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  1. With his stage presense and his performance on the new album after 30 years of being in the band, you gotta give it to him! Plus all those cigarettes and cigars! Imagine wat he could of sounded like!

    "Cant sing but I've got soul..."
  2. Originally posted by Maclove:Hey Alex

    I agree with most of your response but I have some questions, i mean, how can Bono not be one of the all time best, technically speaking?

    - Operatic voice, with very high registers like Wire, Pride, Bad, ASOH, One Tree Hill, WOWY, Hawkmoon 269, LRM, God Part II( many of this notes are extremely dificult and high)

    - Then you have the falsetto in the 90's, very high at some points, overall technically very good.

    - Low voice which is extremely dificult to pull off.

    - And some opera snippets I don't see many singers do( Miss Sarajevo, SYCMIOYO)

    I seriously doubt there are artist capable of pulling so many styles in a career and ultimately do stuff that Bono has done, at least in his all time greatest years(84-89)


    What do you think? ( for all of you of course)


    P.S - Excuse me for my english, I'm portuguese and I'm new here


    Technically speaking he is on the end of the list, that is for sure. He may have reached some high notes here and there, some opera stuff, but he is not comparable to technical singers. I mean, he is probably the best singer U2 could have, he fits the band, but he would be lost in styles that require more tecnique.
  3. I have a (not too close) friend who is a professional singer. His name is Claas P. Jambor. His vocal abilities are amazing - and he spent years working and training hard on them. His voice spans four octaves. He released a few rock / worship CDs which showcase his talent. No one I know ever heard about him.

    I know another person who's named George. He works in a Karaoke bar now but has been singing professionally with Phil Keaggy and others. He'll let you pick most any song on his Karaoke list and give you a singing contest in it. He smokes everybody. On every non- U2 song I'd hold any bet he'd smoke Bono.

    I might get beaten for that, but the final contestants for "American Idol" and its international derivates are usually fantastic singers desperately trying to get a major recording contract. I don't like what they do and the whole commercial context, but boy, some of them can really sing.

    A lot of brilliant singers sing in choirs. Only the best singers make it to the opera. But there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of near- perfect opera singers that you and I have never heard of.

    In the rock world, Freddie Mercury's voice was nothing short of a miraculous gift from God. Same with Steve Walsh. Fans and critics don't call Glenn Hughes "The voice of rock" for no reason. Ronnie Dio and Ian Gillan were different but both amazing. Neal Morse and Jake Livgren rank among the best singers I ever heard live. In fact a lot of melodic rock and metal singers are very skilled. James LaBrie, Zack Stevens, Bruce Dickinson, Tony Martin, Bob Catley, Michael Kiske, Rob Rock and Lance King come to mind - even Jon Bon Jovi, but who of us cares much about him? I think Bono ranks not among them but among the Jaggers, Lennons, Bowies, Gahans, Presleys and Cashs of this world - which I consider by no means a bad company.

    After all Bono's still Bono. Without him U2 weren't U2. He's the one and only Bonoman. Who could wish for a different U2 frontman? Nobody I hope.

    Alex
  4. Let's face it. Bono might have been (one of) the best from 1984 to 1993, but as the ZooTv Tour ended, his voice has been constantly getting worse. I don't listen to Vertigo Tour bootlegs because Bono's voice is terrible there. And it won't be any better this tour I'm afraid. I heard some of the promo shows and wasn't impressed. Bono's great days are gone. Now he's just a pale shadow of himself from the period from 1984 when his voice was at the peak of its strength and power to 1993 when it was like velvet.

    "To lose along the way the spark that set the flame, to flicker and to fade....."
  5. Bono has a good voice. As a rock singer he has been one of the best during his career. But overall, as one of the greatest singers of all time - Noway. He's good at what he does because his range suits U2's music and because he has a charismatic personality.

    Also, I think that when you compare Bono's feeble attepmts at operatic singing in Miss Sarajevo to real opera, you will see how far behind Bono is in that league.

