymore.

There are a lot of live shows where it just feels like he's actually talking through the lyrics as opposed to really singing them.

The years of smokng and drinking must have taken a little bit of toll.

 

[corianderstem]

is that a hill?

No, it's a mountain.

 

[65980]

Why is everyone so impressed by screaming and straining?

Maybe because it's rock'n'roll, not opera?

The latest years I have study alot how a correct voice should sound

There is no such thing. I'm sure, according to your "correct" standards, that Pavarotti is a better singer than John Lennon. But at the end of the day, I'd rather have my testicles removed with a tin-foil perforator than listen to Pavarotti, whereas Lennon's voice gives me pleasure.