Bono's Voice, Afraid?

[RobVox]

Okay, who here is also nervous about Bono's declining vocals. Now I know I may be speaking out about the "holy grail," but Bono was told by a doctor that if he did not lay-off of the smokes he could loose his voice altogether, and as we have all seen in photo after photo: the smokes are still in hand. You have also heard the story of his daughters giving him kisses to see if he had been smoking because of what the doctor had told him.

So with that said, (considering the decline in vocal strength '80-present, e.g. falsetto of today vs. diaphragm singing of days gone by, etc.) who else here is afraid of what Bono may now sound like?

RobVox

 

[mkdominatr]

Well i agree that smoking is 1st off bad, and that it had changed his voice. i do like his voice now too. it has a very cool rough sound. even if he didnt smoke how strong would his voice be anyway?

 

[SmileyGladhands]

Is this seriously what you people worry about? I mean, people are dying the world over, and we're worrying about Bono's voice (which sounds just fine to me)??

Who the hell says his vocals are "declining" anyways - that's a bit presumptuous - especially when the only thing from the new album we've heard so far are shitty washed out clips.

ciao,

smiley

 

[RademR]

not worried at all when it comes to the records, his voice sounds great on the latest releases (Electrical Storm) and the leaks as well, sounds real energetic. I think it effects him with touring, night after night of giving it your all. It adds up on him, but in the end I think Bono will be alright.

 

[Black Math]

If anything the signs point to his voice sounding stronger than on the last album.. so no, I am not worried.

 

[Bonochick]

As long as the passion is still there, it's fine. There are lots of musicians I love whose voices can often be a lot less than perfect, but I still enjoy the music very much.

 

[AtomicLemon]

I'm worried more about his health than his voice. I shudder to think of reading the headline, "Bono diagnosed with lung cancer".

THAT is what I am afraid of.

 

[neutral]

Is this seriously what you people worry about? I mean, people are dying the world over, and we're worrying about Bono's voice (which sounds just fine to me)??

I love how one person asking a simple question means that this is what "us people" worry about.



And I agree with mkdominatr, I actually like his voice now too.

 

[SmileyGladhands]

A simple analysis of the English language would show that "you people" would not imply everyone here, rather "the people" worrying about his voice.

People really need to re-acquaint themselves with smiley emoticons as they indicate the tone taken in a post. Note the Winky-Smiley emoticon in my post. <--Note!!

 

[RobVox]

A simple analysis of the English language would show that "you people" would not imply everyone here, rather "the people" worrying about his voice.

People really need to re-acquaint themselves with smiley emoticons as they indicate the tone taken in a post. Note the Winky-Smiley emoticon in my post. <--Note!!

When U2 and the voice of Bono has defined what I listen to (almost to the exclusion of all else) I think it is a valid concern. I have heard, and as my fellow fan who has noticed the strain in his voice during the touring has noted there is an audible change that has occurred. I simply wondered how much wool is over our collective "U2 can do no wrong" eyes. Now don't tell me if we could magically change his voice back to the power of the mid-80's we wouldn't all go for it (I know Bono would himself).

I do not think it shows that I am overtly worried about his voice when there are other things that need greater amounts of attention. And, to note in contrast, a simple reply to this post denotes a certain amount of concern for the matter...

Continued thoughts.

RobVox

 

[HelloAngel]

Current discussion of this here: http://forum.interference.com/t96329.html

 

[RobVox]

Originally posted by HelloAngel

Sorry did not mean to double up, I am going to post my comments on that thread, hope to hear more peoples thoughts. And I must note, it is good to see that some of you are realists about Bono misusing his throat when he should have been singing from his diaphragm, but anyway, visit the link posted above for more bits of juicy goodness about King-B's voice.

RobVox

 

[Liesje]

The quality of his voice is no doubt depleated from years of smoking and drinking and singing wrong, but his technique singing has steadily improved, beginning with Pop. That's probably the main reason why I actually like Pop - Bono's singing sounds way better than it ever had before. I think there's an important difference between "singing" and "voice".

