rasp vs mickey mouse

[Apollo]

I don't get why comparing a voice to Mickey Mouse is offensive. It's just what we call "one of his voices." And no, I don't think the majority of people want to hear it. In fact, your love for the voice is a minority opinion...

I love vocal variety, but it just sounds so weak sometimes. Like Civil War from the Vegas show. He does this awesome raspy, "My hands are tied," and then in the middle of the chorus, he switches back to Mickey. The difference was way obvious.

The thing is, because he has so many voices, not everybody is gonna like every voice. For instance, I don't like the way he sings "I can't speed up the time" or "The lights they shine so bright" on live versions of Patience. It reminds me of Bruce Dickinson's Seamen Staines voice on "Dive! Dive! Dive!" actually, now that I think about it. Either way, I have a major dislike for that voice.

People dislike the voice, so they discuss it. Axl is a vocalist. What do you expect to be discussed? His nose?

I'd rather talk about the Mickey Mouse voice than his nose...

Fair and well thought out response.

There is a difference between discussing and debating Axl's vocal range. My complaint are the people who bitch and moan in every topic about the mickey mouse voice.

I personally love it. Music taste is subjective.

I just think "fans" nitpick everything to death on this forum. I don't get that, or why people would go to a forum just to complain about everything possible of a band.

I listen to all kinds of music, and I do it for pleasure and relaxation. I would hate to put an album on and sit there and critique it line by line. That is as un-rock and roll as it gets.

[James Bond]

I wouldn't mind a bit more Donald Duck.

Thank you.

[Kill Devil Hill]

I don't get why comparing a voice to Mickey Mouse is offensive. It's just what we call "one of his voices." And no, I don't think the majority of people want to hear it. In fact, your love for the voice is a minority opinion...

I love vocal variety, but it just sounds so weak sometimes. Like Civil War from the Vegas show. He does this awesome raspy, "My hands are tied," and then in the middle of the chorus, he switches back to Mickey. The difference was way obvious.

The thing is, because he has so many voices, not everybody is gonna like every voice. For instance, I don't like the way he sings "I can't speed up the time" or "The lights they shine so bright" on live versions of Patience. It reminds me of Bruce Dickinson's Seamen Staines voice on "Dive! Dive! Dive!" actually, now that I think about it. Either way, I have a major dislike for that voice.

People dislike the voice, so they discuss it. Axl is a vocalist. What do you expect to be discussed? His nose?

I'd rather talk about the Mickey Mouse voice than his nose...

Fair and well thought out response.

There is a difference between discussing and debating Axl's vocal range. My complaint are the people who bitch and moan in every topic about the mickey mouse voice.

I personally love it. Music taste is subjective.

I just think "fans" nitpick everything to death on this forum. I don't get that, or why people would go to a forum just to complain about everything possible of a band.

I listen to all kinds of music, and I do it for pleasure and relaxation. I would hate to put an album on and sit there and critique it line by line. That is as un-rock and roll as it gets.

Sometimes, the voice is great. Like in Street of Dreams, Madagascar, IRS, some versions of Sweet Child. But damn, nothing tops his rasp for me. I mean, Rocket Queen is just a totally different song when he throws rasp in there. And rasp sounds good on practically everything he's ever done. Including Street of Dreams, Madagascar, IRS, and SCOM.

I like when he mixes the two in properly. Like Better. Everything about Better is perfect. But when he tried to do it with Civil War, it just sounded really weak and disappointing after such a strong, raspy "My hands are tied." So, I guess he hasn't found the perfect balance for my personal preference.

I understand getting annoyed with the complaining, really, I do. But it's never gonna go away, no matter how much other users complain about the complainers. So might as well turn their complaints into a discussion. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

[axlsalinger]

I don't particularly like the mickey voice that much, but there are times when he uses the voice to phrase words in a way that I like a lot. So when I look at the big picture, this is just a minor detail that is given way too much importance by some people. I don't mind debating the merits of it, but when people suggest that he was nowhere near as good in 2011 as in 2010 just because of this (despite not using it in every song, and despite having used it in the past) it's blowing it way out of proportion.

