Bono's Vocal Range

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
J

Jdelbove

Acrobat
Joined
Nov 8, 2006
Messages
450
Location
US
I wondering if anyone knows about bonos vocal range -
I have heard he is a tenor? How many octaves does he have or utilize? Also was there a time where is vocal range was better than it is now. How is his vocal range today (im thinking of MOS and wondering how it measures up against past vocals)

Also I know Bonos highest note is the C - what songs does he hit the C note

- if the C is the highest then am I correct in thinking that B is higher than an A note

thanks for anyone willing to educate me a little on a subject i know little about but am interested
 
Jdelbove said:
I wondering if anyone knows about bonos vocal range -
I have heard he is a tenor? How many octaves does he have or utilize? Also was there a time where is vocal range was better than it is now. How is his vocal range today (im thinking of MOS and wondering how it measures up against past vocals)

Also I know Bonos highest note is the C - what songs does he hit the C note

- if the C is the highest then am I correct in thinking that B is higher than an A note

thanks for anyone willing to educate me a little on a subject i know little about but am interested
Click to expand...

Actually it is an High C#
 
The 80s were horrible in terms of singing.

Technically, he's best now.

He's voice has been improving since the end of the Elevation tour when it wasn't very good.

I think he is a good singer, not a great one, but he has a lot of soul and passion, that's what counts.
 
His technique was rubbish in '87-'89 but his voice was incredible then.:drool:
 
does anyone know how many octaves he utilizes or has

also whats his highest note on NLOTH
 
Peterrrrr said:
Nope, thats an A :)

High C# is hit in:
Studio version of Bad
1986-06-15 - East Rutherford - Bad
1997-12-03 - Mexico All I Want Is You *U2
Click to expand...

My bad.....:|

Whatever it is--it's lovely and shows what a great voice Bono has. My father, who is a tenor--and no fan of pop music is always very impressed with Bono's voice.
 
Peterrrrr said:
High C# is hit in:
Studio version of Bad
1986-06-15 - East Rutherford - Bad
1997-12-03 - Mexico All I Want Is You *U2
Click to expand...

Well, logic would prove that if U2 were playing Bad in the same key as the studio recording then every performance of Bad when he reaches for the high C#, so there would be a lot more than just this performance.
 
BVS said:
Well, logic would prove that if U2 were playing Bad in the same key as the studio recording then every performance of Bad when he reaches for the high C#, so there would be a lot more than just this performance.
Click to expand...

Those where just few examples :)
 
His control has never been better than it is now. His raw ability peeked in 1989 and then downward spiraled through 2001. Elevation was his bottom... After that he started taking opera singing lessons and his technique has continued to improve.

No idea about his octaves, etc.....
 
What I find interesting is that Bono seems to be singing in a higher pitch than he did before 1997. He started singing a lot differently from the Pop album unti this day. I personally prefer the way he used to sing (prior to 1997), but I do agree that technically he is better now than he was then. I wonder what exactly accounted for the higher pitch. Was it a conscious decision, or was it out of necessity due to vocal damage?

I was listening to 'Stay' this morning, and I noticed that the high parts (parts of the chorus) are closer to his modern voice, but the lower parts (the versus) sound very different from today and more like old school Bono. I don't think Bono's lower register sounds the same anymore.
 
He might be "technically" a better singer today (i don't really know that for sure),but there's no denying his voice was a lot more pleasing to the ear pre-97. It was hypnotic, intoxicating, dirty, angelic...all at the same time sometimes. Sometimes it had to do with vocal effects. His voice today always sounds a little too clear, a little too in-your-face. It doesn't seep into the music the way it used to. Lost that murkiness, that hypnotic aura, that hazy feeling you'd get listening to his voice floating around the music. But again, it also has to do with less effects being used. I'm sure i'm probably wrong about something, but that's what stands out to me about the singing.
 
ozeeko said:
He might be "technically" a better singer today (i don't really know that for sure),but there's no denying his voice was a lot more pleasing to the ear pre-97. It was hypnotic, intoxicating, dirty, angelic...all at the same time sometimes. Sometimes it had to do with vocal effects. His voice today always sounds a little too clear, a little too in-your-face. It doesn't seep into the music the way it used to. Lost that murkiness, that hypnotic aura, that hazy feeling you'd get listening to his voice floating around the music. But again, it also has to do with less effects being used. I'm sure i'm probably wrong about something, but that's what stands out to me about the singing.
Click to expand...

spot on.....

technically speaking probably better now than ever, however, emotion-wise, far from pre-97 !
 
ozeeko said:
It was hypnotic, intoxicating, dirty, angelic...all at the same time sometimes.
Click to expand...


