Bonos Voice Eras

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He made excessive use of the Kermit voice during JT/RH era. Think "Christmas Baby Please Come Home". I would not call it operatic - imagine him singing Miss Sarajevo in that voice...

UF era wins for me. He began to realize he doesn't have to "sing like a girl" (his words) War-style but still retained the right to rip it hard with those high impossible notes.

2nd would the smokey flavor of Achtung.
 
thelaj said:


Do you have this track? I am not a big fan of SBS other than R&H Version (and for some reason the version on the Sao Paulo Broadcast. I would be very grateful if you know a way to get it.

Thanks

I can mail it to you if you want it :)

I think the R&H version is very overrated, I think that the Red Rocks verison is much more better, but my favorite version is 1992-08-16 WC, his voice is incredible there. His voice isnt sounding like the he usally did on SBS on ZooTV. In this version he realy sings the song more then ever than any other version on any tour. When he sings the "make it go away" line he uses a realy strong force. :)


tommycharles said:


The Kermit thing is the operatic thing discussed below...and it's a take it or leave it thing for me...it's useful to hit things as long as it's used sparingly. I think the worst show ever for this was the McNichols show right before the Rattle and Hum one (what is it usually called on bootlegs....Mountains and something, I forget)... I'm not sure what Bono was thinking, but he used "that" voice for most of the show, and it remains my least favorite U2 boot for that reason.

Do you know wich date that show was? :)

In the 1989-12-18 Amsterdam he sounds like kermit the whole show.
 
Peterrrrr said:


I can mail it to you if you want it :)

I think the R&H version is very overrated, I think that the Red Rocks verison is much more better, but my favorite version is 1992-08-16 WC, his voice is incredible there. His voice isnt sounding like the he usally did on SBS on ZooTV. In this version he realy sings the song more then ever than any other version on any tour. When he sings the "make it go away" line he uses a realy strong force. :)
email is "lukealexander [at] hotmail.com"

I like the speech in the middle of the R&H version..."where's the glory.." That was when U2 caught my ear. I think the song is a difficult one because it depends on all 4 of them giving a powerful performance, wheras other songs can be a bit more relaxed and still sound good.
 
MumblingBono said:
He made excessive use of the Kermit voice during JT/RH era. Think "Christmas Baby Please Come Home". I would not call it operatic - imagine him singing Miss Sarajevo in that voice...

UF era wins for me. He began to realize he doesn't have to "sing like a girl" (his words) War-style but still retained the right to rip it hard with those high impossible notes.

2nd would the smokey flavor of Achtung.

No, there's not much of that Kermit voice at all in "Baby Please Come Home" (at least to my ears). It really shows up when he tries to do an "operatic" bit. You can call it his Kermit voice, or a person trying to do opera (but not being trained as an opera singer). It works for Bono only if used for a line or two - especially if it's a wail. And in fact, he did use it in a Boston show performance of "Miss Sarajevo" - but it worked. It was perhaps the most perfect time to fall into that voice. Many singers use it - even Whitney Houston.

But I will admit, the first time I heard Bono sing that line from "Bullet" on R&H, I had to laugh. It just sounded so fake. ;)
 
I just listen to Mysterious Ways from 1992-06-15 -Rotterdam, after he have sing the falsette thing "I give you...." at the end of the song he turns the falsette out to:
"Aooooooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh".

I have heard many Mysterious Ways from the ZooTV tour, but no ohter version compare to this one. This is sort of singing does real damage on your voice. Not in wonder that his voice did took so much damage because of the ZooTV tour.
 
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tommycharles said:


The Kermit thing is the operatic thing discussed below...and it's a take it or leave it thing for me...it's useful to hit things as long as it's used sparingly. I think the worst show ever for this was the McNichols show right before the Rattle and Hum one (what is it usually called on bootlegs....Mountains and something, I forget)... I'm not sure what Bono was thinking, but he used "that" voice for most of the show, and it remains my least favorite U2 boot for that reason.


