jimb0 Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 When we first heard the studio version of Madagascar many people were surprised that Axl chose to sing it with Rasp... We were used to hearing him belt out the vocals clean and grew attached to that sound during the 2002 tour.Many people criticized this track citing that Axl sounded like an extremely old man... It just seems to be the way his raspy voice has matured over time, and when he is in the lower vocal range he does sound particularly old.Does anyone here think that although Axl may be entirely capable of belting out the entire show with rasp, he may chose not to because he sounds much older with it than without ? Think about it.. he killed in 2009 / 2010... Could is just be he doesn't like the sound that's coming out anymore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColdHeartBreaker Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 You think his Madagascar voice on Chinese is natural?It's purposely done IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimb0 Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 Not exactly natural but a good example of how his voice has aged doing the rasp. If I could remember what 2010 show he rasped up November Rain I'd probably cite that as an example on how the rasp has aged quicker than his clean voice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Drama Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 No, I do not think he's using the 'clean' voice to sound younger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saber_ Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I disagree about the dramatic description of him sounding old. To answer the thread's question: no I don't think Axl is using the clean voice to sound "younger." He's using the clean voice because he's getting older and can't use the scratchedy voice on everything all the time. I do wish Axl would alter his clean voice though- sing more with his chest. Doesn't have to be raspy, just more full sounding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.wa.T Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 You think his Madagascar voice on Chinese is natural?It's purposely done IMO.I agree 100%. When I listen to that song I picture somebody who is beaten down and weathered. Axls vocal totally captures that. One of my favorite GnR songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Bond Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 The problem with his "Mickey" voice isn't that he's singing clean. It's him getting winded and losing power very easily that is a bigger concern. His 2002 clean vocals sounded pretty good most of the time because there was a power and energy there. Granted, he was 11 years younger then. My point is more I think he's toning down the rasp because it probably hurts, especially when he sang all of 2010 with heavy rasp.Rio aside, by the end of 2011 he had seemingly found a comfortable balance of using the rasp when he needed too and backing off on the songs that didn't necessarily call for it like the Chinese material which was mostly sung clean anyways. However, it was still clear that he was getting winded more easily and thus losing a lot of that power.So to the answer the question, no, I don't think he's afraid of sounding older. I think he's trying to protect his voice, which is fair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One.In.A.Million Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Sometimes all Axl needs to do is to tone it down, and save the rasp for places in songs which require it. Remember when he first started to sing This I Love live, and he was straining too much, totally unneccesarily. This is very apparent during the Osaka 2009 bootleg, but during the Canadian tour in Jan-Feb 2010, he completely toned it down and it worked much better for him.Axl knows how to save his voice where he can in songs, but it sometimes takes him a while to figure out how to approach it. Perfect example being There Was A Time, he still hasn't figured out how to do that comfortably yet, although it did sound awesome when I heard it in Dublin 2012. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightrain86 Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 The problem with his "Mickey" voice isn't that he's singing clean. It's him getting winded and losing power very easily that is a bigger concern. I can agree with this, there's a video of Don't Cry from i think it's perth or adelaide in 2010 and right at the end of the song he's using his clean voice for a moment and it sounds really strong and quite good actually, it's when it's the out of breath micky that it's bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Bond Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Some of that could be rectified if he rehearsed, but you can't have it all I suppose. Ideally he'd rehearse to find exactly where he can be rasp, clean, and whatever in between as well as where to breathe without getting winded.The weirdest thing about Axl compared to most singers is that he can still hit his high notes. He's pitchy sometimes but that's forgivable. It's not his range that has detoriorated, it's his tonality and power that's always inconsistent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimb0 Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 You think his Madagascar voice on Chinese is natural?It's purposely done IMO.I agree 100%. When I listen to that song I picture somebody who is beaten down and weathered. Axls vocal totally captures that. One of my favorite GnR songs.Or listen to the isolated vocals from Sorry or Shackler's... It sounds beaten down and weathered as well but I don't think it's intentional.Madagascar is defiantly some of my favorite lyrical imagery and story