About Axl's performances

[Tom-Ass]

Rock God.......  

[MADDOGJONES]

He's always been someone it's hard to take your eyes off on stage even with some of the lesser performances. He's always surprising, the whole AC/DC thing was incredible.

[jockethebastard]

15 hours ago, AlexC said:

He always hits every note. That's never been his problem even on shit performances. Hitting high notes is the one thing he never fails to do.

Hell yeah! Back in 91 when his voice was pretty rough he still hits all notes, never cheat, he alwasy pushes himself. 

[Glidn]

"All things considered ", there are a ton of less than stellar examples online of  Axl's uncontrollable rasp during the 90's.  It was so bad during their pre illusion release tour.. 

We've all heard it.. 

He sung with unsustainable, reckless abandon back on those days. For the most part we all loved.

But as an adult, now, I can see how fucking hard that must have been on his throat !

Thankfully, he  woke up to himself, otherwise we wouldn't be catching him singing anymore.

They're my two cents

[IncitingChaos]

Axl is a monster

also loved this performance...sucks the mix is never good on TWAT but Axl uses 4 different voices here and so I imagine it's hard for the sound guys...whole song should be reworked into something simpler. IMO. But Axl does well here

[TheDemocracyRose]

Back in black. You can't rate it. Its 

In TWAT Axl should use that voice was from 2:05 - 2:25 more often... 

[maynard]

20 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said:

Axl is a monster

also loved this performance...sucks the mix is never good on TWAT but Axl uses 4 different voices here and so I imagine it's hard for the sound guys...whole song should be reworked into something simpler. IMO. But Axl does well here

It's like two different singers. Amazing how shitty he sounds with GNR and his solo songs and yet brings it for ACDC. IMO, ACDC songs are easier for him and fit his current range better but still... He sounds almost amateurish in that video of GNR covering TWAT.

[Gordon Comstock]

4 hours ago, TheDemocracyRose said:

Back in black. You can't rate it. Its 

In TWAT Axl should use that voice was from 2:05 - 2:25 more often... 

 

Definitely agree about that voice in TWAT. That was basically his clean voice in 2006 (he used to use it on Nightrain a lot iirc). He uses it on some stuff now like UTLH but it kinda makes the mickey voice stand out more IMO.

 

Back In Black is Axl proving he's still a rock god. The GNR tour is more like the "Slash is Back" tour than the "GNR is Back" tour unfortunately.

[MADDOGJONES]

On 21/02/2017 at 4:36 PM, Silent Jay said:

One of my personal favourite, that scream at 3:29 is crazy good. They also did Mama Kin during the show.

I agree the second night in London was a lot better, there were far greater shows during the residency in Vegas, Axl was sick in Rio IV, Bridge School and Chicago. I think the only decent proshots we got were LA2011 and Vegas2011. 

Yeah he was clearly sick, I love the guy, but that bridge school performance was really bad, but at least he played. Rio had some good moments, but the wheels fell off.

[MADDOGJONES]

1 hour ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

Definitely agree about that voice in TWAT. That was basically his clean voice in 2006 (he used to use it on Nightrain a lot iirc). He uses it on some stuff now like UTLH but it kinda makes the mickey voice stand out more IMO.

 

Back In Black is Axl proving he's still a rock god. The GNR tour is more like the "Slash is Back" tour than the "GNR is Back" tour unfortunately.

That first back in black in lisbon was fucking incredible. shoot to thrill another great one.

I really did like that Axl won over a lot of people with his performances with ACDC and good on the fans for calling it as it was after he played. Many did a complete 360. They might not want Axl instead of brian, but if you can gauge anything by comments on Youtube, facebook, etc, it seems the majority changed their mind about him. It was good they had the guts to show him that respect. I was surprised at how many people didn't think he had the chops though, I know he can be hit or miss, but at his best he's a beast.

[AlexC]

5 minutes ago, MADDOGJONES said:

Yeah he was clearly sick, I love the guy, but that bridge school performance was really bad, but at least he played. Rio had some good moments, but the wheels fell off.

I think he was drunk as fuck at the bridge school. He started singing You're Crazy during Jungle for god's sake.

[AlexC]

6 hours ago, IncitingChaos said:

Axl is a monster

also loved this performance...sucks the mix is never good on TWAT but Axl uses 4 different voices here and so I imagine it's hard for the sound guys...whole song should be reworked into something simpler. IMO. But Axl does well here

I'll never understand why he doesn't just use his chest register for the verses rather than falsetto. It's literally in one octave and an absolute piece of piss to sing. Oddly enough he excels at the most insanely difficult stuff and does it with immense power, yet really simple shit he struggles with. Almost like he's not sure how to actually sing the parts. Really weird.

[AlexC]

Also I'm not sure how many of you have seen this but it's an amazing little compilation that truly showcases how great he currently is. 

He sounds absolutely ferocious on some of this stuff.

[MADDOGJONES]

Just now, AlexC said:

I think he was drunk as fuck at the bridge school. He started singing You're Crazy during Jungle for god's sake.

You could be right, but he respects the shit out of Neil Young, so can't see him doing that, really, but I don't know.

I think he was sick and he just got lost in the song and the acoustic version confused him momentarily, granted, with horrible consequences. A lot of people think that clip is fake because it's so bad (it's clearly not) but he's not right whatever is up. I think he was sick at the bridge school and Rio, not trying to cover for him or anything, he just sounds sick to me. He did on Kimmel too after the bridge school.

