How would Atlas and Hard School sound with Axl's voice now?

[RussTCB]

14 minutes ago, GnR Chris said:

I haven't been on here in a bit. Where is this info coming from. I know you put "people" in quotes, but who exactly was saying this? Randos on this forum?

No! Randos on another forum lol

[DTJ80]

2 hours ago, RussTCB said:

No! Randos on another forum lol

Although to be fair the guy claiming it has been known to be ‘in the know’ with stuff previously. He commented the song had a new solo, extra lyrics and ‘sound effects’ although did not say if he had heard this with his own ears....or was relayed to him.

[wreckless]

3 hours ago, GnR Chris said:

I haven't been on here in a bit. Where is this info coming from. I know you put "people" in quotes, but who exactly was saying this? Randos on this forum?

Msl, brasky.

[parisrocks]

On 10/17/2019 at 7:32 AM, RussTCB said:

He has zero accountability in GNR and that's why. 

In ACDC, Angus and their fans would've lost their shit if he didn't try. In GNR, he's surrounded by yes men up to and including Slash & Duff. On top of that, people have shown worldwide that they'll pay Axl for the bare minimum effort. 

So... Zero accountability is the answer to why he doesn't try with GNR. 

I absolutely disagree w/ the "bare minimum" theory.  I saw him w/ AC/DC in Florida, just saw Guns at ACL a couple months ago.  

The biggest difference between those two shows is that Axl Rose barely moved for AC/DC and zipped about for Guns.  There's an expectation of movement expected of Axl w/ GN'R that he hasn't been able to move past.

When I see a 60 year old guy running and singing and pouring sweat, bare minimum is removed from the equation for me.  Dude is just old and doesn't have it like he used to.  

I'd always pick Axl singing over Axl screaming, but that's just me.

 

[RussTCB]

2 minutes ago, parisrocks said:

I absolutely disagree w/ the "bare minimum" theory.  I saw him w/ AC/DC in Florida, just saw Guns at ACL a couple months ago.  

The biggest difference between those two shows is that Axl Rose barely moved for AC/DC and zipped about for Guns.  There's an expectation of movement expected of Axl w/ GN'R that he hasn't been able to move past.

When I see a 60 year old guy running and singing and pouring sweat, bare minimum is removed from the equation for me.  Dude is just old and doesn't have it like he used to.  

I'd always pick Axl singing over Axl screaming, but that's just me.

 

All the videos are gone now obviously but I don't remember seeing anything I'd refer to as "zipping about". 

I get that he's aging, but to say that he's putting all the effort he could into his GNR performances is just false. 

[parisrocks]

On 10/17/2019 at 11:01 AM, Bozo said:

Dude, i'm talking about high notes. In this songs there are SOME higher notes, but if u listen carefully there are some kind of "Echo/Effects" that are layered to Axl voice that are helping to hide the cracks there appear in these short moments. This NEVER happened before.

But there's no way to cover the damage in his voice in songs there are FULL of high notes, like This I Love, Out Ta Get Me, My Michelle, Prostitute. Guess what, these are songs that they dropped out of setlist.

Being able to "scream" a high note it's not the same to "sing" a high note. You need the ability to control your voice, and Axl seems to have lost that, at least in this higher registers. In the low zone, like in The Seeker, he's capable of singing in tune just fine.  

I could not agree w/ you more.  Dude just got old.  The expectation of him as a performer w/ his old style of singing is nuts.

[parisrocks]

1 minute ago, RussTCB said:

All the videos are gone now obviously but I don't remember seeing anything I'd refer to as "zipping about". 

I get that he's aging, but to say that he's putting all the effort he could into his GNR performances is just false. 

And i agree wholeheartedly w/ that, but you said bare minimum which is as close to zero as you can get and get away w/ it.  I wish he was still a lit, fit motherfucker who could usher rock back to the top, but time has taken its toll.  

I wish he switch out all the preparation he used to do for some balls.  Throw out some new music, release his memoir, kick someone's ass, not perform Black Hole Sun ever again, etc.

[RussTCB]

4 minutes ago, parisrocks said:

And i agree wholeheartedly w/ that, but you said bare minimum which is as close to zero as you can get and get away w/ it.  I wish he was still a lit, fit motherfucker who could usher rock back to the top, but time has taken its toll.  

I wish he switch out all the preparation he used to do for some balls.  Throw out some new music, release his memoir, kick someone's ass, not perform Black Hole Sun ever again, etc.

I totally agree that time is partially responsible, but there are people older than him who sing much better than him. The fifteen difference is that they keep themselves in shape and keep their voice up. Axl chooses not to do that, which is a disappointment. 

