But they knew Bono wouldn't be able to do the falsetto properly every night. So they decide to have Bono record a backing track of the falsetto part, which is a ton of the song, and have him sing over that backing track in concert so it would sound better. Would you be ok with that?
Let's say the band wanted to play Lemon...
- Thread starter Chizip
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bono_man2002
Blue Crack Addict
Edge could prehaps do it....
timothius
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Under this premise would he mime it?
timothius
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Chizip said:
If it were a sort of "guide track" then I would be sweet with it - as long as it were pretty much 50/50 live/tape. My only thoughts would be...
Maybe they could rework it so it involved less (or not as high) falsetto.
There are similar songs "up that alley" that they could pull out that wouldn't require such drastic measures.... Ultraviolet, Love Is Blindess, Dirty Day, Daddy's Gonna Pay etc.
babyman
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Edge would do the falsetto part, but he would sing the whole song........................what should Bono sing, "A man makes a picture?" Recorded track would just kill the song, would not respect the song....................
If Bono doesn't reach the falsetto, then leave the song, let it stay there where it is and keep on remembering the zoo tv era.................
If Bono doesn't reach the falsetto, then leave the song, let it stay there where it is and keep on remembering the zoo tv era.................
timothius
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
As good as Edge's voice is I don't think he could touch the Zooropa vocals of Bono on it. Too many nuonces that only Bono can do... it's probably my favourite vocal of his come to think of it.
The more I think about it the more I think it would all go horribly wrong. Still ethically I would have no problems
The more I think about it the more I think it would all go horribly wrong. Still ethically I would have no problems
timothius
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Chizip said:
My issue (not sure about others) is deception. Miming flat out is deception - pretending to do somthing which is flat out not the case.
However if he was having a considerable amount of input into the vocals and some sort of effect was used to enhance it (prerecorded or not) I would look at it in a similar vein as say Edge's effects unit or the Mofo beat loop.
You know it's being enhanced... but you know the artist is having a considerable input to determine the overall sound.
That being said I don't see where/why/how Lemon would fit in the set. And I think while sonically it may be a success, it would probably fall fairly flat live.
ouizy
Rock n' Roll Doggie
I do not see how this would be any different than them singing Elevation from the last tour. They walked on stage while the song was playing as a backing track, picked up their instruments and played along with it.
Same thing - the backing voclas were already there.
As predicted:
If it means bringing a new song into the setlist, I say go for it. Hell, if it means bringing a new song into the setlist I think they could have you Chizip sing the backing falsetto.
Same thing - the backing voclas were already there.
As predicted:
If it means bringing a new song into the setlist, I say go for it. Hell, if it means bringing a new song into the setlist I think they could have you Chizip sing the backing falsetto.
Ok, well how about if they used a prerecorded vocal track for the opera part of Miss Sarajevo? And if they didn't use that then it wouldn't sound half as good. Wouldn't you feel a little cheated? Like he was trying to pass off this amazing vocal performance as himself, but it ended up being artificially enhanced? I don't know, maybe I'm in the minority here.
lemon isn't sung normally... i don't know if you'd say it was a normal "falsetto" voice.
i mean, who of us here can't crack out the mickey mouse voice and sing along to lemon? and i sure as shit ain't no singer, yo.
i actually think the "like i'm drifting drifting drifting from the shore..." part would be harder on bono to sing than the "she wore lemon" parts.
what i'd like to see is The Edge walk down to the end of the ellipse, by himself, sit down on a chair and give us a little Numb action. complete with some kick ass visuals on the nets in the distance.
i mean, who of us here can't crack out the mickey mouse voice and sing along to lemon? and i sure as shit ain't no singer, yo.
i actually think the "like i'm drifting drifting drifting from the shore..." part would be harder on bono to sing than the "she wore lemon" parts.
what i'd like to see is The Edge walk down to the end of the ellipse, by himself, sit down on a chair and give us a little Numb action. complete with some kick ass visuals on the nets in the distance.
Chizip said:
If they did that for the Miss Sarajevo part it would probably bother me a little.
Although if they're doing that for the MS part I think Bono should then be up for an Oscar cause it must be hard to fake it and have that vein on the side of the face and neck pop out the way it does. I guess in that case I'd be more impressed with his acting ability than his inability to sing opera.
well the reason i ask this question, and now is the time you can all yell at me, is because of the prerecorded vocal parts of Crumbs. It seems like the only reason for this prerecorded part is because Bono can't really hit those notes anymore. That bothers me a little bit. Unless there is some other reason that they use this prerecorded vocal part, then I feel it's "cheating" a little bit.
Ok, rip away
Ok, rip away
babyman
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Chizip said:
Of course, I would feel very pissed off.......................
But with Lemon it's different because the falsetto is the main structure of the song, it would mean to go on stage and perform the whole song in playback..........................
