Bono U2's Weakest Link(NOT my words)?

[namkcuR]

This is lifted from an Amazon.com fan review of ATYCLB, and I was just curious if anyone thinks there's any truth to it...I have also included the bit where the guy states that he's a huge U2 fan, just so there's no speculation about him being a 'hater'.

"Before you click away, you need to know that I am a huge U2 fan -- I've spent most of my adolescence and early adulthood hunting down rarities and bootlegs; I have a very extensive U2 collection, and it's still what I listen to most today. I've also been listening to this album for nearly five years, now... "

"BONO HAS TURNED INTO U2'S WEAKEST LINK. This album (and its successor even more) is about Bono, not really about the band. He dictates the tone of the album, he dictates its delivery (again, screeching in most cases), the album also contains inside references (i.e. to his wife Ali on "In A Little While"). This is not an album made by a band, but made by Bono with a backing band. Clearly, the music-making is still the result of long hours of studio jamming between the four members, but where is Larry's "voice" (e.g. the opening riff of "Sunday Bloody Sunday", or the shifting rhythms of "Miami"), where is Adam's creatively minimalist basswork ("With or Without You", "Lemon"), where's Edge's edge ("Pride", "With or Without You", "Mofo", "Until The End of the World")???? All three of them have developed into highly competent and creative musicians, but where are they?

I'm sorry, but I'm looking for a music album made by musicians, and this is not it. I feel increasingly that the band is being hampered by Bono. Yes, he's always been the grand-standing frontman, but with this album, he's started to eclipse the other bandmembers. This is even clearer in "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb". To be honest, when I listen to a U2 album, I don't care what Bono's political aspirations are, whether he's saintly or not, or how ubiquitous he is in touting humanitarian causes. I want to hear the interaction between the four musicians, period. I'm not hearing it here -- Larry's drums are drawn from a single template, the most creative Edge gets on this album is when he breaks out his bottleneck (and for pretty paltry solos), and Adam has completely vanished into thin air.

This album is about Bono's religion, about Bono's convictions, about Bono's view of the world. It is not an album which feels like it was born out of the magic that these four musicians can create. Worst of all, it's an album centered on Bono's voice, or what little is left of it. If he could have lived up to the bar he's set (and he set it very high), this album could have been fantastic, but I can't help feeling that he's fallen short, and that an army of yes-men are too scared to contradict him.

There's no magic here. There's Bono trying hard to conjure up magic, and settling for well-worn sleight of hand. Sadly, the rest of the band don't seem to have been given much choice other than to follow suit.

Don't buy it."

 

[typhoon]

No.

 

[MrBrau1]

If only the author knew how they recorded this record.

And it's very obvious it's Edge's record.

 

[david]

nothing new

 

[namkcuR]

If only the author knew how they recorded this record.

And it's very obvious it's Edge's record.

What are you referring to with 'how they recorded this record'? And which record are you referring to, Behind or Bomb?

 

[MrBrau1]

What are you referring to with 'how they recorded this record'? And which record are you referring to, Behind or Bomb?

Bomb. Bono wasn't there for most of the tracking, he left alot of it in the hands of the other 3.

 

[Hallucination]

Not to jump on the bandwagon of Frontman fans but Bono is most definately not a weak link let alone the weakest link. Don't get me Wrong, Larry, Adam, and The Edge are amazing at what they do and without them U2 is a pipe dream, but Bono is one of the most amazing frontmen of all time not to mention quiet possibly one of the top 5 singers ever. His voice is what gives U2 their soul and in my opinion Bono is better now than he has ever been. Performance wise and vocally. For anyone to remotely claim that he is U2's weakest link is ridiculous. There are no weak links in U2.

 

[namkcuR]

Not to jump on the bandwagon of Frontman fans but Bono is most definately not a weak link let alone the weakest link. Don't get me Wrong, Larry, Adam, and The Edge are amazing at what they do and without them U2 is a pipe dream, but Bono is one of the most amazing frontmen of all time not to mention quiet possibly one of the top 5 singers ever. His voice is what gives U2 their soul. For anyone to remotely claim that he is U2's weakest link is ridiculous. There are no weak links in U2.