[Stiff Competition]

When people say you can't expect him to sound like he used to, it's sort of crazy. His voice is the most defining part of the Guns N' Roses sound. It's a huge part of what people are paying to see.

Now I get if singers can't hit certain notes they used to and things like that but on certain songs it doesn't even sound like Axl Rose anymore and that's the biggest issue to me. I'm not paying to see some old man suck in a bunch of helium and sing the songs I've loved for so many years but often times, that's the sound I get.

[Gordon Comstock]

9 hours ago, fabrph5 said:

its comments like this that make any chance of a new album fall short of expectations.  I lob Atlas shrug and realize its ONLY a leaked demo.  What exactly makes it a "bad song"?  

Atlas is definitely my least favourite of the 'new' songs that leaked. It's kinda boring... it doesn't really go anywhere, the vocals can be annoying, and Brian May was definitely the best part of the song. It's not really a 'bad' song but it's definitely not as good as Hardschool, Perhaps or State Of Grace. Those were only leaked demos too, and that's all they're being judged as, but Atlas is still the weakest song of the bunch.

[Gordon Comstock]

32 minutes ago, Stiff Competition said:

When people say you can't expect him to sound like he used to, it's sort of crazy. His voice is the most defining part of the Guns N' Roses sound. It's a huge part of what people are paying to see.

Now I get if singers can't hit certain notes they used to and things like that but on certain songs it doesn't even sound like Axl Rose anymore and that's the biggest issue to me. I'm not paying to see some old man suck in a bunch of helium and sing the songs I've loved for so many years but often times, that's the sound I get.

It's also weird when people say you don't notice his mickey voice when you're at the show... it's easier not to care about it when you're at the show, but it's definitely still noticeable.

I'm one of the people who would prefer a 90~ minute set where Axl is giving 100% for the full show, instead of 3 hours where he 'paces himself' by half-assing large portions of the show. The guy has struggled with YCBM, Better, Coma, etc. for years now but he's gotten used to coasting through them, so they stay in the set.

As an example, I saw Aerosmith in 2010 and I think they played maybe 20 songs (including drum/guitar solos) but it was a consistently great show. If Axl is aware of the complaints about his 'mickey' voice, he's probably aware of the praise for his lower voices, so it's even more frustrating that he refuses to adapt the setlist to his current abilities. There's not that many songs that they really 'have to play' for the casual fans that they couldn't overhaul the setlist.

[Sydney Fan]

3 hours ago, RussTCB said:

I totally agree that time is partially responsible, but there are people older than him who sing much better than him. The fifteen difference is that they keep themselves in shape and keep their voice up. Axl chooses not to do that, which is a disappointment. 

In 06 he looked like he had something to prove now hes gone into elvis vegas 77 mode. He hasn t gotten into barry white mode of hugeness and his vocals arent at jon bon jovi levels yet i dunno. I think maybe he just wants to put on a professional style show come what may, and just  stick to the script. Which i guess just comes across as boring because theres no swagger compared to the shows since 93. I guess axls head space is for guns to be a  legacy type band 🤷‍♂️

Edited December 6, 2019 by Sydney Fan

[Stiff Competition]

2 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

It's also weird when people say you don't notice his mickey voice when you're at the show... it's easier not to care about it when you're at the show, but it's definitely still noticeable.

I'm one of the people who would prefer a 90~ minute set where Axl is giving 100% for the full show, instead of 3 hours where he 'paces himself' by half-assing large portions of the show. The guy has struggled with YCBM, Better, Coma, etc. for years now but he's gotten used to coasting through them, so they stay in the set.

As an example, I saw Aerosmith in 2010 and I think they played maybe 20 songs (including drum/guitar solos) but it was a consistently great show. If Axl is aware of the complaints about his 'mickey' voice, he's probably aware of the praise for his lower voices, so it's even more frustrating that he refuses to adapt the setlist to his current abilities. There's not that many songs that they really 'have to play' for the casual fans that they couldn't overhaul the setlist.

I fully agree, man. I was at the 4-hour forum show 2 years ago and a few nights later I saw Jane’s Addiction play an 8-song set for a charity show. I was way more excited leaving the Jane’s show.

[liers]

On 10/17/2019 at 10:51 AM, Tom2112 said:

I think he'd be fine on parts of each song, but Mickey would show up, so would fire breathing rasp Axl; It's just how much of each is the question and I think it's more Mickey.