Even the (useless) drum sampling at the beginning of with or with out you annoys me..................(isn't Larry able to play the intro by himself??), imagine a prerecorded tape to replace the falsetto on Lemon..........................
Well I for one think it would be unacceptable. I can handle some recorded woo-hoo's for them walking on stage during Elevation, but I think it is unacceptable to using a backing track to help Bono out for singing the actual lyrics of a song. Even if he has trouble singing it, it is going to be better if it is Bono singing for real. If it is prerecorded, then it is an embarrassment, even if he is really singing along with it. I'm surprised that most people here would be okay with it.
ouizy
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Chizip said:well the reason i ask this question, and now is the time you can all yell at me, is because of the prerecorded vocal parts of Crumbs. It seems like the only reason for this prerecorded part is because Bono can't really hit those notes anymore. That bothers me a little bit. Unless there is some other reason that they use this prerecorded vocal part, then I feel it's "cheating" a little bit.
Ok, rip away
I knew this thread was going to be leading to something else...
To be honest - I was immediately stage left on Friday when they played Crumbs, and I did not notice any backing track.
I actually had the thought that it was one of the most raw sounding songs they had played all night.
Maybe that was just me, but it sure seemed to be one of the least rehearsed, off the cuff performances of the night.
Or maybe I just wanted it to be?
Dunno - but will definitely be checking for this tomorrow night.
yea i don't think they're using a backing track for cumbs anymore... unless the backing track was intentionaly recorded with a cracking voice so as to seem like it was actually real... 
Canadiens1131
ONE love, blood, life
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I might have agreed with you previously, but listening to Edge's falsetto during Zoo Station and COBL makes me believetimothius said:
a) not only is he an alien
b) he could do the falsetto bit fine
MrBrau1
ONE love, blood, life
Listen to the Bostron recordings again. He sings those parts, along with the backing track. The only point where the backing track is not coverd by a live voice is the bridge fuck up.
Either Edge can take the falsetto, or we can skip the falsetto (Bono doesn't sing it in First time or Miss Sarajevo for example).
So Bono having a backing track for a few notes - and STILL singing live over that - bothers you, but the plethora of sound effects they use live doesn't?
So Bono having a backing track for a few notes - and STILL singing live over that - bothers you, but the plethora of sound effects they use live doesn't?
Canadiens1131
ONE love, blood, life
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Now, if only they brought back the synth dance drum beat they used on the backing for the Popmart WOWY.babyman said:
Might actually make the song sound less dead that it does on this tour.
MrBrau1 said:
Yes, I've said that all aong that Bono was singing along a vocal backing track.
And yes, the musical backing tracks are more understandable for when they don't have enough people or the instruments to reproduce it with just the 4 of them.
It's like the "choir" type vocal backing track during Beautiful Day is fine, as there is no way Bono could reproduce that type of sound with his voice. But for them to use a backing track for a hard to sing part of a song is like the Edge using a backing track for a hard guitar solo that he just couldn't play. Both of those wouldn't seem right to me.
MrBrau1
ONE love, blood, life
Chizip said:
What if insted of tapes they used 3 back-up singers, a keyboard player, an extra guitar player, and a percussionist.
That would replace the tapes.
doctorwho
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
I don't know what y'all are talking about.
The backing track on "Crumbs" is analogous to the backing track on "Beautiful Day". You don't really think Edge suddenly has the ability to sing like a choir, do you?
And Bono's voice sounds great - both on HTDAAB and on this tour. So if U2 were to pull out "Lemon" he might be able to hit the notes after all.
But if he does have trouble with the high falsetto (and his falsetto is REALLY up there at times), U2 might rework the song to be a bit more in his range. For this song, a backing track isn't needed.
If Bono were going to use a tape for notes he can't hit any more, I'd expect one for "Pride" or "Vertigo" - yet there isn't one. So I don't buy this argument.
The backing track on "Crumbs" is analogous to the backing track on "Beautiful Day". You don't really think Edge suddenly has the ability to sing like a choir, do you?
And Bono's voice sounds great - both on HTDAAB and on this tour. So if U2 were to pull out "Lemon" he might be able to hit the notes after all.
But if he does have trouble with the high falsetto (and his falsetto is REALLY up there at times), U2 might rework the song to be a bit more in his range. For this song, a backing track isn't needed.
If Bono were going to use a tape for notes he can't hit any more, I'd expect one for "Pride" or "Vertigo" - yet there isn't one. So I don't buy this argument.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
My hopes for hearing Lemon live died when I heard Bono (unsuccessfuly) trying to get through that falsetto in Stuck on Conan O'Brien.
The performance was great overall, but thatpart of the vocal was just...painful.
The performance was great overall, but thatpart of the vocal was just...painful.
