Eu4ic Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Axl's upside goes as high as anybody I know of. Especially through '10. After that has tarnished his legacy, perhaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.. Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Let's be honest here, let's be very honest. I can say I was a hardcore GN'R fan once, but nowadays, Axl has let himself go so fucking much I don't care a lot.But. If you look at the rock history, the world in general, humans stay human. You can name Lennon, Jagger, Elvis, Bruce Springsteen, James Hetfield, or whatever, they all look pretty much very human to me. Not anything special. I never cared for them, I mean they are good artists, good singers, good songwriters, but something is missing, they aren't "out of this world".Now, the 3 persons that come to my mind in terms of being a superstar and being able to pretend the title of the best frontman ever are, without a fucking doubt: Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury and Axl Rose. Anyone naming anyone else is fucking delusional. The only guy that comes next to these guys is Matthew Bellamy (which is imo the greatest artist alive in the rock business, only lacks charisma onstage, but he's sweet).Anyway! We're talking fucking beasts here. MJ, Freddie and Axl. Those three guys... they have something the others never had. They exploded with charisma, greatests voices in rock (and pop for MJ) and composed the best tracks ever.As for my personal preference, I'm not a GN'R forum for nothing:1. Axl Rose2. Michael Jackson3. Freddie MercuryI'm not a huge fan of what Axl is doing right now, he looks like hell, I don't understand his choices (except for CD which I adore), I mean the last few years are fucking incomprehensible, they had a monumentum going in 2010 and threw it all away with Rock in Rio IV. Fucking shame. Axl is still amazing live, when he wants to be amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbgnr Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 AFD/UYI era Axl Rose is def Top 10 material without doubt.Now in 2013 he don't make the Top 100A Slash Fan You don't have to be a Slash fan to make that assessment. It's pretty fair. Not in the top 100,seriously thats pretty ridiculous even if you do hate the guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneAXLinamillion Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 N.1 easy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnrkoncerti Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 For me Axl is the best frontman ever... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trqster Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Best frontman ever and still is, even if out of shape, a living legend on stage. Freddy was a close second imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Are we discussing frontman abilities here or songwriting and musicial abilities? When people say 'frontman' my definition is, somebody who 'works a crowd' (like Jagger and Mercury); this is a seperate category from songwriting. Lennon was quite charismatic on stage (''the people in the richer seats...rattle your jewelry') but he was strapped to a guitar and tended to stay stationary; also, you can count the amount of gigs he played 1967-1980 on one hand (Madison Square Garden is the most obvious one). No, frontmen are people like Jagger, Mercury, Axl and Morrison.Lennon is genius enough. You do not have to credit him with something he evidently was not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquor & Whores Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 I agree that there can be better voices in music history than Axl, but frontmen? no fucking way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Didn't Axl steal his signature snake dance from the lead singer of another band?Yes. Richard Black from Shark Island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewbacca Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 A high postion, certainly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luciusfunk Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 But being an awesome songwriter and being a good frontman are two different things. I´m not bashing Lennon, but he´d only stand there playing guitar, which is what 99.9% of singers do. nothing special there. imo. I agree that Axl is more entertaining to watch than Lennon. I also feel that Axl is a better singer than Lennon. However I feel that What Lennon would bring to a band is greater than what any other singer/ songwriter can bring to the table. John Lennon will write you a guareented hit song. That's a promise that no other singer can give you IMO. With the exception of maybe Bob Dylan, but his singing is awful. Even Freddie Mercury didn't write anything worth a damn after about 1982 IMO. So he had at least 8 years of subpar music. Same goes for Steven Tyler, Ozzy, Robert Plant, Axl and whomever else. While John Lennon never released an album without at least one great fucking song it. Greatest songwriter of all time IMO.lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron MikeyJ Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 (edited) Maybe you like the highlander crap, and some of the other stuff. But for me Another one bites the dust marks the end of good Queen. Even Under Pressure I don't really care for that much.Besides if you want to make a claim that Freddie Mercury was an overall better musician than John Lennon, that would be laughable.... Edited April 25, 2013 by Mike420 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iftheworld Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Axl has no number. He is a physical anomaly. Axl1. Freddie Mercurythe rest.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerage5 Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Top 5, along with Ronnie James Dio, Alice Cooper, Bruce Dickinson, and Iggy Pop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izzygirl Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Behind Freddie Mercury, Bon Scott and Bruce Springsteen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 I honestly have never seen a frontman do what Freddie did at Live Aid. Axl couldn't do that. Even Jagger couldn't do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bellastar2355 Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 FreddieJim Morrison Axl Mick Jagger and this guy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luciusfunk Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 (edited) Maybe you like the highlander crap, and some of the other stuff. But for me Another one bites the dust marks the end of good Queen. Even Under Pressure I don't really care for that much.Besides if you want to make a claim that Freddie Mercury was an overall better musician than John Lennon, that would be laughable.... 1. Queen released music after the "Highlander crap".2. Freddie didn't write "Another One Bites the Dust" or "Under Pressure".3. I never made the claim Freddie was better overall than Lennon."It's a Hard Life" (1984), "Rain Must Fall" (1989), "Don't Try So Hard", "The Hitman", I'm Going Slightly Mad" (1991), "Mother Love" (1995).Not to mention he was the only member of Queen to have a solo number one hit, and that was after 1982, not to mention his solo album was a top 10 hit, his opera album was a top 30, and the lead single was also a top 10. All after 1982. Edited April 25, 2013 by luciusfunk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izzygirl Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 (edited) FreddieJim Morrison Axl Mick Jagger and this guy: Wtf?! Maybe you like the highlander crap, and some of the other stuff. But for me Another one bites the dust marks the end of good Queen. Even Under Pressure I don't really care for that much.Besides if you want to make a claim that Freddie Mercury was an overall better musician than John Lennon, that would be laughable....3. I never made the claim Freddie was better overall than Lennon.I will make the claim. Freddie was better overall than Lennon. Edited April 25, 2013 by izzygirl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSeeker Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Axl's behind Freddie, Plant, Jagger, McCartney...so 5I'd put him ahead of Steven Tyler, Bono, Roger Daltrey and others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val22 Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 There is only one Axl Rose. You may not like NewGNR and Chinese Democracy and I know Axl is not singing very well. He is still a great frontman and still plays an amazing live show on every single concert.I agree. I've seen Robert Plant and Roget Daltrey live and both had that something where you couldn't take your eyes off them.To me Axl has the same thing going for him. I think most singers and frontman have to have a special something to capture a crowd. It's a must to be a good frontman to get people's attention and hold it.I think Axl at 51 still has that charisma that holds the crowd and can still carry a show for 3 hours.I think a lot of musicians have it, not just the singers. There are many guitar players who can hold your attention and drummers too. It's all about the confidence they have on stage. you have to have that or you just can't make it up there on stage in front of hundreds or thousands of fans.I would put Axl in the top twenty all time frontman because there have been so many since rock started in the 50's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Drama Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 If solo performers count I'd put Michael Jackson head and shoulders above anyone. But in regards to rock frontmen, no one beats Jagger or Axl (original band era) IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bacardimayne Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 Probably top 5. Freddie Mercury and Mick Jagger are the only ones I can think of who I'd put above him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Drama Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 You know what I don't get? When people rate the life out of James Brown as a frontman.I'd also rate Freddie, Elvis and Tina Turner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooting Star Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 #1 for me.Dude is a living legend.Axl has no number. He is a physical anomaly. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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