The Edge recently chatted with Guitar Player, discussing how they could’ve done Bono a favor and put some ‘vocal’ pressures off of him while addressing how he played a role in the frontman’s insecurities about his singing.
The frontman caused a media stir when he recently got candid about feeling ’embarrassed’ by his vocals whenever he heard a U2 song play, feeling there was a certain ‘strain‘ in his voice which gave people the impression that, perhaps, he was trying a bit too hard to hit some higher notes.
So, as the Edge discussed Bono’s recent confession to Hollywood Reporter, he also had a few things to admit by disclosing how he had played a role in his bandmate’s insecurities. The guitarist remarked how he had been arranging tracks that were a bit off from the singer’s vocal range, and Bono had to put push himself to sing the songs properly.
That certainly put a bit of pressure on the rocker, as the Edge admitted as he recalled how it never occurred to him to lower the keys so that Bono didn’t need to force himself to hit notes out of his range. That, the guitarist felt, certainly would’ve saved the singer from feeling embarrassed.
However, as the band reworked their old catalog in the 40-piece ‘Songs of Surrender,’ they let the singer choose how to arrange each song and which note pitch. Although it was a bit late, The Edge had understood that he needed songs to suit the singer rather than forcing the vocalist to fit them.
The guitarist’s words on Bono’s confession and how the songs needed to suit the singer:
“Bono kicked up a pretty serious media furore recently when he admitted that some of his early vocal recordings were a source of a certain amount of embarrassment for him.
You can hear the strain in his voice. Mind you, it never even occurred to us in those days to lower the key to better fit his range. Today, with each arrangement, we were able to go, ‘Where do you want to pitch this on?’
I was able to take some good guesses for what would work for him. It was like tailoring the songs to suit him as a singer. That was the ultimate goal: to serve the song by serving the singer.”
It sounds like that U2 has now solved a problem that probably lasted for years as the Edge witnessed how Bono felt a strain in his voice and admitted feeling embarrassed by his vocals. Luckily, the band managed to get through that problem by letting the frontman pick which key to hit.