[HowlinWolf]

The Micky Mouse voice is God Awful.. End of Story... I feel bad for Axl when I hear it.. Axl's voice these days is one of the reasons I cannot get into his new stuff.. I think most people agree that it is awful, I dont know why he and his band can't hear it. I personally just think his voice is shot and he has to sing like that. I think it would sound better if he just sand in a lower octave when he had to.

[Kill Devil Hill]

The Micky Mouse voice is God Awful.. End of Story... I feel bad for Axl when I hear it.. Axl's voice these days is one of the reasons I cannot get into his new stuff.. I think most people agree that it is awful, I dont know why he and his band can't hear it. I personally just think his voice is shot and he has to sing like that. I think it would sound better if he just sand in a lower octave when he had to.

You've lost me. His voice may be absolutely helium-ified on stage, but on the record, I'd say he sounded better than ever. Someone made a top 10 list of his most difficult vocal moments, and ChD songs occupied more than half the list.

1. Street of Dreams

2. Rocket Queen

3. There Was a Time

4. I.R.S.

5. Better

6. Sweet Child o' Mine

7. If the World

8. You Could Be Mine

9. This I Love

10. Paradise City

I thought the list was pretty accurate. They do it for lots of vocalists, and I generally agree with them. :shrug: But I guess the voice used on those tracks can be a turn off. Like on ITW. But the TWAT and Better voice is top notch, I think.

Which of those songs bothers you the most vocally? I'm guessing ITW?

[GivenToFly]

I wouldn't mind a bit more Donald Duck.

I just imagined Donald Duck singing It's So Easy. It was glorious!

[Young_Gun]

I don't get why comparing a voice to Mickey Mouse is offensive. It's just what we call "one of his voices." And no, I don't think the majority of people want to hear it. In fact, your love for the voice is a minority opinion...

I love vocal variety, but it just sounds so weak sometimes. Like Civil War from the Vegas show. He does this awesome raspy, "My hands are tied," and then in the middle of the chorus, he switches back to Mickey. The difference was way obvious.

The thing is, because he has so many voices, not everybody is gonna like every voice. For instance, I don't like the way he sings "I can't speed up the time" or "The lights they shine so bright" on live versions of Patience. It reminds me of Bruce Dickinson's Seamen Staines voice on "Dive! Dive! Dive!" actually, now that I think about it. Either way, I have a major dislike for that voice.

People dislike the voice, so they discuss it. Axl is a vocalist. What do you expect to be discussed? His nose?

I'd rather talk about the Mickey Mouse voice than his nose...

Exactly, some people here are trying to eradicate any negative topics regarding Axl and the band. Good luck with that.

[RandallFlagg]

His voice has clearly been a lot weaker than the last tour, he was very consistent there, I don't know how that can happen in a short time.

[loko]

Axl has a lot of range as a singer. He can go deep, he can use rasp, he can go clean, and he can hit the high notes. That's one reason we all love him as a singer. He has a very unique voice that can produce several different sounds. I personally love the high pitched "helium" voice.

This!

[trqster]

I'll had an extra element that I haven't seen discussed yet, even the rasp isn't/wasn't always the same.

Like in 86-88 Axl had a certain kind of rasp, more controlled and less aggressive, just like you can hear in this (brilliant) performance (3m40s):

Then, the rasp become more present and dring the 90-93 era the rasp was usually too aggressive and even annoying in some performances imo. Sometimes it sounded like Axl's voice was shot and he was basically screaming.

Later in the 00's Mickey Mouse voice made it's first appearance. And it seemed to be here to stay since 01/02 era was pretty consistent and the rasp was almost gone.

