Does Axl have problems with his voice/throat?

[Georgy Zhukov]

Starting from Civil War towards the end of the LA show he was better than any of his 2010 shows.

[ITW 2012]

I went to the show last Saturday in Vancouver, and he was nowhere near what he was in Montreal and Toronto last year. It seems fairly obvious that he's still getting over the bronchitis. And I don't believe his voice is permanently shot or it is an age thing. I think it's probably a combination of the bronchitis and coming into the tour not in the best shape.

Edited December 24, 2011 by ITW 2012

[RandallFlagg]

In 2006 at Roskilde we have him make a sign that everything is right in his throat.LOL about the " give me the fucking ball"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYVFx2gnsas

Duuude I've been looking for this 'give me the fucking ball' video for monthsssss cheers!!

[DrBrownstone]

Am I missing something? All the 2010 vids I saw it looked like he was winded and really struggling. I agree that now some songs sound like the 01/02 era but still I think he's doing a hell of a job now

No...for most of the 2010 tour, he sounded really, really good...I saw them in October 2010 in Manchester, UK, and was blown away with how good he sounded. I hadn't seen any youtube videos or anything from the past few years, so I didn't know what to expect.

Now it sounds like a combination of 01/02, 06, and 10....he has some rasp, but uses it sparingly, and sometimes Mickey Mouse rears his ugly head.

[vaida]

Axl's voice is kinda odd at the moment.

When he speaks - his voice sounds deep

When he sings - his voice switches from high pitch (some call this Micky Mouse) to Raw painful sore throat (Madagascar).

During some sections his voice sounds studio perfect like there's a back track from time to time ?

[Georgy Zhukov]

Axl's voice is kinda odd at the moment.

When he speaks - his voice sounds deep

When he sings - his voice switches from high pitch (some call this Micky Mouse) to Raw painful sore throat (Madagascar).

During some sections his voice sounds studio perfect like there's a back track from time to time ?

You ever heard Freddie Mercury speak? He has this baritone voice but is a tenor when he sings.

He may have been sick before the tour started. Would explain how he went from 2010 awesomeness to Rio 2011. He's improved 300% since though.

[rudolf1978]

Axl's voice is kinda odd at the moment.

When he speaks - his voice sounds deep

When he sings - his voice switches from high pitch (some call this Micky Mouse) to Raw painful sore throat (Madagascar).

During some sections his voice sounds studio perfect like there's a back track from time to time ?

You ever heard Freddie Mercury speak? He has this baritone voice but is a tenor when he sings.

He may have been sick before the tour started. Would explain how he went from 2010 awesomeness to Rio 2011. He's improved 300% since though.

He has improved a bit since RIR 2011.A bit more of rasp,but nothing more.Check 2010 videos plse

Just check a few songs of LA 2011,Better ,nightrain,streets of dreams,and dont cry,and he sings 100% mickey mouse.i dont know what happens but im sure that he has a problem or he is singing like that because of something.

Edited December 24, 2011 by rudolf1978

[crashoride]

I honestly think he sounded the best in 2006. Listen to all the Rock Am Ring clips on youtube.

Edited December 24, 2011 by crashoride

[uzi your illusion]

I'm on board for saying he sounded a lot better in 2010, however we heard he was battling bronchitis and I'm sure racking your voice every night doesn't help the healing process. The thing is though is that if he thought his voice was stretched to the limit and was worried about losing his power then why would he give us 3 hour shows? He could wrap them up at 2 hours put a bow on it and call it a day, and not many people could bitch. Thats longer then a ton of top tier bands.

[nightrain50]

Besides from the opening line of "Welcome to the Jungle" where he sang it clean the rest of the song sounded killer. You guys are nuts.

[Stan]

Am I missing something? All the 2010 vids I saw it looked like he was winded and really struggling. I agree that now some songs sound like the 01/02 era but still I think he's doing a hell of a job now

No...for most of the 2010 tour, he sounded really, really good...I saw them in October 2010 in Manchester, UK, and was blown away with how good he sounded. I hadn't seen any youtube videos or anything from the past few years, so I didn't know what to expect.

