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  1. Originally posted by melon51:[..]
    This is interesting actually. I sing/sang as a hobby and tried many U2 songs in their register. The hardest ones to sing are the ones like "walk on".. that have these fast verses in the higher middle register with lots of words and not much breathing space.

    Some other examples of those songs:

    - Breathe (pun intended)
    - Boots
    - Elevation

    It's not about the high notes, it's about the dynamic that makes their their songs easier or harder to sing. It's just easier (if you're a tenor and try to go above that) to sing the verses lower/slower and to reach for convincing highs in the chorus.

    On Unforgettable Fire there's 2 songs (Wire and ISS) that are in the same key but 1 is just harder to sing even though it doesn't reach the highest notes of the 2...
    I also sing and yeah songs like Walk On, GOYB are hard not only because of the key, but also because you need to practice a lot to know when to breathe - which is obviously the case for every song of course. Two of my favorites to sing are in a little while & a man and a woman. The unforgettable fire is also quite hard to sing, but I was really amazed by Bono that one time he sang it in 2018 in Copenhagen. I thought he did a terrific job.
  2. Originally posted by iamcrazytonight:[..]
    I also sing and yeah songs like Walk On, GOYB are hard not only because of the key, but also because you need to practice a lot to know when to breathe - which is obviously the case for every song of course. Two of my favorites to sing are in a little while & a man and a woman. The unforgettable fire is also quite hard to sing, but I was really amazed by Bono that one time he sang it in 2018 in Copenhagen. I thought he did a terrific job.
    Yes it's really the combination of (upper) middle register and continuous singing without a lot of time to breathe (pun intended). Man and a woman is also quite hard to sing because of that imo. It tends to wear you out quicker than a more dynamic song (f.e. Bad) which has a lot of slower/lower parts and some high peaks.

    I definitely think he has had vocal training though. His range/power (logically) is less than 30 years ago, but some songs he sings with more ease nowadays. TUF being an example of that, he struggled with that one on original JT and Lovetown tours.
  3. But what is really nice is that his ‘old voice’ is more emotional and shows you more intense

  4. Crazy but plausible, eh?

    Another plausible explanation is that they were recorded just as mixing/technical tests before the big world broadcast of the New Year's Eve gig but that's irrelevant to this thread lol
  5. Originally posted by LikeASong:[..]
    Yeah there were some drastic changes, but not as drastic as between 1994 and 1997...

    Do you know the story about the Point Depot 1989 soundboard recordings? Supposedly they were internally recorded so that Bono could handle them to his voice coach (other sources say "handle them to his voice surgeon", inherently assuming he underwent a surgery).


    Missed this post.. Heard the story about the voice coach/surgeon. The version I heard the most that his coach warned him to change the way he sang, or he'd need surgery. Not sure about 94-97 though, in 90 it changed in 1 year
  6. Originally posted by melon51:[..]


    Missed this post.. Heard the story about the voice coach/surgeon. The version I heard the most that his coach warned him to change the way he sang, or he'd need surgery. Not sure about 94-97 though, in 90 it changed in 1 year
    Yeah, same here. Whether he actually underwent surgery between 1990 and 1991 will remain a mystery forever I guess. Maybe it's just that he started smoking cigars like crazy and stopped singing as often as he had done in the 80s (when the longest period without a tour was actually from Dec 1983 to Sept 1984).
  7. Originally posted by melon51:[..]
    Yes it's really the combination of (upper) middle register and continuous singing without a lot of time to breathe (pun intended). Man and a woman is also quite hard to sing because of that imo. It tends to wear you out quicker than a more dynamic song (f.e. Bad) which has a lot of slower/lower parts and some high peaks.

