The "Axl's Voice" Thread - Please Keep All Discussion Here

[maynard]

Seriously, Mickey is Mickey. There's no "stronger" Mickey or "listenable" Mickey. If he sings clean, he sounds bad. Simple as that. It's just a dude with a regular voice and some training trying to sing GNR tunes. It's borderline amateur.

Axl became famous because his voice was very distinctive. And powerful. I don't expect 1987-1993 level obviously. Nobody does. But current Axl is not really Axl.

Take Estranged for example, the climax of the song, it's so dramatic and it begs for Axl to give his all and all he does is his half-assed helium voice and lacks any effort to give the song what it needs. It's like I'm watching someone at a karaoke bar.

YCBM is another example. Fucking heavy kickass song. You just can't sing that song like an old lesbian lady like Axl does. Retire that shit if you won't even try to sing it with balls.

2010 was the end for Axl vocally in GNR. His ACDC stint proved he can still sing when he wants to.

From 2011 til today with the ACDC exception, Axl sounds bad, very very bad. A bad parody of himself. Oh he was 8,65% better in São Paulo than he was in Rio? Big fucking deal. It's still the Mickey Mouse show.

Edited October 3, 2017 by maynard

[ChineseDemocracy2004]

On ‎02‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 3:19 PM, IncitingChaos said:

Shacklers

CD

IRS 

are great live. 

I can't imagine Slash playing something like Shackler's.

Democracy benefits from his "demon" voice. I think that still sounds alright live.

IIRC IRS was play a lot in 2010 which was fantastic but I think the band haven't played it since because of the damage it would do to Axl's voice.

I've read people suggest that the band should tune down to accommodate Axl's voice. Would that work at this stage?

Better is in C# or C and I can't remember the last time I heard a version of Better that I enjoyed during this tour. I can't imagine how Axl would sound if Better was tuned down even further to B like Shackler's Revenge is.

[IncitingChaos]

14 minutes ago, ChineseDemocracy2004 said:

I can't imagine Slash playing something like Shackler's.

Democracy benefits from his "demon" voice. I think that still sounds alright live.

IIRC IRS was play a lot in 2010 which was fantastic but I think the band haven't played it since because of the damage it would do to Axl's voice.

I've read people suggest that the band should tune down to accommodate Axl's voice. Would that work at this stage?

Better is in C# or C and I can't remember the last time I heard a version of Better that I enjoyed during this tour. I can't imagine how Axl would sound if Better was tuned down even further to B like Shackler's Revenge is.

As far as I know all gnr songs are tuned half a step down and they play it live that way. Maybe standard tuning would help get a bit more out of Axl. 

I'd be interested in hearing Slash on Shacklers with a much less industrial sound. I think it could be a cool experiment. 

You may be right on IRS 

[ChineseDemocracy2004]

16 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said:

As far as I know all gnr songs are tuned half a step down and they play it live that way. Maybe standard tuning would help get a bit more out of Axl.

All of classic GN'R songs are tuned half a step down. It's only the Democracy songs where the tunings are here, there & everywhere.

The only GN'R song the band have played in standard tuning since 2016 is There Was A Time IIRC.

[MyPrettyTiedUpMichelle]

13 hours ago, maynard said:

Seriously, Mickey is Mickey. There's no "stronger" Mickey or "listenable" Mickey. If he sings clean, he sounds bad. Simple as that. It's just a dude with a regular voice and some training trying to sing GNR tunes. It's borderline amateur.

Axl became famous because his voice was very distinctive. And powerful. I don't expect 1987-1993 level obviously. Nobody does. But current Axl is not really Axl.

Take Estranged for example, the climax of the song, it's so dramatic and it begs for Axl to give his all and all he does is his half-assed helium voice and lacks any effort to give the song what it needs. It's like I'm watching someone at a karaoke bar.

YCBM is another example. Fucking heavy kickass song. You just can't sing that song like an old lesbian lady like Axl does. Retire that shit if you won't even try to sing it with balls.

2010 was the end for Axl vocally in GNR. His ACDC stint proved he can still sing when he wants to.

From 2011 til today with the ACDC exception, Axl sounds bad, very very bad. A bad parody of himself. Oh he was 8,65% better in São Paulo than he was in Rio? Big fucking deal. It's still the Mickey Mouse show.

Great post.  Laughed at old lesbian lady line.  

I know it's been said a thousand times already but I guess it's going to keep on being said: if Axl wants Guns N' Roses to continue, he's going to have to release, and subsequently tour, new music that best suits a new style of singing (not Mickey).  The whole reason he has to sing Mickey is because the old songs demanded a pitch and tone he's no longer capable of delivering (I stopped listening to songs like Estranged and Paradise City in the show threads long ago because he does them an absolute injustice).  

NITL surely has to be the last time we'll hear most of the old songs live - surely!  I cannot believe that he believes he can keep on touring them.  He still has a powerful voice and his lower register has a wonderful tone (think DTJ and Better chorus) and I think he can still produce a decent mid range with work. 

So after this tour, it's either the end of the road for GNR, or it's the beginning of the new era. 

[IncitingChaos]

35 minutes ago, ChineseDemocracy2004 said:

All of classic GN'R songs are tuned half a step down. It's only the Democracy songs where the tunings are here, there & everywhere.

The only GN'R song the band have played in standard tuning since 2016 is There Was A Time IIRC.

Any links to that There was a time?

[koldweather]

The Houston version of YCBM is probably the go to performance of that song this tour, it was clean based but with enough inflection on the notes to give it that near classic raspy sound at times. Love it!

 

[Pedrolg]

I've been watching a lot of videos and came to the conclusion that Axl's comeback in 2016 was greater than I thought, even with AC/Dc out of the equation. He sounded fucking great, on par with 2006 at many songs and maybe slightly better on some. See the RQ clips below, and is there really much of a difference? While Axl was praised a lot, maybe we didn't fully appreciate what it meant for him to perform like that well into his 50's. 2006 had many mickeyed YCBMs (even though he fully rasped it once or twice) or RQs too.

These are clips of a 2006 show that is not RAR but generally considered good, a regular 2016 performance and the houston 2016 raspfest. I get the impression that Axl's ability, his ceiling when it comes to rasp and power is not really that different from one clip to the other. He goes clean through a lot of the song, but reaches for some rasp here and there. The rasp is there when he needs it, arguably more efortlessly in 2016 than it was in 2006, at least on this performance and a few others such as RIR 2006.

The choice to sing clean has been there in different moments of Axl's career, mostly all of them except for 2010 and the early 90's. I think in 2017 he tries to sing now exactly the same way he did back in 2016, things just don't click anymore. The rasp is not quite there when he reaches for it, and overreaching leads to voice cracks. The clean voice is clearly weaker and more airy. The relentless schedule and high level of performance did this to Axl.

I just hope he recovers when he stops, but at his age and if his work ethic falters there is a very real chance he does not. After 2010 he took six fucking years to sound great again, and it probably took a lot of preparation to get his voice in the shape it was back last year - motivated by a reunion and AC/DC. Imo, nothing short of a new album Axl is genuinely proud of will ever bring this level of performance out of him again.

 

 

[IncitingChaos]

5 hours ago, Pedrolg said:

I've been watching a lot of videos and came to the conclusion that Axl's comeback in 2016 was greater than I thought, even with AC/Dc out of the equation. He sounded fucking great, on par with 2006 at many songs and maybe slightly better on some. See the RQ clips below, and is there really much of a difference? While Axl was praised a lot, maybe we didn't fully appreciate what it meant for him to perform like that well into his 50's. 2006 had many mickeyed YCBMs (even though he fully rasped it once or twice) or RQs too.

These are clips of a 2006 show that is not RAR but generally considered good, a regular 2016 performance and the houston 2016 raspfest. I get the impression that Axl's ability, his ceiling when it comes to rasp and power is not really that different from one clip to the other. He goes clean through a lot of the song, but reaches for some rasp here and there. The rasp is there when he needs it, arguably more efortlessly in 2016 than it was in 2006, at least on this performance and a few others such as RIR 2006.

The choice to sing clean has been there in different moments of Axl's career, mostly all of them except for 2010 and the early 90's. I think in 2017 he tries to sing now exactly the same way he did back in 2016, things just don't click anymore. The rasp is not quite there when he reaches for it, and overreaching leads to voice cracks. The clean voice is clearly weaker and more airy. The relentless schedule and high level of performance did this to Axl.

I just hope he recovers when he stops, but at his age and if his work ethic falters there is a very real chance he does not. After 2010 he took six fucking years to sound great again, and it probably took a lot of preparation to get his voice in the shape it was back last year - motivated by a reunion and AC/DC. Imo, nothing short of a new album Axl is genuinely proud of will ever bring this level of performance out of him again.

 

 

2016 I felt like we were getting the best Axl had to offer. Even though a few songs a night were off it was fine. He would tear thru that first part of the set all the up until YCBM. I enjoyed it. I wish he would put rasp on estranged, ycbm, SCOM, and NR but really he was overall very good. 

As far as 06 goes the best of Axl came at the end of that year in LA. It's the best I think Axl has sounded on a complete show. No bad performances. 06 was a year that may not have been perfect everynight but you knew he could walk into a studio and still provide his classic vocals

 

 

Edited October 4, 2017 by IncitingChaos

[Fanboy]

1 hour ago, IncitingChaos said:

... you knew he could walk into a studio and still provide his classic vocals

 

 

Can he now ? Once again I have no idea what the technology and stuff in studio can do. Let's say, same studio vocal he used for recording Madagascar, to me it's one of his best performance

[IncitingChaos]

14 hours ago, Fanboy said:

Can he now ? Once again I have no idea what the technology and stuff in studio can do. Let's say, same studio vocal he used for recording Madagascar, to me it's one of his best performance

I'd like to think he could, but something about 06 where he still had those classic Axl nuances. The way he sings certain lines, the fury in his stage performances, I just think it's something that was lost with time. 

Can he go into a studio and put great vocals down? Sure! Will they be on par with vocals from AFD...likely not. And that's where I think after 06/07 ended we lost the chance at hearing Axl in his best form. You can say CD came out in 08 but the truth is the vocals for that album were laid in the early 00's. 

2010 I feel like may have been better than 06. So much grit in his voice. 2010 seemed suited towards a UYI type recording. I'm not sure in 2010 that he could have laid down the cleaner vocals as well as he did in 06.

Now in 2017 in not sure what to expect. We are one year removed from some incredible vocal moments with AC/DC but also currently sitting in one of his worst vocal slumps in his career. How much is fatigue? How much is deliberate vocal strategy/saving? I hope we find out 

[Pedrolg]

His classic vocals are gone. That slightly donald duck-esque  effortless raspy voice is shot to bits and that's it. I do think that in 2016 he could lay down some incredible vocals though, regardless of how classic they'd be deemed. Not sure in 2017, as I have a hard time believing Axl is saving anything considering the voice cracks and the fact he is in great physical shape, using his voice non stop for 18 months now.

We have to be realistic and wonder how much can a 55 year old with Axl's style recover. He always had peaks and valleys through his career, with 2016 being his latest peak and 2017 one of the darkest valleys ever. Reason dictates that each future peak, if there are any, will be lower than the last one, so it's likely that that as time goes by 2016 and AC/DC becomes the new 2010 with all the "wow, can you imagine if Axl sounded like he did back at 2016".

Tbh I've been hoping for Axl's voice to make a full blown return since he lost it in 2011. The 01/02 and even beggining of 2006 mickey and him bouncing back from that kinda gave me some hope that it could happen again, but seeing him perform with slash at this level right now makes it pretty safe to assume that this is not happening ever again. I'm more and more inclined to think he gives his best every show and it is what is.

We can only hope he has the will to reinvent himself a bit and find better ways to work with what he has left as his range deteriorates and he loses his ability to use mask/drive/rasp for good, with the falsetto producing grotesque moments like RIR. If there is someone out there who has the talent to do that, that's Axl.  

[PirateRadio]

21 hours ago, Pedrolg said:

....

If there is someone out there who has the talent to do that, that's Axl.  

You bring up an excellent point here. The most talented at what they do are usually able to do it longer. Their peak is higher than anyone else's, so when they decline, it's still good stuff. Axl was as talented as any singer, straight god-given ability. He can find it again. I would not be surprised if at 70, we all say, "Oh shit! This guy still kicks ass!"

