How to make Electrical Storm sound better (not a troll)

[SkeeK]

With all this talk of the version aired on BBC being a demo (Marco Sorrentino, manager of Mercury/Universal Italy, says the BBC's version of Electrical Storm is "just a demo", as read by me moments ago on u2log.com) I wonder what might be different in the final version of the song. Basically this thread is for some constructive criticism, not stuff like "they should take out all the parts and do a totally different song" or of that ilk.

I personally think that, while the lyrics are interesting, they definately could benefit from some retooling (i personally think that one line would be better as "the air is heavy as a drug" or something, truck seems clunky to me).

Maybe the guitar bit at the end could be made a bit smoother, like the first few bars of the final solo extended a bit.. and maybe something to make the beginning more interesting and earcatching.

Any other thoughts?

 

[martha]

I'd like to hear Bono tighten up his singing. We know he can do better. Since this is a demo, the vocal sounds casual and unfocused.

 

[OzAurora]

the falsetto singing that Bono does towards the end needs to go BIG TIME!!! as I mentioned in a previous thread he almost sounds off key and it aint good, Bono's voice has wained a little in the last decade however he still has a lovely voice, the falsetto that I hear in the song tells me that he is no longer capable of doing a voice like what is heard in Lemon and therefore he should stear clear of singing high parts and I think the song should rock out a bit more, it needs a bigger Edge riff in there

 

[lady lemonade]

Nooooooooooooo!
The falsetto is the best part of the song, especially at the end, it's got to stay, nothing wrong with it. Without it the song would lose that other-wordly sound it has and sound awfully boring and bland.
I don't usually tend to be in denial about his vocal abilities, I barely listen to some of my Elevation boots just beacuse listen to his scratchy voice is too painful. However I was really impressed by his voice on that song, he shows an incredible range, I didn't think he still had it in him. The performance at the Grammys and in that song show that the voice is still there, a bit different but he can still hit some of those high notes. He's still got a beautiful falsetto, albeit not a Lemon-quality one but a gorgeous falsetto nonetheless.

What I don"t like:
the tacky xylophone intro, sounds really cheesy and unoriginal;
could make the intro more interesting and mysterious sounding;
the solo verses could get more of a kick and some reworking of the lyrics: truck, car alarm, coffee, sounds a bit awkward and not that poetic.

I think the song has a lot of potential, didn't like that much at first but it's definitely growing on me, especially the ending, just amazing, can't stop listening to it...

 

[doctorwho]

Nooooooooooooo!
The falsetto is the best part of the song, especially at the end, it's got to stay, nothing wrong with it. Without it the song would lose that other-wordly sound it has and sound awfully boring and bland.
I don't usually tend to be in denial about his vocal abilities, I barely listen to some of my Elevation boots just beacuse listen to his scratchy voice is too painful. [

I'm surprised to read your latter comment because, of the Elevation boots I have, I love his vocals! I'm sure there were nights he was off, but compared to some of my JT, ZOO TV and POPMart boots, I felt Bono's vocals overall on the Elevation tour were the best. Sometimes Bono would belt out this fantastic song during the JT era, but then that's it - his voice was "shot" for the rest of the concert. LOL! And on POPmart he was almost always very scratchy. With ZOO TV, you could hear him strain as he reverted to a falsetto constantly. I remember watching a FOX special where Bono was signing "Mysterious Ways." His voice was completely gone there. In fact, I was astounded at his vocals on most of my Elevation boots - I didn't think he had it in him at all. Granted, there are the Super Bowl nights, but on those nights, Bono finds a way to compensate for his vocals. Then, there are nights like the Grammy's where I haven't heard him belt out notes like that since R&H!

Other than this, I readily agree, as I feel Bono's vocals on E-Storm are superb. In another thread Oz and I are discussing Bono's vocals and I just disagree with Oz's views. The falsetto is used perfectly on E-Storm. If there is *any* vocal tweaking to be done, I think it is the VERY end with the "Baby don't cry" lines (as the "cry" part sounds just a bit scratchy). But Bono hits his all the falsetto notes as well as his open throat notes. The falsetto, which sounds superb to me, really enhances this song. I don't know, it's as if Oz and I hearing two different songs.

I also feel a few tweaks with the lyrics (especially "heavy as a truck" part) would help and definitely better editing to create a richer, smoother sound.

 

[SkeeK]

Without it the song would lose that other-wordly sound it has and sound awfully boring and bland. I was really impressed by his voice on that song, he shows an incredible range, I didn't think he still had it in him.

What I don"t like:
the tacky xylophone intro, sounds really cheesy and unoriginal;
could make the intro more interesting and mysterious sounding;
the solo verses could get more of a kick and some reworking of the lyrics: truck, car alarm, coffee, sounds a bit awkward and not that poetic.

That's definately the main things I'd pick out. Bono's voice is definately better here than on atyclb imo

I gotta agree with doctorwho that he has a great voice on a lot of elevation boots.. though it obviously depends on which ones you have cause it really varies from night to night.

 

[Hawkmoon1021]

I would be surprised if the version we've been hearing is not close to the final version. What version would they be miming to in the video they just shot?

 

[theSoulfulMofo]

I say... bring back the Achtung Baby sound and poetry!