I agree that Bono is not the weakest link, howver...

1.I would have to say that Edge is just as much a driving force if not more so than Bono. I don't like saying that Bono's voice is the only thing that gives the band its soul.

2.When you say Bono is 'one of the top 5 singers ever', I hope you mean one of the top 5 pop/rock singers ever. If so, I agree. If not, I have to say that's ridiculous. Any opera singer can sing circles around Bono. Pavoratti, et al.

 

[Hallucination]

I agree that Bono is not the weakest link, howver...

1.I would have to say that Edge is just as much a driving force if not more so than Bono. I don't like saying that Bono's voice is the only thing that gives the band its soul.

2.When you say Bono is 'one of the top 5 singers ever', I hope you mean one of the top 5 pop/rock singers ever. If so, I agree. If not, I have to say that's ridiculous. Any opera singer can sing circles around Bono. Pavoratti, et al.

Well I agreed with your first point which is why I edited my original post(before I read yours). But when I say Bono is one of the top five singers ever I mean everyone included. Bono has it all. He has the rock n' Roll voice which someone like Pavoratti most likely does not, Bono has the tenor voice, he has the opera voice to an extent, he's got that soul in his voice that most all rock singers can only dream of. In my opinion Bono's voice is what makes U2 a Rock N' Soul band rather than a Rock n' Roll band. That's how I would describ U2, as a Rock N' Soul band. The Edge is no doubt a driving force, Larry and Adam are vastly underrated but Bono is the face, the sound and in alot of ways the identity of U2. I think even the guys in the band would agree with that. The thing is though that without the others guys Bono's just a guy. That's what's awesome about U2, the sum is greater than the parts. Alot(most) bands are NOT like that.

 

[U2DMfan]

IMO, the two big weaknesses of HTDAAB are Bono and the production.

And that just about every single strength on this album is a result of Edge. Adam and Larry are their normal competent selves.

I wouldn't hold Bono up to the fire overall though and say he has become the weakness of the band, I just think it's not his best record by far.

The weakness of the band is that they have to tour for a year and a half to play to all of their fans and it generally means an album every 3 years at bare minimum.

 

[U2DMfan]

I just wanted to say that I disagree a lot with that review.

 

[biff]

"BONO HAS TURNED INTO U2'S WEAKEST LINK. This album (and its successor even more) is about Bono, not really about the band. He dictates the tone of the album, he dictates its delivery (again, screeching in most cases), the album also contains inside references (i.e. to his wife Ali on "In A Little While"). This is not an album made by a band, but made by Bono with a backing band.

Not sure why Ruckman has made a point of posting this deeply dumb "review" (albeit from an avowed "huge U2 fan", so that means it makes complete sense). As many have pointed out, the last two U2 albums are by far the ones that have had the least Bono involvement/'dictatorial' behaviour (notwithstanding the so-called "inside reference" to his wife. How dare he?). If one has complaints about the last two albums (and I don't), then any recent interview with the band will show you that Bono would be the last person you could blame. These last two albums were, more than most, group efforts, and very much not Bono-dominated. If you want to blame Bono (and Edge) for an album, you could start with AB. Dictatorial bastards indeed!

 

[FungusAmongus]

I agree that Bono is not the weakest link, howver...

1.I would have to say that Edge is just as much a driving force if not more so than Bono. I don't like saying that Bono's voice is the only thing that gives the band its soul.

2.When you say Bono is 'one of the top 5 singers ever', I hope you mean one of the top 5 pop/rock singers ever. If so, I agree. If not, I have to say that's ridiculous. Any opera singer can sing circles around Bono. Pavoratti, et al.

