"Killing Bono" The Movie: coming in October

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Cactus Annie said:
So how comes when you pick up a music book on U2 songs with all the scores written in for guitar, piano and vocal Bono hits notes in these ranges all the time?
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Ah, okay, there's the kicker. A lot of piano/vocal transcriptions you see of pop music has the vocal line written an octave higher (or higher - I'd have to sit down with the book and go through each one to see if it's one or two octaves higher - it probably varies).

The U2 piano book I have has the songs in the right key (as far as I've noticed), but the vocal line is written higher than Bono sings it, as if he were some weird male soprano or something.

I have no idea why they do that, but it freaking drives me crazy.
 
Oh I didn't know that. I'm sorry.

But does it matter if Bono was a baritone rather than a tenor? Do you think that'll make him any less talented? My favourite operatic voice is the Welsh barritone Bryn Tefel. I prefer his voice to tenors like Pavarotti, Domingo and Boccelli. I think they all have lovely voices but I think Tefel has a beautiful voice that's even richer. Am I allowed to think the same thing about Bono compaired to Freddie Mercury? Cher's voice compaired to Christina Agulira's voice in that shit movie released recently?

Also am I allowed to say that I think Sarah Vaughan, for me, is the best singer technically. She sang operatic parts to jazz music. Yes I understand the notion that a master of one trade in better than a jack of all trades but Sarah was a master of jazz and I don't think there are many opera singers who could sing jazz with the skill she could. BVS said that even singing technique is subjective
 
corianderstem said:
The U2 piano book I have has the songs in the right key (as far as I've noticed), but the vocal line is written higher than Bono sings it, as if he were some weird male soprano or something.

I have no idea why they do that, but it freaking drives me crazy.
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I think its standard practise in POP sheet music to arrange like that. If you use the chord progressions or piano accompaniment the lead notes should work out to be exactly one active lower than actually written. I think it has something to do with piano playing the lead notes with the right hand and the chord progressions with the left if sight reading chords????? Not exactly sure. What gets me annoyed is when they change the key of the song for no apparent reason. I think they just want to keep arranges in business.
 
Cactus Annie said:
But does it matter if Bono was a baritone rather than a tenor? Do you think that'll make him any less talented?
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Of course not; I'm not sure why you're asking that. One's range or whether one is a bass/tenor/alto/soprano does not determine how good a singer one is.
 
Cactus Annie said:
Oh I didn't know that. I'm sorry.

But does it matter if Bono was a baritone rather than a tenor?
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Bono's father, per Bono, was a talented opera singer (even if not professional).

Bono told a story where he asked his father what he thought of their performance, circa the JT era. Bono's father reportedly stated that it was good, but that Bono was a baritone desperately wishing he was a tenor. :lol:

If all of this is true, then it suggests Bono's range is quite broad or that he is borderline tenor. Over the years we have all discussed his voice and some supposed experts have stated how Bono shouldn't be able to hit some notes (with open throat) - yet he does. Again, this emphasizes his range and talent.

People like Mercury, Bono, George Michael, Jim Kerr and a few others have been able to showcase fantastic voices while making pop/rock music. And at no time did they come across as over-singing a song, like some of the female divas do. Aretha Franklin is an expert at knowing exactly when to belt out a note, and when to subdue it. At times Celine Dion is there, but not enough. Same is true for Blige. Alicia Keys, though, is not bad. The newer ladies need to work on their lower registers too - that's where the sultry comes in. ;) Sadly, thanks to shows like "American Idol", it's all about the power notes.
 
BVS said:
Um, not exactly...

But once again I think you're confusing things.
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You said that someone's tone is subjective. Are you saying that I am not allowed to consider Sarah Vaughan as my fav singer technically?

BTW, I was looking through a book by someone called Esther San- something, and she was quite snobby towards the po/rock/jazz world. She claimed that most of them weren't singers because they crooned, screamed, and cried into thier microphones.
 
That's just one person's opinion. When I was in high school, the jazz band attended a clinic hosted by Wynton Marsalis, and my friends reported that he was very firm in his belief that the only "acceptable" musical styles were classical and jazz.

You don't have to agree with everything anyone says about music, even if they're a respected in their field.
 
Cactus Annie said:
You said that someone's tone is subjective. Are you saying that I am not allowed to consider Sarah Vaughan as my fav singer technically?
Click to expand...

See, you're confusing things again.

Tone IS subjective.

But when one knows what they are talking about they can discern if someone is for example breathing properly, so in that sense technique is objective. One can say they are using proper or improper technique.

If Sarah Vaughan is your favorite singer it probably has to do with her tone and/ or her style/approach.
 
Uhm , tits Killing Bono or GTFO.
Seriously, how many people have told you to start a new thread.
This offtopic discussion is really annoying.
And could easilly be done in a separate thread, or by PM.
Could everyone doing this pointless discussion, please talk about Killing Bono or go trolling somewhere else?



