Bono: Was he ignorant?

[Miggy D]

"Bono: Was he ignorant?"

Wow, for a moment there I thought it was a thread I had started an forgot about. I can sue you for plagiarism or intellectual property violations. That subject heading is something that I normally start.

Cheers,

J

Hey, you're not the only one who can write initially-offensive looking but disarmingly benign posts, my friend.

Cheers,

M

 

[teebee]

Robert Smith of the Cure and Morrissey sound just as good as they ever do. It's not impossible.

 

[gorman]

I was just reading this article: http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews/2004-11-18-u2-main_x.htm

In it was this bit:

The band discovered untapped reserves of ideas and fortitude. Bono's voice rebounded from "toast," as Mullen put it, to butter.

"There's a strength to my voice I haven't had for 10 years," Bono says, adding with a laugh, "I hope I don't use it to bludgeon people, which I've done in the past, hectoring instead of singing."

 

[Miggy D]

Yeah I do wonder what produced the sudden change in vocal strength between ATYCLB and HTDAAB. Was it just spirit and will? Did a physical transformation take place? It's definitely mysterious.

 

[desire25]

*sigh* What's the point?

Of course his voice changed. I disagree that smoking is the main thing to blame (only the raspyness), I'd say the most damage was done by 10 years of screaming the notes night after night rather than singing them in another way. He even screamed at times on Zoo TV.

It is humanly impossible, smoking or not, for a 40+ year old singer to sound like he did in his twenties. Not even trained opera singers can do it.
That said, I think ATYCLB/Elevation was a BIG improvement over Pop/Popmart. He reached notes he hasn't in a decade (Kite) and the raspyness just adds to the emotion. (loved In a little while) I also like his voice on ES and Hands that built America and Vertigo - note the cleaner voice, too (he is again, hitting the notes). He still delivers it live, too - just watch the transition from All I want is you to Streets in Slane.

Thinner voice than before? Yes. Hoarse/rasping? Yes. Better singer than before? YES.

*edit*BTW he cut down on the smoking as far as I know.

i read it somewhere he had a sinus infection and he had surgery. i also have a sinus problem and had a surgery. it changed my voice somewhat. and certainly i dont sound the way i do 20 yrs ago! i just hope bono takes good care of his health, not just for us his fans, but most esp for his family and himself. hope he'd read this thread.

and yeah his voice still sounds sexy with the rasp. sounds even better than rod stewart's raspy voice.

 

[U2girl]

Hearing HTDAAB, again I say, he sounds AMAZING for a singer with over 20 years of "work" behind him. What started to show in ATYCLB is in full power here.

 

[U2Kitten]

First, if Lucas was wrong, it was by the way he redid his classics, and worst of all, making that first trilogy which was lame enough to spoil the legend for many fans. I like the way Boba Fett got knocked off, ironically, accidently, by Han. Remember, Han was blind from the carbonite freezing at the time, and he just happened to turn around saying 'Boba Fett? Where?' and his pole just happened to hit his old enemy he had been trying to get for years and knocked him into the pit! After all that had happened, here Han was, at his most vulnerable, blind, and about to be thrown in, and the tables totally turned at the right moment! I loved it!


Now, on the subject of Bono's voice, a fan called arsenalfan posted this as part of his review of the NY show. I found it very interesting as well as sweet and touching:

Originally posted by arsenalfan
Next was "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own." I had read that this song was pretty much a conversation between Bono and his father, Bob, who had passed away in 2001. It's an absolultely beautiful song. While introducing it, Bono explained that he believes that the dead leave gifts for their loved ones after they've gone, and his father blessed him by allowing him to hit notes with his voice that he hasn't been able reach in over a decade. As the band began to play, he said, "OK Bob, here we go, don't f**k up now!"