I dont think putting Bono in the Top 5 singers of all-time is ridiculous at all. I think its right on. Honestly, I think Bono has more than Pavoratti, vocally.
Pav lacks something... yeah, he has a great opera voice and can do amazing things to prove his vocal 'training'.. (oh and his stinky-assed ego, and I hear he can be a real ass.. but thats beyond the point). I dont feel any real "emotion" in it. Its all pushed. But Bono has something 'natural'. No training, and his voice has a character to it that Pav does not have. I am sorry. And dont think I am commenting on a music genre I know nothing about... so what would I know, kind of thing? Bono can do things with his voice more than Pav ever could. Pav stays in his own little trained opera world and turns it into a strict little discipline bullshit thing.... and whatever rules and restrictions... Ive heard better Opera singers than him. Sorry. Either way... I listen to Bono's duet on "I've Got You Under My Skin" with Sinatra, and hell... who overpowers that one? Bono. He makes Sinatra of all people... seems so small and dole vocally. That's an amazing feat.

Bono may not be the traditional "great singer" like someone who has amazing vocal training or like Manilow, Streisand, whatever .. or doing outrageous things like Mariah Carey's little "high note".
Bono's got character and spunk in his voice and is more distinctive than any other singer. His voice literally dances and play with the music and can be so versitle. Its 'alive'.. the others are just trained... or stuffy little.. vocalists.
Bono sounds great even when he's having throat problems for god sakes. LOL

I hate when people say that about Bono's singing.

Just listen to every album, and extras.. and hear what he does live.

And this isn't out of bias.

(Nor my huge dislike for Pavoratti.. but thats a whole other story and thought this before I really started disliking Pav.. lol)


*end of Fungus rantage*

 

[FungusAmongus]

Oh and I disagree about the whole "weakest link" or whatever thing.. Thats ridiculous. Like someone else said, I guess they don't know crap about how they actually made the album.

*Fungus in a crappy mood tonight.. please disregard*

 

[ElectricalVoice]

Thanks for posting this. Most of the article I don't agree on, and I think it's a person that is dissapointed with the two new albums (probably a person who became fan during AB ). But I really wish that the other three could show themselves more often in the music - give their creativity some more room.

"Worst of all, it's an album centered on Bono's voice, or what little is left of it."
This comment is just stupid. For the first, the album is not centered on Bonos voice. Second; if he heard Bono live on this tour, he would certainly hear that there is a lot more in his voice than he says here.

 

[thrillme]

Bono often writes about himself, his thoughts on various subjects, so what is new?



There are no weak links in U2, if that were the case, they wouldn't have a career about to pass the 30 year mark. IMO.

I haven't come across anything about Edge, but Bono has had vocal training, even Adam took singing lessons, but "just to see if I could do it," as well as year of bass lessons, Larry has taken drum lessons around the same time Adam took bass lessons.

Edge is already a genius though, guitar lessons would just give him an ego.

 

[MsMofoGone]

Bono has turned into U2's weakest link ??

That review is totally unbelievable !!

 

[U2DMfan]

"Worst of all, it's an album centered on Bono's voice, or what little is left of it."
This comment is just stupid. For the first, the album is not centered on Bonos voice. Second; if he heard Bono live on this tour, he would certainly hear that there is a lot more in his voice than he says here.

I think what the guy hears is that Bono's voice is louder on HTDAAB and even ATYCLB because it's basically bare. He doesn't have much vocal treatment on most of the songs. I think he probably has some on Vertigo, maybe others I am going purely on my short term memory right now.

From Achtung on, he started singing into effects that brought out his voice more, stronger in the lower end. So they ditched that mostly and now the voice you hear on the album is his voice, pretty much bare although not competely I am sure.

I'd have to get out the album and listen closely but it's basically in the ballpark, I think?

The reason it's louder is because it's low enough originally that they have to mix it loud up with the rest of the instruments so it sounds comparable.

Like when he is singing The Fly or Lemon or whatever he's singing thru some effect processor and it gives his voice a huge boost so he can hit the long wail in Lemon and it sounds full or he can sing "it's no secret" etc and it sounds full on the low end.

But if you hear him singing OOTS, you get pretty much Bono singing into a mic, and maybe not much else.

I could be wrong, only speculation and estimation. I'll look more into it later.