    I definitely think he has had vocal training though. His range/power (logically) is less than 30 years ago, but some songs he sings with more ease nowadays. TUF being an example of that, he struggled with that one on original JT and Lovetown tours.
    New Year’s Day is really difficult too, especially in the original key. Lots of upper middle register in the verses and then you have those big belts. I’m surprised they kept that one in the original key for as long as they did.
  8. Originally posted by cyborgninja117:[..]
    New Year’s Day is really difficult too, especially in the original key. Lots of upper middle register in the verses and then you have those big belts. I’m surprised they kept that one in the original key for as long as they did.
    Funny thing I just checked.. Original key is Ab, they played it in studio Key like forever.. That is at least until 2015
  9. The Dublin recordings where done for Bonos doctor, he gave warning to Bono that if he contunie to sing/scream like he did on LT tour he would destroy his vocal chords.

    The change from middle of 1990 to middle 1991 is huge, he has a completly different sound.
    Around 1989/early 1990 he started to get "strange hoarse sound" in his voice, Wild Irish Rose is a very good example on that.


    In 1991 his voice had more of that but also a completley different tone in his "basic" voice.
    Just compare Bad, BTBS, WTSHNN, ISHFWILF from LT to ZooTV versions.
    There is such a huge difference.

    1987 voice and 1989 was similar, but on LT his voice has gotten a bit deeper but aslo a bit thinner and a little hoarse.
    Which was very obivious on some of the older tracks, just compare ISHFWILF from JT to LT version.


    But we can at least imagine that SBS would sound on LT pretty much like on JT(it wasnt performed on LT), now listen to SBS from 1992:


    His voice is so so different...


    Popmart voice was different, but he already had got that sound back in 1994 So just after ZooTV had ended alot of things started to happen in his voice in 94-95.


    In 1995 he still had a lot of power in his voice:


    And on Popmart he still had a strenght in his voice that never came back:
    35:55 in this clip

    Sure it is a bit strained, but he have never been able to belt like that after Popmart.

    Might be the heavy smoking and intensive recording of Pop that made his voice very shaky so fast in 1996....

  10. Originally posted by LikeASong:[..]

    Crazy but plausible, eh?

    Another plausible explanation is that they were recorded just as mixing/technical tests before the big world broadcast of the New Year's Eve gig but that's irrelevant to this thread lol
    It think mixing/tech sounds way more plausible tbh
  11. Originally posted by Peterrrrr:The Dublin recordings where done for Bonos doctor, he gave warning to Bono that if he contunie to sing/scream like he did on LT tour he would destroy his vocal chords.

    The change from middle of 1990 to middle 1991 is huge, he has a completly different sound.
    Around 1989/early 1990 he started to get "strange hoarse sound" in his voice, Wild Irish Rose is a very good example on that.
    [YouTube Video]

    In 1991 his voice had more of that but also a completley different tone in his "basic" voice.
    Just compare Bad, BTBS, WTSHNN, ISHFWILF from LT to ZooTV versions.
    There is such a huge difference.

    1987 voice and 1989 was similar, but on LT his voice has gotten a bit deeper but aslo a bit thinner and a little hoarse.
    Which was very obivious on some of the older tracks, just compare ISHFWILF from JT to LT version.
    [YouTube Video]

    But we can at least imagine that SBS would sound on LT pretty much like on JT(it wasnt performed on LT), now listen to SBS from 1992:

    [YouTube Video]
    His voice is so so different...


    Popmart voice was different, but he already had got that sound back in 1994 So just after ZooTV had ended alot of things started to happen in his voice in 94-95.
    [YouTube Video]

    In 1995 he still had a lot of power in his voice:
    [YouTube Video]

    And on Popmart he still had a strenght in his voice that never came back:
    35:55 in this clip
    [YouTube Video]
    Sure it is a bit strained, but he have never been able to belt like that after Popmart.

    Might be the heavy smoking and intensive recording of Pop that made his voice very shaky so fast in 1996....

    @peter,

    Wild Irish Rose was done (somewhere) in 1990, video title states the wrong year. How can you tell? Well.. Edge's Lovetown sideburns have gone!
  12. Was just listening/looking at this. This must have come closest to the idea of a Lovetown re-tour? Starts at 52:05