blm
New Yorker
Peterrrrr said:
Thanks Peterrrr, cool clip--so love that voice
Vertigo Japan shows perhaps the best Bono has ever sounded?
- Thread starter Jdelbove
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Thanks Peterrrr, cool clip--so love that voice
babyman
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Axver said:
Bobby Kimball
James LaBrie
Mark Knopfler
Steve Lukather
Roger Waters
Bruce Dickinson
Roger Hodgson
Jackson Browne
Bruce Springsteen
Simon LeBon
Chris Rea
I could go on for years and years...........................
There is one thing that counts for a singer: Sing with technic, not with the throat. Bono used to be a shouter, the result is that he lost his voice, because he never learned any technic. Ok, he had his illness (which other singer had, too) but Bono became one of the worst singers of his generation. He nearly speaks the songs instead of singing them. In music, age means absolutely nothing, contrarywise, you can only improve yourself. You don't become a singer from a day to the other. You go to a teacher, and study.
let us not discount that modern technology very well could be aiding bono's "improvement" of his once fading popmart era voice.
babyman
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Headache in a Suitcase said:
?
last unicorn
Blue Crack Addict
For a rock singer, he has quite a good voice. Compared to many others, the man can actually sing. He can do so much more with his voice today than he could some years ago. He may have lost something, but he also has gained something. His voice is what makes him unique as a singer. I really see him getting better with age, if he takes care. Technically he has improved so much in recent years.
babyman
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Headache in a Suitcase said:
I would cut the hands of these people, who want to improve those unable beings...................
No technology! Voice is a nature gift which must remain a nature gift! Studying studying studying, I can't see other ways than this.
Singing is such a magnificent supreme art, when I think of people such Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra..........................They are the fine example of what being a singer means..............................
too think that there isn't at least the possibility that bono's using voice enhancers in concert is pretty naive.
U2girl said:
please... bono's range is NOT what it was. and i'm fine with that... hsi voice is still great, but it's changed... as would be expected.
when i think of the best of bono, i think do they know it's christmas. that deep, textured voice that just brings chills to your spine. he can still get up there from time to time, but it's not the same. it's different. still great, but not what it was. anyone who can't see that is simply fooling themselves.
babyman
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^^Well, he does
no. dallas is playing bono's guitar 
xaviMF22
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Headache in a Suitcase said:no. dallas is playing bono's guitar
OH SNAp
Bono sucks at the guitar
babyman
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It's not only about reaching high notes, this is the least. If you got the voice, you shout, and you got it, full distorted, but somehow you have it............Then you're done for the next 3 gigs and you need 2 weeks to come back. Bono can't sing well for more than a night, when he does 2 or 3 nights in a row, he really gets stucked. But, unfortunately, he no longer reaches his past range again.......................
U2girl said:
come on it's a joke. besides, we all know that dallas isn't playing bono's guitar. no one is.
last unicorn
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babyman said:
Not true. Last leg Vertigo and many other shows of the last tour are the prove. His voice isn't tiring so quickly like it did some years ago. He had a lot of really great nights during the last tour. He reached a lot of these notes AND his voice was strong. And sometimes he's also out of tune or his voice is weaker, it's good and bad moments, like every singer has.
I honestly don't get why some people here are so keen on proving that Bono is not a good singer. For me, his voice is the sound of U2, if you hear Bono sing, you know it's a U2 song, he has a unique voice that touches a lot of people (even if he's having "bad" moments). For a "rock" singer the man has got a lot of soul, and I tend to think that this is the most important thing. I'm not a fan of this band because they have some crappy, replacable singer with an average or boring voice.
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somone said that when they think of Bono they think of DO They Know its Christmass and I know what u mean.
there is no doubt that he has lost that rich deep texture his voice had from between like 86 - 90 this is true and even though his voice is better now wich is also not in dobt its not the as if he is getting his old voice back. He hasnt learned how to get this 86 - 90 voice back at all its almost as if he has a new voice now. He sounds different now, he sounds good but not how typical Bono sounds. U know like when u say Bono u think of that deep textured rich voice he hasnt got it anymore. I feel his voice is airier and higher in general now and he sounds excellent but less like himself if that makes sense. If he keeps it up one day this might be the sound I think of when I think of Bono.
