What are some vocalists that are better than Axl?

[sackdad]

I like Axl and he is my 2nd favorite singer of all time. Having said that, there are many other singers out there that were much better than him at his prime.

The obvious one being my favorite Dio, but many others as well. But this is speaking strictly from a talent perspective.

Now if we are talking about best front men of all time, then yah I might throw Axl in as the number 1 all time. Because when GNR were at their peak, I'm not sure many other singers could compete with what Axl was doing then. He walked the fine line of genius/insanity with a very talented band that the whole world loved. It's the only other band I can think of that came close to what Beatle-mania was in the 60's.

Speaking talent wise, I think Axl as good as he was; still never reached his potential. I think from an early age he knew he had a gift for singing, but due to his home life and family, he was never properly trained on how to sing. I think this had a good side and down side.

The good side was with him having a great voice and never being trained; led to a distinct tone and sound that no other singers had really used up to that point or since. It gave GNR a unique sound. And quite honestly, I'm not sure GNR would have ever reached the heights it did if Axl had been trained and sung more like a Dio, Halford, Dickinson etc. Because so many bands at that time (Dio, Priest, Maiden, Queensryche) were all doing that. There's a good chance GNR would have just been another good run of the mill metal band with a high pitched singer.

The bad side is Axl by most accounts has lost his voice. And it's either because he was never properly trained and he has damaged his throat over the years. Or it's that he's just older and can't go out and sing that rough style like that anymore.

Look at Dio, he sung up into his 60's and sounded great. You could make a case that he sounded like he did in his 30's.

Edited March 29, 2014 by sackdad

[GNRmello77]

none, just freddie mercury but thats it

Man some of and your love and obssesion with Freddie Mercury. He was great no doubt about it, but you know who trumps Freddie? Prince!!! Prince is better than Freddie across the board, and twice on sundays.

i have no obsession with freddie i just see him as an incredible singer just as Axl and i place those 2 at the top

[DieselDaisy]

I'm not dininishing Freddie's songs that he wrote with in the band context, but he had others adding their own parts, just like what happened in gnr. November rain would have been a lot different without Slash's guitar work, same applies for Bohemian Rhapsody, and every other Queen song. But Prince actually wrote and played all the parts to his hits, thats a BIG difference if you ask me.

Again, I'm not trying to sell Freddie short, but everytime this topic of greatest frontmen/singers gets brought up, many of you say Freddie and think he is the end all be all of the discussion. So I keep throwing Prince's name into the hat, yet NO ONE has been able to provide any sort of facts or anything for that matter that shows that Freddie was better than Prince. Obviously it is all very subjective, but honestly how is Freddie superior to Prince in anything? Honestly I would say Prince is superior to Freddie in about every way. Which that is just my opinion, but come on, make your cases people. What could Freddie do that Prince couldn't other than make an opera album? But Prince could make dance, hip hop, funk, soul, and many other types of music that Freddie could only dream of making.

So many of you pray at the alter of Freddie Mercury (which is fine, he was in fact a legend) but I have indeed found the answer to the question "who was better than Freddie?" His name is Prince....

Oh and just calling Prince a douche is hardly an argument. Even if you think he is a dancing little fairy, Freddie was an ACTUAL fairy, so that arguement doesn't hold a grain of salt.

According to Brian and Roger, Freddie wrote a lot of the guitar parts himself on songs that he wrote. Ogre Battle is a good example. Freddie wrote that on guitar.

Freddie wrote the guitar parts on piano. May's heavy - walking - riff on the third section of Bohemian Rhapsody was written in this way; you can tell it was written on a piano as it is very, chromatic. Of course May wrote all of his guitar leads but they did not give him a songwriting credit.

[dalsh327]

Bob Seger.

[Towelie]

Michael Jackson had a better voice than 99% of the singers mentioned in this thread, including Axl and Prince (and that's coming from a massive GNR and Prince fan).

Edited March 29, 2014 by Towelie

[circusboy666]

Mike Patton, Shannon hoon, layne staley, Chris Cornell....the list can go on forever. It's just personal taste. Best singer doesn't really mean best performer...axl in his peak is the best performer of all time IMO.

Michael Jackson best performer of all genres, but axl of rock.

Edited March 29, 2014 by circusboy666

[bran]

ronnie james dio

rob halford

bruce dickinson

layne staley

Edited March 29, 2014 by bran

[WhazUp]

Chris Cornell, Robert Plant from 1969-1972, Freddie Mercury as many here have said, etc.

[Val22]

God there are so many amazing singers out there and so many in the past.

