Dr. Who Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Do you think that Axl doing what we here call the "Mickey Mouse" voice is a conscious choice - a case of Axl not giving a fuck/not trying?We first heard this voice at Rio in 2001. But if you listen to Live Era, the vocals for which were recorded a mere two years earlier, Axl's voice is full of rasp and power. Go back to his last recording, Anxious Disease, from 1996, and he sounds exactly like the Axl on the UYIs.I refuse to believe that Axl's voice could've gone from raspy to Mickey in just two years. If "Mickey" was a result of Axl losing his voice/his vocals being destroyed, he would've never sounded good again - and yet in 2006-2007 he sounded almost exactly like he did in the UYI era, same with 2009-2010.So, the question then becomes, is the "Mickey voice" less a case of "Axl's voice is done/shot/ruined" and more a case of "Axl doesn't give a fuck enough to put his full effort in"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerage5 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 I think it's a conscious decision, but not necessarily a case of him giving no fucks. It's much easier to maintain a singing voice when it's clean as opposed to raspy. A decent number of metal singers have a very clean vocal style; Bruce Dickinson, Ronnie James Dio, James LaBrie, Joey Belladonna, etc. These guys have/had no trouble maintaining their singing voices, because it's less of a toll on their vocal chords, despite the extreme range. Now look at the super raspy voices; Lemmy, Brian Johnson, James Hetfield, etc. All of these guys have either had to have surgery, adapted a clean singing style, or just plain sound like shit and keep singing with rasp. James Hetfield is an example of one who has adapted his voice to a clean style - it may not sound like you're used to him sounding, but it's keeping him performing for longer. This is essentially what Axl has done IMO. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercool Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 yes, it's conscious. a coach probably advised him to do so. it's easier to sing with the mickey voice, less effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Who Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 I think it's a conscious decision, but not necessarily a case of him giving no fucks. It's much easier to maintain a singing voice when it's clean as opposed to raspy. A decent number of metal singers have a very clean vocal style; Bruce Dickinson, Ronnie James Dio, James LaBrie, Joey Belladonna, etc. These guys have/had no trouble maintaining their singing voices, because it's less of a toll on their vocal chords, despite the extreme range. Now look at the super raspy voices; Lemmy, Brian Johnson, James Hetfield, etc. All of these guys have either had to have surgery, adapted a clean singing style, or just plain sound like shit and keep singing with rasp. James Hetfield is an example of one who has adapted his voice to a clean style - it may not sound like you're used to him sounding, but it's keeping him performing for longer. This is essentially what Axl has done IMO.Thing is, and I'm not saying it to be an asshole, but Hetfield, while sounding different, still manages to sound "powerful" with a clean voice. When Axl does Mickey - even when it's in tune - it sounds weak. It doesn't suit the style of music he's playing, either old or new GN'R material. You know what I mean? I mean, take a listen to a bootleg of say, a '92 Jungle vs. Rio 2001 Jungle...It sounds weak, like he's struggling. A lot of 2001-2002 sounds like that, even though it's a conscious choice. A clean voice just doesn't fit Axl in the way it did Dio or James...Those guys were/are Metal singers, and needed a much more 'operatic' voice anyway. Axl's a bluesy singer, playing in a blues-rock band.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Name is Trinity Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 It doesn't bother me on some songs, but in most of them he doesn't sound great. I guess he had no choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvH Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 What actually bothered me was the overuse of this clean voice on Chi Dem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Name is Trinity Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 What actually bothered me was the overuse of this clean voice on Chi Dem.That's was I gong to say... It really looks like he has no choice. Many parts on CD sound so weak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Comstock Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 It's a conscious choice, I think he knows that if he does another 2010-level tour it'll probably be his last. The last few years, without anything to promote, he's been 'touring for the sake of it' so he's gotta use a voice that isn't very straining and wouldn't force him towards surgery or something after every other tour.But Axl's real problem is that he doesn't rehearse like he should, and uses the early tour dates to warm his voice up. He seems to think that he can still do the full raspy voice whenever he wants to, but last year showed otherwise, he wasn't in decent shape until near the end of the residency and the SA shows might've been the worst he ever sounded. So because he doesn't [always] rehearse properly, the Mickey voice is obviously gonna be easier for him to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerage5 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 I think it's a conscious decision, but not necessarily a case of him giving no fucks. It's much easier to maintain a singing voice when it's clean as opposed to raspy. A decent number of metal singers have a very clean vocal style; Bruce Dickinson, Ronnie James Dio, James LaBrie, Joey Belladonna, etc. These guys have/had no trouble maintaining their singing voices, because it's less of a toll on their vocal chords, despite the extreme range. Now look at the super raspy voices; Lemmy, Brian Johnson, James Hetfield, etc. All of these guys have either had to have surgery, adapted a clean singing style, or just plain sound like shit and keep singing with rasp. James Hetfield is an example of one who has adapted his voice to a clean style - it may not sound like you're used to him sounding, but it's keeping him performing for longer. This is essentially what Axl has done IMO.Thing is, and I'm not saying it to be an asshole, but Hetfield, while sounding different, still manages to sound "powerful" with a clean voice. When Axl does Mickey - even when it's in tune - it sounds weak. It doesn't suit the style of music he's playing, either old or new GN'R material. You know what I mean? I mean, take a listen to a bootleg of say, a '92 Jungle vs. Rio 2001 Jungle...It sounds weak, like he's struggling. A lot of 2001-2002 sounds like that, even though it's a conscious choice. A clean voice just doesn't fit Axl in the way it did Dio or James...Those guys were/are Metal singers, and needed a much more 'operatic' voice anyway. Axl's a bluesy singer, playing in a blues-rock band....The difference between Hetfield and Axl when it comes to that is range. Axl's range goes into the stratosphere, while James stays in a very comfortable mid-tenor range. There literally isn't a single James Hetfield note I can't sing in my normal register. It's much harder to project in a higher register to begin with, it's even harder when it's not your natural voice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreakDown2014 Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Singing like Axl Rose is a major threat to any vocal cords. I guess it's a way of not destroying his own voice.Still, I highly doubt he could pull off some 2010 rasp now. I guess he could try and it would be some decent rasp, but not on that level (hitting every note with such power....). That was insane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Who Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 Singing like Axl Rose is a major threat to any vocal cords. I guess it's a way of not destroying his own voice.Still, I highly doubt he could pull off some 2010 rasp now. I guess he could try and it would be some decent rasp, but not on that level (hitting every note with such power....). That was insaneYou'd be surprised, though. Watch the 2002 VMAs, and then 2006 KOHD at Rock Am Ring back to back. You'd think the former was after the latter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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