    None of U2's members are the most technically gifted musicians. They are creative and original instead.
  6. Originally posted by SalvationTambourine:Bono has a good voice. As a rock singer he has been one of the best during his career. But overall, as one of the greatest singers of all time - Noway. He's good at what he does because his range suits U2's music and because he has a charismatic personality.

    Also, I think that when you compare Bono's feeble attepmts at operatic singing in Miss Sarajevo to real opera, you will see how far behind Bono is in that league.

    None of U2's members are the most technically gifted musicians. They are creative and original instead.


    Agree, tough I wouldn't underestimate Adam Clayton. There are, IMO, not many bass guitarists as good as him
  7. I think that even with the whole technical stuff, he may be "gifted", I mean, maybe it's my lack of knowledge but having 30 years of singing and all that on the back, and being able to reach so many high notes in his best days, adding the falsetto, the low key and his atempts at Opera, you may have to agree he is skilled

    Probably not as good as Freddy or Roger Daltrey or whatever, but from 1984 till 1993 he had one great and overall unique voice, there are songs in their catalog that i honestly don't see anyone reaching those notes



    P.S - Recently i read in some place that Bono has the same vocal range as Robert Plant, so....

    What do you think?
  8. Originally posted by Maclove:I think that even with the whole technical stuff, he may be "gifted", I mean, maybe it's my lack of knowledge but having 30 years of singing and all that on the back, and being able to reach so many high notes in his best days, adding the falsetto, the low key and his atempts at Opera, you may have to agree he is skilled

    Probably not as good as Freddy or Roger Daltrey or whatever, but from 1984 till 1993 he had one great and overall unique voice, there are songs in their catalog that i honestly don't see anyone reaching those notes



    P.S - Recently i read in some place that Bono has the same vocal range as Robert Plant, so....

    What do you think?


    Listen to some heavy metal stuff, or even some Scorpions or The Journey. These people can reach the notes Bono does and higher. It may sound like I am trying to put Bono down, but I just want to make people know more about the tecnical side of music. There is definitely nothing special about his vocal range. I think that his real gift are the melodies. The melodies are much more important than range, or tecnique, or whatever. You can get nowhere with a great tecnique and a good voice without good melodies, but if you have a good melody, you don't really need a lot more than this.
  9. I'd say that Bono's voice is unique, and I'd say he has a great voice - no one else sounds like him (unless they're deliberately trying to imitate him lol). I wouldn't say it is the greatest ever, but that's because I don't believe there is one voice that is better than any other. Each voice should be rated on its own merits, and each voice suits a different style of music. I'd say that you can only really compare Bono's voice to Bono's voice because there are very few bands like U2, and Bono's voice has always been that of U2, and it's almost as if you can't remove one from the other. When they've done covers, that's where I think Bono's voice doesn't fit because it sounds like the lead singer of U2 singing another artist's music, as opposed to a great singer singing another artist's music if that makes sense. He can only sing as Bono can, but the thing is I think his voice can fit into a range of styles. However, when he goes out of that range, he sounds out of place because there are other voices suited to singing different styles that are better than his. I had something similar the other day when trying to think of my dream band - I wanted to put Edge in, but then I imagined Edge playing guitar to a voice other than Bono's (the one I had in mind was Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge - damn that man can sing), and just couldn't see it working. There's a synthesis that comes between the guys that fits U2 and U2 alone.