Now it sounds like a combination of 01/02, 06, and 10....he has some rasp, but uses it sparingly, and sometimes Mickey Mouse rears his ugly head.

I was at that gig! It was amazing..

[wildhorses]

I've been battling bronchitis for the past two months and believe me I can't exercise without having a coughing fit and wheezing so I can only imagine how hard it must be to try and sing with it.

[Guest gunns5]

I've been battling bronchitis for the past two months and believe me I can't exercise without having a coughing fit and wheezing so I can only imagine how hard it must be to try and sing with it.

that sucks, I'm suffering from a throat infection caused by some fucked up allergies and I have to cough after every few seconds of talking, I just hope that after the tour, Axl rests WHILST still keeping his voice in shape so a Repeat of Rio won't happen again.

[rudolf1978]

Besides from the opening line of "Welcome to the Jungle" where he sang it clean the rest of the song sounded killer. You guys are nuts.

Yes,welcome to the jungle sounds great,but in many songs of the setlist...........

[YOUCOULDBEMINE.]

He's still missing his rasp most of the time, unless he forces it. Which isn't a good thing tbh.

[RandallFlagg]

This I Love is a good indicator of the rasp-o-metre

[uzi your illusion]

Did Axl ever confirm having any kind of vocal surgery whether in the 90's or 2000's? I know it's been speculated and repeated as fact but can anyone show me the quote where he acknowledges having to get something done?

[Danker]

This I Love is a good indicator of the rasp-o-metre

Its a good indicator of his "ability" to rasp on that night but not proof that he will actually do it on more than a few songs.

fuck...Im a singer and still recovering from singing along at ONLY ONE GNR show last Friday. Imagine doing what he does every night on an international tour!!!??!!!! He's gonna have some ups and downs for sure as he's always had since he came back around in 2001. I see no real difference in his vocal trends in recent years.

its like global warming. its cyclical. :tongue2:

Edited December 25, 2011 by Danker

[KiraMPD]

Did Axl ever confirm having any kind of vocal surgery whether in the 90's or 2000's? I know it's been speculated and repeated as fact but can anyone show me the quote where he acknowledges having to get something done?

Good question, I've been wondering this myself.

I remember an interview (or something like that) from the early 90's where Axl was complaining about catching a lot of infections (cold, flu, etc) due to problems with his tonsils? Now this is possible because generally your tonsils are where the largest immunological response to aerosol infections take place. I wonder if that was ever "taken care off"? (or if its even true, does anyone else remember reading that?)

fuck...Im a singer and still recovering from singing along at ONLY ONE GNR show last Friday. Imagine doing what he does every night on an international tour!!!??!!!!

AGREED!!! I'm a girl and I struggle with the highnotes on some of GnR songs (just the whole vocal range actually). And then on top of that to get the right 'rasp'?!!! I was in a band a couple of years ago and we usually covered a few GnR songs (My Michelle, Nightrain and Rocket Queen in particular) and I found that I had to drink rather heavily and basically destroy my voice just to get the right 'rasp'/tone of voice.

Total nightmare TT_TT

I think the problem is also that sometimes you can warm up your vocals for high notes but the vocal cords remain unprepared for low notes (or visa-versa). The range in GnR songs is massive to say the least.

Edited December 25, 2011 by KiraMPD

[ironmt]

Sounds no different now then he did In Rio. Certain songs he has Improved on, but not many. Here Is Rocket Queen from the Forum(Starts at 27:50) and Rocket Queen from Rock In Rio. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mGbZCOtaW8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCCDoxntU5M.

[Danker]

Sounds no different now then he did In Rio. Certain songs he has Improved on, but not many. Here Is Rocket Queen from the Forum(Starts at 27:50) and Rocket Queen from Rock In Rio.

I agree wholeheartedly. Thats how he's sounded since he's been taking prestine care of his voice!!! In the UYI era you'd always see him smoking during interviews.

