DevilsShoes
War Child
Being my all-time favourite U2 track, I always eagerly listen out for the new performances of Bad each and every tour to see what the band have decided to do with it this time around and how well Bono sings it, and over the years I've drawn various conclusions about the percieved strengths and weaknesses of each incarnation:
UF Tour: These were exciting days for the song as the band were developing and exploring how the play it most effectively on stage and discovering that they'd actually created something genuinely special. In some ways the 84-85 performances of the track were the most unpredictable, there was a real free-wheeling quality and the number, that it could quite literally go anywhere and there was also something very uncalculated about it all, Bono's improvisations could come thick and fast and the band would follow wherever he led, the duration of renditions could sometimes surpass the 15 minute mark and would always vary in intensity and drama. The WAIA version is astonishing.
JT/Lovetown Tours: For me the 87-89 period saw the most consistent performances of the song, Bono's voice reached a real peak in the late eighties and it seemed to me that this was the era when he felt most confident about singing the song, night after night roaring at the top of his voice and making short work of the high notes which had caused a fair degree of difficulty during 84-85. Whereas I like the 87 versions, I've always felt that they were looser as a live act on the JT tour and were not as tight a unit as they had been on the UF tour and would go onto be on the LT tour. I think perhaps the reason for the popularity of these performances is more to do with Bono's development as a both a singer and a frontman rather than the overall cohesion of the band. I still really rate the Rattle & Hum version though.
The Lovetown renditions are some of my very favourite, the band were in electrifying shape, taking risks and coming out on top plus Bono had developed into a first-class vocalist, some his work of the R&H album and this tour is absolutely sublime, velvety smooth but also capable of real raw explosive power. So performances of Bad during 89 were often full of searing strength, Bono threw in a variety of interesting snippets and the incorporation of All I Want Is You into the main melody on a couple of dates resulted in some awesome performances.
ZOO TV: I both like and dislike the 92-93 renditions of this, occassionally they could seem a little perfunctory, the 10-15 versions of the 80's are a thing of the past and Bono would more often than not stick to the same snippets, plus I've always had mixed feeling about using the falsetto for the high notes, don't get me wrong he developed and used this particular skill very well and it did make some kind of sense in the ZOO TV setting but using it for Bad seemed the take something away from the song for me. On the other hand, there were some nights that the saw the song return to former glories as with Bono in strong voice he belted out the number like a man possessed and kept the thing unpredictable by incorportating snatches of So Cruel, Let It Be and Fool To Cry into the melody. Washington 92, Milan 92 and Lyon 92 are some of greatest versions I've heard.
Popmart: Unlike most fans, I really love the Pop versions of Bad, the band actually re-tooled the song, giving the sequencer melody something of a techno twist, witholding the tension of the track by only breaking out into full band for the second round of 'Let It Go's' and Edges unusual driving solo which was unlike anything he's done before or since. Bono voice was in pretty good shape for the final leg of the tour and at the time I remember being very surprised at how well he pulled off the Santiago, Sydney abnd Toyko renditions of the song. Looking back I wished they had attempted this particular incarnation earlier on in the tour or at least nights when his voice was strong, Leeds 97 stands out for me especially.
Elevation/Vertigo Tours: The Elevation versions of Bad are the worst for me, the emotion and drama of the track was often present but the big notes proved to be elusive for Bono's voice and so I personally felt the song never quite took flight, it always appeared slightly restrained for me and Bad is one of those all-or-nothing tracks. I thought maybe the tunes best days were behind it so I was very pleasantly surprised by the Vertigo renditions which not only featured the band in great condition but also an upswing in both the quality and range of Bono's voice, the song was actually able to soar again and the Toyko 06 version is a revelation not only is his voice clear as a bell but he attacks the high notes with real gutsy determination, recalling the tracks 80's heyday.
In the end the mid to late eighties versions will probably always be supreme for me, they simply had a quality and a resonance that was unique to that particular time.
But which tour do you think was the absolute pinnacle for Bad?
Sorry about the length.
UF Tour: These were exciting days for the song as the band were developing and exploring how the play it most effectively on stage and discovering that they'd actually created something genuinely special. In some ways the 84-85 performances of the track were the most unpredictable, there was a real free-wheeling quality and the number, that it could quite literally go anywhere and there was also something very uncalculated about it all, Bono's improvisations could come thick and fast and the band would follow wherever he led, the duration of renditions could sometimes surpass the 15 minute mark and would always vary in intensity and drama. The WAIA version is astonishing.
JT/Lovetown Tours: For me the 87-89 period saw the most consistent performances of the song, Bono's voice reached a real peak in the late eighties and it seemed to me that this was the era when he felt most confident about singing the song, night after night roaring at the top of his voice and making short work of the high notes which had caused a fair degree of difficulty during 84-85. Whereas I like the 87 versions, I've always felt that they were looser as a live act on the JT tour and were not as tight a unit as they had been on the UF tour and would go onto be on the LT tour. I think perhaps the reason for the popularity of these performances is more to do with Bono's development as a both a singer and a frontman rather than the overall cohesion of the band. I still really rate the Rattle & Hum version though.
The Lovetown renditions are some of my very favourite, the band were in electrifying shape, taking risks and coming out on top plus Bono had developed into a first-class vocalist, some his work of the R&H album and this tour is absolutely sublime, velvety smooth but also capable of real raw explosive power. So performances of Bad during 89 were often full of searing strength, Bono threw in a variety of interesting snippets and the incorporation of All I Want Is You into the main melody on a couple of dates resulted in some awesome performances.
ZOO TV: I both like and dislike the 92-93 renditions of this, occassionally they could seem a little perfunctory, the 10-15 versions of the 80's are a thing of the past and Bono would more often than not stick to the same snippets, plus I've always had mixed feeling about using the falsetto for the high notes, don't get me wrong he developed and used this particular skill very well and it did make some kind of sense in the ZOO TV setting but using it for Bad seemed the take something away from the song for me. On the other hand, there were some nights that the saw the song return to former glories as with Bono in strong voice he belted out the number like a man possessed and kept the thing unpredictable by incorportating snatches of So Cruel, Let It Be and Fool To Cry into the melody. Washington 92, Milan 92 and Lyon 92 are some of greatest versions I've heard.
Popmart: Unlike most fans, I really love the Pop versions of Bad, the band actually re-tooled the song, giving the sequencer melody something of a techno twist, witholding the tension of the track by only breaking out into full band for the second round of 'Let It Go's' and Edges unusual driving solo which was unlike anything he's done before or since. Bono voice was in pretty good shape for the final leg of the tour and at the time I remember being very surprised at how well he pulled off the Santiago, Sydney abnd Toyko renditions of the song. Looking back I wished they had attempted this particular incarnation earlier on in the tour or at least nights when his voice was strong, Leeds 97 stands out for me especially.
Elevation/Vertigo Tours: The Elevation versions of Bad are the worst for me, the emotion and drama of the track was often present but the big notes proved to be elusive for Bono's voice and so I personally felt the song never quite took flight, it always appeared slightly restrained for me and Bad is one of those all-or-nothing tracks. I thought maybe the tunes best days were behind it so I was very pleasantly surprised by the Vertigo renditions which not only featured the band in great condition but also an upswing in both the quality and range of Bono's voice, the song was actually able to soar again and the Toyko 06 version is a revelation not only is his voice clear as a bell but he attacks the high notes with real gutsy determination, recalling the tracks 80's heyday.
In the end the mid to late eighties versions will probably always be supreme for me, they simply had a quality and a resonance that was unique to that particular time.
But which tour do you think was the absolute pinnacle for Bad?
Sorry about the length.
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