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

[YOUCOULDBEMINE.]

Axl just can't sing for shit anymore due to various reasons. I still enjoy the shows but Axl will never sound anything close to '91-'93, '06-'07 or '09-'10. 80's Axl was a whole different beast.

But I don't know, it sounds like he gave up a few years back. He was pretty good with AC/DC but all Brian Johnson songs are the same and are really screamie a la WTTJ and SOYL. Which is why those songs are still pretty decent live.

But compare any RQ, YCBM, NR or SCOM from these past 3 years with the ones from 2010 (Bucharest 2010 specifically). It's a whole different sound. It's not much better than 1999-2002 Axl.

And I'm not saying this to piss people off. But what got me into GN'R were Axl's raw and raspy vocals. I'm a big fan of singers who sound like a piece of sandpaper (Steven Tyler, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Joe ****er, etc.). And Axl now sounds like he could audition for the Scissor Sisters or the Plastic Band.

And even tho it doesn't necessarily have an effect on your voice as a singer, it wouldn't hurt him to get a little exersise. He doesn't look healthy to me, even tho the dude's standing next to 2 serious ex-junkies every night.

 

[TheDemocracyRose]

7 hours ago, FabioRoses said:

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.

I think there are still a lot of songs he can sing. ISE - Brownstone - Chinese and (keep JUNGLE - NR - SCOM- PC even if sounds from bad to good). DTJ - ESTRANGED(First part) - DC - PATIENCE - BAD O - PRETTY T U - LOCO- SOYL - 5 or 6 new songs from a new album and some other songs from UYI . Then you have a new setlist... 😉

Edited October 29, 2019 by TheDemocracyRose

[2020_Intensions]

8 hours ago, UcudBmine said:

Axl just can't sing for shit anymore due to various reasons. I still enjoy the shows but Axl will never sound anything close to '91-'93, '06-'07 or '09-'10. 80's Axl was a whole different beast.

But I don't know, it sounds like he gave up a few years back. He was pretty good with AC/DC but all Brian Johnson songs are the same and are really screamie a la WTTJ and SOYL. Which is why those songs are still pretty decent live.

But compare any RQ, YCBM, NR or SCOM from these past 3 years with the ones from 2010 (Bucharest 2010 specifically). It's a whole different sound. It's not much better than 1999-2002 Axl.

And I'm not saying this to piss people off. But what got me into GN'R were Axl's raw and raspy vocals. I'm a big fan of singers who sound like a piece of sandpaper (Steven Tyler, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Joe ****er, etc.). And Axl now sounds like he could audition for the Scissor Sisters or the Plastic Band.

And even tho it doesn't necessarily have an effect on your voice as a singer, it wouldn't hurt him to get a little exersise. He doesn't look healthy to me, even tho the dude's standing next to 2 serious ex-junkies every night.

 

This says it all .. Axl just gave up .. Which is really sad timing given the reunion .. We never thought Axl & Slash would get back together but we also never thought if that did happen it'd just be a gravy train ... Sad!

[SAU3R]

Setlist with stuff he still could sing + greatest hits :

Easy

Brownstone 

CD

Jungle

DTJ

Estranged 

SOYL

You ain't the first (Acoustic) 

Patience (Acoustic) 

KOHD (Acoustic) 

Attitude (Duff) 

So Fine (Duff) 

Locomotive

Maddy

SCOM

Pretty Tied up

Bad Obsession 

NR

Nightrain

Encore:

Don't Cry

Slither

Seeker

PC

[FabioRoses]

2 minutes ago, SAU3R said:

Setlist with stuff he still could sing + greatest hits :

Easy

Brownstone 

CD

Jungle

DTJ

Estranged 

SOYL

You ain't the first (Acoustic) 

Patience (Acoustic) 

KOHD (Acoustic) 

Attitude (Duff) 

So Fine (Duff) 

Locomotive

Maddy

SCOM

Pretty Tied up

Bad Obsession 

NR

Nightrain

Encore:

Don't Cry

Slither

Seeker

PC

Pretty good setlist, i would be happy with it, plus new songs (if they exist)

[IncitingChaos]

8 hours ago, UcudBmine said:

Axl just can't sing for shit anymore due to various reasons. I still enjoy the shows but Axl will never sound anything close to '91-'93, '06-'07 or '09-'10. 80's Axl was a whole different beast.

But I don't know, it sounds like he gave up a few years back. He was pretty good with AC/DC but all Brian Johnson songs are the same and are really screamie a la WTTJ and SOYL. Which is why those songs are still pretty decent live.

