Bono's Vocal Range

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Craps make you a crap singer, full stp. So that means his voice better now. It's more pure. I dislike fakeness. BTW, Lastunicorn, your comment is that he's not a great singer is incorrect compatred to what I heard people who in the know. But that is just your opinion.

Plus he's range is 3 octave and I think it goes to maybe G in falsetto. The same rangeas Sying's and David Bowie's. But it's not a competition to sing that high in every song. That'll be stupid
 
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^Not sure if it's the greatest ever, but Celine Dion and her grandpa sure seemed to enjoy it. :wink:

He's *never* sounded consistently bad for an era or a tour, that's complete BS. He was wonky at times on both Popmart and Elevation, but he sounded great at times, too. Most singers do have off nights/weeks/whatever, especially singers that have as many years of wear and tear on their vocal cords as he does. The difference is, not many singers are put under a microscope and subjected to the insane scrutiny that he is.
 
While most of the Elevation tour wasn't good, up to the Super Bowl performance, which was very bad (we all know Bono had a lot of emotional stress and difficulties around that time), I think his voice has improved since then. From what I've heard, 2002 was a kind of turning point for him, vocally, his voice really started to become better. He started to sound real good around 2003 (just listen to the MusiCares performance of "Night and Day") and, with a few exceptions, hasn't sounded really bad for a longer period of time ever since.
 
Lastunicorn, you contradicted yourself. How comes before you said that Bono was a versatile singer and your saying he's a good but not a great singer. Being versatile does make you a great singer. Versatality is just as important as having a great range. You called Beyonce a great singer but she's not very versatile. You make no sense. BTW Bono, Beyonce and Mariah all got the same score on EVTS, which is an academic measure of a singers ability in terms of breathing, control, range, pitch, endurance, vibratto and diction. I never thought they were better singers than him anyway. Stop being thick

He's not a stylist anymore, that's what you mean. How can effects make you sound more emotional??
 
Cactus Annie said:
Stop being thick
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alan-thicke21.jpg
 
Peter, that first video of Crazy, when he sings "riot" it sounds like a 'C'.
I'm not checking the rest, somebody else can.

But to compare this to the vocal run on Red Hill which goes C-B-A-G (All-that's-left-to), for starters, he takes a pause and catches his breath on that version of Crazy, and sings it as a 'shout' more or less. Whereas on Red Hill that's a pretty impressive feat to throw right into the repeating chorus, and it's an actual vocal run.

There's a difference between a 25 year old runner who can run a 4 minute mile at will, regardless of varying levels of training. And a 45 year old runner who can run the same 4 minute mile if he trains arduously to get there. You can make the same claim of "range" between both runners but think about the degree of ease to be able to access that same performance. Also remember that a vocal range includes the whole range. Low to high.

He sings more properly now and can occasionally reach some of the heights of his younger years, that's awesome and that's good enough for me.
 
U2DMfan said:
There's a difference between a 25 year old runner who can run a 4 minute mile at will, regardless of varying levels of training. And a 45 year old runner who can run the same 4 minute mile if he trains arduously to get there. You can make the same claim of "range" between both runners but think about the degree of ease to be able to access that same performance. Also remember that a vocal range includes the whole range. Low to high.

He sings more properly now and can occasionally reach some of the heights of his younger years, that's awesome and that's good enough for me.
Click to expand...

but don't forget that in terms of his singing overall (which your last paragraph seems to be addressing), he can do things now that he simply could not do in his younger years....it goes both ways
 
Have listening alot the latest days to the UF album and must admit that his voice now is very similiar in some ways. Back in 84 when he hit the higher register he got a brighter girl-alike sound in his voice, very much picth. After UF we didnt hear that sound again, but now he got that younger sound again :)

Here are some examples:

dont push me to faaaaaaaar in 2:43
YouTube - U2 concerto 8 Luglio 2009 Milano San Siro - Unforgettable fire

