Tom2112

I think people just really, really didn't like Absurd. My friends that were aware it had come out all text me and were shocked at how awful it was.... And for the first time I had no defense for GNR. I appreciate that they were trying to put something out that wasn't just a rehash of the glory days, but as others have said it should have been a b-side to HardSkool. If it was released that way people wouldn't have judged so harshly. The no promotion didn't help either. Hardskool stood a chance at gaining momentum with a decent push but there just was zero effort. Even a video of Axl/Slash/Duff talking about the song would have been something. All we got were lyric videos, and an acknowledgement from Axl that there was a new song he wrote 20yrs ago. Maybe they didn't want to promote it too much as it wasn't intended as their comeback song, it was just "here's a song for ya" as Coverdale would say.

Garden of Eden is far more interesting, better vocal, cool riff. The absurd instrumental is not bad, but the lyrics/vocal destroy the song

Yes, hire Wolfgang to pick the good stuff. He's the unsung hero of that record.

I'm not your pal, buddy😉 Twas a tongue in cheek joke. Also... Beato isn't saying "how dare you not allow ME to use your music, don't you know who I am??". Very much the opposite. He's just pointing out that the reach of these bands is going down because of their stance towards it, and then showing bands that are pro streamers are enjoying growing numbers. If they don't want to, so be it though. I'd love to watch Beato going through some gnr songs though, his what makes this song great videos are excellent

Speaking of sycophants....

And bring back the shorts

50/50 at best😄. But Yeah I mean, it is live and things are subject to change! You can't be too precious going to a gnr show. They aren't Maiden or Dream Theatre where you will hear the songs note for note, beat for beat... and that's ok. But SOME solos are kinda difficult to overlook. It's like hearing a band cover Hotel California and they ignore the outro solo, you just don't do it😄 Good show, from the sounds of it. The few songs I've heard Axls voice is pretty decent and a few surprises too. Interested to hear Locomotive

I like listening to Slash improvise as much as the next gnr nerd, but there's no way you can listen to Slash's tel aviv This I love solo and say that's a great guitarist at work. It's rare I'd say it about Slash, but that was atrocious. Barely in key, bends are way out of tune, it's like he's playing the song for the first time without ever having heard it. For a guy who is touted as a great improviser it's really, really bad. Now... Then you compare what he could have played when you hear the studio version and you're bound to say "what the fuck Slash??? Get it together" either come up with something of your own that's as good or just eat your ego for a few minutes and play someone else's great solo, and yes This I love is a great solo, equal to plenty of Slash's gnr work. I know that the old guys used to sometimes treat slash solos similarly especially Robin, but more often than not they played the bones of the solo at the very least.

I'd not be that upset by this, I think State of grace has such a cool vibe. That stompy bass riff, that chorus!! Even with really, really unfinished demo vocals you can tell it's a great song. If that's the general then bring it on!!

No guarantee on that, I think Axl is loyal to the ideas he thinks are great no matter where they came from... This is especially true considering the Fortus comment that they worked on material from the 90s slash era during the making of Chinese. Also, bucket had been out of the band for a long period when CD finally got a release too and he was still all over it. As far as his actual playing I think all will be replaced, but the ideas will remain

I forget how good a time this was, SO glad I saw him like this. This sounds so, so, so! much better than current gnr on every level. Absolutely brilliant.

There's performances from 2012 through to 2016 that could be compared to the golden era of Axl. 2012 had some fantastic versions of jungle/rocket queen etc. for example, power, rasp and no trouble hitting the top notes. He couldn't always do that back in the day

I don't know, there's Axl/DC performances that were definitely in the ballpark of 90/peak Axl. I know we all like to be nostalgic and have our favourite periods but he really was phenomenal on those shows, and by far the most consistent he has ever been on a run of shows. Can he do that right now? No.

