Axl Rose vs. Bruce Dickinson: who's the best?

[Nicklord]

2 minutes ago, GNRfan2008 said:

They are much closer than you realize. Dickinson has 51 songwriting credits on Wikipedia for Maiden. This includes a number of songs that were part of bonus discs and not the official studio album release for a number of their albums. Axl has 49 songwriting credits on Wikipedia for GN'R. Once you take out the bonus disc credits for Dickinson, he drops down below 50 credits. Dickinson has zero credits on Maiden's most famous album Number of the Beast whereas Axl's prints are all over Appetite and UYI (9/12 Appetite and 22/30 UYI).

Dickinson also has 6 solo albums and 2 with Samson 

Edited April 19, 2016 by Nicklord

[GNRfan2008]

Just now, DieselDaisy said:

What about Bruce's six solo albums?

Yeah that puts him ahead by a good amount.

[coolranchdressing!]

6 hours ago, GNRfan2008 said:

You said no way he's the best and then admitted it's personal preference. For some people he is the best and for others he is not. 

Personally I think Dickinson wins this question due to longevity. He took better care of his voice and body for decades. Prime Axl was probably better, but he didn't take care of himself. 

I would rather have a man that rocks you once right than a man who is slow and steady. No one holds a candle to Mr. Rose.

[gt72]

They're both great at what they do seen both a handful of times in their primes and both within the last 10 days .Truly unfair to compare with axl being hobbled but Bruce has manic energy on stage and really gets the crowd going.Vocally i still choose Axl

[dalsh327]

 

Edited April 19, 2016 by dalsh327

[-Jaro-]

Axl is great frontman - just happened to lose his band for about 20-25 years...

[Italian girl]

Bruce is perfect For iron maiden.

Axl For Guns n roses.

 

[Bumblefeet]

I'd pay to go see Axl Maiden.

[DR DOOM]

14 hours ago, PappyTron said:

To say who is the best you first have to define what "best" means. However, no matter how you slice it Axl Rose is up there, but no way the best. That's not a knock on Rose, either, but more a statement that there are so many wonderful musicians out there and preferences are so personal, that it's silly to try and pick.

Indeed.

I much prefer Axl (not a Maiden fan) but I respect the fuck out of Bruce Bruce, even though he isn't my cup of tea.

[bran]

bruce. the guy has far more wear and tear and still puts axl to shame in energy and in ability.

[Len Cnut]

the best what?

[tsinindy]

8 hours ago, dalsh327 said:

 

The best part....

"Izzy were you going to say something there?"

"No"

[Iron MikeyJ]

I hate comparing metal and rock guys, it's just not really a thing that I enjoy. I do like metal, let me start there, if I compare ANY metal band or singer or whatever to just about any other form of music (except rock), I'll pick the metal stuff every time. Like Iron Maiden is 1000x better than Beiber, Rianna, and pretty much every band to come along since 2000. But compared to rock guys? Nope. 

I'm not just talking about Axl, but ALL rock singers, I mean real rock singers, I would take them all over Bruce. Axl, Steven Tyler, Robert Plant, BON Scott, Brian Johnson, Freddie Mercury, Jim Morrison, Mick Jagger, I could go and on. Even guys like John Lennon, Chuck Berry, and even Jimi Hendrix. I would rather listen to them sing than Bruce, any day of the week. 

Metal guys like Bruce can only song other metal songs and have them be interesting IMO. Like I'm sure Maiden could do an interesting cover of Sabbath or even Metallica, but if they tried to Zeppelin or AC/DC I think it would sound kinda shitty. But guys like Axl on the other hand (in his prime) could sing the damn phone book and it would sound cool, not to mention the cool ass covers They did. Its just a different world, metal guys are stuck in the metal box imo, but rock guys have a MUCH bigger canvas.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Iron MikeyJ

[Nicklord]

10 minutes ago, Iron MikeyJ said:

I hate comparing metal and rock guys, it's just not really a thing that I enjoy. I do like metal, let me start there, if I compare ANY metal band or singer or whatever to just about any other form of music (except rock), I'll pick the metal stuff every time. Like Iron Maiden is 1000x better than Beiber, Rianna, and pretty much every band to come along since 2000. But compared to rock guys? Nope. 

I'm not just talking about Axl, but ALL rock singers, I mean real rock singers, I would take them all over Bruce. Axl, Steven Tyler, Robert Plant, BON Scott, Brian Johnson, Freddie Mercury, Jim Morrison, Mick Jagger, I could go and on. Even guys like John Lennon, Chuck Berry, and even Jimi Hendrix. I would rather listen to them sing than Bruce, any day of the week. 

Metal guys like Bruce can only song other metal songs and have them be interesting IMO. Like I'm sure Maiden could do an interesting cover of Sabbath or even Metallica, but if they tried to Zeppelin or AC/DC I think it would sound kinda shitty. But guys like Axl on the other hand (in his prime) could sing the damn phone book and it would sound cool, not to mention the cool ass covers They did. Its just a different world, metal guys are stuck in the metal box imo, but rock guys have a MUCH bigger canvas.

