Joe Cool, its pretty tough to deny that Bono's voice has gotten much, much better since 2001 and that he still has most if not all of his ability. The lower register is still there, just listen to Cedars of Lebanon.
Or look through peterr's 2000s clips instead of attacking him with all of 13 posts so far on the forum. You are making a great first impression, let me tell you. I am not perfect as far as my posting style goes, and I have gotten angry before, but never over something as clearly subjective as what era Bono people here prefer. Calm down, lay off the swearing(no problem with the word fuck in general, but when you direct it at people you have never even interacted with here before and supplement it with name calling, different story), lay off the sarcastic name calling and download some 5th leg Vertigo tour shows and listen to Bono! Then tell us you prefer screaming, straining and not hitting Wide Awakeeeeeeeeeeeeeee to a perfectly hit, clean and powerful note.
A lot of notes he used to hit screaming say in Bad or NYD, he was not hitting at all on Elevation and it did not sound that great. Then Vertigo and 360 came along and Bono had the technique combined with a lot of power coming back that allowed him to hit these notes strong and clean.
Go ahead and dismiss technique all you want, but its what allows him to keep singing and not blow out his voice for long periods of time or for good. No one here is arguing that "technique" has a sound to it that we enjoy, its a means to an end and a necessary one at age 50.Trust me, you would not have enjoyed getting to the arena in 1987 or 89 and hearing that the show was postponed because Bono blew his voice out.
Bottom line, we get really carried away here with this 1980s versus now debate with Bono. Yes, there are some differences but they were more pronounced between 1997 and 2002 then they are now by far. Even during that time period, the original post here makes a good case for him being able to sound very close to 1980s Bono. Unlike some other singers who have been around a long time, it is more than clear from listening to Bono sing, say Bad in 1985 and Bad in 2006 that you are listening to the same person. He really does not sound all that different.
Or look through peterr's 2000s clips instead of attacking him with all of 13 posts so far on the forum. You are making a great first impression, let me tell you. I am not perfect as far as my posting style goes, and I have gotten angry before, but never over something as clearly subjective as what era Bono people here prefer. Calm down, lay off the swearing(no problem with the word fuck in general, but when you direct it at people you have never even interacted with here before and supplement it with name calling, different story), lay off the sarcastic name calling and download some 5th leg Vertigo tour shows and listen to Bono! Then tell us you prefer screaming, straining and not hitting Wide Awakeeeeeeeeeeeeeee to a perfectly hit, clean and powerful note.
A lot of notes he used to hit screaming say in Bad or NYD, he was not hitting at all on Elevation and it did not sound that great. Then Vertigo and 360 came along and Bono had the technique combined with a lot of power coming back that allowed him to hit these notes strong and clean.
Go ahead and dismiss technique all you want, but its what allows him to keep singing and not blow out his voice for long periods of time or for good. No one here is arguing that "technique" has a sound to it that we enjoy, its a means to an end and a necessary one at age 50.Trust me, you would not have enjoyed getting to the arena in 1987 or 89 and hearing that the show was postponed because Bono blew his voice out.
Bottom line, we get really carried away here with this 1980s versus now debate with Bono. Yes, there are some differences but they were more pronounced between 1997 and 2002 then they are now by far. Even during that time period, the original post here makes a good case for him being able to sound very close to 1980s Bono. Unlike some other singers who have been around a long time, it is more than clear from listening to Bono sing, say Bad in 1985 and Bad in 2006 that you are listening to the same person. He really does not sound all that different.