What do you think of Axl Rose as a songwriter?

[DieselDaisy]

If you are discussing Axl upon the same level as the greats of rock songwriting, unfortunately it does not add up. A lack of prolificacy is W. Axl Rose's downfall. All of the greats of popular song and verse have amassed a corpus of some size and stature. W. Axl Rose is now fifty-three years old and has released only five albums of original material. At that age, Neil Young had released twenty-two albums, Jagger twenty-three (Stones/solo), Dylan twenty-nine, Chuck Berry eighteen, Paul McCartney twenty-one (Beatles/Wings/Solo), Roger Waters sixteen (Floyd/solo), etc.

These are all the very greats of the genre.

[Roky]

Axl needs other people to write great songs. I don't see him as a great songwriter, I see him as a singer who had a great voice and had a lot of charisma as a frontman. As a songwriter, he's just meh.

[Nosaj Thing]

I have often read or heard it said of great guitar players that they...know when NOT to play, or they have great taste (i.e. they know how to contribute something excellent to the overall song without trying to dominate the song), or they can "say" more with one note than most players can do with a hundred notes, etc....in other words there is often a "less is more"/quality over quantity approach to their playing.

I think the same can be said of songwriters/singers. I think Axl suffered from not knowing when to shut up and a lack of good taste. He often seemed to be trying to fill every little space within a song with his voice, or a silly sound effect (for lack of a bettter term to decribe it) or a clip/speech from a movie, etc...this was especially apparent on UYI and CD. Whether it was from insecurity or an overblown ego, he often tried to dominate the songs. In fact, he sometimes ruins what would be an otherwise great song for me. Breakdown is a good example. I would much prefer to just hear the band jamming at the end without them being drowned out by Axl's ridiculous monlogue from Vanishing Point. Same thing with Locomotive...Slash and Co. are laying down some beautiful music at the end of that song, and it would be so much better without Axl wailing all over the top of it. It seemed like he could never just let the band have their moment to shine without him inserting himself somewhere in the mix. And it ended up detracting from the overall quality of the song rather than enhancing it.

So with Axl maybe it wasn't so much "just shut up and sing"...but maybe it was more know when to just shut up.

All that being said...I do think he was a good lyric writer at times (horrible and immature at others), a great hard rock vocalist and a great frontman...and the perfect guy to front the "most dangerous band in the world".

Goddamn. This is an excellent post.

Respect.

[AtariLegend]

I think Axl's a fantastic writer and the great music he's been part of is the reason I'm posting on a Gun's N Roses forum.

I just wish more of it was released.

[Chuzeville]

I don't know, I just never thought of Axl as a songwriter. For me, a songwriter writes full songs: chords, melody & lyrics. I'm thinking McCartney, Noel Gallagher... On the other hand, Axl contributed to a lot of songs, but only has a handful of tracks to his sole name. Writing a lot of lyrics doesn't make him a songwriter, just a lyricist.

Edited November 22, 2015 by Chuzeville

[TWAT7]

I like his songwriting style, November Rain, Estranged, Coma are the best...songs from CD are different but still have recognizable uniqueness. Let's hope for many moore.

[Flayer]

I think he's fucking fantastic, just a pity he hasn't taken the chance to be more prolific.

[classicrawker]

I think Axl is a very talented song writer but is a horrible studio producer and should leave that to someone who knows what they are doing...............

[wasted]

I think Axl definitely brings something to table that others don't in rock

November Rain

Estranged

Breakdown

Street of Dreams

There was a Time

Catcher in the Rye

Madagascar

This I Love

Prostitute

are all songs that probably wouldn't happen without Axl.

[Caught_in_a_Coma]

I don't know, I just never thought of Axl as a songwriter. For me, a songwriter writes full songs: chords, melody & lyrics. I'm thinking McCartney, Noel Gallagher... On the other hand, Axl contributed to a lot of songs, but only has a handful of tracks to his sole name. Writing a lot of lyrics doesn't make him a songwriter, just a lyricist.

Good point

[BillBailey78]

lennon is by far the best far and above everyone

then jim morrison/robby krieger

then robert plant

then maybe axl

Bob Dylan's songs make all of the people's songs look juvenile.

[trqster]

Axl is a genuinely and genially gifted song writer and lyricist. Along with his unique character it's a hard combo to beat.

[gunsfanoldie]

Axl is a very gifted writer, although he's definitely a more unique voice. I don't know who wrote most of the lyrics on Appetite. Was it Izzy? Cause either Axl sings Izzy's songs so convincingly that I believe they're his, or he wrote his own songs which are filled with good lyrics. So many great ones on Appetite that conjure up all this great imagery. Follow that up with the stuff he wrote on Lies and Illusions and forget about it. I don't consider someone that writes music AND lyrics and chords as someone thats a songwriter, but I see why others would.