check out this though
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niiDzfkZo84&mode=related&search=
in certain parts I get that old voice vibe again listen to the second its truuuuue, break throoooough and torn in twoooooo particularly his voice souds rich and deep again. If you close you eyes it feels like maybe 89 Bono again or at least 92. So maybe the question is perhaps Bono is choosing to sing differently now. On Zoo Tv he would slip and use his LT voice ocasionaly making me think he is controling the changes in his voice to an extent and ocasionaly u still hear it. Perahaps in his goal to become a better singer he has learned to sing more traditionaly leading to the voice we have today.
there is no doubt that he has lost that rich deep texture his voice had from between like 86 - 90 this is true and even though his voice is better now wich is also not in dobt its not the as if he is getting his old voice back. He hasnt learned how to get this 86 - 90 voice back at all its almost as if he has a new voice now. He sounds different now, he sounds good but not how typical Bono sounds. U know like when u say Bono u think of that deep textured rich voice he hasnt got it anymore. I feel his voice is airier and higher in general now and he sounds excellent but less like himself if that makes sense. If he keeps it up one day this might be the sound I think of when I think of Bono.
check out this though
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niiDzfkZo84&mode=related&search=
in certain parts I get that old voice vibe again listen to the second its truuuuue, break throoooough and torn in twoooooo particularly his voice souds rich and deep again. If you close you eyes it feels like maybe 89 Bono again or at least 92. So maybe the question is perhaps Bono is choosing to sing differently now. On Zoo Tv he would slip and use his LT voice ocasionaly making me think he is controling the changes in his voice to an extent and ocasionaly u still hear it. Perahaps in his goal to become a better singer he has learned to sing more traditionaly leading to the voice we have today.
last unicorn
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I think it depends. People who are more familiar with U2's more recent stuff will say: "Typical Bono" sounds like Beautiful Day or something. I don't think you can say that the 80s Bono is the "real" one and today's Bono isn't. It's not as if he's faking a voice and hiding his real voice. He's just not able to sing like that anymore, singing like that took a tremendous toll on his voice. The Bono we here today is no less "typical" than the Bono from the late 80s, it's just that his voice has changed so much. Jdelbove, you are right, to me it also seems as if he has a new voice, it's not just a change in his "old" voice or, compared to Pop/Elevation, an improvement. Strangely, whenever I hear him singing the "opera" parts of Miss Sarajevo or Sometimes on good Vertigo nights, I cannot help but think that he is pulling out a totally different voice for that. I love it.
babyman
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last unicorn said:
No-no, I agree with you under this, this is undenieble what you're saying. Sure Bono is the trademark of U2, but the point is another one. If you analyze him under a pretty technical point of view, he doesn't have anyone. He sings merely with the throat, which doesn't mean that you can't sing, but you use "more force than is necessary" and as time goes by your voice gets weaker, and so you have high and lows. Believe me, I know singers who perform 3 hours every 1,2,3 days, and they don't lose a shot, because they know how to go. And they're singing since 20-30 years. Technics are very important, myself I'm taking lessons, and I can assure you that I'm seeing it completely different. It's a pleasure when you sing, knowing how you're doing it. Bono has charisma, that's what makes him covering a couple of troubles. He's a great songwriter, has a great timbre, but he has no technics. It's not to want him bash down, but it's a fact.
Peterrrrr
New Yorker
last unicorn said:
I agree with you on this one, on the 3rd leg and the 5th leg his voice was in top form. He could sing night after night and still have a very strong voice.
babyman said:
I think you are wrong in this one, sure Bono hadnt much of song technics in the 80's. He learned some in 84-87, but in on ZooTV he learned a little more. But the last years he has a lot more techniqs, wich I think is one of the reasons why he has been so good that last year. From 03-06 he got better and better for each year. And also that he was able to sing a couple of nights in a row on Vertigo tour and still have a strong voice was another good example that he has alot of technics.
last unicorn
Blue Crack Addict
Of course you cannot compare Bono to a professionally trained singer. Even if he started taking better care of his voice in recent years and doing more exercise, he wouldn't be able to become a really good singer, because it's simply a fact that he has lived a live and has done some irreversible damage to his voice. I just think if you look at it in the right perspective you have to acknowledge that the way his voice sounds now, compared to how bad it was some years ago, is really amazing. It could be much worse, if it went downhill even more, but whatever he did to recover a good singing voice, it obviously worked.
And yes, babyman you're certainly right, there are many things other than singing technique and range that add to a great singer and performer, like charisma, soul, passion, a lot of things Bono has.
So that makes him a great singer for me.
And I also agree with Peter that Bono has gained a lot of technique in recent years as a singer. Of course he's not as good as a professionally trained singer, but how many rock singers out there have had professional training? Just because you have a strong voice with a lot of volume that doesn't get tired or weak after singing many shows, that doesn't mean you actually CAN sing.