But compare any RQ, YCBM, NR or SCOM from these past 3 years with the ones from 2010 (Bucharest 2010 specifically). It's a whole different sound. It's not much better than 1999-2002 Axl.

And I'm not saying this to piss people off. But what got me into GN'R were Axl's raw and raspy vocals. I'm a big fan of singers who sound like a piece of sandpaper (Steven Tyler, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Joe ****er, etc.). And Axl now sounds like he could audition for the Scissor Sisters or the Plastic Band.

And even tho it doesn't necessarily have an effect on your voice as a singer, it wouldn't hurt him to get a little exersise. He doesn't look healthy to me, even tho the dude's standing next to 2 serious ex-junkies every night.

 

don't You undermine what he did with ACDC it was exceptional 

[Cory Trevor]

42 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said:

don't You undermine what he did with ACDC it was exceptional 

it was the best singing of his career at some points.

[Dean]

2016 was amazing. He knocked it out the fucking park with AC/DC and once he got back into the groove with Guns, he was at the top of his game - one of his best years. I'm going to go all out and say I preferred his voice here, especially with Guns, than in 2010 and 2006. 

Rocket Queen from Philadelphia 2012 is better than any Rocket Queen from 2010 IMO. Better than anything since too.

[ChristianGNR]

I don’t like Axl’s current voice, but you can’t say that he is never going to sing again like 2006/10. The guys is unpredictable. 

[junior201]

1 hour ago, IncitingChaos said:

don't You undermine what he did with ACDC it was exceptional 

You may notice that the beginning of this song is exactly the middle tone in which he usually puts his clear falsetto voice into Guns songs. He's not screaming here, as a lot of people say he only had the rasp in AD / DC because he sang screaming, but he can bring the full rasp without screaming at the beginning of this song.

In my opinion he can still make his voice have the necessary drive but maybe he needs more effort to do compared to before. AD / DC shows were few compared to the amount of shows that Guns has been doing.

[IncitingChaos]

1 hour ago, junior201 said:

You may notice that the beginning of this song is exactly the middle tone in which he usually puts his clear falsetto voice into Guns songs. He's not screaming here, as a lot of people say he only had the rasp in AD / DC because he sang screaming, but he can bring the full rasp without screaming at the beginning of this song.

In my opinion he can still make his voice have the necessary drive but maybe he needs more effort to do compared to before. AD / DC shows were few compared to the amount of shows that Guns has been doing.

yea he can hit every range with rasp. Now how hard it is for him to do so is a question only he can answer, but he made it look easy with acdc

[IncitingChaos]

now if Axl ever did blow out his voice with ACDC it was at 5:00 mark here

[Ant]

3 hours ago, ChrisMaciel said:

I don’t like Axl’s current voice, but you can’t say that he is never going to sing again like 2006/10. The guys is unpredictable. 

I agree! You never know, man. Nobody would have thought around Appetite for Democracy that Axl/DC woulda sounded like that. 

I don't know why people assume he's not trying. We don't know what's going on with him physically... he's thick but he doesn't look like Vince Neil... he doesn't get winded... Duff says he puts a lot in on vocal exercises (although Duff says a lot of things, haha).

 

Judging by that literal impression of Mickey Mouse he did in 2016 it's obvious he's aware of the discussion around his voice, so... I don't know why he'd hold out -- it seems like he prefers rasp when all cylinders are firing!  Maybe it is a finite resource kind of situation, as some people think, and AC/DC was sort of legacy defining in a way that the trailing legs of NITL are not... could be considerations of capacity for new studio vocals... we'll see!

 

Edited October 30, 2019 by Ant

[ax1]

Im far more optimistic if and if ever a new album comes out he can put out a much better voice. That being said, I saw him in Hershey Park in '17 and he actually sounded really good to me there. His Apollo recording not long before that sounds good as well....this compared to alot of other shows Ive heard on the net as of late.

I wouldnt mind Axl using technology to help his voice and get that rasp back. I think it can be done, its still him singing and his voice. Maybe in studio they can use modern tech to sound a bit more old school, just for the album at least then you can consider the live mic.

[jamillos]

I don't have a single shred of doubt that he can sound as awesome as he wants on a studio recording. E.g. when was Rock the Rock recorded? Well, we don't really know, but take that single song and compare the simple yet flawless rasp with anything from a concert from that year - and the song wins. 