But after Axl's return in 2006 to the limelight the mighty rasp was back, although Mickey Mouse voice was still alive and kicking and it showed up sometimes. The rasp during this era (06-07) was very different to the 90-93 era, more "suave" and controlled and far less aggressive sounding. It kept pretty much consistent that way up to the end of 2010.

Finally in RIR 2011 we seemed to go back to RIR 2001 - Axl's voice was noticeably different, almost raspless and full of good old mickey mouse. Sure it improved a bit over the course of some shows but stayed pretty consistent.

Who knows what will Axl's voice sound like in 2012?

[Kill Devil Hill]

Mickey Mouse? WTF? Have we run out of things to talk about?

I'm sorry, you're right. Obama's wife being named Michelle is far more relevant.

[Kill Devil Hill]

Oh, really? Like what?

It's amazing how so many people have the exact same imagination...

[Kill Devil Hill]

You didn't answer my post at all. You just changed the subject.

[Nosaj Thing]

Oh, really? Like what?

It's amazing how so many people have the exact same imagination...

Let's talk about imagination... haters still think there will be a reunion of the classic lineup

One day they will get over it...my sister was pro-classic lineup until I exposed her to REAL GNR by showing her the LA and Vegas shows. She has a freakin hard head but those shows sold her iimmediately. Her own words: "I can never actually watch the old band now"

What's really funny is she didn't say "ZOMG MICKEY MOUSE"

:crazy:

[Kill Devil Hill]

You didn't answer my post at all. You just changed the subject.

i did answer you wanted to know what we could talk about...I said imagination

Carry on everyone and talk about about mickey mouse

So you're saying imagination is a more relevant discussion than Axl's voice. Okay. But you said "many" things.

Just keep digging that grave, 'cano.

[trqster]

volcano62, as a true GnR fan you say you support every lineup that there's been so far right? Also as a fan I sure did and still do!

But it doesn't mean that you must go into denial with the mickey mouse voice thing. It's a fact that most high-pitched singing from Axl in 2011 was indeed in a tone similar to the infamous mickey mouse voice. If you like it or don't mind it just say it so, but don't try to deny the obvious.

As a fan I'll always support Axl and his vision of Gn'R and Continue to attend live shows whatever Axl's voice shape it's in.

[Kill Devil Hill]

Once again, you fail to answer my post.

[Georgy Zhukov]

I like Mickey Mouse.

[James Bond]

[Georgy Zhukov]

Ho, ho!

[Flayer]

Lulz. I listened to Madagascar on the train yesterday. Really heard that beginning part for the first time - all the instruments, the orchestra, the horns, the guitar. Was very nice.

[Apollo]

"Epic" was the most annoying word attached to GnR in the past.......then it was the idiotic hired hands and cover band statements....then people saying Axl had a gag order in place.......

Now people are obsessed with labeling axls vocals as rasp or mickey mouse. Well that is just friggen stupid.

Axl has a lot of range as a singer. He can go deep, he can use rasp, he can go clean, and he can hit the high notes. That's one reason we all love him as a singer. He has a very unique voice that can produce several different sounds. I personally love the high pitched "helium" voice.

So is there any way we can stop with the idiotic "rasp" and "mickey mouse" talk now? You may like one over the other, but most people want to hear all styles of singing from Axl.

GNR were epic in the past. How can you look at the live show in the 1990s and not think they were trying to be huge and epic? That's what they were going for and that's what they were in music, shows, and videos..... Rare examples being skin n bones tour and garden/yesterdays vids.

The band are all hired, paid a salary, can be fired and replaced or given raises at any time, "hired hand" is a term that makes sense and people are only offended because they think it sounds cheap or insulting. It shouldn't sound insulting, that's what these guys are. Period. You can't even defend it, they're hired, they lend their "hands" to Axl's project where Axl then picks and chooses everything. You should embrace Axl as the grand planner instead of trying to boost the others up to his level because that won't work. He's the boss, they're the employees.

