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I thought it would be interesting to discuss our opinions on what Bono's greatest studio vocal performances are. I'll get things started with my top ten, though it's subject to change.
10. TIE: Bad/I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
I couldn't decide. The studio recording of Bad is often overshadowed by the live performances, but the vocal take, even though there are some cracks in it, and even though it's not perfect, is pretty great, and marks significant growth for Bono as a vocalist(as does much of the album, including the title track which is mentioned later in this list). You can almost hear him coming into his own here, moving from being the young vocalist of the first three albums towards being the arguably-legendary vocalist of U2's prime years from the late 80s to the mid-90s.
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For was one of the first songs, early in my fandom, when I realized that Bono was the real deal as a vocalist. There is a strength and a warmth in this vocal that has always drawn me to it. I can imagine that it wouldn't be that easy to adequately express vocally the urgency of the lyric, but Bono pulls it off. I've always loved this vocal.
9. Red Hill Mining Town
This song is perhaps one of the most difficult in all of U2's catalog to sing, with its large range; difficult enough that U2 went back on releasing it as a single because supposedly it was decided that Bono couldn't sing it night after night, and to this day it's never been performed live. But he did manage to sing the hell out of it for the record, and it's one of his greatest and most powerful vocals ever imo.
8. Stay(Faraway, So Close)
The thing that stands out about the vocal in this song for me is that there is an effortlessness to it; whereas the Bono of, say, 1987, may have strained or overdone it at parts, the Bono of 1993 just breezes through it. It's just one of the smoothest, prettiest vocals he's ever laid down, and it really does a great job of communicating the vulnerability and longing in the lyric.
7. The Unforgettable Fire
At the time, it was probably one of the most difficult songs, if not the most difficult song, Bono had had to record up to that point. There certainly wasn't anything like it on the first three records. He met the challenge, and the result was a vocal that fit perfectly with the ethereal soundscape of the song without overpowering it. There is a depth in this vocal(and the whole album really) that perhaps we hadn't heard much of on the previous albums. It's the sound of a vocalist not quite in his prime yet, but quick approaching it. I appreciate this vocal even more when I think that the reason the 360 versions of the song were abbreviated was possibly because Bono couldn't hit all the high notes in the second half of it anymore.
6. So Cruel
I know this isn't the most popular song here on the blue crack, but I've always loved it. The lyric is one of Bono's most poetic but also one of his most wordy, and too many words can sometimes doom a vocal, but I think Bono just delivers the words perfectly here, with poise and control, and a melody that could've sounded clunky in the voice of lesser vocalist ends up sounding natural, organic, and beautiful.
5. Zooropa
The vocal in the second part of this song just kicks ass. It's one of the sharpest, clearest, most heart-pounding vocals he's ever recorded, imo. One of the most 'rock' sounding, too. 'LET'S go to the OVERground, get yer HEAD out of the mud BAY-BAY'.
4. Your Blue Room
I'm sure some will disagree with this placement, but I think this is one of the most seductive performances of Bono's career. The sort of Lou Reed-ish vocals in the verses and the falsetto in the choruses compliment each other perfectly. A haunting, understated turn for Bono.
3. All I Want Is You
This is one of the biggest 'they never topped the studio version' songs of U2's career, imo. This is partly due to the atmospherics and the strings, and partly due to Bono's pretty much perfect vocal. He shows great control here; the vocal is impassioned, fiery, without being over-the-top, until he lets loose at the perfect time with the 'all I want is yoooo-oou' refrains at the end. One of those songs you might play for someone who's only heard recent Bono and wants to know what the big deal is about him as a vocalist.
2. With Or Without You
This is obviously one of the biggest hits the band has ever had in their almost forty year career, and without taking anything away from Edge's iconic chime-y guitar or Adam and Larry's rhythm section, Bono's captivating vocal has to be a big reason why. He makes use of that lower register(that we don't hear much of anymore) in the verses, letting a little more fire out after each verse until soaring into the first 'give yourself away' refrain, then coming back down for another verse, going back up for the second 'give yourself away' refrain, and then exploding at the song's climax before finishing with the naked oooh-oooh-oooh-oooh-oooh's before Edge goes into the outro. It's just a brilliant take, and rightly one of his signature vocals.
1. Love Is Blindness
This might seem like an odd choice to some, but for me, Bono's absolutely at the top of his game here. There is such rage, heartbreak, anguish, anger, despair, and sorrow here, and Bono manages to convey all of this while barely raising his voice. Here, he uses something he's not really known for: subtlety. That 'love is clockworks/and cold steel/fingers/too numb to feel/squeeze the handle/blow out the candle/love is blindness' verse gets me every time, especially that little vibrato in 'fingers' and 'candle'. This may not have the range of Red Hill Mining Town or The Unforgettable Fire, or the overt emotion of All I Want Is You or With Or Without You, but for me this is just one of the most devastating vocals of his career, and perhaps his finest hour.