Live version, with lengthy touring, is a different story. And Axl gave his best to Angus, that's for sure. 

[sl4yer]

3 hours ago, jamillos said:

I don't have a single shred of doubt that he can sound as awesome as he wants on a studio recording. E.g. when was Rock the Rock recorded? Well, we don't really know, but take that single song and compare the simple yet flawless rasp with anything from a concert from that year - and the song wins. 

Live version, with lengthy touring, is a different story. And Axl gave his best to Angus, that's for sure. 

Rock The Rock vocals are most likely from 2018, maybe 2017 

 

11 hours ago, ChrisMaciel said:

I don’t like Axl’s current voice, but you can’t say that he is never going to sing again like 2006/10. The guys is unpredictable. 

You are kinda right and kinda wrong. Yeah we never know, he can sound like beast next year or so. But I am 100% sure he will  not sound like in 2010. Even in 2016 his rasp didn’t sound like in 2010. That voice is unreachable for him now, I am sure about that.

His 2016 vocals are the best what we can get nowadays.

[Pedrolg]

He is not holding back at all. If you listen to parts where rasp is mandatory, such as the Better bridge, he goes for it and really struggles. It sounds painful, it cracks a bit as it's not as full as it used to be.

Since coming back in 2011 with his voice shot to pieces in RIR 2011 (after a whole tour of insane rasp), Axl has been carefully dosing the amounts of distortion he applies to his voice. Much of the years that followed were full of mickey, but every now and then there were moments that showed he still had it. In each of those years you will find some of those moments, from the Philly show at Electric Factory to the awesome renditions of TWAT in Vegas 2014. 

That's how he started 2016, but then, with AC/DC and stuff, the switch was flipped. With GNR, he had those monstrous screams in LALD and WTTJ. He upstaged Bach and rasped all the way through My Michelle in more than one occasion. Out ta get me too, Nightrain, even RQ on some nights had rasp. With AC/DC it was insanely high notes with absurd amounts o rasp throughout whole shows.

His voice begin to deteriorate already by the end of 2016, and is has been steadily suffering since then. It got to a point where he removed TIL from the setlist - it's a song that is clearly emotional to him, and a spotlight for his voice to shine in shows. He is unable to sing it now. He is been dealing with all those crazy cracks and moments where his voice fails him in the past two and a half years and it's painful.

It's pretty clear to me that he knows since 2011 that the rasp would eventually screw him. He got understandably carried away in 2016, produced fantastic performances but pushed himself waaaay to hard. Now his voice is suffering. We all need to make peace with it, because I don't remember a single case of a singer recovering his vocal form at that age.

[GNRfanMILO]

17 minutes ago, Pedrolg said:

He is not holding back at all. If you listen to parts where rasp is mandatory, such as the Better bridge, he goes for it and really struggles. It sounds painful, it cracks a bit as it's not as full as it used to be.

Since coming back in 2011 with his voice shot to pieces in RIR 2011 (after a whole tour of insane rasp), Axl has been carefully dosing the amounts of distortion he applies to his voice. Much of the years that followed were full of mickey, but every now and then there were moments that showed he still had it. In each of those years you will find some of those moments, from the Philly show at Electric Factory to the awesome renditions of TWAT in Vegas 2014. 

That's how he started 2016, but then, with AC/DC and stuff, the switch was flipped. With GNR, he had those monstrous screams in LALD and WTTJ. He upstaged Bach and rasped all the way through My Michelle in more than one occasion. Out ta get me too, Nightrain, even RQ on some nights had rasp. With AC/DC it was insanely high notes with absurd amounts o rasp throughout whole shows.

His voice begin to deteriorate already by the end of 2016, and is has been steadily suffering since then. It got to a point where he removed TIL from the setlist - it's a song that is clearly emotional to him, and a spotlight for his voice to shine in shows. He is unable to sing it now. He is been dealing with all those crazy cracks and moments where his voice fails him in the past two and a half years and it's painful.

It's pretty clear to me that he knows since 2011 that the rasp would eventually screw him. He got understandably carried away in 2016, produced fantastic performances but pushed himself waaaay to hard. Now his voice is suffering. We all need to make peace with it, because I don't remember a single case of a singer recovering his vocal form at that age.

This comment needs to be pinned somewhere. It’s the ultimate description of what happened to Axl’s voice. No opinions, just facts.

You couldn’t have said it better.

And probably what most of the people can’t get, it’s the fact that his voice got to a point where it can’t get any better. Axl is 56 years old, the argument of “but he was shit in 2002 and kicked ass in 2006!” won’t last forever.