 

[U2girl]

Interesting considering the last two albums have actually the least of Bono involvement in U2's career. He hasn't sounded this good in years, BTW.
(dictatorship? Try JT - it was Bono's idea to write about America or AB - Bono and Edge pushed their way or Zooropa - Bono's idea to make it an album)

Adam and Larry? I hear them all the time, my favorites being Beautiful day, In a little while, New York, Elevation, Love and peace, All because of you, Vertigo and City of blinding lights.
Edge? Pretty memorable stuff as far as I'm concerned on In a little while, Kite, Beautiful day, the rock trio on Bomb and Original of the species.

I hear plenty of magic on those albums.

 

[MacPhistoPT]

Thanks for posting this. Most of the article I don't agree on, and I think it's a person that is dissapointed with the two new albums (probably a person who became fan during AB )

But many people around here are disappointed to but they don't say silly things like this guy. Well, it's his own opinion, I disagree

Bono has spent less time with the band in the last two albums, how could he made everything?

 

[Aardvark747]

I wonder if this guy got as far as track 7 on HTDAAB? Cos that def. does not sound like Adam has 'vanished into thin air'.

AMAAW....

 

[MooMoo!]

i feel the production is what this person should be talking about, not bono.

yes, the album (bomb) is quite bono-orientated. but he writes the lyrics (and edge i know) so it would be. and i agree with the larry and adam thing not being heard, but thats down to shoddy production.

its a good album, but it could have been so much better if they'd chosen eno and lanois.

its a winning formula. Eno and Lanois did UF, JT, Achtung and ATYCLB. arguably their 4 greatest albums.

but they chose jacknife lee. as far as i know lee and u2 have never worked together before, and perhaps the intention was to try something new, with new people etc. i dunno.

its really not bonos fault. and whether bono dictates things or not, the rest of the band seem quite happy, so he must be doing something right.

 

[ElectricalVoice]

I think what the guy hears is that Bono's voice is louder on HTDAAB and even ATYCLB because it's basically bare. He doesn't have much vocal treatment on most of the songs. I think he probably has some on Vertigo, maybe others I am going purely on my short term memory right now.

I see what you mean. I thought the guy meant that the album is, in a sense, made just to show off Bonos voice. That is certainly not true. There is a lot of Edge in those albums (in fact there is a lot of Edge inn all their albums). The thing you say about the vocal on the album is very true. The comment from this person makes me believe he want Bono to hold back when he's performing vocally.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

me thinks this is another fan that was brought up on U2 through achtung, zooropa and pop,

 

[U2Man]

I don't think Bono is U2's weakest link in any sense. But with that said, I would love to see Edge sing some more, and I would love to see Adam and Larry get more involved in the song writing if they are capable of it.

 

[doctorwho]

I think the weakest link on the last two albums is the fans - mainly people that interact here on this forum. Based on sales, it's clear the general public have embraced these past two albums. But on this website - and it wouldn't surprise me if the author of that review is here - fans just tear those albums apart, as if JT or AB are that much better.

 

[angelordevil]

"Before you click away, you need to know that I am a huge U2 fan -- I've spent most of my adolescence and early adulthood hunting down rarities and bootlegs; I have a very extensive U2 collection, and it's still what I listen to most today. I've also been listening to this album for nearly five years, now... "

"BONO HAS TURNED INTO U2'S WEAKEST LINK. This album (and its successor even more) is about Bono, not really about the band. He dictates the tone of the album, he dictates its delivery (again, screeching in most cases), the album also contains inside references (i.e. to his wife Ali on "In A Little While"). This is not an album made by a band, but made by Bono with a backing band. Clearly, the music-making is still the result of long hours of studio jamming between the four members, but where is Larry's "voice" (e.g. the opening riff of "Sunday Bloody Sunday", or the shifting rhythms of "Miami"), where is Adam's creatively minimalist basswork ("With or Without You", "Lemon"), where's Edge's edge ("Pride", "With or Without You", "Mofo", "Until The End of the World")???? All three of them have developed into highly competent and creative musicians, but where are they?