2:36 in this clip
YouTube - U2 - No Line On The Horizon Live in Dublin [HD - High Quality]

"lie" in 4:03
YouTube - U2 Milan 2009-07-07 Ultra Violet (Light My Way)

"love" in 2:11
YouTube - U2 360 Tour - Barcelona - Drowning Man (Full Rehearsal) - 20 June 2009

"touch" in 3:22
YouTube - U2 - Beautiful day - Amsterdam 21 July 2009

He sounds so young :)



And also these days he got a power that JT/LT Bono never had:

2:00 till 2:10
YouTube - U2 Moment Of Surrender, Paris 2009-07-11

2:46 in this clip
YouTube - Bono and Edge w/ BB King "Let the good times roll" 26/10/08
 
Seems like he has alot of the voice earas in his voice now :)

You dont know in 1:05 (JT tour-sound)
YouTube - U2 get on your boots dublin

4:02 till 4:27(LT tour-sound)
YouTube - U2 London 2009-08-15 Until The End Of The World

ZooTV falsetto in Child 0:45:
YouTube - U2 - Paris Stade de France 2009 - Mysterious Ways (HD)

Pure rawness in Riot in 1:16 :
YouTube - U2 - "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (Renaka Mix)" Live @ Soldier Field; Chicago, IL

dont push me to faaaaaaaar(UF toursound) in 2:43
YouTube - U2 concerto 8 Luglio 2009 Milano San Siro - Unforgettable fire

Pure opera in 3:19
YouTube - U2 - Magnificent Live Fordham University [HD - High Quality] Good Morning America

This is why I think that his voice is at his best ever now, he got the techniques, he got the power, the energy, the falsetto and easily hit the high notes.
 
Peterrrrr said:
Seems like he has alot of the voice earas in his voice now :)

You dont know in 1:05 (JT tour-sound)
YouTube - U2 get on your boots dublin
Click to expand...

I'm not hearing anything remotely JT-Bono-esque there.

Still, I generally agree with out about how Bono's voice is now... the only big issue is his falsetto. The Mysty Ways clip you posted is great, but Bono has been struggling with falsetto just as much on this tour as on the last two tours, in general. At his best, he's probably a little better than those tours, but it's hardly Lovetown->PopMart.
 
digitize said:
Still, I generally agree with out about how Bono's voice is now... the only big issue is his falsetto. The Mysty Ways clip you posted is great, but Bono has been struggling with falsetto just as much on this tour as on the last two tours, in general. At his best, he's probably a little better than those tours, but it's hardly Lovetown->PopMart.
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Yeeeah, I don't think the current "falsetto" is quite where some people would like to think it is. :shifty:

I was listening to Can't Help Falling in Love (Triple Peaks Remix) last night, and man, that falsetto's unreal. Was he a eunuch back then?
 
VintagePunk said:
Yeeeah, I don't think the current "falsetto" is quite where some people would like to think it is. :shifty:

I was listening to Can't Help Falling in Love (Triple Peaks Remix) last night, and man, that falsetto's unreal. Was he a eunuch back then?
Click to expand...

But that was with a well-rested voice.

As a man who sings along with songs, I can easily state there are days and times when I can hit some falsetto notes, and others where I feel like I'm doing a bad Monty Python imitation. Granted, I'm no singer, but my point is that I'm sure Bono's voice (which includes the falsetto) comes and goes on the tour. Sometimes he hits it, sometimes not. In fact, all this fuss is made about Bono's "weak" falsetto now, but go back and watch the JT era Paris DVD. He bails on the UF falsetto part as he just cannot hit those notes. And this was the "glorious" JT era.
 
great audio Peter, thanks, many moments I had never heard before. Era 1990 - 1993 is amazing according to your audio, the best range from falsetto to power....:drool:
 
What version of One is that? It sound insanely amazing.

Also, I love that you put pictures of Bono smoking in there. :wink:
 
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