Edited October 30, 2019 by GNRfanMILO

[YOUCOULDBEMINE.]

AC/DC songs aren't GN'R songs, Brian Johnson is nowhere near Axl vocalwise. These songs require Axl to scream, his own songs require hin to actually sing. That's a big difference.

[Pedrolg]

36 minutes ago, UcudBmine said:

AC/DC songs aren't GN'R songs, Brian Johnson is nowhere near Axl vocalwise. These songs require Axl to scream, his own songs require hin to actually sing. That's a big difference.

Brian Johnson was an absolute beast of a vocalist. He had ridiculous range, power, and versatility. I really recommend you listen to some of his work before joining AC/DC. He had a somewhat Robert Plant-esque vibe and an absolutely incredible voice. Once he joined AC/DC, all they had him do was sing screamers on the absolute upper limits of his range and with ridiculous rasp.

It was awesome for a while. The original vocals of Hells Bells are really an amazing feat. However, doing that on a consistent basis absolutely obliterated his voice through the years, and he has been a shadow of himself for decades, tuning down stuff and adapting his voice to sound serviceable.

Singing early Brian Johnson AC/DC material is very harmful for most people's voices. The more rasp and the further above the natural register one sings, the greater the impact on the vocal chords. If singing like that did Axl in at 56 years old, that's absolutely zero coincidence. It permanently changed Brian's voice in a matter of 6-7 years when he was in his 30's and 40's.

Edit: this is how Brian Johnson used to sound

 

Edited October 30, 2019 by Pedrolg

[hudsonsaul]

3 hours ago, Pedrolg said:

Brian Johnson was an absolute beast of a vocalist. He had ridiculous range, power, and versatility. I really recommend you listen to some of his work before joining AC/DC. He had a somewhat Robert Plant-esque vibe and an absolutely incredible voice. Once he joined AC/DC, all they had him do was sing screamers on the absolute upper limits of his range and with ridiculous rasp.

It was awesome for a while. The original vocals of Hells Bells are really an amazing feat. However, doing that on a consistent basis absolutely obliterated his voice through the years, and he has been a shadow of himself for decades, tuning down stuff and adapting his voice to sound serviceable.

Singing early Brian Johnson AC/DC material is very harmful for most people's voices. The more rasp and the further above the natural register one sings, the greater the impact on the vocal chords. If singing like that did Axl in at 56 years old, that's absolutely zero coincidence. It permanently changed Brian's voice in a matter of 6-7 years when he was in his 30's and 40's.

Edit: this is how Brian Johnson used to sound

 

Jesus that's good. Thanks for the clip.

[fernandoGNR]

Here's a funny story told by Axl at the Dublin 2012 show:

Some guy asked him "How come you do not finish Don't Cry with your "extra raspy" voice?"... "I have no fucking idea... I'm sorry" lol

(6:45 mark)

 

 

[Lies They Tell]

On 30.10.2019 at 1:14 AM, junior201 said:

You may notice that the beginning of this song is exactly the middle tone in which he usually puts his clear falsetto voice into Guns songs. He's not screaming here, as a lot of people say he only had the rasp in AD / DC because he sang screaming, but he can bring the full rasp without screaming at the beginning of this song.

In my opinion he can still make his voice have the necessary drive but maybe he needs more effort to do compared to before. AD / DC shows were few compared to the amount of shows that Guns has been doing.

Isn't that pretty much the Madagascar voice that he's using there? It's a lower voice than what most GNR songs require. It's the higher tones that Axl can't sing with rasp unless he's screaming.

[SAU3R]

Honestly I'm glad that he is still able to sing in key and hit all the high notes (no matter if falsetto or rasp) 

There's not much that is worse than a singer who can't quite hit the notes anymore (JBJ, Brian Johnson, Liam Gallagher) 

[sl4yer]

On 31.10.2019 at 1:04 AM, SAU3R said:

Honestly I'm glad that he is still able to sing in key and hit all the high notes (no matter if falsetto or rasp) 

There's not much that is worse than a singer who can't quite hit the notes anymore (JBJ, Brian Johnson, Liam Gallagher) 

There are a lot of notes he can’t hit rn. This I Love is dropped because he couldn’t hit shit in chorus. In bridge of Better and YCBM his voice is cracking a lot. On the last leg Jungle screams were cracky and rough while even in 2018 and 17 they were pretty sharp.