I hope IF the new songs are CD era (Which is clear that at least some are), that he goes back and re-records the vocals. He's going to struggle if he has to sing a song like state of grace, night after night, he has to say "yes, I love those takes, but that was my voice 20 years ago, what can I do now though that I can perform live". The new album is serving as a vehicle for more shows, so he should be thinking of performing these and not painting himself into a corner with crazy vocals that can't be recreated.

Is state of grace really that hard for him to sing? He still has his lower register in tact so the beginning would be fine, then even the end part is pure mickey.

[Tom2112]

11 hours ago, liers said:

Is state of grace really that hard for him to sing? He still has his lower register in tact so the beginning would be fine, then even the end part is pure mickey.

It's the end part I'm worried about. It wouldn't work half as well with current day Axl clean vocals. I also think he would struggle a little bit with the early half as it sits in that weird middle position for his voice. He can sing in the low register (heavens door verse, it's so easy, Chinese) but this is a bit different.

[UsedYourIllusion]

I think he'd sound better on a song like Perhaps than Atlas or Hardschool

[Gordon Comstock]

16 minutes ago, UsedYourIllusion said:

I think he'd sound better on a song like Perhaps than Atlas or Hardschool

 

Agreed... Perhaps and State Of Grace are not only the best songs from the recent leaks, they're the songs Axl would probably sound best on live nowadays.

[GnR Chris]

On 12/5/2019 at 3:48 PM, wreckless said:

Msl, brasky.

Can you elaborate on what was said by them? Axl recorded vocals in a studio or specifically re-recorded vocals for "Atlas Shrugged"?

[GnR Chris]

On 10/17/2019 at 3:29 PM, Blackstar said:

Hopefully Hardschool has been rearranged so that (among other things) there is some space between the verses and the chorus, which would make it sound better and easier for Axl to sing live.

I think they can rework the chorus with backing vocals from Duff and Melissa alternating between Axl.

Axl: But you had to play it cool, 

Duff/Melissa: had to do it your way

Axl: Had to be a fool,

Duff/Melissa: had to throw it all away

Axl: Too hard school and you thought you were here to stay

Duff/Melissa: If that were true

Axl: it wouldn't matter anyway

Edited December 7, 2019 by GnR Chris

[Towelie]

7 minutes ago, GnR Chris said:

I think they can rework the chorus with backing vocals from Duff and Melissa alternating between Axl.

Axl: But you had to play it cool, 

Duff/Melissa: had to do it your way

Axl: Had to be a fool,

Duff/Melissa: had to throw it all away

Axl: Too hard school and you thought you were here to stay

Duff/Melissa: If that were true

Axl: it wouldn't matter anyway

That would be dreadful.

[GnR Chris]

15 minutes ago, Towelie said:

That would be dreadful.

I disagree. I love Duff/Melissa backing vocals. Duff's vocals on "My Michelle" ritz 88 show were awesome, singing at a slightly different time than Axl on the chorus. 

I like what they do in "Better" too and how Duff and Melissa handle the "No one ever told me when I was alone" part. 

It could work. It doesn't have to be exactly how I said above. But just a way for Axl to keep in time and for the song to still be as rapid fire. Then again, Axl has no problems with "Shadow of Your Love." I don't think he'd have an issue singing "Hardschool" on his own.

[F*ck Fear]

They would sound exactly like the rest of the set.

Shit.

[ZoSoRose]

On 12/5/2019 at 8:00 PM, RussTCB said:

All the videos are gone now obviously but I don't remember seeing anything I'd refer to as "zipping about". 

I get that he's aging, but to say that he's putting all the effort he could into his GNR performances is just false. 

I thought he moved a lot at the Detroit 2016 show in particular and still sounded good. I dont fault his effort that year. Sure, it was for money, but there was still motivation for playing well.

The tour dragged on years too long and they all got tired and complacent. No band needs to tour almost 4 years nonstop. Ending with LA 2017 and then coming back with new songs was what should have happened

[DeadSlash]

On 10/17/2019 at 7:45 AM, megaguns1982 said:

They could sound good if Axl could be bothered, but doubtful..

the AC/DC thing proved he can still sing great but god only knows why he doesn't with GNR.

Deep down, as hard as it might be to believe, famous people are actually people, just like you or I.

Axl got to live a dream doing the Axl/DC thing.  

[DTJ80]

1 hour ago, GnR Chris said:

Can you elaborate on what was said by them? Axl recorded vocals in a studio or specifically re-recorded vocals for "Atlas Shrugged"?

Brasky commented Hardschool had a new solo, extra lyrics and ‘sound effects’ although did not say if he had heard this with his own ears....or was relayed to him.