I loved:

Eric Clapton

John Lennon

Robert Plant

Roger Daltry

David Bowie

Marc Bolan

Ian Anderson

Geddy Lee

Ozzy Osbourne

Alvin Lee

David Lee Roth

M. Shadows

Howard Jones (formerly KSE)

Ville Valo

I have tons of favorite singers that I think are up there with Axl or even better than him.

Axl's voice when he first started was different from any other singer past or present. That's what made him unique.

Unfortunately his singing isn't as good as it was back then, but he's still a great performer.

[luciusfunk]

I'm not dininishing Freddie's songs that he wrote with in the band context, but he had others adding their own parts, just like what happened in gnr. November rain would have been a lot different without Slash's guitar work, same applies for Bohemian Rhapsody, and every other Queen song. But Prince actually wrote and played all the parts to his hits, thats a BIG difference if you ask me.

Again, I'm not trying to sell Freddie short, but everytime this topic of greatest frontmen/singers gets brought up, many of you say Freddie and think he is the end all be all of the discussion. So I keep throwing Prince's name into the hat, yet NO ONE has been able to provide any sort of facts or anything for that matter that shows that Freddie was better than Prince. Obviously it is all very subjective, but honestly how is Freddie superior to Prince in anything? Honestly I would say Prince is superior to Freddie in about every way. Which that is just my opinion, but come on, make your cases people. What could Freddie do that Prince couldn't other than make an opera album? But Prince could make dance, hip hop, funk, soul, and many other types of music that Freddie could only dream of making.

So many of you pray at the alter of Freddie Mercury (which is fine, he was in fact a legend) but I have indeed found the answer to the question "who was better than Freddie?" His name is Prince....

Oh and just calling Prince a douche is hardly an argument. Even if you think he is a dancing little fairy, Freddie was an ACTUAL fairy, so that arguement doesn't hold a grain of salt.

According to Brian and Roger, Freddie wrote a lot of the guitar parts himself on songs that he wrote. Ogre Battle is a good example. Freddie wrote that on guitar.

Freddie wrote the guitar parts on piano. May's heavy - walking - riff on the third section of Bohemian Rhapsody was written in this way; you can tell it was written on a piano as it is very, chromatic. Of course May wrote all of his guitar leads but they did not give him a songwriting credit.

Ogre Battle was written by Freddie on guitar.

[Nulla Lex Ink.]

Johnny Rotten.

Man, good thing I'm talking on a forum right now. I can't even hold a straight face thinking that, let alone actually saying it out loud. Being entirely serious, I'd say Layne Staley, Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford, Shannon Hoon, and Sebastian Bach. Like, I think if Axl had died or quit the band at some point back then, they would have been suitable replacements, albeit odd ones in Dio and Hoon's cases. Andrew Wood was also really good, even though we only got a handful of songs from him.

[Janis]

Axl definitely. I was watching Gnr Rio concert '91 recently and I've never seen a performer give so much on stage since Janis Joplin. Freddie was amazing but Axl is just feeling every word, fiery and energetic!

[EvH]

@EVH,

I wasn't calling you homophobic, so I apologize if thats how it came across.

Thnaks for your clarification.

[RandallFlagg]

Mercury, Staley, Prince, Robert Plant, Kate Bush, Jim Morrison, Bowie - off top of my head, I have them alongside Axl for sheer goddamn charisma and existing within their own cosmos regarding the quality and isolation solely channeled through their voices, there's plenty examples of stellar music as a whole package but voices like these are very rare and usually move mountains because people really feel there's something otherworldly going on. Still don't think Staley gets as much credit as he should, I know Cornell and Cobain have outstanding gritty pipes but that guy had a certain soul that you can't touch, pretty dark stuff but beautiful and so damn emotive. Utterly the opposite in terms of delivery and fanfare than our guy Axl goes about it, tho they kinda ran parallel during the same era, completely different ends of the spectrum. The beauty of variation!

Edited March 30, 2014 by RandallFlagg

[axlrod]

Duff, Izzy, Tommy, Tom Cruise and BBF are better than the current Axl's voice.

My favorite Vocalists are:

Dan Reynolds – imagine dragons
Matthew Bellamy - muse
Jared Leto - 30 secs
Chester Bennington – linkin park
Fred Durst – limp bizkit
James Michael – sixx a.m.
Billie Joe Armstrong – green day

Seri Tankian - system of a down
Amy Lee – evanescence
Hayley Williams – paramore
avril lavigne
Corey Taylor
Jon Bon Jovi
Sebastian Bach
Bono
Mike Patton
Chris Connell
CLASSIC
Plant – ledzep
Ian – deep purple
Freddie - queen
Dan – nazareth
Daltrey – the who
Halford – judas priest
Joey – europe
Jimi – survivor
Bon Scott
David Lee Roth

Axl is a Rockstar, who gonna dress his ass with the latest fashion.
He has a good stage cinematic technique winning the crowds, possessing energetic power personality. Good guys don't play rock n' roll, that's Axl.