I'm sorry, but I'm looking for a music album made by musicians, and this is not it. I feel increasingly that the band is being hampered by Bono. Yes, he's always been the grand-standing frontman, but with this album, he's started to eclipse the other bandmembers. This is even clearer in "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb". To be honest, when I listen to a U2 album, I don't care what Bono's political aspirations are, whether he's saintly or not, or how ubiquitous he is in touting humanitarian causes. I want to hear the interaction between the four musicians, period. I'm not hearing it here -- Larry's drums are drawn from a single template, the most creative Edge gets on this album is when he breaks out his bottleneck (and for pretty paltry solos), and Adam has completely vanished into thin air.

This album is about Bono's religion, about Bono's convictions, about Bono's view of the world. It is not an album which feels like it was born out of the magic that these four musicians can create. Worst of all, it's an album centered on Bono's voice, or what little is left of it. If he could have lived up to the bar he's set (and he set it very high), this album could have been fantastic, but I can't help feeling that he's fallen short, and that an army of yes-men are too scared to contradict him.

There's no magic here. There's Bono trying hard to conjure up magic, and settling for well-worn sleight of hand. Sadly, the rest of the band don't seem to have been given much choice other than to follow suit.

Don't buy it."

This reads like the missing pages of an Al Qaeda training manual...so much anger!

 

[namkcuR]

Thanks for posting this. Most of the article I don't agree on, and I think it's a person that is dissapointed with the two new albums (probably a person who became fan during AB ). But I really wish that the other three could show themselves more often in the music - give their creativity some more room.

"Worst of all, it's an album centered on Bono's voice, or what little is left of it."
This comment is just stupid. For the first, the album is not centered on Bonos voice. Second; if he heard Bono live on this tour, he would certainly hear that there is a lot more in his voice than he says here.

When he was talking about Bono's voice like that, he was referring to ATYCLB and not Bomb.

 

[U2girl]

ATYCLB's raspiness in his voice was intentional.
That said, I felt past two albums are a huge improvement over their predecessor, vocally.

 

[namkcuR]

I dont think putting Bono in the Top 5 singers of all-time is ridiculous at all. I think its right on. Honestly, I think Bono has more than Pavoratti, vocally.
Pav lacks something... yeah, he has a great opera voice and can do amazing things to prove his vocal 'training'.. (oh and his stinky-assed ego, and I hear he can be a real ass.. but thats beyond the point). I dont feel any real "emotion" in it. Its all pushed. But Bono has something 'natural'. No training, and his voice has a character to it that Pav does not have. I am sorry. And dont think I am commenting on a music genre I know nothing about... so what would I know, kind of thing? Bono can do things with his voice more than Pav ever could. Pav stays in his own little trained opera world and turns it into a strict little discipline bullshit thing.... and whatever rules and restrictions... Ive heard better Opera singers than him. Sorry. Either way... I listen to Bono's duet on "I've Got You Under My Skin" with Sinatra, and hell... who overpowers that one? Bono. He makes Sinatra of all people... seems so small and dole vocally. That's an amazing feat.

Bono may not be the traditional "great singer" like someone who has amazing vocal training or like Manilow, Streisand, whatever .. or doing outrageous things like Mariah Carey's little "high note".
Bono's got character and spunk in his voice and is more distinctive than any other singer. His voice literally dances and play with the music and can be so versitle. Its 'alive'.. the others are just trained... or stuffy little.. vocalists.
Bono sounds great even when he's having throat problems for god sakes. LOL

I hate when people say that about Bono's singing.

Just listen to every album, and extras.. and hear what he does live.

And this isn't out of bias.

(Nor my huge dislike for Pavoratti.. but thats a whole other story and thought this before I really started disliking Pav.. lol)


*end of Fungus rantage*

Look, I love Bono as a rock singer as much as any of us do, and I think he's a legitimate contender for best rock singer ever. But it's just silly to say he can sign with opera singers. Yes, his singing in Miss Sarajevo is really great, there's probably no other rock singer who could do that. But do you honestly think someone who sings opera for a living couldn't do it even better?