Would you guys agree that UYI tour-era Axl would not be able to accurately hit the notes to Shackler's chorus and parts of This I Love??

His tone has changed due to age as it does with everyone, but his ability has gotten better and has harkened back to Live Like A Suicide days because he's taking care of it - there was hardly any UYI era grit/rasp to his voice back then.

that rasp for the most part is induced by unhealthy habits.

Edited December 25, 2011 by Danker

[Damn_Smooth]

Would you guys agree that UYI tour-era Axl would not be able to accurately hit the notes to Shackler's chorus and parts of This I Love??

His tone has changed due to age as it does with everyone, but his ability has gotten better and has harkened back to Live Like A Suicide days - there was hardly any any UYI era grit/rasp to his voice back then.

I'll agree. I also think he does the waaaaaaaaarrrrr in Civil War a lot better now than he did in the 90's. He was pretty much nothing but rasp back then.

[Danker]

Would you guys agree that UYI tour-era Axl would not be able to accurately hit the notes to Shackler's chorus and parts of This I Love??

His tone has changed due to age as it does with everyone, but his ability has gotten better and has harkened back to Live Like A Suicide days - there was hardly any any UYI era grit/rasp to his voice back then.

I'll agree. I also think he does the waaaaaaaaarrrrr in Civil War a lot better now than he did in the 90's. He was pretty much nothing but rasp back then.

i agree. that shows he can pull off that UYI rasp when he wants to, but that type of raspy singing doesn't lend itself to accurately hitting the high melodies in both Appetite and Chinese.

I also think that shows that the UYI songs are for-the-most-part easier for him now because he recorded those songs when he was in a much less healthier state vocally. Now that he's in a healthy state he has the option to play around with rasp and stylization when it calls for it on those UYI songs. On the UYI tour it wasn't healthy --- it was either ALL rasp or low cleans (i.e. Patience, parts of Don't Cry)

don't get me wrong...that early 90s rasp sounded cool as fuck!!!! but i was equally blown away in 2001 when he came back hitting those clean highs which we haven't heard since mid 80s Guns and on the Appetite recording.

I don't know why people call it Mickey Mouse. Am I the only one that loved his voice in 2001 and now in 2011???!!

Edited December 25, 2011 by Danker

[Damn_Smooth]

Would you guys agree that UYI tour-era Axl would not be able to accurately hit the notes to Shackler's chorus and parts of This I Love??

His tone has changed due to age as it does with everyone, but his ability has gotten better and has harkened back to Live Like A Suicide days - there was hardly any any UYI era grit/rasp to his voice back then.

I'll agree. I also think he does the waaaaaaaaarrrrr in Civil War a lot better now than he did in the 90's. He was pretty much nothing but rasp back then.

i agree. that shows he can pull off that UYI rasp when he wants to, but that type of raspy singing doesn't lend itself to accurately hitting the high melodies in both Appetite and Chinese.

I also think that shows that the UYI songs are for-the-most-part easier for him now because he recorded those songs when he was in a much less healthier state vocally. Now that he's in a healthy state he has the option to play around with rasp and stylization when it calls for it on those UYI songs. On the UYI tour it wasn't healthy --- it was either ALL rasp or low cleans (i.e. Patience, parts of Don't Cry)

don't get me wrong...that early 90s rasp sounded cool as fuck!!!! but i was equally blown away in 2001 when he came back hitting those clean highs which we haven't heard since mid 80s Guns and on the Appetite recording.

I don't know why people call it Mickey Mouse. Am I the only one that loved his voice in 2001 and now in 2011???!!

My problem with 2001 is that he wasn't able to hold the notes like he can now. I think he personally chooses how he wants to sing at any given moment, but whichever voice he uses sounds better to me than anyone else I have ever heard.

[Cruel Intentions]

I thought he was signaling that something was fucked up with his earpiece, too. He had a lot of rasp in Civil War, I thought that was maybe the best he's sounded all tour. Personally, I think all that shit is overrated. He sounded fantastic when I saw them in NJ. I get more aggravated by him forgetting/missing lyrics.