Wow :faint:


I'll read the rest of your post later.






That really was a good description though :up: I know what you are saying. I listen to those albums sometimes and am just in awe of the vocals. I hear it in the live shows too though, so it was there in his voice, not the effects.
 
I prefer his voice today, I can hardly listen to his 80s voice. As a singer, he's better now. He has finally learned to make use of his voice properly. Bono was basically singing totally the wrong way for ages, that what eventually contributed to his voice problems he was having in the 90s. He has a beautiful voice today, much more under control.
 
I actually should have clarified in my above post that I was mostly referring to his voice in the early-mid 90's, though I hear some of those beautiful qualities at all other stages at times. There was just something really special going on in that era.
 
Yes, that was around that time when Bono decided to become a super cool rockstar which also included too many parties and drinks and smoking too many cigs.
 
for those who believe Bono sounds better now....please imagine U2 was re-recording One, With or Without you or So Cruel now in 2010... would you think his vocals could come even close to the original recording? As much as I like his vocal now (and his range is wider now, yes), this would not sound the same at all and it can't imagine it would sound better.
 
Bono hits a C in Red Hill Mining Town ("LIGHTS go down") and Wild Horses too ("don't you LOOK back")

however, they band may be tuned down a half step in these songs.. which would mean he's really hitting a B. which is still high..

range means nothing, what counts for great singing is the quality of one's voice, the richness/tone of it.. for example, Pavarotti and Bono can both sing a high B.. but, there's no doubting who has the better quality voice.

but, if range is all you're wondering about, than yeah, he made more use of his range in the 80s and early 90s. now, he tends to stay within a more comfortable range.

as for NLOTH... I'm not sure what song's he's hitting the highest notes on.. Magnificent? (that last "onLLLYYYY love") MOS? SUC? Hard to say without a piano in front of me
 
For me, the Bono vox was best circa 1984 to 1989. Something snapped into place on The Unforgettable Fire album that wasn't there before, and up to maybe the Lovetown tour he was about as stellar a singer as you'll find in white rock. His voice on The Joshua Tree album is his studio peak, I think, but that whole period is fantastic.

I didn't care as much for the speaking-singing/tongue-in-cheek/falsetto thing in the Zoo era, and there were clearly a lot of nights on PopMart when he didn't have it (by his own admission). Something has certainly happened to his voice since 2005, where it is very consistent now and he is able to hit the high notes in full voice (most of the time), which he was struggling to do in the late 90s and early 2000s.

So, yeah, his voice might be as strong in terms of range and control now as its ever been, which is good. But I much prefer the noises he made in 1984 to 1989.
 
65980 said:
For me, the Bono vox was best circa 1984 to 1989. Something snapped into place on The Unforgettable Fire album that wasn't there before, and up to maybe the Lovetown tour he was about as stellar a singer as you'll find in white rock. His voice on The Joshua Tree album is his studio peak, I think, but that whole period is fantastic.
Click to expand...

:up: then he screamed it away on the lovetown tour, which is a shame.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Z
Hello!
Replies
3
Views
821
zoo skis
Z
cobl04
Kiss the Future documentary
Replies
11
Views
3K
MrsSpringsteen
MrsSpringsteen
W
Detective needed: Bono’s old car
Replies
0
Views
563
wjc1979
W
MrsSpringsteen
Billie Eilish Thought U2 Was From Scranton
Replies
1
Views
725
lazarus
lazarus
P
Surrender Memoir Love the Audio Book But Same Old Stories
Replies
13
Views
2K
Headache in a Suitcase
Headache in a Suitcase

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom