F*ck Fear Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 At the beginning of 2016 I thought Axl sounded pretty solid. Acceptable, anyways. Then he joined AC/DC, and that's the voice everyone remembers. Since AC/DC ended, its been all downhill. To the point where I can't understand how people can enjoy it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GNR_RNR Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 I love that 2010 Reading Jungle. Chills. Don't really understand any complaints to his recent vocals. He's in a much better place than 2018 when his voice was clearly knackered. Sounds so much better than I expected before this tour started. Good power even with the cleaner vocals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IncitingChaos Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 So I was watching one of those reaction videos and a professional singer reacted to paradise city the studio version. She said something that made a lot of sense, she mentioned that for anyone trying to replicate Axl’s vocals that it’s important that they remember he’s not getting those high notes from forcing them, he’s actually relaxed his vocal chords so much that he it creates a higher pitch. When I hear Axl sing dead horse or paradise Iive you hear that similar relaxed vocal she mentioned but now it has that higher Mickey sound to it. So I’m not even sure how much Axl has adjusted his vocal style on these songs over the years. You can try to recreate it by singing in the back of your throat but without forcing the vocals and you get that higher pitch. It’s truly unreal that at any point Axl had the power to make that pitch sound incredible. Now if he is to recreate those vocals he has to force it and create distortion. That is where I think it hurts his voice. But idk hearing her explain his voice made sense to me in how it’s became the way it is now. But anyone else care to correct me or chime in..I love these discussions 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lame ass security Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 50 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said: So I was watching one of those reaction videos and a professional singer reacted to paradise city the studio version. She said something that made a lot of sense, she mentioned that for anyone trying to replicate Axl’s vocals that it’s important that they remember he’s not getting those high notes from forcing them, he’s actually relaxed his vocal chords so much that he it creates a higher pitch. When I hear Axl sing dead horse or paradise Iive you hear that similar relaxed vocal she mentioned but now it has that higher Mickey sound to it. So I’m not even sure how much Axl has adjusted his vocal style on these songs over the years. You can try to recreate it by singing in the back of your throat but without forcing the vocals and you get that higher pitch. It’s truly unreal that at any point Axl had the power to make that pitch sound incredible. Now if he is to recreate those vocals he has to force it and create distortion. That is where I think it hurts his voice. But idk hearing her explain his voice made sense to me in how it’s became the way it is now. But anyone else care to correct me or chime in..I love these discussions The way Axl sings just doesn't age well. Especially considering a lot of the songs are out of his natural register. It's just a screaming fest because everyone plays with the volume at 10, but that's rock n roll. Guys like Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett didn't have to deal with that so they could sing forever. The instruments were set at a lower level to compliment their voices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibsonfender2323 Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 Part of the reason GNR tunnes down to a half step for the singer. They did that since they began. Axl is a natural baritone so to see him sing really high is unreal 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IncitingChaos Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 1 hour ago, lame ass security said: The way Axl sings just doesn't age well. Especially considering a lot of the songs are out of his natural register. It's just a screaming fest because everyone plays with the volume at 10, but that's rock n roll. Guys like Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett didn't have to deal with that so they could sing forever. The instruments were set at a lower level to compliment their voices. When he’s screaming is when I think he sounds good but when he’s singing with no force is when we get those mickeyish notes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lame ass security Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 44 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said: When he’s screaming is when I think he sounds good but when he’s singing with no force is when we get those mickeyish notes Good point. The screaming, over time, does damage to the mid range. I know it sounds weird but it's true, I know from firsthand experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RONIN Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 He honestly doesn't sound any worse now than he did during 2011-2014. His costumes/dress-up parties are far more problematic. Elton John wants his wardrobe back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Posted October 27, 2019 Share Posted October 27, 2019 I really miss Axl's raspy godliness... but I don't think he's not trying. I think history has shown he does it when he can... and Duff says he does vocal exercises for like 3 hours a show day. And they do 3+ hour sets... I couldn't even talk for 3 hours straight. I know he gets a crazy amount of cash per show but... Vince Neil, David Coverdale, DLR, Jovi, Bach, Rob Halfford... I mean, they all sound like shit now, relatively speaking. The only guys I can think of that can still (sort of) get to their magical place are Steven Tyler and James Hetfield. And even then... So... don't be toxic with respect to rasp . BUT THAT MEANS WE NEED SOME FUCKING CLASSIC OFFICIAL RELEASES. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BooO Posted October 27, 2019 Share Posted October 27, 2019 (edited) On 25/10/2019 at 5:09 PM, Amir said: The proshots tend to be the most unforgiving as vocals are high in the mix. But in 2010 he sounded amazing on those as well: In my opinion, his voice sounded fuckin great in 2010. Reading's one of my favorite shows. I like that acoustic one at the Rose Bar too.. Edited October 27, 2019 by BooO 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGeneral Posted October 27, 2019 Share Posted October 27, 2019 (edited) Compared to now, "Appetite for Democracy" Axl was fantastic. At least the Mickey didn't make my ears bleed. EDIT: But he's gotten better this year. 2018 Axl was just painful. Even the rasp on for example Paradise City just sounded painful, for himself and my ears. Edited October 27, 2019 by TheGeneral Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan Rose Posted October 27, 2019 Share Posted October 27, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, TheGeneral said: Compared to now, "Appetite for Democracy" Axl was fantastic. At least the Mickey didn't make my ears bleed. EDIT: But he's gotten better this year. 2018 Axl was just painful. Even the rasp on for example Paradise City just sounded painful, for himself and my ears. The soundboard of Prostitute from the last show is hard to listen to. Thing is, when he started doing the clean/falsetto singing in 2001 it sounded incredibly powerful (those insane LALD screams) compared to 2012-2014 and those years sound way better than today. That's the scary thing. Had he never switched back to rasp in 2006-2010 and Axl/DC he'd likely have a lot more strong clean voice left in the tank. As it is, his clean/falsetto is getting weaker and the more he uses distortion/rasp the more quickly his voice declines overall. If he wanted to i'd wager he could pull off another stint using 100% rasp/distortion but at this point he's looking at maintaining the lifestyle/cashflow for as long as possible hence being very conservative. There have been some Jungle screams on this tour to match almost anything, but f he sustains that then he wont still be able to get by in a few years. Poor Johnny B is looking at imminent retirement (set to end of Always....yikes!): Edited October 27, 2019 by Jordan Rose 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDemocracyRose Posted October 27, 2019 Share Posted October 27, 2019 After this tour Axl should take a seriously look at the setlist and catalogue of GNR songs he can sing well(keep scom). Then make an album he can sing live with no problems. It's time for a change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F*ck Fear Posted October 27, 2019 Share Posted October 27, 2019 2 hours ago, TheGeneral said: Compared to now, "Appetite for Democracy" Axl was fantastic. At least the Mickey didn't make my ears bleed. EDIT: But he's gotten better this year. 2018 Axl was just painful. Even the rasp on for example Paradise City just sounded painful, for himself and my ears. This. I just don't hear how he's gotten better on this leg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGeneral Posted October 27, 2019 Share Posted October 27, 2019 1 hour ago, F*ck Fear said: This. I just don't hear how he's gotten better on this leg. I feel like leaving out his worst songs (TWAT, TIL, Prostitute, Yesterdays, UTLH etc) and adding songs he actually can pull off (Locomotive is good) helps with at least thinking he got better. YCBM, SCOM and sadly RQ are still the low points. May sound stupid, but when I was like 14 I first found the Appetite for Democracy WTTJ live video on YouTube...and I honestly thought "What a dick he's using playback". Now a couple of years later I can see that it wasn't, it was just really great raspy/clean-ish singing. (Not counting weird singing like in Shackler's) Someone already stated that it is like a form of stockholm syndrome on here. I agree with that 100%. When I went away from Guns for a bit and came back, I thought "Holy shit he sucks, it's painful". You just get used to it so you think it's good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axlskAmpf Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 Yes it's bad, it's gone, but it lives on in recordings. He has 200M though so don't feel bad. He had a stellar career with great success when you consider he took most of the good career years off. I've heard no new leaks, still no interest, as I don't think I'll find any moments where I can (as Brian May once said) "bask in Axl's voice". Yes, those days are gone. Hard to imagine it's been 11 years since we all spoke to Axl here, he answered a Q of mine during the odd 2 days of messaging about the boards. It was a different world then, alas also gone. That said it's great he, Slash, and Duff are working together again. Cheers to that, and to the good days on the ol' board, thanks for the memories and good times! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrolk Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 On 2019-10-26 at 10:50 AM, sl4yer said: That being said, TIL from Tallin was one of the best ones TILs in 2018. The ones from Berlin, Firenze or whole Asian leg were just painful Generally he seems to be worse and worse year by year unfortunately. 