Ok, your turn...
10. TIE: Bad/I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
I couldn't decide. The studio recording of Bad is often overshadowed by the live performances, but the vocal take, even though there are some cracks in it, and even though it's not perfect, is pretty great, and marks significant growth for Bono as a vocalist(as does much of the album, including the title track which is mentioned later in this list). You can almost hear him coming into his own here, moving from being the young vocalist of the first three albums towards being the arguably-legendary vocalist of U2's prime years from the late 80s to the mid-90s.
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For was one of the first songs, early in my fandom, when I realized that Bono was the real deal as a vocalist. There is a strength and a warmth in this vocal that has always drawn me to it. I can imagine that it wouldn't be that easy to adequately express vocally the urgency of the lyric, but Bono pulls it off. I've always loved this vocal.
9. Red Hill Mining Town
This song is perhaps one of the most difficult in all of U2's catalog to sing, with its large range; difficult enough that U2 went back on releasing it as a single because supposedly it was decided that Bono couldn't sing it night after night, and to this day it's never been performed live. But he did manage to sing the hell out of it for the record, and it's one of his greatest and most powerful vocals ever imo.
8. Stay(Faraway, So Close)
The thing that stands out about the vocal in this song for me is that there is an effortlessness to it; whereas the Bono of, say, 1987, may have strained or overdone it at parts, the Bono of 1993 just breezes through it. It's just one of the smoothest, prettiest vocals he's ever laid down, and it really does a great job of communicating the vulnerability and longing in the lyric.
7. The Unforgettable Fire
At the time, it was probably one of the most difficult songs, if not the most difficult song, Bono had had to record up to that point. There certainly wasn't anything like it on the first three records. He met the challenge, and the result was a vocal that fit perfectly with the ethereal soundscape of the song without overpowering it. There is a depth in this vocal(and the whole album really) that perhaps we hadn't heard much of on the previous albums. It's the sound of a vocalist not quite in his prime yet, but quick approaching it. I appreciate this vocal even more when I think that the reason the 360 versions of the song were abbreviated was possibly because Bono couldn't hit all the high notes in the second half of it anymore.
6. So Cruel
I know this isn't the most popular song here on the blue crack, but I've always loved it. The lyric is one of Bono's most poetic but also one of his most wordy, and too many words can sometimes doom a vocal, but I think Bono just delivers the words perfectly here, with poise and control, and a melody that could've sounded clunky in the voice of lesser vocalist ends up sounding natural, organic, and beautiful.
5. Zooropa
The vocal in the second part of this song just kicks ass. It's one of the sharpest, clearest, most heart-pounding vocals he's ever recorded, imo. One of the most 'rock' sounding, too. 'LET'S go to the OVERground, get yer HEAD out of the mud BAY-BAY'.
4. Your Blue Room
I'm sure some will disagree with this placement, but I think this is one of the most seductive performances of Bono's career. The sort of Lou Reed-ish vocals in the verses and the falsetto in the choruses compliment each other perfectly. A haunting, understated turn for Bono.
3. All I Want Is You
This is one of the biggest 'they never topped the studio version' songs of U2's career, imo. This is partly due to the atmospherics and the strings, and partly due to Bono's pretty much perfect vocal. He shows great control here; the vocal is impassioned, fiery, without being over-the-top, until he lets loose at the perfect time with the 'all I want is yoooo-oou' refrains at the end. One of those songs you might play for someone who's only heard recent Bono and wants to know what the big deal is about him as a vocalist.
2. With Or Without You
This is obviously one of the biggest hits the band has ever had in their almost forty year career, and without taking anything away from Edge's iconic chime-y guitar or Adam and Larry's rhythm section, Bono's captivating vocal has to be a big reason why. He makes use of that lower register(that we don't hear much of anymore) in the verses, letting a little more fire out after each verse until soaring into the first 'give yourself away' refrain, then coming back down for another verse, going back up for the second 'give yourself away' refrain, and then exploding at the song's climax before finishing with the naked oooh-oooh-oooh-oooh-oooh's before Edge goes into the outro. It's just a brilliant take, and rightly one of his signature vocals.
1. Love Is Blindness
This might seem like an odd choice to some, but for me, Bono's absolutely at the top of his game here. There is such rage, heartbreak, anguish, anger, despair, and sorrow here, and Bono manages to convey all of this while barely raising his voice. Here, he uses something he's not really known for: subtlety. That 'love is clockworks/and cold steel/fingers/too numb to feel/squeeze the handle/blow out the candle/love is blindness' verse gets me every time, especially that little vibrato in 'fingers' and 'candle'. This may not have the range of Red Hill Mining Town or The Unforgettable Fire, or the overt emotion of All I Want Is You or With Or Without You, but for me this is just one of the most devastating vocals of his career, and perhaps his finest hour.
Ok, your turn...