The gag order thing is weird and I don't know how I feel about it. I don't get why Robin or Buckethead have not said a word about their situation leaving GNR and it seems like everyone in general is vague but that could just be Robin and Bucket are weird and quiet anyway and for the other point the others could be vague because there's nothing happening most of the time which is usually true so they have nothing to say so being vague is better than "ya I have not seen Axl in months".

The "rasp" and "mickey mouse" thing can be explained very easily. It's not even so much descriptors of his VARIOUS voices but rather descriptors of his OVERALL voice at different times. 1992 had shows with all rasp and it got annouying, 2002 and 2011 helium and not enough rasp. To reiterate, it's not that people are complaining about one style he sings in sometimes, it's the overall voice. Ya, he's mickey right now but of course he still uses the rasp sometimes just like when there was too much rasp he used the high voice occasionally... it's just that he seems incapable of using it when needed at times and the overwhelming amount of helium in the overall performance.

1. No. Epic came from the videos for songs like November Rain and Estranged. Then it was attached to "I hope the new album has a few epic type songs." Jungle, SCOM, YCBM, Paradise City, Don't Cry, Patience, Nightrain - nothing "epic" about them. But soon you couldn't have a discussion about the album (before CD was released) without somebody saying the word "epic." People are confusing how the word epic was attached to GnR.

2. I call them a Band. Do you go into this much detail about every band you listen to? Do you find out the finances, coupled on when they joined the band, triangulated against what percentage of the songs they wrote - and then decide to call them a band or hired hands? The band that is accompanying Slash's solo tour - they are hired hands. Ten times more so than the guys in GnR. Do you think the bass player in Slash's band/hired hands has a hand in writing any of the material for his last or next solo album????? Of course not. Are they paid a salary, or a portion of the profits? Fortus is more involved with GnR than the random base player on Slash's solo band is.........but I've never heard anybody refer to them as "hired hands." They are a band. Just like GnR is a band.

It's like divorce in a family. I have a step-dad........but I've never once introduced him as that, or called him that. I call him "Dad." Not "Hello step-dad, can we go to lunch today? Maybe we can get step-sister and 3rd cousin by marriage to go with us." Stupid. You say "hey dad, lets get the sisters and cousins together and have lunch."

The ONLY people that call GnR "hired hands" are those who are still blame Axl for the demise of the old group, and that still hold a grudge about it.

3. Once they left the band, how would a gag-order still be effective? Maybe they are adults who have moved on to different bands, and don't want to bad mouth people they have worked with? This isn't junior high where everybody needs to talk crap about everybody else. Maybe Robin and Bucket had nothing to say? They didn't want to discuss private band members, they didn't want to answer the "aren't you just a replacement for slash" and "cover band" questions?

All the Axl bashers always have went with the "gag order" thing. Seems pretty ridiculous now.

4. Your last point makes no sense at all. People are in fact complaining about it. A select few, but they do it all the time. In every topic they complain about the mickey mouse. People who are supposed "fans" of Axl bitch and moan and complain about him more than I bash singers I don't like. I will never understand that. If you don't like the way he sings or performs, then go find bands that you like. Pretty simple.

[Young_Gun]

Once again, you fail to answer my post.

They tend to do that when you criticize(even in a constructive and diplomatic manner) their deity...

[Young_Gun]

"Epic" was the most annoying word attached to GnR in the past.......then it was the idiotic hired hands and cover band statements....then people saying Axl had a gag order in place.......

Now people are obsessed with labeling axls vocals as rasp or mickey mouse. Well that is just friggen stupid.

Axl has a lot of range as a singer. He can go deep, he can use rasp, he can go clean, and he can hit the high notes. That's one reason we all love him as a singer. He has a very unique voice that can produce several different sounds. I personally love the high pitched "helium" voice.

So is there any way we can stop with the idiotic "rasp" and "mickey mouse" talk now? You may like one over the other, but most people want to hear all styles of singing from Axl.

GNR were epic in the past. How can you look at the live show in the 1990s and not think they were trying to be huge and epic? That's what they were going for and that's what they were in music, shows, and videos..... Rare examples being skin n bones tour and garden/yesterdays vids.