Above vocalists are/were probably better than Axl but I will choose Axl to watch at any given time.

[RandallFlagg]

Fred Durst? Fred ROLLIN ROLLIN ROLLIN RED CAP BOOYAH Durst?? Even if Axl descended into a feeble squawk of Mickey Mouse's Grandma's century old corpse, he'd be fifteen thousand times superior to Frederick, he only seems to have attempted to sing in the Behind Blue Eyes cover and he barely covered more than a monotonous drawl. Give the Ax man his due respect if ya gonna compare to him!

[Axl_morris]

There is no one better than Axl.

[Scumcat Esq.]

Good guys don't play rock n' roll, that's Axl.

'Nice boys', mate. But Axl's now the nicest boy of them all just like Papa Het, except that Axl still drinks alcohol and drops f-bombs from time to time.

Edited March 30, 2014 by Scumcat Esq.

[Young_Gun]

I'm not dininishing Freddie's songs that he wrote with in the band context, but he had others adding their own parts, just like what happened in gnr. November rain would have been a lot different without Slash's guitar work, same applies for Bohemian Rhapsody, and every other Queen song. But Prince actually wrote and played all the parts to his hits, thats a BIG difference if you ask me.

Again, I'm not trying to sell Freddie short, but everytime this topic of greatest frontmen/singers gets brought up, many of you say Freddie and think he is the end all be all of the discussion. So I keep throwing Prince's name into the hat, yet NO ONE has been able to provide any sort of facts or anything for that matter that shows that Freddie was better than Prince. Obviously it is all very subjective, but honestly how is Freddie superior to Prince in anything? Honestly I would say Prince is superior to Freddie in about every way. Which that is just my opinion, but come on, make your cases people. What could Freddie do that Prince couldn't other than make an opera album? But Prince could make dance, hip hop, funk, soul, and many other types of music that Freddie could only dream of making.

So many of you pray at the alter of Freddie Mercury (which is fine, he was in fact a legend) but I have indeed found the answer to the question "who was better than Freddie?" His name is Prince....

Oh and just calling Prince a douche is hardly an argument. Even if you think he is a dancing little fairy, Freddie was an ACTUAL fairy, so that arguement doesn't hold a grain of salt.

Freddie's as a VOCALIST is better than Prince. No one is talking about his solo hits except for you.

[DR DOOM]

Too many to list.

Axl was a monster in that period in the 80's and I've no doubt he still has the ability to perform better than he is currently...but there are seriously too many rock singers better than him.

[Tom2112]

I'm not dininishing Freddie's songs that he wrote with in the band context, but he had others adding their own parts, just like what happened in gnr. November rain would have been a lot different without Slash's guitar work, same applies for Bohemian Rhapsody, and every other Queen song. But Prince actually wrote and played all the parts to his hits, thats a BIG difference if you ask me.

Again, I'm not trying to sell Freddie short, but everytime this topic of greatest frontmen/singers gets brought up, many of you say Freddie and think he is the end all be all of the discussion. So I keep throwing Prince's name into the hat, yet NO ONE has been able to provide any sort of facts or anything for that matter that shows that Freddie was better than Prince. Obviously it is all very subjective, but honestly how is Freddie superior to Prince in anything? Honestly I would say Prince is superior to Freddie in about every way. Which that is just my opinion, but come on, make your cases people. What could Freddie do that Prince couldn't other than make an opera album? But Prince could make dance, hip hop, funk, soul, and many other types of music that Freddie could only dream of making.

So many of you pray at the alter of Freddie Mercury (which is fine, he was in fact a legend) but I have indeed found the answer to the question "who was better than Freddie?" His name is Prince....

Oh and just calling Prince a douche is hardly an argument. Even if you think he is a dancing little fairy, Freddie was an ACTUAL fairy, so that arguement doesn't hold a grain of salt.

