I really don't understand all this "beyond his vocal abilities" crap....Maybe 1 or 2 or 3 times since the song was released has Bono ever nailed it live like the album version...and even then, not really, if we're really comparing it to the album version. There are some GREAT fifth leg vertigo performances where he sings it correctly and passionately. Sure, it's not as great as the album version, but when has it ever been? Even if he has really nailed it live before, it's just silly to say "After all these years, Bono can never be able to match that." He's
never really been able to match it consistently to a point where we can point to a period of time and say "wow, Bono really had it back then". And I find it funny how people try to say that after ZooTV, its been going downhill. That's just bullshit. First of all, Bono sings Pride with a much fuller, powerful voice than his ZooTV voice...He holds the chorus longer too, and actually sings it properly! And you can clearly hear how beautifully he sings it at the Inaguration celebration rehearsal...he does a pretty good job considering how cold it was and just simply the environment they were performing in. Even so, listen to the chorus! It's really not that weak at all. Anyway, if you listen, for example to this 12-4-2006 performance (excuse the insanely shitty quality of this sound/video, but it'll suffice):
YouTube - U2 Vertigo Japan Pride in the name of love 04 dezembro 2006
now compare that to this:
YouTube - U2 Pride (In The Name Of Love) Live From ZooTV Sydney
It just doesn't compare...There is so much more power behind the first one....ZooTV sounds thin, it's so obvious.
My point is that if we look at the more recent performances of this song, such as 12-4-2006 (the second to last show of
the most recent tour), he is singing Pride better than he has in over 20 years....I mean that's what makes comments like you'd rather not hear "Bono struggle with it for the next ten years" seem a little uncalled for. Sorry, but I guess I'm one of the few who wouldn't mind hearing this song at all on the next tour. As long as they don't make it an every night thing, bring it on.