Bono's Voice The New Album

[RobH]

What's with Bono's voice during the repeating of the chorus on "All Because of You"? It cracks. Sounds like Peter Brady singing "When It's Time to Change".

Also, he can't seem to quite reach the high note of 'fake it' on "Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own"

Thoughts?

 

[* MoFo *]

nobodys perfect

 

[Layton]

I really think for the last 2 albums U2 has purposely been leaving vocal cracks in the final mixes because they think the cracks are some emotional representation of the "moment". It's an arty thing. In other words, they could easily clean these vocals up (i.e. 'Vertigo'), but choose not to.

 

[RobH]

I guess, but doesn't the producer step in and try something different, especially on "All"? I'm suprised there hasn't been more comment on how awkward that chorus sounds. It's like he's trying to stretch 5 sylables into 7 or 8.

 

[financeguy]

I think this has been discussed before here, but Bono's voice is not what it used to be. It's called getting older, that and the smoking.

 

[starsgoblue]

I think the "fake it" on Sometimes is intentional. It's so noticable that it woulda been redone otherwise. And I think it goes with the song...

 

[isabelle_guns]

Hi svoice is wearing out whether we want to admit it or not but the music still rocks just the same.

 

[financeguy]

Hi svoice is wearing out whether we want to admit it or not but the music still rocks just the same.

True. And happy birthday to you by the way.

 

[all_i_want]

he should probably give up smoking soon

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

I think its fairly obvious that Bono's voice has improved A LOT since the ATYCLB era.

 

[shaun vox]

i was watching the boston dvd(dont ask why) and bano sounds like a horse in it!!!! very bad!!!

and even on vertigo live very horsey no clearty or power!!!






what makes it worse is if you watch R&H dvd or zootv you can see and hear how much bano has lost his voice// sad time sad times

and now we will have vertigo tour dvd with horsey bano voice yuckkkkkk!

 

[starsgoblue]

His voice can still make me cry or smile. That's good enough for me.

 

[shaun vox]

true that ,true that!!


as i said is was watching the boston dvd and i just had to stop it because of banos cracking horsey voice... bano has ruined WOWY for me, live he cant sing it!!!! and desire is so yuck on boston why play it if bano cant sing it?

 

[D'oh!]

I think Bono's vocals have been brilliant on the last two albums...

 

[U2girl]

Sounds fine to me. He sounds better than he did on the previous two albums.

The only time he doesn't quite make it at the high notes IMO is the chorus of Yahweh, and the very final "everywhere you go you shout it" line in Original of the species.

 

[Stefan]

i was watching the boston dvd(dont ask why) and bano sounds like a horse in it!!!! very bad!!!

I think his voice sounds great at that concert, much better than for example at the super bowl.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

shaun am sorry leave it with the bano will ya

 

[achtung y'all]

Bano - hmmm I see you keep getting a letter wrong in the name. Oh well, it happens sometimes Shaun Cox...

 

[zoopop]

He sounds alot better than the ATYCLB era. It is no where near what it use to be but he showed some really solid range on HTDAAB. For me their was only one Bono highlight (voice wise) on ATYCLB and that was on Kite. He has many on the new album. Hopefully he'll kick a** on the Vertigo tour.

 

[Reggie Thee Dog]

Shaun is funny...very funny. This is the best Bono has sounded in years...years my friends.

 

[doctorwho]

I really think for the last 2 albums U2 has purposely been leaving vocal cracks in the final mixes because they think the cracks are some emotional representation of the "moment". It's an arty thing. In other words, they could easily clean these vocals up (i.e. 'Vertigo'), but choose not to.

In fact, U2, or Bono, has been doing this since AB.

Listen to "One" on AB - Bono's voice is very scratchy. However, in concert, it's more full and rich sounding. In other words, Bono isn't always able to duplicate the scratchiness of "One" live. But that hoarse sound adds a lot of emotion to the song. Same is true for "In a Little While", "Beautiful Day" and "Sometimes...". The operatic sound Bono had on JT worked well for those songs. I can't imagine "With or Without You" not having that tremendous roar at the end. Likewise, that operatic burst in "Hands that Built America" flows well. But there are times when that "opera voice" wouldn't work.

This is what makes Bono such a good singer. In the early 80's, Bono was just learning to sing - and sometimes sounded a bit off or even nasally. By UF his voice was developed, but he screamed a lot. By R&H, he had a tremendous voice, but it was nearly impossible to maintain. He readjusted his vocal styling on AB through "Pop".

