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People moaning about Brian Johnsons voice
AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson has been talking to New Zealand radio station The Rock about his recent cancer scare. The early diagnosis of Barrett’s Syndrome lead to the cancellation of a few shows on the band’s mammoth Black Ice Tour. “I found out I had Barrett's Syndrome and the next step is cancer of the esophagus, then they have to take the voice box out, which stopped me right in my tracks," said Johnson. "I was very lucky we caught it in time… I was the most scared I've ever been in my life — I didn't sleep for a week." you try screaming like a banshee for 40+yrs and a 2yr world tour see how you go!!! Now admittedly the guy aint Pavarotti, but for chrissake what do you want?, his voice IS HIS INSTRUMENT, after all this time,singing the way he does,something has to give,give the man a break, he is still givin it his all. Me personally, I take my hat off to him,suffering from Barrett’s Syndrome with the threat of possible throat cancer, Im suprised he didnt just call it a day there and then. Be thankful for what you got people, it WONT always be there!! And this aint the tired old "but he aint Bon" argument again,Im a fan of Bons stuff predominantly, but Brian aint Bon, I aint Brad Pitt!! same friggin thing! Live with it. AC/DC before and after Feb 1980 are two different animals,thats just the way it is. Enjoy them both for what they are, but dont waste yer time trying to compare the 2 singers, its like comparing chalk to cheese. But as for Brian, give the guy a break, he's been in the job for 30 yrs now people, he aint the shortest serving member no more, that would be Phil. Give him a wee bit of respect, end of the day,hes still in the band you love, putting on shows you want to see and hit or miss at times, putting out product you want to buy. P.S. Shake a Leg @ Download, with his throat probs? highly doubtful IMHO. Even Rubber Plant of Zeppelin cant get his high notes like he useta and hes sposed to be one of the greats!! Dave
I couldn't agree with you more, decla. Brian may not have been given the opportunity to be as funny as Bon during the albums he recorded with AC/DC and he may not have had the balls to be as brave and personal as Bon was, but he has worked his ass off for this band and he deserves as much, if not more, credit than Ang and Mal for making AC/DC as iconic and legendary as they are today. It also looks like he is the ones with the balls and the bravery in the band, as he has not been afraid to push the 'DC catalog forward live on the side with songs like Given the Dog A Bone while it seems Ang and Mal have been holding the band back on obscure, awesome tracks like that. Re: The Black Ice Tour. His voice sounds better, more dynamic and much more personal than it ever has before live, maybe as a result of the cancer and being forced to "sing" rather than "scream". I have to wonder if Ang and Mal encourage him to scream during the 80s when he should have been singing instead. As an example, look at the HoF 2003 show where he duetted on You Shook Me All Night Long with Steven Tyler and appeared much weaker and much more amateur of the two. The reason is that Steven Tyler has been practicing "singing" for the last 30 years while it seems Brian was encouraged to "scream". If he had been "singing" all these years, maybe his delivery would have been much, much better for that show. As it is now, following a year and a bit of "singing" on the Black Ice tour, he might fare much better against a singer like Steven Tyler. Brian has discovered and embraced his "Satchmo" roots now and absolutely rocks AC/DC as he never has before. Just listen to the Wellington, NZ version of High Voltage and tell me you cannot feel how it totally blows the socks off of any singing he has done in the past: Give this man the credit he deserves. He's earned it.
Re: Shake a Leg @ Download. He cannot hit the high notes for Shoot to Thrill, either, but that has not held him back on singing it. Instead, it has become a Satchmo growl and I have no doubt that Shake Leg will feature a similar adjustment in terms of tone and delivery.
If anything, the ruffer sound in Brians voice over the last couple of years has given AC/DC a different dynamic. The songs sound ruffer and meaner now than they ever did before with Brian in my opinion. I'm more of a fan of Bon than Brian myself but Brian has to be doing something right for the band to have kept him around all these years. Good post.
First of all, if throat cancer didn't affect his ability to song, it hasn't affected his ability to scream. Plus, we all heard him scream in 2007 with CRC so you can't say he can't scream anymore. Most of us who are criticizing him are doing so because he sounds so whiny when he sings now and it just sounds awful. Granted, he does sound better after 2 years of touring, less whiny. RNRDamnation: It was always his choice to scream. Until recently, it was the only way he knew how to sing. O'Brien was the one who encouraged him not to scream. And he sounds good on High Voltage now because that is a song that requires very little screaming, with the exception of the part they skipped. But he DOES NOT sound better than 1991 and to say he does is absurd. He's 19 years older now. DDandMT: Rougher? His voice is cleaner and more Bon-like than ever. You want rough, take a listen to Ballbreaker. You want mean, listen to TRE. You want whiny, listen to BI.
@suicidehummer: Brian in general sounds rougher from Ballbreaker onward. If you get a chance, listen to Brian singing If You Want Blood and Rock and Roll Damnation from Circus Krone 2003 and you may see what I mean. His voice is less high pitched like it was in the 80's and less controlled like it was on TRE. The No Bull DVD is another example of his voice sounding meaner and dirtier.
BRIAN POINT BLANK puts on one hell of a concert!!!! And is it just me or does he sound alot better live at the concert than on recordings? Ive been to 2 concerts on this tour and both times i was blown away at how clear his voice seemed to come across!
he sounded alot better at the shows i went to than the bootlegs i got from the shows.
Personally, I don't think Brian has sounded this good since 1980 - 1984. His singing voice blows away anything I have heard him do from 1985 - 2007. I seen them twice on this tour as well (11/5/08 and 8/16/09) and the most important thing in my opinion besides sounding great is that you can tell he is really having fun out there walking up and down the catwalk stage and shaking people's hands and high fiveing everyone. I don't like that he uses the same exact banter in between songs but that is a whole other argument.
I don't get why people moan about brian loosing his voice. Why don't they try smoking, and screaming at the top of their lungs for 40 years. Also I like his voice now. Almost as good as the 1980-1983 era.
brian is a unique singer, hes playing 2 hour sets of hard ass rock and roll songs, swings on the bell even!!!!!!!!! hes awsome. simple as that.
I can't even watch bon videos on youtube. What I don't like I troll. And I want to troll them so bad. If Brian is so bad, why did Malcolm pick him? Why have they gone platinum on nearly every album sold since 1980? Why are they still selling out stadiums even today?! Maybe some people are just too ignorant to see logic. By the way, since this is their first festival in a while, they are going to do some sort of special song that they don't do often.