Miggy D said:
Probably because of smoking and drinking COMBINED with the cysts on his vocal chords? Hell yes. And then he got them removed in 1998-1999 (hazy on the details), and his voice has markedly improved. The guy sang Pop with cysts on his vocal chords...it's hard to argue the vocals there were not Bono's best.
yeah i had those and i also had an op to remove them in january this year (that is so not any fun at all, i wasnt allowed to utter a word for 2 weeks!). it changed my voice dramtically i know, but i really really have to look after it now in a way i dont think bono can - thats less drinking, less time in smokey bars and, heres the cruncher, not raising my voice too often too much. not quite possible on a 18month world tour really is it.
i had loads of therapy but i dont think i could expect my voice post-op to hold up with that, hell if i even do too many nights yelling in loud bars in a row, it takes the strain big time.
my opinion, i think bonos vocals sound really good on this and i really like them, but they still sound slightly strained to me.
i kind of recognise the limits i have on my own voice, in what i hear in his
bonos voice is always going to sounds at its best on an actual studio track because its a studio and they can do it as many times as they like till its sounds great.
ultimately its the concerts that are really going to take their toll though.
IMO while bonos voice may not sound like it did 15 years ago, i love the way its changed over the years and i think it sounds a lot maturer now (you would think!) and overall prefer the kind of sounds he's coming out with these days.