Personally I define someone thats a songwriter as a lyricist. Thats why someone like Bob Dylan or Lou Reed are great songwriters, because all they really do is provide the words, while the music is pretty bare and simple, hence the reason its covered so much since its easy to musically add your own spin to it. But they are still top songwriters. I consider people like Hendrix that do music and lyrics as great songwriters and composers.

What do I think of Axl Rose as a songwriter? I think he's insanely good, but that goes without saying. Thats why we talk about the guy even though he's hardly written anything in 20 years. He's got the whole package of great voice, great live stage presence, and great lyrics which is why he is one of the reasons people still talk about GNR today, even though their output was small. He had that "thing" that made him stand out with the Freddie Mercury's and the Robert Plant's and the David Bowie's as one of the greats. I don't think we'd talk about GNR as much if Axl was a shitty songwriter.

[KinseyHolley]

As a songwriter I think Axl is average. In his prime as a singer he was enthralling. That voice is never coming back, tho.

[double talkin jive mfkr]

lennon is by far the best far and above everyone

then jim morrison/robby krieger

then robert plant

then maybe axl

Bob Dylan's songs make all of the people's songs look juvenile.

fine, but he can't sing for shit compared to the others so maybe lyrcist

[Apollo]

Axl is a fantastic writer of songs.

Unfortunately is body of work isn't large enough to list him with the upper echelon.

I can make a gourmet meal. But that doesn't make me a Michelin star chef. The greatest of all time are able to do it for 10-20 albums. Not just for four.

[rocknroll41]

I don't consider him the best writer but he has had some great moments over the years. His writing gifts really shined on Appetite, and Estranged is a gem all on its own.

He has had his shit moments tho. Garden of Eden coulda been great if it weren't for the shit melody he came up for it, and I onoy like bits and pieces of what he came up with for Chinese

[EvanG]

I think he's a great songwriter, he has written some amazing tunes. It's strange he has released so little material in his lifetime so far, especially around his creative peek. There are artists in their early 30's that have released more songs already.

Edited November 26, 2015 by EvanG

[wasted]

I've always wonder about AFD writers but lyrics:

Jungle - Axl

Easy - Duff/Axl?

Nightrain - Axl verses/izzy?

Out to - Axl

Brownstone - Izzy

Paradise - Axl

My Michelle - Axl

Think - Izzy

SCOM - Axl

Crazy - Axl

Anything - axl maybe Izzy?

Rocket - Axl

Edited November 27, 2015 by wasted

[DieselDaisy]

It's so Easy, Arkeen/McKagan.

[supercool]

lennon is by far the best far and above everyone

then jim morrison/robby krieger

then robert plant

then maybe axl

Bob Dylan's songs make all of the people's songs look juvenile.

leonard cohen's songs make bob dylan look like a retard.

[wasted]

It's so Easy, Arkeen/McKagan.

What about Anything Goes lyrically?

I'm not sure about if you write the lyrics you wrote the song though.

Niven was saying Axl wrote Right Next Door to Hell. But Izzy brought the riff in via some guy he was hanging out with?

Axl wrote Dead Horse and Shotgun Blues I think like the riff and the lyrics.

But Dust and Bones or DJT are lyrically Izzy. Slash/Duff credit on DNB.

But when you see DTJ live Axl really makes it his own.

[DieselDaisy]

Anything Goes was actually re-written at the last minute for inclusion on Appetite. It has had three different sets of lyrics in its history. Probably Axl takes the lion's share of that last re-write.

Timo Caltia for Right Next Door to Hell. He gets a songwriting credit.

The Slash/Duff credit on Dust n Bones has always slightly confused me. Perfect Crime is another strange one; live in the 1980s it was introduced as Izzy's song (see Canter's book) yet Slash and Rose somehow pick up credits for it on the studio version!

I think a bit of songwriting jockeying happened for Illusion, as that is where the money is.

[wasted]

I've seen different credits for Perfect Crime. I think Axl said on stage this is a Izzy Stradlin song. But basically that is Slash playing, I don't hear the Stonesy thing, it's like Parasite or another punky Izzy song.

Perfect Crime is Izzy lyrics?

Axl probably came up with the 12346678.

Bad Apples is another one I don't know who wrote lyrics. But my guess is Axl.

But point is that some songs or a lot were done musically and Axl just added vocals?

Singing lyrics over music isn't really songwriting?

It seems easier to look at Nov Rain or Breakdown and hear what he wrote.

Not trying to belittle what Axl does I'm just not a musician so have no idea about the process.

[SoulMonster]

Perfect Crime is another strange one; live in the 1980s it was introduced as Izzy's song (see Canter's book) yet Slash and Rose somehow pick up credits for it on the studio version!

Izzy brought it is and it was worked on by others in the band.