And yes, babyman you're certainly right, there are many things other than singing technique and range that add to a great singer and performer, like charisma, soul, passion, a lot of things Bono has.
So that makes him a great singer for me.
And I also agree with Peter that Bono has gained a lot of technique in recent years as a singer. Of course he's not as good as a professionally trained singer, but how many rock singers out there have had professional training? Just because you have a strong voice with a lot of volume that doesn't get tired or weak after singing many shows, that doesn't mean you actually CAN sing.
Yahweh_OMG
New Yorker
Axver said:
I agree 200%.
5th Leg Vertigo was the best voice in 13 or so years..... but for the guys who still have doubts about how he sounded back in 87-92, please listen to some live performance on youtube or buy the R&H DVD..... no comparison with Vertigo Tour.....
To me, Bad and Sunday bloody Sunday from R&H DVD are the 2 best performance I've seen on TV/DVD.
babyman said:
But have the singers you mentioned had as many heay songs to sing as Bono ? Did they tour as much in their youth ?
Age does affect a singer, but having a singing lesson/coach can help conserve the vocal chords.
Like I said, to me his Bomb/Vertigo tour is like UF era, when he got a new voice. I'm excited what he can do with it on the new album, ie as he did on JT when he got accustomed to the voice.
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Peterrrrr
New Yorker
Yahweh_OMG said:
I agree that songs like SBS, BTBS, WOWY where better on R&H, but Bad from R&H? That one was real boring. I havent find any version from JT when Bono hits the HIGH C on "Wide Awake", somehting he did on Vertigo tour. Also I havent find any version on JT when he holds the chours in Pride, something he did on Vertigo tour.
Bono are a totaly different singer now then in the late eighties, now he has a totaly different sound and much better technics. And he still got force, just listen to the live version of "Don't Give Up" on the Oprah show when he sings "Keep my aaaaaaaaaarms down below", well the force he use in the word "Arms" imagine him use that force in ISHFWILF.
And I think he still can be better, less smoking, less talking before the shows, more vocal training, less drinkin and that he figure out all things he is alerigc to.
Also he sings ISHFWILF better and better for each year now, on one of the Japan shows on the 5th leg of Vertigo tour he realy showed new improvements on that song, so maybe next tour it gets even better. Just compare BD,SYCMIOYO,Bad,NYD,Pride,WOWY... from the 1st leg to 3rd and 5th leg versions. If he can do huge improvments on a tour(usaly your voice get worse the longer you come in a tour, JT/ZooTV...) well then when you rest your voice and get new vocal lessons...
babyman
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U2girl said:
babyman
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last unicorn said:
But you're mentioning all the ingredients that a fine singer needs!
A strong voice comes whenever you sing with diaphragm or with the head, these are 2 technics between the most important ones. Then, other important thing, is the breathing, that's the way how you increase your dynamics and your note modulations. Not only a strong voice does make a great singer, yes, but you don't know how much "tricks" there are to consider you a great singer. I don't want to appear the "intellectual one", but I'm taking lessons, I know what I'm talking about because my teacher is saying to me all this. Once you know how a certain thing functions, you notice in 2 seconds if a singer sings with technic or not. Ok, it must not be the only and absolute way, it's not that if you don't know technics, then they should forbid you to sing. No. But it must be clear to you, that when you push and push always over the limit, then the day comes when you pay for it. Bono is not the only one, Deep Purple's Ian Gillan, or Aerosmith's Steve Tyler did the same end. Bono actually took a couple of lessons for the last tour, it gets noticed, but he's voice is unfortunately damaged, as you said, and he couldn't held any standard. 2 evenings he was good, 2 evenings bad. Someone who studies, is over 20 gigs, for example, probably 18-19 times very good, 1-2 times tired, but good
last unicorn
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No, I meant: If someone has a strong voice, he's not automatically a good singer, because he still has to learn how to use it.babyman said:
But I totally understand your point, it's a subject you know a lot about since you are taking lessons and understand singing techniques.
Bono is a rock singer, he will never be a perfectly trained singer and his voice is damaged too much in order to be very good again. But if only trained singers with perfect techniques would be allowed to sing, we wouldn't have much of the music we have today.
I also admire great vocalists and I'm very much into opera, but I still say Bono is a good singer, because there is so much more about his way of performing, maybe it just makes up for the lack of real technique and ability. I still feel that, compared to other singers in his field, he can do a lot with his voice.
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