Just been reading some of the posts discussing the decline in Bono's voice. I find it interesting how most fans site the mid 90s (between zoo and Pop) as the time when this change happened.
From what I understand Bono has been smoking for most of his career. Bono's voice began changing after the UF album. by '85-86 it had lost that rich, tenor, youthful sound of the early '80s. In a way, it was almost as if he had gone through puberty a second time.
Few people mention this first major change. But when I was growing up in the '80s and wasn't a U2 fan yet, the only music I had ever heard from them was the Boy album, NYD, and Pride. By the time I bought JT and Actung Baby after becoming a fan in '94 I realized I'd been hearing WOWY, ISHFWLF, One, MW, etc...on the radio all those years but never new it was U2 since I only associated U2's sound with that of their very early stuff. Despite their obvious change in style/musical direction, the main reason they sounded so different by '86-87 was this first major change in Bonos' voice. From the years '86'93 (JT- Zoo) his voice is clearly deeper, raspy, and you can hear him grunt and strain often as he's trying to reach high notes. On UF, it's flawless. Thing was, it was still so above and beyond compared to anyone else, plus some might argue it made for a more "mature" or "sexy" sound. Add to this, there were still many live shows (Zoo Sydney) when he could rise to the occasion and blow everyone away. Though comparing Zoo Syndey to Red Rocks, there is still quite a difference to me.
It wasn't till '97 or so that his problems became so serious they effected his ability to sing altogether. Guess this is why many people see Popmart as the beginning of his problems. But honestly, I think his voice on JT sounds MUCH more similar to his voice today than it does to anywhing from War or before.
From what I understand Bono has been smoking for most of his career. Bono's voice began changing after the UF album. by '85-86 it had lost that rich, tenor, youthful sound of the early '80s. In a way, it was almost as if he had gone through puberty a second time.
Few people mention this first major change. But when I was growing up in the '80s and wasn't a U2 fan yet, the only music I had ever heard from them was the Boy album, NYD, and Pride. By the time I bought JT and Actung Baby after becoming a fan in '94 I realized I'd been hearing WOWY, ISHFWLF, One, MW, etc...on the radio all those years but never new it was U2 since I only associated U2's sound with that of their very early stuff. Despite their obvious change in style/musical direction, the main reason they sounded so different by '86-87 was this first major change in Bonos' voice. From the years '86'93 (JT- Zoo) his voice is clearly deeper, raspy, and you can hear him grunt and strain often as he's trying to reach high notes. On UF, it's flawless. Thing was, it was still so above and beyond compared to anyone else, plus some might argue it made for a more "mature" or "sexy" sound. Add to this, there were still many live shows (Zoo Sydney) when he could rise to the occasion and blow everyone away. Though comparing Zoo Syndey to Red Rocks, there is still quite a difference to me.
It wasn't till '97 or so that his problems became so serious they effected his ability to sing altogether. Guess this is why many people see Popmart as the beginning of his problems. But honestly, I think his voice on JT sounds MUCH more similar to his voice today than it does to anywhing from War or before.