Poor Bono

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Hornbag

The Fly
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
182
Location
Ireland
Today, while playing along with Pride, I decided to play along with first the Best Of 80-90 and then along with the Chicago DVD. I know Bono's lost some of his vocal power lately, but this is just downright disheartening. Even I could sing along and reach those notes that are next to impossible to reach on the album versions.
However i suspect it may also be that it was a half hearted performance 'cause of the band's over playing of the song. It truly is a classic, but they need to give it a rest. Curse Bono for his smoking. cause of it, theres no more live One Tree Hill, Lemon and it's the reason songs like WOWY and SBS sound completely inferior to versions from 15 years ago. And whats this I hear about Bono getting a throat operation a few years ago?
 
He had throat surgery, though even if he didn't smoke IMO he still wouldn't be able to reach those notes 20+ years later.
 
Its probably all these years of voice breaking tours.. but he always sounds better towards the beginning of a tour anyway after a break.
 
hey, if you sang at the top of your lungs day after day for so long, you might start cracklin those high notes...:shrug:
 
Chicago is just a crap DVD if you listen to Bono, Milan will be much better, his voice was in better shape that nights. It was also great during the 4th leg.

The timing of the recording of the first DVD wasn't very lucky afterwards.
 
Ye I know, the whole Chicago DVD is crud. Sao Paulo was mighty Impressive. Miss Sarajevo was awesome.
 
Chicago is a poor reflection of the vertigo tour i think we can all agree , i personally feel pride has seen better days and it bores me when its played now.

Bono's voice has matured and in some cases has got better with age.
 
Pride's stank live almost ever since its debut.

And Bono has only himself to blame for his vocal deterioration. He's sounding much better this tour, but still not great. Compare him to Neil Finn, who's older, or James LaBrie, who's about the same age - both of whom sound almost as good today as they ever have. "Natural aging" doesn't fully account for this dire loss of quality.
 
I could care less about how he sings it - Pride just needs to go in the can.
 
Honestly, the Rattle and Hum Pride is the only good one I've ever heard, or at least the only one that measures up to the studio version.
 
phillyfan26 said:
Honestly, the Rattle and Hum Pride is the only good one I've ever heard, or at least the only one that measures up to the studio version.

Actually, that was the performance that first made me think "gee, Pride sounds like shit live", and almost every other performance I've heard since has confirmed that impression.

However, there are two performances that I think top the studio version: 31 August 1984, Wellington, and one from early 1987 on a TV show in Belfast, I think it was the Old Grey Whistle Test on 17 March 1987 or sometime around then.
 
Axver said:


Actually, that was the performance that first made me think "gee, Pride sounds like shit live", and almost every other performance I've heard since has confirmed that impression.

However, there are two performances that I think top the studio version: 31 August 1984, Wellington, and one from early 1987 on a TV show in Belfast, I think it was the Old Grey Whistle Test on 17 March 1987 or sometime around then.

I liked that one, because Bono actually had some voice behind it. Then again, I haven't heard either of those, so I can't argue anything.
 
Bono says himself he only recently learned to sing. He blew his voice out because he didn't know how to hold it back and use it when he needed it. Bono "sings" much better today then back then but he had a much stronger voice then. He never too lessons he always just had a strong voice he really "sang" very good back then he just had a strong voice.
 
gherman said:
Bono says himself he only recently learned to sing. He blew his voice out because he didn't know how to hold it back and use it when he needed it. Bono "sings" much better today then back then but he had a much stronger voice then. He never too lessons he always just had a strong voice he really "sang" very good back then he just had a strong voice.

Now that I think about it, that makes sense, because I tend to agree with what he's saying.

Unfortunately, he held it back too much on the Chicago DVD...:(
 
This stuff about singing day in day out and making your voice go has never been totally understandable for me.

1) Church Cathedral Choirs in the Uk sing (combined practice and performance) for over an hour a day, 6 days a week, 46 weeks a year

2) Many people, especially those stretching their vocal 'ranges' (ie singing to the extremes regulary) often find themselves able to hit higher/lower notes after a few days than first day back singing.
 
Guys take it easy.

The Chicago DVD was filmed way to early in the tour.

The mood wasnt there yet, the crowd was very calm in my eyes.

I wish they would have shot it when the tour was already going on for let's say 6 months and shooting in their home country.

I think the Milan DVD will be a lot better.
 
phillyfan26 said:
Honestly, the Rattle and Hum Pride is the only good one I've ever heard, or at least the only one that measures up to the studio version.

The JT versions are quite booring, he sings in the naaame of love, listen to the 1986 versions when he sings in the naaaaaaaaaaaaame of love. When he sang the "naaaame" note in ZooTV he hold it longer then the Jt versions, also he holds the note longer on the Vertigo tour. Just listen to 2005-07-29 - Gothenburg and 2005-09-14 - Toronto
 
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