Battle of the Lead Singers: Axl Rose vs. James Hetfield

[Randy Lahey]

Axl is better in every way. James Hetlfield is one of the most lame lead singers I've ever seen. He says shit like, "METALLICA LOVES YOU!" and "THANK YOU VANCOUVER!" in between every song.

Edited May 4, 2013 by Randy Lahey

[DieselDaisy]

I think I would call a wife beating racist who treats his fans like complete garbage and has fallen out with nearly everyone he has ever worked with or being friends with, fairly repulsive.

Go away.

I know personal life and music should be kept seperate but when you watch Axl - yet again - proceed to take a collosal dump on his fanbase's head, it rather makes you want to fling your Guns N' Roses's cds across the room. I square this fact in my mind by attributing everything on Appetite (the only real album I care about) to Izzy, Slash and Duff. And Axl made about one hundred statements on the One In A Million thing and not one of them made the slightest bit of sense.

[Randy Lahey]

Honestly if axl's not going to release any new music anytime soon, he needs to pull a paul rodgers. Go on tour with jimmy page and jpj and sing some zeppelin tunes. Don't call it zeppelin, call it page, jones, and rose or something. Just do a tour or maybe two. He would gain a ton of respect and anticipation for a new guns record. I'm sure page and jones would be down, but axl would have to behave. Page is a legend on the top tier of rock gods, axl is a notch below. Respect your elders!

But that will never happen.

I've been wanting Axl to do this for years. It would be nice to see what he could do with some top shelf talent around him once again. I think Axl and Jimmy would bring out the best in each other.

Edited May 4, 2013 by Randy Lahey

[LightningBolt]

Axl in all three. Hetfield's always been a pretty lousy lyricist (or whoever the lyricist is for Metallica). Some absolute cringe-worthy stuff in there. Axl isn't a great lyricist (in my opinion, compared to the truly great lyricists), but it's better than Hetfield's. Singing ability/voice/whatever is still Axl. I absolutely hate Hetfield's voice now. I loved his voice on Metallica's first two albums, it was okay on the three after that, and just bad since then. The growls are just so awful and forced in nowadays. Performer, still Axl. I guess if you consider his late starts and no-shows it gets A LOT closer between the two, but if you're just talking about ability, then yeah Axl any day.

[DieselDaisy]

Axl is better in every way. James Hetlfield is one of the most lame lead singers I've ever seen. He says shit like, "METALLICA LOVES YOU!" and "THANK YOU VANCOUVER!" in between every song.

It is better than saying, ''we are going home.'' Axl is such a cock in regards to crowd management. I was watching Crossfire Hurricane (Stones doc) and Jagger gets pelted, punched, grabbed, scratched yet, he doesn't say a thing. The Stones just tried to play as long as physically possible before absconding (at this point there would be about 20 people on the stage, grabbing, pulling). Yet someone chucks one bottle at Axl and he acts like a total dick and basically blames the whole audience for one idiot's mistake by walking off. The guy is a total dick. And I do not think he is this 'hard case' either as Vince Neil said he stood outside Tower on many occasions waiting to deck Axl and Axl never showed. Also, he sort of chickened out the Corbain/Courtney Love encounter. And it is a well known fact that cowards beat women.

[Zeppelin]

James Hetfield is a much better performer. I don't even know why this is debated. Yeah, Axl is great and all, but try downpicking all of Master of Puppets while singing it. It's fucking hard and Hetfield can pull it off on a nightly basis after 25 years. Yeah, his singing voice isn't what it used to be. Is Axl's? Axl does like five shows a year and Hetfield tours endlessly with Metallica.

I know it's easy to hate on Metallica, but James Hetfield has been a world-class performer for a very long time. If he says he loves the crowd too much, then that's not really a criticism against his performing talents at all. I love Axl, but as far as performing goes, Hetfield blasts Axl out of the ballpark. As far as lyrics go, I love Hetfield's older lyrics, but Axl wins that round. Especially with songs like Don't Damn Me and Civil War.

I'll give the edge to Hetfield on this one.

