Singer relates good performance in the record curiously to the death of his father, Bob Hewson, recent at the time of launch
THE U2It has in the voice of Bonoone of its most own characteristics. Although the band sounded different by navigating different strands throughout the career, the singer is unmistakable in all these nuances.
For the singer, however, there is an album that brings its best performance. And it is not a work of the beginning of discography, how it could be expected.
THE HotPress, Bono revealed to consider How to dismantle an atomic bomb (2004) as the album responsible for presenting its definitive vocal interpretation. And what led to that? In his opinion, curiously, the death of his father, Brendan Robert “Bob” Hewsonoccurred in 2001. The vocalist said:
My voice is better than ever on this record. And I believe this is a gift from my father to me. He was a great tenor and when he died, he passed it to me. ”
Bono And your father had not always very easy to live with. Bob Hewson He was widowed when the U2 singer was only 14 years old and was very hard with his son.
In your book, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story (2022) (via Far Out Magazine), the artist reveals that Boba fan of classical music, once said that the singer was “a baritone that thinks it’s tenor.” I reached this point.
In the biography, Bono also reflects on the relationship between the death of Bob and the change in its way of singing. In the words of itself:
My voice has opened and has a physiological reason for that too, because if you are more relaxed as a person, your voice opens. In recent years, I’ve been singing in ways I could never imagine. ”
Nevertheless, the father appreciated the song made by his son – although he rarely talked about it. Bono told the HotPress:
He never said anything about music ( U2). I remember he liked ‘The UnforgetTable Fire’. Not the album, the music. He thought we were getting good at the time of Rattle and Hum (1988) – ‘WHEN LOVE COMES TO Town’ It was kind of a favorite of him. But he didn’t know where we were going in the 90s! ”
U2 and how to dismantle an atomic bomb
How to dismantle an atomic bomb It is seen by many as a resumption album in the career of the U2. The band was looking for more weight in the sound and brought the producer Chris Thomaswho worked with the Sex pistolsto help them.
It was nine months of work that practically yielded a complete album. However, half of the band was not satisfied: while Bono and the guitarist The Edge were ready to launch the material, the bassist Adam Clayton and the drummer Larry Mullen Jr. They were against.
The producer Steve Lillywhite It was called to mediate the internal dispute. As a result, it ended up to rework the entire album with the quartet for another six months.
In the end, How to dismantle an atomic bomb represented a resurgence of U2 At the beginning of the century, after a decade marked by experiments. Bonoin extra launch material, he even stated that this was the group’s first rock album, with more than 20 years of career. That was the sound impact they managed to deliver.
One of the main ranges of How to dismantle an atomic bomb is “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own ”. The composition of Bono many years before the recordings, with the title of “Thought”and it was a tribute to Bob Hewson.
The vocalist came to sing it in 2001, in his father’s funeral. The version of the album was fully reworked, already with Lillywhite in the studio.
Other singles were “Vertigo”, “City of Blinding Lights” and “All Because of You”. The work reached first place in stops from 34 countries and yielded 8 Grammys to the group.
+++ Read more: when U2 will do shows again, according to drummer
Collaborated: André Luiz Fernandes.
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