Well we could just run the list of songs each wrote and see how many the majority knows... wouldn't really show which is 'better' or 'worse' but it would show the popularity... Queen win. Freddie was an incredible singer, powerful until the last weeks of his life (check the show must go on, recorded weeks before he died). Absolutely incredible performer and able to whip any crowd into a frenzy, I think Freddie could have played at a black metal festival and the crowd would still have loved it he was that good at working a crowd and his voice was so good. I find it hard to think of any other that can best him or can even come close. Prince writes all his material, plays the instruments, records them etc. doesn't make him better though. I always hear "you have to listen to purple rain", well, I'm pretty certain he has other albums... are they no good? nobody ever mentions them. As for queen every 2nd person will tell you to listen to a different album.

Two great artists but as a performer and a vocalist Freddie is untouchable.

[IncitingChaos]

I think there are a ton better vocalist. I just think Axl is the most unique when it comes to his singing voice and the variety of ways he uses his voice in studio and live.

[gunnari]

Freddie Mercury!!!!!!!!

+Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson

Even Elvis was better in his last performance than Axl today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWqax9iHfRU

Edited March 30, 2014 by gunnari

[Forsaken]

Duff, Izzy, Tommy, Tom Cruise and BBF are better than the current Axl's voice.

My favorite Vocalists are:

Chester Bennington – linkin park

Fred Durst – limp bizkit

Billie Joe Armstrong – green day

Amy Lee – evanescence

Hayley Williams – paramore

avril lavigne

[Iron MikeyJ]

I'm not dininishing Freddie's songs that he wrote with in the band context, but he had others adding their own parts, just like what happened in gnr. November rain would have been a lot different without Slash's guitar work, same applies for Bohemian Rhapsody, and every other Queen song. But Prince actually wrote and played all the parts to his hits, thats a BIG difference if you ask me.

Again, I'm not trying to sell Freddie short, but everytime this topic of greatest frontmen/singers gets brought up, many of you say Freddie and think he is the end all be all of the discussion. So I keep throwing Prince's name into the hat, yet NO ONE has been able to provide any sort of facts or anything for that matter that shows that Freddie was better than Prince. Obviously it is all very subjective, but honestly how is Freddie superior to Prince in anything? Honestly I would say Prince is superior to Freddie in about every way. Which that is just my opinion, but come on, make your cases people. What could Freddie do that Prince couldn't other than make an opera album? But Prince could make dance, hip hop, funk, soul, and many other types of music that Freddie could only dream of making.

So many of you pray at the alter of Freddie Mercury (which is fine, he was in fact a legend) but I have indeed found the answer to the question "who was better than Freddie?" His name is Prince....

Oh and just calling Prince a douche is hardly an argument. Even if you think he is a dancing little fairy, Freddie was an ACTUAL fairy, so that arguement doesn't hold a grain of salt.

Well we could just run the list of songs each wrote and see how many the majority knows... wouldn't really show which is 'better' or 'worse' but it would show the popularity... Queen win. Freddie was an incredible singer, powerful until the last weeks of his life (check the show must go on, recorded weeks before he died). Absolutely incredible performer and able to whip any crowd into a frenzy, I think Freddie could have played at a black metal festival and the crowd would still have loved it he was that good at working a crowd and his voice was so good. I find it hard to think of any other that can best him or can even come close. Prince writes all his material, plays the instruments, records them etc. doesn't make him better though. I always hear "you have to listen to purple rain", well, I'm pretty certain he has other albums... are they no good? nobody ever mentions them. As for queen every 2nd person will tell you to listen to a different album.

Two great artists but as a performer and a vocalist Freddie is untouchable.

If you want to argue straight vocal ability, then (perhaps) Freddie had the stronger voice, but I would argue that Prince's falsetto is actually higher than Freddie's, but Freddie may have him beat on the lows. But as an overall performer? NO FUCKING WAY!!! It's not even close. Freddie was great at capturing an audience, I'll give him that, but nothing he did live was all that exceptional. Prince had all the moves of guys like James Brown and Jackie Wilson, plus the rock chops of guys like Hendrix. I'm sorry but Queen as a band couldn't follow a Prince show, he would up stage them, no doubt about it. He is a better guitar player than Brian May is, and probably a better piano player than Freddie, hell he can play bass and drums better than deacon and roger. Obviously you need to get some Prince education. Yes Purple Rain is his masterpiece, and the most Rock of all of his albums, but he has had a full career of hits. Song for song I bet he has more hits than Queen does. Even today he is still elite among the elite, he is the bastard love child of James Brown and Jimi Hendrix, and just about as good as both. As great as Freddie was, he isn't even in Prince's league. Hell Axl, Plant, Dio, Tyler, all of the rock singers mentioned in this thread are not even in Prince's league. The only ones that are; MJ, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, and other black soul/rb singers.