It's like he's trying a little bit too hard to prove something...while saying the exact opposite.

Actually no. They should bring it a whole step down (from E to D), so it would be played in C# due to the Eb tuning of the guitars. I reckon that would be suitable for his voice nowadays and wouldn't be the snoozfest that the TLFR versions were (with the exception of the Blaze intro, I loved that).

Jon needs to drop Always. He's butchering it. Fair play to him for giving it a go but surely it can't be helping his already fragile voice?

Love Phil X, but his use of bends really irritates at times. They are often out of tune and spoil the mood of a solo.


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This would certainly help him, but wouldn't make the song bleach?

Is there any way of somehow editing the songs into those keys in a video or audio file for those non musically minded of us to hear how it would sound? Is that even possible?

Yup, I could drop the pitch of a song down a whole key, semi, whichever. Sounds like a neat idea.

I just tried it with the studio version, which sounds absolutely awful, because any pitch correction of more than 1 half step always does. But then I had the idea of taking a live version of Always (don't ask me where it was from, but it's a good one), which is already tuned down 1 half step, and tune that down 1 half step further. Here's the result:

https://we.tl/YyhEdSyMRD

Doesn't sound so bad and would be easier for Jon on the high notes, as well as giving his voice more time to rest in the verses, because they are easier for his current, turned darker voice as well.

EDIT: oops, I should've read more carefully. So this version is a full step down from the studio version, not the alreay down-tuned live version as efpg0708 suggested...

Cheers for that, doesn't sound so bad although it helps that the starting point is one of my favourite live versions of the song. I'd definitely be against the TLFR versions coming back, they were just snoozefests, Blaze aside.

I've never listened to the TLFR cd though I own it (turned it off after the first minute, tooooo sloooooow), but this Always is one of my faves ever:


So yeah, it could work if Jon is into the song AND moves around. He could do the TLFR version and walk at the same time (I hope) so it would be 100% better than seeing him on the verge of collapsing and getting 1/3 of the song right.

Of course you are going to enjoy it better if you are at the show. I don't even know why are debating it, any decent band/artist will make the most difficult songs work and you won't notice major flaws until you go home and watch the videos. I've heard Always live and thought it was perfect and watched the show later on YT and it was nowhere near perfect.
This is why Jon isn't giving up on Always (kudos to him btw). Fans at the show will think it's a good version for a 55 year old, and will also assume his desperate clinging to the mic and shutting his eyes is passionate singing/concentration and that's to be expected with a difficult song, but we know better. The question is, will this be harmful in the long term? A couple of Always per tour won't kill Jon's voice, I guess, but he's so hellbent on proving he can sing it and it seems to take a huge toll on him. That's where I'd draw the line honestly. Singing it once with all you have is fine. Being willing to destroy your voice for proving a point, not so much :(

Totally agree. If future shows are compromised because he's desperate to prove he CAN still sing it, then it's foolish.


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