[sweetness]

Axl across the board. Never understood the appeal of James Hetfield, his voice and lyrics on all of Metallica's albums from And Justice For All onward are just beyond cheesy

[ShadowOfTheWave]

Axl can do more things with his voice=Axl

They both write personal lyrics, but Axl's are more literal, so to speak, and I like that=Axl

James's guitar keeps him immobile while performing, and I don't think he takes control of the audience like Axl=Axl

Edited May 4, 2013 by ShadowOfTheWave

[Johnny Drama]

James Hetfield is a much better performer. I don't even know why this is debated. Yeah, Axl is great and all, but try downpicking all of Master of Puppets while singing it. It's fucking hard and Hetfield can pull it off on a nightly basis after 25 years.

Good point.

[Nosaj Thing]

Young Axl is the best lead singer of all time (in my opinion). Current Axl is a joke.

[Zint]

James Hetfield is a much better performer. I don't even know why this is debated. Yeah, Axl is great and all, but try downpicking all of Master of Puppets while singing it. It's fucking hard and Hetfield can pull it off on a nightly basis after 25 years. Yeah, his singing voice isn't what it used to be. Is Axl's? Axl does like five shows a year and Hetfield tours endlessly with Metallica.

Not knocking that skill, but he just stands at the mic to do that.

Axl Rose put on a show, you just didn't know what was coming from one minute to the other.

You were never sure if you were getting a full show until the gig was over.

It was wonderfully chaotic.

The two times I saw the GnR / Metallica tour...GnR put on two different shows, Metallica were cookie cutter.

Axl can't downpick to Master, but Hetfield can't emote on a piano in front of 80,000 people.

Axl ran a tidalwave of emotions during one show, Hetfield pretty much just did the teenage metal grrrrrr thing, all the time.

[bacardimayne]

Axl's a better singer and always has been. (well, maybe not in the mid-80s when he was pitchy as all fuck and Hetfield was in his prime)

Hetfield's a better lyricist

Axl's a better performer

[Johnny Drama]

Axl's not the better singer now - although I can't see anything stopping that.

[Iron MikeyJ]

Let me start by saying that james is pretty good lyricist. I would put him in the above average catagory. But he is not great, nor better than axl. Of course this is all opinion, but here me out. Metallicas songs are only good for anger/depressed. Their are no diversity in the lyrics. And on top of that, I find the majority of the lyrics to be quite pedestrian. Nothing that makes me say "wow" or "I never thought about that". Honestly they are just "metal" lyrics. I'm not saying that's bad, or he's bad. They just are what they are. Their are some exceptions like one, for whom the bell tolls, harvester of sorrow. But even those songs are very "run of the mill metal lyrics" for the most part. One is probably the best song metallica ever wrote. If somebody says the unforgiven, or god forbid unforgiven 2 are great songs, you are retarded. Those are two of metallicas worst songs.

When I compare that to axls lyrics, they seem very uninspired. Take sweet child for example, when axl wrote "her hair remindes me of a warm safe place, where as a child id hide, and pray for the thunder and the rain to quietly pass me by." That one lyric has more in it than anything james ever wrote. I won't even mention anything from cd, just the stuff on the illusions has more meaning behind it than all of james songs combined. Breakdown, locomotive, dead horse, estranged, and november rain are all much more personal and powerful lyrics.

If you want lyrics about gods, devils, and other sterotypical "metal" things than I guess metallica is the band for you.

If you want lyrics about life, society, personal struggle, and other more personal things than axl wins hands down. At least through the illusion albums. Cd is more about being a famous rock star and all the pressure that goes with that. As well as love lost, and band breaking up. So that is a little more disconnected, but we all agree anyways that young axl was better.

[DieselDaisy]

Let me start by saying that james is pretty good lyricist. I would put him in the above average catagory. But he is not great, nor better than axl. Of course this is all opinion, but here me out. Metallicas songs are only good for anger/depressed. Their are no diversity in the lyrics. And on top of that, I find the majority of the lyrics to be quite pedestrian. Nothing that makes me say "wow" or "I never thought about that". Honestly they are just "metal" lyrics. I'm not saying that's bad, or he's bad. They just are what they are. Their are some exceptions like one, for whom the bell tolls, harvester of sorrow. But even those songs are very "run of the mill metal lyrics" for the most part. One is probably the best song metallica ever wrote. If somebody says the unforgiven, or god forbid unforgiven 2 are great songs, you are retarded. Those are two of metallicas worst songs.