Back to the thread , I watched the movie yesterday.
And I loved the actors, they all did a great job in fulfilling their parts,
The guy who I thought was playing a young Edge when I saw the trailer,
turned out to be Ivan Mcormick, which was hilarious but shameful for me.
But there was a shot where he was sitting in front of the TV watching the pope where he looks like Edge from the Boy era.

The story was to twisted and thinned for my taste. It missed allot of moments from the book,
and it took away allot of the inside fun for a U2 fan.
I think its great fun to watch, the scenery is awesome (Dublin anyone?)
And all in all its still a good night to the movies for any U2 fan.
 
We were waiting for someone who's actually seen the movie to come in and start talking about it. :wink:

(Seriously, though - sorry.)
 
I'm not very good at definitions, especially in English, as it is not my first language, so I cut and pasted this definition from wikipedia to explain what I mean:

"Self-deprecating humor relies on the observation of something negative about the person delivering the commentary. Many comedians use self-deprecating humor to avoid seeming arrogant or pompous, and to help the audience identify with them. "

Not that I think you didn't know that, just to explain my thoughts. Because I think this is absolutely spot on, when I read Neil's book.

In the book Neil uses this humor a lot and exaggerates his envy. Now I haven't seen the movie, but from the reviews I've read, it seems this self-deprecating humor gets lost, maybe because he's not the narrator. The exaggerations are still there and therefore he appears arrogant.

A better script writer could have made us identify with him, and I'm sure they were trying to do that, also by making Bono so damned helpful, which makes it worse if you're jealous at him.

I wish they had made the movie more like the Commitments without the mafia scenes. A comedy where you could identify with Neil, like in the book, where he is wiser at the end and happy with his life. It says a lot about fame and what it means to people today (X-Factor, American Idol etc.). It's funny and relevant without being preachy.

From all the articles I've read and the interviews I've seen, Neil seems like a really nice guy, who absolutely loves U2.
 
I enjoyed the movie, good fun and entertaining, alright as a nice wee diversion, and fun seeing bits of Belfast I know stand in for Dublin.

Barnes has done one of best accents I can recall.

As for Neil being envious? Eh, who wouldn't be? It can't be all that fun seeing someone else succeed at something you really want to do as well, I mean I get a bit annoyed when my brother does something better than me, but Neil seems to have always dealt with it in an adult way, not letting it dominate him or wreck his friendship with Bono.
 
I don't understand why they are so many people obsessed with being famous. Fame is certainly not one of my ambitions in life. I've read an article in Scientific American Mind about so called friends who can be helpful in one way but simultanneously react with criticism and jealousy (which is one of the deadly sins). It's better if we know who these "frienemies" are and learn to deal with them.

I haven't seen this film shown anywhere, btw
 
Watched this last night. I was not impressed. I wanted to like it. I enjoyed the book, but this was just like watching a bad VH1 movie.
 
Yeah, a bunch of us went to the screening at the Seattle Film Festival on Thursday.

It was just okay. A few good laughs, and I like Ben Barnes, but it felt really long, which is never a good sign for a movie that's under 2 hours.

I enjoyed the book much, much more.
 
I don't remember how much was just like the book, and what was different; I read the book 5 years ago or something, and just remember that I found it very enjoyable and funny.

I may have to go back and read the book again to compare.
 
Watched it yesterday. I liked it.I think Bono was portrayed really well.Storyline was weird for a factfreak like I am,but if you take it as entertainment,it's good. For the real events,I can always read the book.
 
I just finished reading Killing Bonolast night and immediately wanted to read it again. It definitely ranks among my top three favorite U2 books.

I can see how it could make a good movie -- sort of a "Spinal Tap" thing where Bono's friend just can't seem to get a break in the music business, no matter how hard he tries.

However, I have mixed feelings about seeing actors portraying the members of U2. Bono is such an unusual and complex person, and I'm afraid what we'll get is just a caricature and not an accurate, in-depth representation of what he's really like. (Unlike in the book, where his personality truly does shine through.)
 
He was a bit of a villain at first in the movie, but finally at the end they cleared it up and made it obvious he had good intentions...it wasn't a completely accurate representation, though, no. They gave him a lot more ego than he seems to have (?), possibly to satisfy the rabid Bono haters going to theaters hoping he dies in the movie :/
 
I saw the movie at the premiere in Pittsburgh last week, and while the movie was ok, the best part was listening to Neil at the reception afterward. He at least has a sense of humor about the movie, but it definitely is not the way it really happened and he's accepted that they took great liberties in making a movie from his book. He told us some great stories about Bono, one of which he told when someone asked him to tell us something about Bono that no one has ever heard yet. It was pretty good. :wink: :giggle: I haven't actually read the book yet, and when I met him I told him I'm looking forward to reading it. He sort of looked at me like :ohmy: for a moment, so I felt a little :reject: for admitting it. :lol:

NeilMcCormicksigKillingBono7-25-2011.jpg
 
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