Pedrolg

4 hours ago, Gibbo said:

Hes still having troubles before the solo

People listening to this and saying Axl is great and his voice is fine is truly beyond me. Hope he knows what he is doing with his voice. 

57 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said:

Wow that sucks! Hopefully he’s just in a SA 2014 slump 

People liked it, apparently.

Zero improvement, Jungle is falling below 2011-2014, 2017 standards. It sucks, I find no enjoyment in seeing live performances of Axl anymore. Will only watch a full gig again if somehow his voice improves. 

Truly among the worse I've ever heard from Axl on this song.

About the mickeyest Jungle I've ever heard. 

It was awesome to see Axl with Foo Fighters, and while he sounded good (he always does on this song), on the very few parts the song pushes his voice higher and raspy, the cracks were back and noticeable.

So many drumming experts with musician ears around these forums

10 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said:

@Stro I think you make some valid points. The disconnect with us “critics” is we expect and hold Axl to a higher level than most. We see him as a professional singer with one of the most unique and fantastic voices in the history of music, so of course hearing how he sounds now is crushing as a fan. You honestly have the feeling of wanting to fix him Bc he’s losing or not using a true gift! 

For you, you see the writing on the wall. You see a 56 year old man trying to play a 4 hour show, trying to scream with the same ferocity that made us fans. However he has a lot of miles on those vocals and eventually we have to accept he’s going to be a shell of what he was. And you just enjoy the man for trying and still being on that stage.

but back to the critic. I think as long as Axl is taking that stage then there is always a chance we could hear something special. And that’s why we tune in week to week, that’s why we dissect these performances, it has nothing to do with hate. It’s just a matter of viewpoints. We are still delusional in believing that he can turn this around and give us another highlight like 2016. 

To add to that, most of us love the guy and really want him to shine. I don't mind him struggling vocally, most rock singers do at some point. He is getting old and what he did through his career is insane. I also have serious doubts regarding all the beliefs that he is lazy or doesn't prepare. I do think he's voice is starting to fail him, and I bet that is devastating to him and a very sensitive topic.

What kind of bothers me as a fan is to see him just keep performing, and the band and the fans pretending he is performing those songs properly at this point. Sad truth is he isn't, a lot of songs sound honestly bad, and he is taking massive high profile gigs and failing to simply perform some of the songs fully at those, eating words, failing to reach nores. 

It's rough right now, and there are two alternatives. 1) there`s something he can do, between working with a vocal coach, putting the tour on hold or reinventing the songs to fit better into his capabilites. In this scenario, he should identify the best course of action and do it asap. 2) it is what it is, he works harder than most of us think, but his voice is going. In that case, he could be a bit more open about and relieve some of the pressure on himself, performing with fans support for as long as he can. 

It is bad to not be able to look forward to a proshot gig, because you know it's going to expose him. It's bad to see him struggle out there, and to fear that, as the reunion novelty wears off and his voice further deteriorates, he might get slammed by a rabid press that still holds him accountable for shit he did in his youth - that, if it happens, is likely to hurt him much more than a bunch of fans complaining in mygnr. It's bad to listen to unreleased leaked material knowing he is already unable to sing it like it's recorded.

Bottom line, tl:dr, there is something up with his voice, and he should take the time and effort to address it, whatever addressing it may be at this point. That's just my opinion. 

5 minutes ago, Stro said:

No one is forcing anyone to buy tickets and nearly all reviews from shows that aren't GNR message boards talk about how great he sounded that given night 

 

They've been selling out stadiums all around the world for 2 years, even coming back and hitting the same areas for a second time and people are happy to pay those prices and happy to hear Axl sing the hits.

You think commercial reviews are spot on? You truly think he sounds great? Really, please, scroll up a few inches, literally just a few inches, put on TIL from Download, then put on YCBM from today. You really, truly think Axl sounds great and like Axl Rose at all?

