Chromatic Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 (edited) I was listening to the Use Your Illusions albums earlier and couldn't help but notice how badly Axl's voice feel apart after Lies. I'm surprised more people don't talk about this and would rather discuss how the UYI albums were worse than AFD simply because there was a slight difference in musical styles between them.My main concern was with the song Locomotive; I felt his Axl's voice literally ruined the song as it was overly nasal and made it painful to listen to over the guitar. Literally when the vocals came in at 50 seconds, I felt the whole experience was ruined:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D6k3LKeMA0&t=0m50sWhat amazes me the most is that this is the same person who had near-perfect vocals (just like in the AFD times) literally on the final track of the previous album (Lies). Listen to how good Axl sounded on One in a Million (racism aside):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHTjvv8pBMY&t=1m28sWhat on earth happened to him in a matter of years where he went from perfect aggression and range to literally being painful to listen to on some songs? Edited June 28, 2015 by Chromatic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IZZYISGNR Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 A mix of self-indulgence (he probably thought that he sounded great) and deterioration due to concerts, smoke n' other shit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padme Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 Dude if you think Axl sounded bad after Lies, you should listen to him in more recent shows from 2011 until now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnold layne Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 Puberty. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mendez Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 I think part of the nasally locomotive voice is because (it sounds like) there is some processed filter applied to it. Like a wah pedal effect for the voice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChineseDemocracy2004 Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 Did Axl shred his vocal cords before the albums were released or during the UYI tour? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
31illusions Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 I do not agree with the OP. Axl sounds fine on Locomotive. He's got 3 different vocal rangesgoing on in that song. No one ever asked that question before because UYI's are awesome.Now, what happened between TSI and Live Era is the question you should be asking. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chromatic Posted June 29, 2015 Author Share Posted June 29, 2015 I do not agree with the OP. Axl sounds fine on Locomotive. He's got 3 different vocal rangesgoing on in that song. No one ever asked that question before because UYI's are awesome.Now, what happened between TSI and Live Era is the question you should be asking.No one disagrees that UYI's are awesome, but it's hard to believe the same vocalist who sung Welcome to the Jungle is really singing songs like Locomotive and Don't Damn Me. There is a huge difference in the vocals between Lies and the UYI's, and not in a good way.And yes, Axl's voice post-TSI is beyond bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Who Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 On Dead Flowers (1994), Sympathy (1994) and Anxious Disease (1996) he sounds like the same old Axl. Then he stopped singing, according to Youth who worked with Axl in 1998, he hadn't sung a note in 18 months prior to early 1998. And suddenly when he did start singing again, for some reason his voice was totally different, as we hear on Live Era. It was literally in a short two year span that his vocals utterly changed. Axl on Anxious Disease still has that smokey, unstable, bluesy wail, whereas on Live Era he has a falsetto, almost clean, proficient rasp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spliff Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 (edited) sounds like patton on the real thing Edited June 29, 2015 by spliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ludurigan Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 I think part of the nasally locomotive voice is because (it sounds like) there is some processed filter applied to it. Like a wah pedal effect for the voice. exactly, that nasal sound is there on purposenot sure if axl sang like that or if he used some effecthis voice was still great in 1991the big change not only in his voice, but on HOW he sang live happened 1991-1992he stopped pushing his voice to the limit after izzy lefthe re-learned how to sing and his delivery was never the sameafter izzy left he started to sing on a controlled mannerbefore, it was crazy and loose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ludurigan Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 (edited) Did Axl shred his vocal cords before the albums were released or during the UYI tour?axl began to shred his vocal chords on the early 80son appetite tour and lies tour he kept on pushing his voice to the limit -- actually beyond the limitit sounded greatin 1991, before the albums were released, GNR performed in Rio, then did 3 secret shows, then did a US tur and an Europe tour, and Axl kept pushing his voice -- which, by then, was basically really fucked (listen to Indiana 1991 show) but STILL sounded greatthen he said that he relearned how to sing and from then on he never sang the same way because he stopped pushing his voice to the limit, he started singing on a controlled mannerthen you listen to Simpathy For The Devil and his appearance with Bruce Springsteen on Come Together and he STILL SOUNDS GOODThen you listen to Oh My God and there is something off...Then came Live Era and it was really bad...Then came Vegas and Rio 2001 and it was like... WHAT?His voice was completely different and for the first time listening to Axl singing became something other than greatOn Dead Flowers (1994), Sympathy (1994) and Anxious Disease (1996) he sounds like the same old Axl. Then he stopped singing, according to Youth who worked with Axl in 1998, he hadn't sung a note in 18 months prior to early 1998. And suddenly when he did start singing again, for some reason his voice was totally different, as we hear on Live Era. It was literally in a short two year span that his vocals utterly changed. Axl on Anxious Disease still has that smokey, unstable, bluesy wail, whereas on Live Era he has a falsetto, almost clean, proficient rasp.what happened then?surgery? Edited June 30, 2015 by ludurigan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mendez Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 On Dead Flowers (1994), Sympathy (1994) and Anxious Disease (1996) he sounds like the same old Axl. Then he stopped singing, according to Youth who worked with Axl in 1998, he hadn't sung a note in 18 months prior to early 1998. And suddenly when he did start singing again, for some reason his voice was totally different, as we hear on Live Era. It was literally in a short two year span that his vocals utterly changed. Axl on Anxious Disease still has that smokey, unstable, bluesy wail, whereas on Live Era he has a falsetto, almost clean, proficient rasp.I always thought anxious disease sounded like his LiveEra/ChiDem rasp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ll_tj1 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Even though Axl sounded good at the end of the Illusions tour, I think the 2 year tour took its toll. Permanantly. So many things are possible. Surgery, removed nodes, who knows, I doubt anyone ever will. His voice was being abused. There are so many old youtube videos where you can hear his vocals shredding apart. There should have been recovery time in there. And a lot of it. I think he can still sing any way he wants now, but as for his old style, it seems he can only do it for a song or two live. In the studio he can save his vocals and record on his time. On stage he seems to have had to make alot of adjustments for the damage already done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liers Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 His voice was weak on some illusions songs. Its week on parts of breakdown, like "if someone really cared".By 1993 his voice was starting to lose it's rasp. Honestly I don't mind his clean voice though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvH Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 I think part of the nasally locomotive voice is because (it sounds like) there is some processed filter applied to it. Like a wah pedal effect for the voice. exactly, that nasal sound is there on purposenot sure if axl sang like that or if he used some effectSounds like both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F*ck Fear Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 We all can hear the change from 86 to 88. Just like we can hear the change from 88 to 93.I think age, and general wear and tear are the culprits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizzystar Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 I think maybe he had surgery & that changes his voice when he sings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Who Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 His voice was weak on some illusions songs. Its week on parts of breakdown, like "if someone really cared".By 1993 his voice was starting to lose it's rasp. Honestly I don't mind his clean voice though. Axl sounds fine here, perfectly raspy, and this was recorded Fall '94. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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