The Official May 31 Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia Thread

His voice is gone. We're well past what vocal coaches can help with.

Correct. The last time anybody could've done anything about Jon's voice was around mid-to-late 2013 and back then he was (most likely) not using a coach in the way he does nowadays.

Just an honest question, if his voice is gone how come we got 2008-10 after 2005-6?

Those are night and day. And what happened during 2008 that it was so incredible and it went to shit in 3 years?

Is there a knowledgeable person with an answer that could explain the improvement and then decline? I thought it was all downhill from 2003 on.

Maybe the same page that posted the sound check yesterday will?

What he have now is waaay worse that 2003 - 2006. Back then his voice was still salvageable, and I expect it was working with a vocal coach that saw his standards improve somewhat later. As others have said, it's way past what a vocal coach can fix, the best she can do is help him manage what he has left.

Jon's 2008-mid '13 vocal technique was way more taxing physically than one might think. His way of hitting the high notes wasn't effortless like it used to be in the 90s, and he was really pushing his diaphragm to reach the notes from G4 upwards (back then his top note was probably C5, but he couldn't hit it - or even a longer B4 - on a constant basis). You can clearly see the change of his stature on songs like Always, These Days, Prayer etc. when he goes high; he's tensing his gut, back and shoulders very visibly, e.g. straining physically.

That's not healthy or sustainable - actually, it's not a recommendable singing technique at all. Whenever you have to force the notes out by physical strain, you're overpowering, when you're overpowering, you're basically shouting, and when you're shouting, your vocal cords won't hold up for too long, especially considering the ridiculous touring schedule that Jon was still running back then (and couldn't stop until the excessive singing with an unhealthy technique made his pipes blow out).

Don't get it? Watch this:

https://youtu.be/VNtLjw1DKsM

That is probably Jon's last truly GREAT vocal performance. In early July 2013 his voice had already gotten somewhat thinner than it was in '08-'11 (as can be heard on the second verse), but after warming up his voice a bit more and whenever caught on a good night, he still had most of his former range and could still hit notes up to B4 (e.g. the two "ain't nobody LEFT BUT US these days..." parts after the last chorus) with some conviction.

That said, his facial expressions and body movements are telling a whole different story. Whenever he goes high, his whole body becomes seemingly tense, he's gripping the mic stand very tight (AND cupping the mic, which is what many youtube comments are pointing out regularly nowadays), his face simply screams out strain and pain, he's spitting a lot, has to catch his breath after hitting the high notes by resting his head against the mic stand... it's not natural, and you can clearly see how taxing it is for him.

C5 was Jon’s go-to-note recording wise at least. So many songs have it. The end of NSG and ITA spring to mind.

There’s an interesting video by Ken Tamplin on YouTube regarding Jon’s Wembley ‘95 version of Prayer.




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If anyone finds a good stream please post a link here so we can all enjoy! I'll be looking on Periscope.

Yeah, but back in the later 2000s Jon hadn't recorded a vocally challenging song for an album in years. The last studio song by the band I'd consider high-pitched is HAND (with the screamed first words on the verses peaking up on B4), and after that the highest notes (e.g. "who's GONNA pull you in" on Superman, the long "you want to make a MEMORY", the last "I WANNA KNOW" on Who Would You Die For, etc.) have been Bb4s at best.

Live, however, Jon was still hitting very high notes (around B4-C5) until early July 2013 - obviously with less consistency during the last couple of months, but still; the choruses of Dry County, Always, These Days and TAALS until the very end, plus songs like Living In Sin, I Believe, Hey God, Damned and STBI in 2008-11... those notes are simply ridiculous for most male singers to reach, and even I struggle to hit them on a regular basis whilst being a natural tenor, which is something Jon hasn't been since 2003 at least.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t suggesting his was still pulling out C5’s in the studio. More that he has recorded a lot in the 80’s to early 2000’s, some of which he has sung live regularly. This, coupled with a poor technique has majorly played a part in his decline.

When was his last C5 studio note? Save The World?


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