2016 he was pretty good, in 2017 it got worse but most of shows were still not bad. In 2018 EU leg he was terrible in Berlin, then he was ok so I hoped his shape will be better for an Asian leg. But he was terrible again. This year, he wasn’t as bad as in Berlin in any show but he sounds pretty rought and it seems like it takes a lot of effort from him to achieve the rasp. But I don’t think it’s his choice right now, he probably can‘t get much better from now. But it‘s Axl he can surprise us. And @Pedrolg you’re right. He’s worse now than in 2012-2014. And it’s a big difference I always thought that axl's voice was bad after 2010 ... But when I'm listening to 2012-14 now ... its a hell a lot better than now ... its a pity.... Love the Ax and have always been with him ... I don't know him so its hard to say what's wrong .... He's a smart dude so he should know that he's voice is pretty bad.... Mabybe he should loose 30 kg ...but maybe not .... He's seems to have fun ... but his anger in the past was mabe the force that made his voice so good ... i know ac/dc was a weird thing ... he sounded like a beast ... so its a fucking puzzle ... Time has gone so fast.... Wonder what's next .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl4yer Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 4 minutes ago, wrolk said: I always thought that axl's voice was bad after 2010 ... But when I'm listening to 2012-14 now ... its a hell a lot better than now ... its a pity.... Love the Ax and have always been with him ... I don't know him so its hard to say what's wrong .... He's a smart dude so he should know that he's voice is pretty bad.... Mabybe he should loose 30 kg ...but maybe not .... He's seems to have fun ... but his anger in the past was mabe the force that made his voice so good ... i know ac/dc was a weird thing ... he sounded like a beast ... so its a fucking puzzle ... Time has gone so fast.... Wonder what's next .. That's because he sounded a lot worse than in 2010. But time gone by and we see it wasn't bad. And while I can believe he didn't use a lot of rasp at that time because he wanted to save his voice, I think it is not a case now. I think after AC/DC he just lost it. He put so much effort now to have even a little bit of rasp. Sad but nothing last forever. I guess we should enjoy what we have right now because he propably won't get better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrolk Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 8 minutes ago, sl4yer said: That's because he sounded a lot worse than in 2010. But time gone by and we see it wasn't bad. And while I can believe he didn't use a lot of rasp at that time because he wanted to save his voice, I think it is not a case now. I think after AC/DC he just lost it. He put so much effort now to have even a little bit of rasp. Sad but nothing last forever. I guess we should enjoy what we have right now because he propably won't get better. You are right ... we should be happy and enjoy what we got .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axlvai Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 The mthrfckr can make it... but he doesnt care. Just playing safe, doing his "job". Maybe is not fun right now. Maybe we are old too and dont feel the vibe from the audience.... idk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 (edited) On 10/26/2019 at 3:31 AM, F*ck Fear said: At the beginning of 2016 I thought Axl sounded pretty solid. Acceptable, anyways. Then he joined AC/DC, and that's the voice everyone remembers. Since AC/DC ended, its been all downhill. To the point where I can't understand how people can enjoy it. Yeah there was some pretty great 2016 shows... That sounds pretty rad to me! I'd pay to see that. I wonder why it's fallen off. Anyway, not hating, Axl rocks. Edited October 29, 2019 by Ant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IncitingChaos Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 Here’s a fun flashback to 2012. ill never understand how he got his voice so clean and sharp haha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cory Trevor Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 listen how fuckin good he was in 2016 compared to now its unreal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FabioRoses Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 On 27/10/2019 at 7:13 AM, TheDemocracyRose said: After this tour Axl should take a seriously look at the setlist and catalogue of GNR songs he can sing well(keep scom). Then make an album he can sing live with no problems. It's time for a change. I don't know if there's much to do. Besides songs that Axl can sing with his lower register (like Bad Obsession and You Ain't the First) i can only imagine that will be the same, if he's not singing clean YCBM, he'll be singing clean Think About You for exemple. But I agree that they need to release songs that suits his voice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North Korean Democracy Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 I don't know if it's been discussed before but I was listening to this year's Charlotte show yesterday and I as amazed when I listened to the performance of Shadow of Your Love, Axl sounded amazing. He sometimes sounded like in 2010 in that particular song. Maybe it was my low expectations but I was blown away. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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