Yeah it will round out the wishlist. We finally heard atlas, General has been the one evading us. Good or bad it will be nice having the closure😄

"It's not as good as the phone recording"

Never heard this story/rumour before. Interesting

Well... I did say pretty clearly that I'm not an expert and it's my opinion. But there is a video of Ken Tamplin watching Axls AC/DC performance that you might watch, where he isn't pointing to any career threatening bad technique if you want to check that. Why he doesn't just work with a coach? No idea! but yes, a vocal coach working with him extensively could rehabilitate his voice to at least strengthen what he has and make it so that each night is basically the same quality. You might think that's a fanatical opinion, but I'm willing to bet just about anything on that. It is possible that he likes how he sounds now? or he just accepts it for what it is and chalks it up to age? lots of possible answers. As for AC/DC, it probably wasn't ideal for his voice leading into 7+ years of fairly consistent touring. But it is what it is, and arguing back and forth over it really isn't going to get any definitive answers. It is somewhere in the middle of both our opinions

Once again... The AC/DC shows didn't damage Axls voice. He had a vocal coach working with him specifically so he didn't do that, as he mentioned in interviews. If Axl was damaging his voice, the coach would have said "you're doing serious damage here, try singing this way instead" as you can hear on the AC/DC run Axl didn't really change his approach. AC/DC was very demanding for Axl, and his voice did crack here and there going for those insane notes, so it's easy to point at that and say this is the smoking gun. If anything damaged his voice, it was the Guns tour having 2 3hr shows in a row, at his age he needs rest of at least a day between shows. The damage to Axls voice is simply that he stopped working as hard sometime towards the end of 2016, went into auto pilot, lost a step and now age is kicking his ass for it. IF AC/DC had destroyed his voice, then the NITL tour would have been scrapped in 2016 as his voice had been destroyed... as you point out 7+ years it rolls on as he could still sing. He stopped practicing as regularly, went back to just doing warm ups/downs on show days and slowly but surely his voice got weaker (as you need to work on your voice almost every day of the week, in a use it or lose it way). Now, I can't say any of that for fact, but to me that's what it sounds like... but I'm not a vocal coach/expert. I do believe he can still build that part of his voice again if he followed a strict routine with a coach that specialises in vocal repair/recovery. Agreed though, adjust the playlist, make the sets shorter and to the point. Doesn't need to be playing as long any more!

Spoiled time for guitar players😄 still not selling my tube amps though! And I can't djent to save my life the tones are all very, very non metal 😄

There's pitch effects that drop tune your guitar that a lot of bands are now using. The the string says but you get the beautiful C# tuning. I have it on my QC pedal and it sounds absolutely incredible up and down the neck. That's a great get around for lazy old boys that don't want to learn new tricks. Youtube has few videos

It's not a 34 song different set overhaul for a start, I said a different set. Which means, opening and closing with different songs. Not always having the Slash solo right before SCOM. Just basic stuff. I'm quite happy to hear all the usual songs, I just want some element of surprise... like we got the other night when they threw in Bad Obsession as the 2nd song... that's interesting! Not even I can begrudge that!😄 I just like bands to throw curveballs, like when they opened that set in 2014 with YCBM. That to me is a living, breathing band. Of course they have limited material etc, etc. so they can't go too crazy, but there is no reason why there couldn't be 2-3 alternates for opening song and 2-3 alternates for the end song. Instead of ISE every night, open the set with Chinese one night, next night Jungle, next night ISE. People talk of how it's not that easy, but in reality it is really that easy. And I'm not completely bagging on this setlist so much, I think they have made some progress in the last 2yrs. They've swapped out songs, added new ones, retired others for legs, it's not completely stagnant. But it's not enough to justify this length of touring without a new record IMO.

Exactly, it would take the band a few weeks or rehearsals to do all of this and figure bits out. Most rock bands don't have the know-how to change on the fly and that's not a knock! A lot of singers also get thrown when the key is changed and they can't find their key centre, so it's not just gunslingers and ivory tinklers to blame😄

I 100% don't mean he should sing an octave lower that's for sure, that would not be good. I think he should do like Sammy Hagar and tune the songs down OR change the arrangement to suit his voice. The songs were record a half step down, and now Axls voice has changed so the keys should change with him. The band staying in the same keys makes zero sense as they can easily modify what they do, whereas his voice at his age does have limitations.

How do you know you're having a good night if you don't sing up high? For me I'd expect his mid/high range to suffer more because he's using less and less. It's a solution but it would basically be the plaster of cancer solution. I think the only true solutions are tuning down/transposing the songs OR working with a coach to rebuild that part of his voice to sound strong (not the same because the ship might have sailed) just strong enough that it's equal power/depth to his low voice

Exactly! tune the facking thing down... help yourself out. He doesn't need to sing in his low voice, but he could sing in a different key up high and still sound good.