The band are all hired, paid a salary, can be fired and replaced or given raises at any time, "hired hand" is a term that makes sense and people are only offended because they think it sounds cheap or insulting. It shouldn't sound insulting, that's what these guys are. Period. You can't even defend it, they're hired, they lend their "hands" to Axl's project where Axl then picks and chooses everything. You should embrace Axl as the grand planner instead of trying to boost the others up to his level because that won't work. He's the boss, they're the employees.

The gag order thing is weird and I don't know how I feel about it. I don't get why Robin or Buckethead have not said a word about their situation leaving GNR and it seems like everyone in general is vague but that could just be Robin and Bucket are weird and quiet anyway and for the other point the others could be vague because there's nothing happening most of the time which is usually true so they have nothing to say so being vague is better than "ya I have not seen Axl in months".

The "rasp" and "mickey mouse" thing can be explained very easily. It's not even so much descriptors of his VARIOUS voices but rather descriptors of his OVERALL voice at different times. 1992 had shows with all rasp and it got annouying, 2002 and 2011 helium and not enough rasp. To reiterate, it's not that people are complaining about one style he sings in sometimes, it's the overall voice. Ya, he's mickey right now but of course he still uses the rasp sometimes just like when there was too much rasp he used the high voice occasionally... it's just that he seems incapable of using it when needed at times and the overwhelming amount of helium in the overall performance.

1. No. Epic came from the videos for songs like November Rain and Estranged. Then it was attached to "I hope the new album has a few epic type songs." Jungle, SCOM, YCBM, Paradise City, Don't Cry, Patience, Nightrain - nothing "epic" about them. But soon you couldn't have a discussion about the album (before CD was released) without somebody saying the word "epic." People are confusing how the word epic was attached to GnR.

2. I call them a Band. Do you go into this much detail about every band you listen to? Do you find out the finances, coupled on when they joined the band, triangulated against what percentage of the songs they wrote - and then decide to call them a band or hired hands? The band that is accompanying Slash's solo tour - they are hired hands. Ten times more so than the guys in GnR. Do you think the bass player in Slash's band/hired hands has a hand in writing any of the material for his last or next solo album????? Of course not. Are they paid a salary, or a portion of the profits? Fortus is more involved with GnR than the random base player on Slash's solo band is.........but I've never heard anybody refer to them as "hired hands." They are a band. Just like GnR is a band.

It's like divorce in a family. I have a step-dad........but I've never once introduced him as that, or called him that. I call him "Dad." Not "Hello step-dad, can we go to lunch today? Maybe we can get step-sister and 3rd cousin by marriage to go with us." Stupid. You say "hey dad, lets get the sisters and cousins together and have lunch."

The ONLY people that call GnR "hired hands" are those who are still blame Axl for the demise of the old group, and that still hold a grudge about it.

3. Once they left the band, how would a gag-order still be effective? Maybe they are adults who have moved on to different bands, and don't want to bad mouth people they have worked with? This isn't junior high where everybody needs to talk crap about everybody else. Maybe Robin and Bucket had nothing to say? They didn't want to discuss private band members, they didn't want to answer the "aren't you just a replacement for slash" and "cover band" questions?

All the Axl bashers always have went with the "gag order" thing. Seems pretty ridiculous now.

I'm pretty sure NDAs(non-disclosure agreements) don't just last til the tenure is over. Having said that however, it's clear Bucket was not going to talk either way as he doesn't even do proper interviews for his own work. Robin is notoriously quiet also, I've only seen footage of him talking once and that was to fans as he was signing pictures. I personally do not think the band itself is under an NDA but do believe certain questions are no go. For example it would be obvious that they wouldn't/shouldn't talk about the band's problems with the record label or the status of the next album or which company will be getting exclusive distribution rights as it would jeopardize things. Producers, managers, engineers etc however could be under an NDA.