    Objectively speaking, as individuals you could argue that none are the greatest musicians in the world, but as I referred to earlier, what makes someone the greatest musician in the world? Is there such a thing? There are very talented musicians, there are not so talented musicians. There are talented musicians who make crap music, there are not particularly talented musicians who make incredible music and vice versa. Music is such a big thing that I believe it is genuinely impossible to call someone the greatest above any other - I think you have to judge them on their individuals merits and the context of the music they make. To this end, I believe Bono has a great voice and believe U2 are a great band who make good music, and Bono's voice is an integral part of that.
  10. Originally posted by yuri31:Let's face it. Bono might have been (one of) the best from 1984 to 1993, but as the ZooTv Tour ended, his voice has been constantly getting worse. I don't listen to Vertigo Tour bootlegs because Bono's voice is terrible there. And it won't be any better this tour I'm afraid. I heard some of the promo shows and wasn't impressed. Bono's great days are gone. Now he's just a pale shadow of himself from the period from 1984 when his voice was at the peak of its strength and power to 1993 when it was like velvet.

    "To lose along the way the spark that set the flame, to flicker and to fade....."


    Agree 100%.

    I'd say that Bono's voice is unique, and I'd say he has a great voice - no one else sounds like him (unless they're deliberately trying to imitate him lol). I wouldn't say it is the greatest ever, but that's because I don't believe there is one voice that is better than any other. Each voice should be rated on its own merits, and each voice suits a different style of music. I'd say that you can only really compare Bono's voice to Bono's voice because there are very few bands like U2, and Bono's voice has always been that of U2, and it's almost as if you can't remove one from the other. When they've done covers, that's where I think Bono's voice doesn't fit because it sounds like the lead singer of U2 singing another artist's music, as opposed to a great singer singing another artist's music if that makes sense. He can only sing as Bono can, but the thing is I think his voice can fit into a range of styles. However, when he goes out of that range, he sounds out of place because there are other voices suited to singing different styles that are better than his. I had something similar the other day when trying to think of my dream band - I wanted to put Edge in, but then I imagined Edge playing guitar to a voice other than Bono's (the one I had in mind was Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge - damn that man can sing), and just couldn't see it working. There's a synthesis that comes between the guys that fits U2 and U2 alone.

    Objectively speaking, as individuals you could argue that none are the greatest musicians in the world, but as I referred to earlier, what makes someone the greatest musician in the world? Is there such a thing? There are very talented musicians, there are not so talented musicians. There are talented musicians who make crap music, there are not particularly talented musicians who make incredible music and vice versa. Music is such a big thing that I believe it is genuinely impossible to call someone the greatest above any other - I think you have to judge them on their individuals merits and the context of the music they make. To this end, I believe Bono has a great voice and believe U2 are a great band who make good music, and Bono's voice is an integral part of that.


    Definitely agree with you on the idea that there's no real objective way to judge "the best" musician. But though he can't effectively be judged against any other singer, I think it's still fair to judge him against himself. If we're looking at Bono and only Bono, the range and depth he had from '84-'93 - maybe with the exception of the occasional Kermit the Frog vocals on the Joshua Tree Tour - doesn't come close to what it is in 2009. I don't think that's subjective. I know there's different factors that come in obviously, age and smoking and whatnot, but I think he's hit his peak, left it, and will never get it back, unfortunately.

    Not to say of course that he's currently completely unlistenable, but for the first time, for me at least, his vocals are actually beginning to be a distraction from the listening experience as a whole. I listened to a few of the Letterman performances earlier today and it was distracting to hear him struggle to hit the notes. Not like I'm going to hand in my tour tickets or anything, but it'll certainly be interesting to see how this tour will pan out.
  11. Not adding to the discussion, but we have two topics about B-man's voice now..
  12. Why is his voice only coming up as an issue now? I thought it was common knowledge that his voice for the most part was below his lofty standards last tour. Of course there's been some deterioration in recent years. Perhaps it started on Popmart.

    But I point everyone to the era from TUF to Zoo and challenge anyone who sang better than Bono here. I still put him at the the top of my list but I'm biased and even on an off-day or an off-tour (Vertigo) he still puts on a great show. Isn't that what's it's all about in the end? Compensating for voice deterioration with effort, passion and emotion?

    I still think he can hit the high notes. Miss Sarajevo on the final Vertigo leg was a demonstration and also on the last album.

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Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.