I get it that there is demand to listen to him at this current state. It was a massive band that broke up in 93 and a lot of people don't know how long they have to see Axl and Slash together again. Rock is also not what it was, and once those legacy acts die out things will never be what they used to be, and everybody who grew up listening to this stuff will never, ever get another shot of seeing a live show. So yeah, people will pay for, I've been underwhelmed by Axl for god knows how long and did twice.

I don't see however how that makes it right for a band to charge above most other musical acts in the world when their lead singer 1) is jumping and mumbling over words 2) struggling to reach notes right and left and 3) clearly physically struggling to perform. This is what's happening to Axl right now. He can keep charging whatever he wants and performing, it's a free capitalist world after all, but people have every right to have an opinion about it on an opinion board. 

Mine is that Axl should a) acknowledge his shit b) address his shit and c) do whatever he can to sort it out.

16 minutes ago, Gem Archer said:

i feel sorry for him, he's really trying but it seems that going for the high notes are hurting him, there's is clearly some decay in his voice plus his lack of training and months of who knows what he does off tour 

An improvement over a disaster is hardly an improvent, but he managed to get through the whole song this time.

Those last 2014 tours are awesome. TWAT and Yesterdays from those gigs are above what Axl did in 2016 on most nights. He clearly kept something at the tank at all times and could bring it when needed. Now it seems he is spent. 

Also, retrospect, this below is how he sounded in the much maligned SA Leg of 2014. The worst he ever sounded, we said back then, horribly unprepared. Would anyone question this being an improvement over the two clips above?

Axl is not unprepared, his voice is fried from relentless touring and doing every night with AC/DC what he kept to 10 songs a year, spreaded over shows, with GNR from 2011 to 2016.

11 minutes ago, GNRfanMILO said:

I tend to agree with almost every of your posts about Axl’s voice. So I’ll ask directly to you: which songs were the ones that he improved the most today? I’ve read that TIL was pretty good  

I was at work do I didn't listen to the whole thing. TIL was vastly improved, I even thought it was good, with some nice rasp on the chorus. SOYL sounded the same, with Axl sounding good but singing it in his own personal timing. Slither was mostly the same. Nightrain was also improved and decent again. The rest was mostly the same, with LOADS of mickey throughout the set. I found Jungle to be particularly terrible this time, since is a song that used to be a highlight through 2016.

So 4 shows into the leg, where we at? I'd say the horrendous voice issues that made me think Axl was done are disappearing now, he seems to be able to reach the high notes again. Still, I'd say he is firmly in early-mid 2014 or 2017 form, with absolutely no indication of future significant improvement.

2 minutes ago, mauritox said:

Axl had issues again with the bridge in YCBM. He runs out of breath when he reaches the "cause 5 years is forever" line. 

It sounds like he choked there tbh. He was pretty raspy and hitting the notes without issue up to that point (in the bridge I mean, not the whole song).

TIL was probably the strongest performance I heard from Axl from tonight's gig. Good luck trying to figure that out.

Axl sounds rough and is forcing the hell out of his voice.

1 minute ago, FabioRoses said:

 

Well, it was extremely weak.

Mickey Jungle

We might get an Axl rant about the leaks today.

I really should marry Slash and divorce Slash afterwards. WTF.

2 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

Given that Brain and Melissa have played a bit of the Remix album during basketball halftime shows, I would guess that a remix for Sorry also exists and sounds something like this:

(starts around 0:38)

 

Zero rasp from Melissa

Listening to all those recent leaks, damn it makes we wish he could have Axl back to some degree. Even a 2001 level such as in the Vegas gig, or something like the early 2006 gigs, before he even found the rasp again. Hell, 2016 level would be nice, since 2010 seems pretty much a thing of the past.

I find it surprising that Download's gig got rave reviews from most sites I found, with This I Love being considered the only vocal slump by Axl. It baffles me to see music critics saying that the falsetto (or whatever we call it this days) is Axl's trademark voice. Criticism seems centered on the set being a bit too long and how it drags a bit in the second half, but Axl's performance is complimented and well received.

Still hoping he somehow improves.