telling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liers Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 (edited) That may have worked in 2002 when he actually looked young, but if that's what he's doing now, it's not working.His voice combined with his looks make him seem like some old grampa who had too many drugs.In 2002 his voice was clean but powerful, look at the boston and MSG shows. Now it's clean and powerless. As previously stated, clean isn't the issue, powerless is. Edited March 10, 2013 by liers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan Rose Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 You think his Madagascar voice on Chinese is natural?It's purposely done IMO.I agree 100%. When I listen to that song I picture somebody who is beaten down and weathered. Axls vocal totally captures that. One of my favorite GnR songs.That's the point. When he goes into the scream it's like some dormant colossus is waking up, shaking off the cobwebs and going for it for the first time in years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasted Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 He think he also saod that he did something like this on Nov Rain so that audience can feel like they can sing it. Whereas as ITW is kind of showboating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trqster Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I believe that Axl for some reason (like in the '01 & '02 eras) simply lost the ability to sing with rasp consistently without straining his voice. He had to adapt to a new singing style. But then again when in '12 he's singing with rasp like this he doesn't seem exactly in pain does he? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUCrHW5PfuY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash Diet Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 No, I do not think he's using the 'clean' voice to sound younger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragnar Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Clean vocals suit new songs but not old ones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick83 Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I think Axl's voice is directly related to his emotional state. He's got to be really feeling something for that rasp to come out. Right now, he seems content, maybe a little worn out from the BS over the years, and he might just be in a place emotionally where singing pure is natural for him. But as far as the OP's idea goes, I think there is some merit to it. I think he did want to sound younger, purer, renewed, leaving the old baggage behind a bit. Axl might have also discovered this beautiful, soaring, powerful clean voice, and fell in love with it or thought it sounded better. That might have been why he came out like that in 2002. I also think there are reasons having to do with voice preservation. Listen, Axl can still do the rasp if he wants too. He has not lost the ability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magisme Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Listen, Axl can still do the rasp if he wants too. He has not lost the ability.Makes no difference to me if he CAN do it. I only care if he does it. At best, the clean voice is mediocre and uninspiring. At worst, it's the worst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick83 Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Listen, Axl can still do the rasp if he wants too. He has not lost the ability. Makes no difference to me if he CAN do it. I only care if he does it. At best, the clean voice is mediocre and uninspiring. At worst, it's the worst.That's fair and I think we all feel like that. But, his clean voice was and can be awesome. We'd all like the rasp, but he's not doing it. I'm just sick of people freaking out and saying he can't do it anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magisme Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Listen, Axl can still do the rasp if he wants too. He has not lost the ability. Makes no difference to me if he CAN do it. I only care if he does it. At best, the clean voice is mediocre and uninspiring. At worst, it's the worst.That's fair and I think we all feel like that. But, his clean voice was and can be awesome. We'd all like the rasp, but he's not doing it. I'm just sick of people freaking out and saying he can't do it anymore.Fair nuff.I'll respectfully disagree about the clean voice's potential. I think there are a few songs it doesn't ruin. That's the best I can say for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick83 Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I agree. The clean voice was great on Madagascar, Street of Dreams, Rhiad from Las Vegas etc. Other songs, doesn't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trqster Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Love it or hate it...Axl Rose voice = RASP. It's always been the trademark on his vocals since the beginning...that and high-pitch singing.It just can't work out any other way... Just try to imagine Bruce Springsteen or Brian Johnson singing without rasp? They're both in their sixties and still with plenty of power and RASP. Go figure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.wa.T Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Axl doesn't sing with as much anger anymore.He seems more into the music and showmanship aspect of the performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ana_1991 Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Axl sings clean because he cant sing the way he used to. And he sounds like shit! If he wants to sing like this on the CD II (if it ever comes out), then I don't wanna hear that Mickey Mouse album... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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