 

[shaun vox]

be afraid be very afraid!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[U2girl]

I am sure he sounds good on the album, Electrical Storm and Hands that built America had him singing better than Pop and ATYCLB.

I do wonder what will happen on the tour, though.

 

[U2Kitten]

Who cares about his voice, it's all about the hair!

 

[isabelle_guns]

Interesting thread, I was just talking about this with my boyfriend. We were watching the Boston DVD and noticed his declining vocals and yes, I am very worried about it. It is one thing to be at a U2 concert for the spirit of U2 and another for a good show and performance. Only time will tell

 

[babyman]

there's nothing to be afraid, he's still there singing and this means he still can make it. forget his old voice, we ill never hear it again, it's a lil bit use up but it's still his voice, so basta, there's the new reord and i don't want to hear nothing else

 

[u2ulysses]

Interesting thread, I was just talking about this with my boyfriend. We were watching the Boston DVD and noticed his declining vocals and yes, I am very worried about it. It is one thing to be at a U2 concert for the spirit of U2 and another for a good show and performance. Only time will tell

I'm surprised you say this about the Boston show as I felt his vocals were VERY strong there. In contrast, I thought he was more "airy" sounding on the Slane DVD. He hit all the notes clean (especially that operatic wail at the beginning of "Streets"), but his voice lacked the richness that I heard on the Boston DVD.

As for Bono's overall voice, I agree, it's not as rich or full as it was during the R&H era - easily Bono's best vocal period. However, there was a high price to pay. His voice frequently failed then as he constantly sang out of his range. This caused the cancellation of many shows and most likely did damage to his vocal chords. Furthermore, I have boot CD's from that era where Bono starts of really strong and powerful, but is a "disaster" by the end of the show. One can just hear how strained his voice is. In contrast, these days, Bono's voice stays consistently strong throughout the entire show. It may not be as rich as it was, but there's far less cracking vocals (something I even heard on the ZOO TV tours) and scratchiness.

As the tour moves on, often Bono's vocals do get a bit "airy" sounding - hence why Slane doesn't sound as good as Boston. But as I listen to "Electrical Storm", "Hands that Built America", the Oscar performance and these clips, it's clear to me that Bono has full command of his upper register - almost back to the UF era. Also, he can belt out that operatic voice - something we haven't heard since the R&H era. Therefore, he's clearly been resting his voice and should sound great on this album. If his voice "cracks" it is intentional (on an album, they would keep recording over and over until they got the sound they wanted - clearly Bono/U2 wanted his voice to sound a certain way on certain songs).

Therefore, vocally I feel Bono's voice will be fine. I'm more interested in hearing Edge's guitar work on this album - the one thing that I felt was a bit lacking on ATYCLB.

 

[katman]

well, i saw the clip of bono singing at the democrat convention or whatever, he sang Pride... seemed pretty good.
I think that's the most recent.

He's voice will certainly handle the tour, or if not, fans will be into it as always

 

[babyman]

Bono's voice stays consistently strong throughout the entire show.


it' s because they play many songs 1-2 keys lower now, in the past they were playing the songs in the right key ,and what keys!, they were damn high, and he was shouting the hell out, now no more, but it's ok, we must not make too much worries about, i'm sure bono will surprise us all

 

[PurpleSeven]

They've been playing songs in lower keys since the mid-80's. Listen to Bad from UF, and listen to it from Wide Awake in America and you'll find it's in a lower key - and still the same key that it is currently done live.

Of course his voice will not ever again be what it was twenty years ago, but come on - he's still Bono. I'm not that worried.

If you want to put it into perspective, listen to Robert Plant from the early 70's, and then listen from the late 70's - it's like two different people - and this is only in the span of 10 years. Hell, listen to Pavarotti twenty years ago and listen to him today. It's just a fact of the human voice; it is going to age.

I guess all that I'm trying to say is that I hope Bono reads this and then he will know that he's gonna be OK.

Don't worry Bono - we've got it all figured out. You can go back to bed.

 

[Ellay]

Although his voice sounded really dodgy plenty of times during the popmart tour,

I've yet to hear an elevation concert in which he didn't sound great..

So I'm not worried.