Wich one of these it is? November 07, 1987: Denver, CO @ McNichols Sports Arena

Concert Details November 08, 1987: Denver, CO @ McNichols Sports Arena
 
Hmmm:

Maybe 87' 88 - He has more of a husk then but it's still as strong and powerful as his raised voice: Desire, Bullet The Blue Sky, Once In a Lifetime

91' - His voice in The Fly is as sexy as profound as you get minus to Jim Morrison!

95-96 Staring at The Sun, Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me, Kill Me

2001 - He's been passionate for politics and championing causes but this year was just Bono: His grief, his reflections of life, the importance of family just radiated from him: The ENTIRE Slane Castle concert, the ground beneath her feet, kite, elevation
 
My favorite Bono voice would be defnitely the UF voice. No Kermit, no cracking, a lot of feeling. By the JT years, he was doing the Kermit thing already. He kinda phases it out during ZOO TV, but it comes back during PopMart (a low point in his vocal history), and, sadly, he's been doing it in the Pavarotti part of Miss Sarajevo (listen to the São Paulo and Buenos Aires concerts).

Peterrrrr said:
I just listen to Mysterious Ways from 1992-06-15 -Rotterdam, after he have sing the falsette thing "I give you...." at the end of the song he turns the falsette out to:
"Aooooooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh".

Don't forget Night And Day! The highest note Bono probably will ever hit is there, after the solo... THAT must hurt.
 
Peterrrrr said:
Wich one of these it is? November 07, 1987: Denver, CO @ McNichols Sports Arena

The first one... the second date is used in Rattle and Hum, but the fact that his voice is so drastically different the first night leads me to believe there was at least a little bit of overdubbing done on the live tracks.
 
kristbg said:
My favorite Bono voice would be defnitely the UF voice. No Kermit, no cracking, a lot of feeling. By the JT years, he was doing the Kermit thing already. He kinda phases it out during ZOO TV, but it comes back during PopMart (a low point in his vocal history), and, sadly, he's been doing it in the Pavarotti part of Miss Sarajevo (listen to the São Paulo and Buenos Aires concerts).



Don't forget Night And Day! The highest note Bono probably will ever hit is there, after the solo... THAT must hurt.

Wich note in N&D? Is it in a live version or?

But have you heard the 1992-06-15 -Rotterdam Myst. W? He screams the falsetto.

His voice was realy worn and hoarse in the 4th leg of Vertigo, wich was resulting problems to hit the opratic notes in Miss Sarajevo. But one thing that is strange, is that he learned to sing new high tones in WOWY in the 4th leg.
 
The N&D note I mentioned is in falsetto. It's in about 4:16 into the track, right before the "night, night, night and day" part.

I haven't heard the Rotterdam performance... he actually hits the same note with an open voice? Wow.
 
kristbg said:
The N&D note I mentioned is in falsetto. It's in about 4:16 into the track, right before the "night, night, night and day" part.

I haven't heard the Rotterdam performance... he actually hits the same note with an open voice? Wow.

No, he turns the falsetto into a scream, crazy.
 
kristbg said:
By the JT years, he was doing the Kermit thing already. He kinda phases it out during ZOO TV, but it comes back during PopMart (a low point in his vocal history),

Do you know wich Popmart show he did use it often? SOunds intressting :)
 
Peterrrrr said:


No, he turns the falsetto into a scream, crazy.

Insanity indeed. man what a note that is :drool:

Zootv ara no question by the way...he never sounded better and had so much control it's unbeleivable
 
I'm not an audio techo type person, but surely we need to consider the vocal treatments that have been used over time in U2's history. To me, the JT shows seem to feature Bono's voice in the raw with little or no effects (reverb etc...) and then from Lovetown and beyond we are hearing effects + his voice. That is why people tend not to like his JT voice but I reckon this more than anything is at least his natural voice. In the years since you have to try to exclude the effects in an effort to try to hear his voice. I do agree that his Lovetown voice probably is his best but there is more to this than just vocal ability. Lovetown is the first tour where a lot of effects were used.
 
The question is how long Bono will have his strong voice he has now(the difference sound between Elevation and Vertigo voice), his voice is weaker now in the 4th leg because of the long touring.