1 hour ago, SWINGTRADER said:

Axl showed disrespect to his fan base when he joined ACDC right at the time the "reunion" was set to start. The fucker was giving interviews and doing promotion for ACDC before he even did one for GNR. He put everything he had vocally for ACDC, and gave the "leftovers" to GNR .Not all of 2016 GNR shows were good, a lot of it sucked. It is just that those bad 2016 performances sound great in comparison to the shit we are hearing now.

 

Or maybe he just doesn't care about GNR and intentionally sounds like shit. We'll see when he sings for ACDC again.

 

p.s  Don't give the "ACDC songs are easier to sing" bullshit.

I would agree, but then I listened to Axl singing Thundestruck or Shoot to Thrill. As much as I love GNR and feel disheartened by Axl's decline, I find it impossible to say those performances should not have happened. This is purw, raw, rock and roll at it`s finest. Axl sounds like an unstoppable force of nature, and it's just something to behold and appreciate forever.

5 minutes ago, koldweather said:

1: Yeah its not a great a sign, especially as typically the chest voice in rockers tends to weaken over a tour, so in theory if he is struggling now with it....

2: Agreed, but its all coming back to needing to dig so deep for the rasp, and its so chest dominated that by lifting the way he does for those screams, he is putting huge strain on the chords, no wonder he then struggles for the next minute or two, its such an effort to get that rasp and push up like that. The question is though is he being technically lazy, or is it just because sometimes his voice is just not quite there and as the years goes by, its harder and harder to mask those kind of days.

I can see a nearly totally clean Axl coming sooner rather than later, its going to have to happen I think for him to get through another two legs. Thats not to say the rasp is gone, but its clearly a heck of an effort. Ironically, its actually similar to 86/87, where his voice often got more tired and quite strained sounding as the show went on, back then though he had the vocal chops in all departments that he could switch it up...these days, those chops burn out in rapid time.

Yeah, that is a great point. As in, if it's all down to an alledged lack of preparation and he has not blown his voice, at this rate it'ts a matter of time until he does. The strain is audible.

On a positive note, today's TIL shows that he can hit surprising notes in his low, natural voice. Perhaps he will eventually have to rely on that.

13 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said:

2018 Download third show

2016 KC third show

difference is he was with a vocal coach in 2016 and 2018 is the mini paycheck run. His voice sounds so screwed up in 2018 using WTTJ as a base

Different is absolutely shocking when you put those side by side. And this latest WTTJ sounds pretty bad imo. I'm glad people had fun with the show, but truly, this is on par with the worst Axl has produced in terms of performance.

I find it unconceivable that Axl would do as you say at this point, though. Having such a clear path to sounding awesome in 2016, to do nothing now and settle for that. Specially considering that he seems to be truly, physically suffering through this perfomance, and the fact that, for the first time in his career, his range is suffering greatly. I think he is on a path downhill and there is little he can do to avert it.

Having watched the last two gigs, I have absolutely zero doubt that Axl is giving everything he has. I have no idea how much he did to prepare and get his voice ready for this leg, but once he gets up there in the stage, he is doing as much as he can right now. It shows.

Truth is his voice has deteriorated severely since 2016. It might be because back then he was doing lots of vocal work for AC/DC, but I really wouldn't bet on that. His voice seems overworked and his upper register sounds absolutely fried. He seems fully aware of it too, and that makes me wonder if his plan is to just keep performing until his voice is no longer able to do it. It breaks my heart to say that but he really seems to be going down that route with the effort he is putting in and how he is pushing through those performances, digging deep for rasp and doing those long setlists.

I think those AC/DC performances did him in, but who knows. I hope he eventually talks openly about what happened to his voice since 2010, even if he does that a few years from now. I would love if this came back to bite me in the ass, but I'll go on and say he will never perform those Brian Johnson songs with AC/DC. I have zero doubt he is, at this time, absolutely unable to replicate that kind of form.

It must be hard for Axl to be going through that. The man was an absolute powerhouse. Perhaps it is time to cherish whatever is left, support him a bit and go along with it. It's been a fantastic, if somewhat convoluted ride.