With ATYCLB and HTDAAB, he's taken some of those operatic moments of the late 80's, with the scratchy "real" vocals of the 90's and has created a tremendous sound. So what you call "mistakes" are clearly intentional.

 

[Nube Gris]

Very, very true!

What a great post you've made!
Hats off to that1

Bono's such a good singer, and he's singing better than ever, his voice however doesn't sound as "pure" as it did in the R&H years, because of the smoking and heavy drinking we all know(he must quit the smoking) but there's no doubt that at the very moment he's a much much better singer

His ability to get inside those songs is amazing!
What a singer, what a singer.....

One of the best singers of the past century, and there's no doubt he will go down as one of the greatest in this one

 

[doctorwho]

He smoked during the R&H era too.

Bono's R&H voice was easily the best. I have some JT era boots, and while he's good, he's a LOT lower than on the album. The songs were clearly in a different key. And I'm sure that was done to save his vocals.

During the R&H Love Town tour, his voice would truly soar. He'd belt out those high notes and had this rich, full sounding voice. Trouble is, he couldn't keep it. Prior to the Love Town tour, U2 only cancelled the occasional show due to Bono's vocals. However, they surprisingly cancelled quite a few shows during the R&H era. This proved that while Bono's voice was fantastic then, he really couldn't maintain it.

As such, he had to readjust his vocal style. There's no way he could've done the ZOO tour singing like he did on the Love Town tour.

Right now, I think Bono's voice is the best I've heard since ZOO TV. Bono struggled a lot on the PopMart tour and he often sounded horribly scratchy on the ATYCLB tour. At present, his vocals sound really strong and he's hitting notes I haven't heard him hit in ages! If he can combine the scratchiness of the 90's with the power of the UF era, the Vertigo Tour will be spectacular!

 

[bcrt2000]

anyone with the amount of studio time that U2 spends could sound like american idols if they actually focused on cleaning up the vocals... beautiful day was really the ultimate proclamation of "hey, we're not american idols anymore, we're just a bunch of guys who have found something and trying to tell that to the world"

 

[Neenie]

Right now, I think Bono's voice is the best I've heard since ZOO TV. Bono struggled a lot on the PopMart tour and he often sounded horribly scratchy on the ATYCLB tour. At present, his vocals sound really strong and he's hitting notes I haven't heard him hit in ages! If he can combine the scratchiness of the 90's with the power of the UF era, the Vertigo Tour will be spectacular!

Exactly.

When I heard Bono's raspy voice through the ATYCLB tour and album, I thought his voice was gone for good. But with HTDAAB it sounds perfect to me, and I think the scratchy feel here and there is intentional and adds character to songs like on Achtung Baby. If you listen to a few recent concerts such as "radio one" his voice sounds very healthy. Much better than before

All I can say is I look forward to his voice on this tour and hope these lemon rehearsal rumors are true

 

[digsy]

all it really takes is therapy (and the op that Bono had a few years back)

i had the same op a year or so ago - with enough vocal excercises and a concerted effort to use your voice properly theres no reason why there wouldnt be a massive improvement in clarity and condition over time.

the voice is a totally fixable thing, just because you wreck it at one stage in your life doesnt mean it can't be recitified and totally restored and improved later, just like Bono's voice now compared to a few years back.

 

[ahmedadam]

A lot of the quality of the voice is psychologically reasoned. When I am confident i can sing amazingly strongly or if not then like a small weed wilting in the desert sun. Bono is very sure of himself now and has an exceptional voice, better even than mine.

 

[bcrt2000]

http://www.xtrememusician.com/info/artists/profiles/91.html

In 1997, Bono had began to notice some problems with his vocal chords, and was admitted into the hospital to have the problem corrected.

Is this date of 1997 correct? If so then I finally know why Bono's voice sounded so funky during the Popmart Mexico concert

 

[Palace_Hero]

End of 1997 I believe, between the 3rd and 4th legs.

 

[Axver]

During the R&H Love Town tour, his voice would truly soar. He'd belt out those high notes and had this rich, full sounding voice. Trouble is, he couldn't keep it. Prior to the Love Town tour, U2 only cancelled the occasional show due to Bono's vocals. However, they surprisingly cancelled quite a few shows during the R&H era. This proved that while Bono's voice was fantastic then, he really couldn't maintain it.

I believe they rescheduled a total of five shows (three in Sydney, two in Amsterdam) and at least two more were cut short. Though a lot of Bono's vocal problems on Lovetown stemmed from what he termed "psychadelic germs" that he encountered in Australia. I do wonder if his voice would have performed even better if he hadn't become ill.