When I compare that to axls lyrics, they seem very uninspired. Take sweet child for example, when axl wrote "her hair remindes me of a warm safe place, where as a child id hide, and pray for the thunder and the rain to quietly pass me by." That one lyric has more in it than anything james ever wrote. I won't even mention anything from cd, just the stuff on the illusions has more meaning behind it than all of james songs combined. Breakdown, locomotive, dead horse, estranged, and november rain are all much more personal and powerful lyrics.

If you want lyrics about gods, devils, and other sterotypical "metal" things than I guess metallica is the band for you.

If you want lyrics about life, society, personal struggle, and other more personal things than axl wins hands down. At least through the illusion albums. Cd is more about being a famous rock star and all the pressure that goes with that. As well as love lost, and band breaking up. So that is a little more disconnected, but we all agree anyways that young axl was better.

But James didn't write many lyrics about ''gods, devils and other stereotypical 'metal' things''. James wrote about drug abuse (Master of Puppets, The House that Jack Built); warfare and the horrors of war (Bell Tolls, Disposable Heroes, One); capital punishment (Ride the Lightning), suicide (Fade to Black); sanity (Harvester of Sorrow); justice (And Justice for All); religion (Lepar Messiah, The God That Failed). The closest thing to a 'metal lyric' as you described would probably be, Creeping Death which heads into a Maidenesque 'historical/bibical' direction. There are also the Lovecraftian things, but two of them are instrumentals! Hetfields lyrics are about real life issues.

[batman007]

Love James, but Axl!

[Val22]

Definitely Axl, but I think James's voice is perfect for Metallica. But Axl's voice is more versatile

[Iron MikeyJ]

Let me start by saying that name s is pretty good lyricist. I would put him in the above average catagory. But he is not great, nor better than axl. Of course this is all opinion, but here me out. Metallicas songs are only good for anger/depressed. Their are no diversity in the lyrics. And on top of that, I find the majority of the lyrics to be quite pedestrian. Nothing that makes me say "wow" or "I never thought about that". Honestly they are just "metal" lyrics. I'm not saying that's bad, or he's bad. They just are what they are. Their are some exceptions like one, for whom the bell tolls, harvester of sorrow. But even those songs are very "run of the mill metal lyrics" for the most part. One is probably the best song metallica ever wrote. If somebody says the unforgiven, or god forbid unforgiven 2 are great songs, you are retarded. Those are two of metallicas worst songs.

When I compare that to axls lyrics, they seem very uninspired. Take sweet child for example, when axl wrote "her hair remindes me of a warm safe place, where as a child id hide, and pray for the thunder and the rain to quietly pass me by." That one lyric has more in it than anything james ever wrote. I won't even mention anything from cd, just the stuff on the illusions has more meaning behind it than all of james songs combined. Breakdown, locomotive, dead horse, estranged, and november rain are all much more personal and powerful lyrics.

If you want lyrics about gods, devils, and other sterotypical "metal" things than I guess metallica is the band for you.

If you want lyrics about life, society, personal struggle, and other more personal things than axl wins hands down. At least through the illusion albums. Cd is more about being a famous rock star and all the pressure that goes with that. As well as love lost, and band breaking up. So that is a little more disconnected, but we all agree anyways that young axl was better.

But James didn't write many lyrics about ''gods, devils and other stereotypical 'metal' things''. James wrote about drug abuse (Master of Puppets, The House that Jack Built); warfare and the horrors of war (Bell Tolls, Disposable Heroes, One); capital punishment (Ride the Lightning), suicide (Fade to Black); sanity (Harvester of Sorrow); justice (And Justice for All); religion (Lepar Messiah, The God That Failed). The closest thing to a 'metal lyric' as you described would probably be, Creeping Death which heads into a Maidenesque 'historical/bibical' direction. There are also the Lovecraftian things, but two of them are instrumentals! Hetfields lyrics are about real life issues.

That's exactly my point, what makes hetfield an expert on any of those issues to even speak about them. Did he experience these things first hand? Maybe to some degree, but for the most part no. Where axl is talking about things that he did experinece first hand. Love him or hate him axl does give you his perspective.

Has james hetfield ever tried to commet suicide? Has he ever been a victim of capital punishment? And so on. Where axl rose did in fact go to the "jungle" and tell you what he saw. That doesn't mean james is bad, just a different type. And I prefer the more honest, realistic approach.