So heres the alternatives:

After the tour

he will be weaker in his voice just like after JT,LT,ZooTV

Or

He continunie to devolop his voice just like he did after Elevation

Or
his voice only revover to stay were his voice were just before they started the tour in 2005.
 
Bono's best voice was clearly in the 80's, with it's peak in 87-89. I was listening to Dublin 31.12.1989, it is absolutely unbelievable compared to what he is doing now. But hey, the man is 15 years older..... and I don't know many 45 yo singer that have this power and voice quality..... actually, I know only 1, Bono himself!

It's true that sometimes I'm a little nostalgic thinking about the time he could knock out every single note, whatever it was., high, low, falsetto.... screaming, shouting with this clear voice.... wow!

I was however very surprised about his voice in the HTDAAB, which I find very very good.
 
I think he had his highlights in ZooTV(1992). Just listen to these

1992-06-11 - Stockholm
1992-06-15 - Rotterdam
1992-08-29 and 30 - New York

His high notes is incredible, his flasette is so deep. He had so much more control of his voice on this tour compared to the tour before.
 
U2girl said:
My favourite is Lovetown: perfect combination of the 80's power but a touch of Zoo TV's darker, lower "colour" of his voice.

I also enjoy his current (Kite, ES, Bomb/Vertigo tour) voice: he got the range but only this time he can sing it with control.

On second thought I'd rate it like this:

- Zoo TV (while he lost his "Bono" colour of his voice he had in the 80s he kept virtually all of his range, added falsetto, and the awkward sound in bellowing notes turned into a cool roar)

- Lovetown (while he still screams at times, I love the "colour" of his voice here. Perfect mix of 80's and yet-to-come 90's voice.)

- current (I never would have thought he'd be anywhere near Miss Sarajevo, "sing". "feel" and the like notes again. But he did it, while the falsetto is not what it used to be - but Edge can help out with this - and he does get raspy a lot and he does sound more thin in the bellowing notes. And he doesn't scream it anymore.)
 
1987-1993........................That period Bono had the best voice, and I'm sorry that he can't hit that voice anymore, although he made a lot of improvements in reference to Elevation Tour. It's ok he had some serious problems, but it's also true that he couldn't gave up his vices
 
His voice was probably strongest during the Unforgettable Fire era. Maturing yet youthful and healthy with full range.
 
U2girl said:


On second thought I'd rate it like this:

- Zoo TV (while he lost his "Bono" colour of his voice he had in the 80s he kept virtually all of his range, added falsetto, and the awkward sound in bellowing notes turned into a cool roar)

- Lovetown (while he still screams at times, I love the "colour" of his voice here. Perfect mix of 80's and yet-to-come 90's voice.)

- current (I never would have thought he'd be anywhere near Miss Sarajevo, "sing". "feel" and the like notes again. But he did it, while the falsetto is not what it used to be - but Edge can help out with this - and he does get raspy a lot and he does sound more thin in the bellowing notes. And he doesn't scream it anymore.)

I realy don't like the Lovetowns voice, he has a "hoarse whisper sound" in the backgorund of his voice wich is very anoying.
 
But what a singer no matter the era

What a voice over the eras. Do any of his contemparies even compare except maybe Robert Smith who sounds great still.

There is something to be said for all of Bono's eras.

Early 80's walking out onto tables and drinking peoples wine, there was nothing like him on the radio, Duran Duran, Kajagoogoo, Police, Billy Joel.. All great but Bono was something never heard before.

Late 80's When we were suffering through Hair Bands, Bono was roaring and a complete 180 to the rest of the industry.

Early 90's When everyone was going Seattle, he comes back with sex appeal complete 180 on the industry.

Pop era love the qoute, "What do you think about all the boybands and how do you think U2 will fare"? To which he replies "We have dealt with all types of boybands and what is hot in our career, just tell the boys the men are back".

Elevation and Vertigo I agree there is a "soul" to his voice, a wisdom and kindness now, granted the scream at the begining of NYD is a bit thin compared to War-LT but I would rather listen to Bono on a bad night than anyone else, besides who can resist when the "Sing for me" call goes out?
 
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