Sounds good to me. You should listen to his solo albums, they are much more than just heavy metal. Go and listen to Winds of Change for example

 

Edited April 19, 2016 by Nicklord

[-Jaro-]

9 hours ago, dalsh327 said:

 

well, you can play it that way also :

 

[Iron MikeyJ]

1 minute ago, Nicklord said:

Sounds good to me

 

I've never heard this before, and to be fair it doesn't sound shitty, no. But to be honest, I'm not a big fan of it. Bruce OVER sings it, and the guitar players over shred it. Its not bad, but it's not great either. Axl would sound MUCH better on this song. Its Bruce's whole operatic voice, it doesn't sound right. He makes it sound too "pretty". But that's just my opinion. If I was at a Maiden concert and they played this, it would probably be the third or fourth coolest thing they played all night imo. But it's still not half as cool if guns played it.

[Nicklord]

Just now, Iron MikeyJ said:

I've never heard this before, and to be fair it doesn't sound shitty, no. But to be honest, I'm not a big fan of it. Bruce OVER sings it, and the guitar players over shred it. Its not bad, but it's not great either. Axl would sound MUCH better on this song. Its Bruce's whole operatic voice, it doesn't sound right. He makes it sound too "pretty". But that's just my opinion. If I was at a Maiden concert and they played this, it would probably be the third or fourth coolest thing they played all night imo. But it's still not half as cool if guns played it.

I like Bruce but yeah, guitar over shred it as you say. I never thought of his voice as "pretty". I like how 2 people can hear 2 different things in the same song  

[spliff]

9 minutes ago, -Jaro- said:

well, you can play it that way also :

 

did paul give james hetfield the highest score hahah "his voice is getting better on every album" was this filmed in 1983?.. don't get me wrong he's my favorite maiden singer but he's a fucking idiot 

Edited April 19, 2016 by spliff

[Tom2112]

As a technician, Bruce is the best. Spot on live almost all the time, running around like a lunatic. Much more consistent over the years. Don't think he has quite the range Axl has though.

As for who's voice, and stage presence I prefer, it's obviously Axl... Otherwise I'd probably be posting in the myironmaiden forum.

 

[Iron MikeyJ]

7 minutes ago, Nicklord said:

I like Bruce but yeah, guitar over shred it as you say. I never thought of his voice as "pretty". I like how 2 people can hear 2 different things in the same song  

Same goes for Dio. Dio is a legend, and I can't take anything away from the man, but him and Yngwie Malmsteen did a cover of Dream on by Aerosmith. It doesn't sound shitty no, but it doesn't sound all that good either. Dio over sings it and Yngwie tries to shred the Shit out of it, in the end it kinda sounds like a mess. Its not a patch on the original, and again gnr would do a MUCH better cover imo.

Some might like it better, but I don't. Tyler has more GRIT in his voice than even Dio had. Honestly they kinda ruined the song imo. 

Edited April 19, 2016 by Iron MikeyJ

[-Jaro-]

3 minutes ago, spliff said:

did paul give james hetfield the highest score hahah "his voice is getting better on every album" was this filmed in 1983?.. don't get me wrong he's my favorite maiden singer but he's a fucking idiot 

true - but - i replied on post of video of some stand-up wannabe.

And idiot or not - he's on spot about fans and Axl's relatioship with them...

and he likes other guns

 

[Len Cnut]

29 minutes ago, Iron MikeyJ said:

I hate comparing metal and rock guys, it's just not really a thing that I enjoy. I do like metal, let me start there, if I compare ANY metal band or singer or whatever to just about any other form of music (except rock), I'll pick the metal stuff every time. Like Iron Maiden is 1000x better than Beiber, Rianna, and pretty much every band to come along since 2000. But compared to rock guys? Nope. 

I'm not just talking about Axl, but ALL rock singers, I mean real rock singers, I would take them all over Bruce. Axl, Steven Tyler, Robert Plant, BON Scott, Brian Johnson, Freddie Mercury, Jim Morrison, Mick Jagger, I could go and on. Even guys like John Lennon, Chuck Berry, and even Jimi Hendrix. I would rather listen to them sing than Bruce, any day of the week. 

Metal guys like Bruce can only song other metal songs and have them be interesting IMO. Like I'm sure Maiden could do an interesting cover of Sabbath or even Metallica, but if they tried to Zeppelin or AC/DC I think it would sound kinda shitty. But guys like Axl on the other hand (in his prime) could sing the damn phone book and it would sound cool, not to mention the cool ass covers They did. Its just a different world, metal guys are stuck in the metal box imo, but rock guys have a MUCH bigger canvas.

Whatcha mean 'even guys like John Lennon', like he's a relative drop in standard (defensive bitch huh? )

[The Archer]

I saw Bruce and Maiden live ten years ago and the man is a livewire on stage. He was running and jumping all over the place - way more than Axl does at a show - without losing his breath or not being a 100% even once. But then again, I think Bruce takes much better care of himself. The air raid siren is one of the greatest frontmen of all time and while Axl is higher up on the list for me, I think that Bruce is and has consistently been just fantastic. 

[Iron MikeyJ]

It's that operatic howl that these metal guys do. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. Honestly the only singer that I liked the operatic type thing with was Freddie, everyone else should stay As far away from opera as they can imo.

@Lenny,

You know what I mean ?

[Len Cnut]

3 minutes ago, Iron MikeyJ said:

It's that operatic howl that these metal guys do. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. Honestly the only singer that I liked the operatic type thing with was Freddie, everyone else should stay As far away from opera as they can imo.

@Lenny,

You know what I mean ?

I know, i was just being a cunt

On a serious note though, he had a very underrated voice, a lot of depth and richness, he could belt em out, hold notes, do a lot of rock n roll stuff, do ballads extremely well, all the high register stuff on Beatles albums, a lot of people think it's Paul but it's actually ol' Johnny boy.