[ChineseDemocracy2004]

On ‎03‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 6:53 PM, IncitingChaos said:

Any links to that There was a time?

The last time GN'R played There Was A Time was in Ireland back in May.
 

After the hostile crowd in Ireland back in 2010 There Was A Time has been played there ever since.

[Pedrolg]

22 minutes ago, ChineseDemocracy2004 said:

The last time GN'R played There Was A Time was in Ireland back in May.
 

After the hostile crowd in Ireland back in 2010 There Was A Time has been played there ever since.

This is an example of him wanting to use full rasp or AC/DC voice on those "I'd do anything for you" parts and it just doesn't work.

[IncitingChaos]

2 hours ago, ChineseDemocracy2004 said:

The last time GN'R played There Was A Time was in Ireland back in May.
 

After the hostile crowd in Ireland back in 2010 There Was A Time has been played there ever since.

Holy shit that was terrible...I never thought about comparing TWAT

San Diego version was incredible compared to that 4:00-4:36 is amazing 

Edited October 6, 2017 by IncitingChaos

[Jordan Rose]

8 hours ago, IncitingChaos said:

Holy shit that was terrible...I never thought about comparing TWAT

San Diego version was incredible compared to that 4:00-4:36 is amazing 

It's crazy to think that song was first recorded in '98-'99. 19 fucking years ago. When it was released I always imagined it being a cornerstone song for NewGNR in the live set. It sucks so much that he's never played it enough to learn how to nail it live meanwhile all these other tired old songs have been played to fucking death at every show.

[IncitingChaos]

7 hours ago, Jordan Rose said:

It's crazy to think that song was first recorded in '98-'99. 19 fucking years ago. When it was released I always imagined it being a cornerstone song for NewGNR in the live set. It sucks so much that he's never played it enough to learn how to nail it live meanwhile all these other tired old songs have been played to fucking death at every show.

According to Axl it's a bitch to play live. The song nearly requires two singers 

best version might be in 2014

 

Edited October 6, 2017 by IncitingChaos

[Pedrolg]

35 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said:

According to Axl it's a bitch to play live. The song nearly requires two singers 

best version might be in 2014

 

This performance is absolutely awesome.

[IncitingChaos]

22 minutes ago, Pedrolg said:

This performance is absolutely awesome.

It's amazing how he can be on key, breathing perfect, singing with a studio quality voice when he wants to. That was one of those sneaky performances where he's like "here's what I've been saving" 

[Pedrolg]

22 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said:

It's amazing how he can be on key, breathing perfect, singing with a studio quality voice when he wants to. That was one of those sneaky performances where he's like "here's what I've been saving" 

Yeah, he's had those on occasion even 2011-2014. 2017 is the first time in a while where it  truly seems, at least to me, that he doesn't have it even if he wanted to. That is what worries me.

[koldweather]

22 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said:

It's amazing how he can be on key, breathing perfect, singing with a studio quality voice when he wants to. That was one of those sneaky performances where he's like "here's what I've been saving" 

I really do believe the reunion talks were starting around this point, he seemed to suddenly pick up this energy on the 4th of June along with a different set and he seemed to talking an awful lot and joking around huge amounts on the 6/7th (I remember listening live and thinking that Axl was really into something).

He just seemed to push his voice much harder on those nights for some reason.

[IncitingChaos]

32 minutes ago, koldweather said:

I really do believe the reunion talks were starting around this point, he seemed to suddenly pick up this energy on the 4th of June along with a different set and he seemed to talking an awful lot and joking around huge amounts on the 6/7th (I remember listening live and thinking that Axl was really into something).

He just seemed to push his voice much harder on those nights for some reason.

I'd say he just knew that with Bumble leaving he wouldn't be singing for a while. We know that he knows we want rasp, so he said this ones for the fans and gave us his best those nights. Yesterdays, Twat, Paradise City all had rasp 

[IncitingChaos]

 

 

 

he had something extra those nights

[Pedrolg]

What is always odd for me is that using the rasp doesn't seem hard at all for him in those videos. It looks casual and effortless.