[SomethingToBelieveIn]

Do you think its possible that Jon simply ruined it himself by over touring... not that its his fault, but it is possible.

Their third album, Slippery When Wet, shot the band to superstar status around the world with hits such as "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Livin' On A Prayer", and "Wanted Dead or Alive". The album has sold in excess of twelve million copies since its release in late 1986. On the tour that followed, Jon began having vocal difficulties. The extreme high notes and unrelenting schedule threatened to damage his voice permanently. With the help of a vocal coach, he made it through the tour. Jon has tended to sing slightly lower since then.

I read this from http://en.wikipedia.org and it got me thinking, what do you all think?

[Supersonic]

Aloha !

Yes, and the fact that he smokes nowadays and doesn't stretch his voice that much because he can get the easy way out (people will come to see Bon Jovi anyway) haven't helped his vocal qualities that much either.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

[Kathleen]

The tour that followed Slippery was New Jersey and it is well documented that he had throat and singing problems. He talks about it on Behind the Music also. BUT - in my opinion - the finest vocals that Jon did were during the Keep the Faith and These Days tours which is a few years after the New Jersey tour.

During recent years - Crush through the present - I think Seb is correct.

Kathleen

[~saz~]

I read that dairy products aren't good for your voice, so maybe he's just been drinking too much milk :P

[jade82]

Originally Posted by Supersonic

Yes, and the fact that he smokes nowadays and doesn't stretch his voice that much because he can get the easy way out (people will come to see Bon Jovi anyway) haven't helped his vocal qualities that much either.

He smoked in the 80's and then quit around 94, i think and then tooki it up again in 96. If you read teh book Starman by Micheal Francis (which is a first ahnd account) it says that Jon smoked in the 80's, and i know i read in an interview from 96 that he said he had quit and tehn in another interview from around 96 where he said that he was going to take smoknig up again after they finished touring.
But personally i think that it was stupid of him to start smoking again after he had quit, but i have never smoked so i don't know if it's hard tos top completely after you have quit, because i have friends who have quit and then taken it up again.

I agree with you that he does seem to take the easy way out during concerts, but mabye thats because he can't sing the high notes anymore, ni which case he is taking the easy way out by not having vocal lessons

[Iceman]

Originally Posted by ~saz~

I read that dairy products aren't good for your voice, so maybe he's just been drinking too much milk :P

That's bull. Many awesome singers use dairy products and have no problems with their voices.

Ice

[Richieguy]

i also think that it is smoking that has "killed" his voice, but he still is a good singer. But many smokers have that problem with their voice, so they do just not sing so progressive anymore because it then would sound as hell.
Once again it's just a proove that smoking is a bad thing

[faitheveryday1984]

I think that both the smoking and the early damage caused by overworking his voice is the primary cause of his decline in voice quality. I don't understand why he has continued smoking since he should know that it damages his instrument, which is his most valuable asset to his career.

I also think that he doesn't seem to want to belt it out and let go like he used to. Maybe he is afraid of damaging his voice even more by doing this?

[Bleeding Purist]

Originally Posted by Kathleen

The tour that followed Slippery was New Jersey and it is well documented that he had throat and singing problems. He talks about it on Behind the Music also. BUT - in my opinion - the finest vocals that Jon did were during the Keep the Faith and These Days tours which is a few years after the New Jersey tour.

Kathleen

The real problems with his throat were on the Slippery tour. By the NJ tour he was already working with a voice coach and had altered his approach..for the better as far as I was concerned. The issue with the NJ tour was the sheer length of it...with which came the usual problems that affect any singer on tour...but it doesn't compare with the Slippery tour.

That said..I completely agree with you that his finest vocals were the KTF and These Days tours, he had struck the perfect balance and the maturity in his voice (in the best sense) was very apparent. Though let's not overlook the Destination Anywhere tour, which is where I feel he should be operating at vocally at a minimum.

[jovi75]

IMO the touring is not the cause of his voice's problems...in fact he was at his top ever during the these days tour (after 3 mammoth world tours), especially during the 1996 part.
His voice has got better and better until those days then something happened bu we'll probably never know what.
The fact they say in the box set DVD "fortunately we learned write songs in lower keys" (or something like this) is very pathetic to me. They can't write songs in those keys because jon can't sing them. This is the sad truth.