I was at the recent Lima show and thought the sounded sick with flu or something too, not on the level of two shows above, but he was forcing his voice throughout and it was cracking, must be hard to sing like that, but it was a great show anyway. If you are there live these things aren't that much of a big deal (to me anyway).

[AlexC]

Just now, MADDOGJONES said:

You could be right, but he respects the shit out of Neil Young, so can't see him doing that, really, but I don't know.

I think he was sick and he just got lost in the song and the acoustic version confused him momentarily, granted, with horrible consequences. A lot of people think that clip is fake because it's so bad (it's clearly not) but he's not right whatever is up. I think he was sick at the bridge school and Rio, not trying to cover for him or anything, he just sounds sick to me. He did on Kimmel too after the bridge school.

I was at the recent Lima show and thought the sounded sick with flu or something too, not on the level of two shows above, but he was forcing his voice throughout and it was cracking, must be hard to sing like that, but it was a great show anyway. If you are there live these things aren't that much of a big deal (to me anyway).

Yeah the only time he's ever bad now seems to be at the beginning of a new leg. Probably because he's a bit rusty after having over 6 weeks off but after a few shows he's right back. Even at his worst these days he's not as bad as say, 2001 or 2002 and nowhere near Bridge School or Rock in Rio '11. 

[MADDOGJONES]

2 minutes ago, AlexC said:

Yeah the only time he's ever bad now seems to be at the beginning of a new leg. Probably because he's a bit rusty after having over 6 weeks off but after a few shows he's right back. Even at his worst these days he's not as bad as say, 2001 or 2002 and nowhere near Bridge School or Rock in Rio '11. 

Yeah, first show of a new leg seems to be where the problem is these days. Understandable I guess, even if he was rehearsing I doubt he'd be going full pelt like he did at the ACDC rehearsals, he seems uncomfortable with that in general. He needs to warm up and get his Mojo going, it's usually a couple of shows, but they should stop filming these first gigs!

I can certainly see a bad performance like Rio 11 and bridge and call it what it is, but just when you think he's done (I mean, 2012 to 2014 he seemed to be taking it easy on the vocals and that looked like that was it, vocal wise, goodbye 2010) but then he comes back and does what he's doing now with GN'R and what he did with ACDC. I personally think he sang better in ACDC (for my taste) than he ever did in the 90's live.

[Gordon Comstock]

25 minutes ago, MADDOGJONES said:

That first back in black in lisbon was fucking incredible. shoot to thrill another great one.

I really did like that Axl won over a lot of people with his performances with ACDC and good on the fans for calling it as it was after he played. Many did a complete 360. They might not want Axl instead of brian, but if you can gauge anything by comments on Youtube, facebook, etc, it seems the majority changed their mind about him. It was good they had the guts to show him that respect. I was surprised at how many people didn't think he had the chops though, I know he can be hit or miss, but at his best he's a beast.

 

Of course he won people over, he showed up and performed like Axl Fucking Rose. At his best, he is the best. Axl/DC was one of the few post-UYI era's comparable to his prime IMO.

[MADDOGJONES]

2 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

Of course he won people over, he showed up and performed like Axl Fucking Rose. At his best, he is the best. Axl/DC was one of the few post-UYI era's comparable to his prime IMO.

I never really liked AC/DC with Brian, I don't dig his voice. I didn't know a lot of the songs they were playing live on the last tour, but really love a lot of them now hearing Axl with them. I know it's not a pissing contest, but Axl brings something entirely different to the songs they play live, that I really like, especially on back in black, shoot to thrill, for those about to rock. Brian is a great singer but they are quite different. Brian I guess is more of an everyday man, salt of the earth, approachable, kind of guy and that comes across in the performances. Axl brings some danger and menace to these performances that I have missed in GN'R for sometime, mainly because I watch the shit out of all of the shows and am so familiar with it all. I would really like to see where it goes for him and the band and if it can be successful going forward, will it be a footnote or will AC/DC be known for 3 lead singers, Bon, Brian and Axl.

[Gordon Comstock]

4 minutes ago, MADDOGJONES said:

I never really liked AC/DC with Brian, I don't dig his voice. I didn't know a lot of the songs they were playing live on the last tour, but really love a lot of them now hearing Axl with them. I know it's not a pissing contest, but Axl brings something entirely different to the songs they play live, that I really like, especially on back in black, shoot to thrill, for those about to rock. Brian is a great singer but they are quite different. Brian I guess is more of an everyday man, salt of the earth, approachable, kind of guy and that comes across in the performances. Axl brings some danger and menace to these performances that I have missed in GN'R for sometime, mainly because I watch the shit out of all of the shows and am so familiar with it all. I would really like to see where it goes for him and the band and if it can be successful going forward, will it be a footnote or will AC/DC be known for 3 lead singers, Bon, Brian and Axl.

 

Definitely agree. I never really got into AC/DC except a few songs, never really liked Brian. Axl brings his own element to songs I would otherwise be kinda bored with, but I'll admit that after Axl joined I listened to more Bon stuff (deep cuts/live shows) and I've grown to appreciate him more, for sure. Beforehand I acknowledged his uniqueness but never really cared for albums that weren't Highway To Hell (which I still think is their best album), but I 'get' the love for Bon now. Yes, it took me this long.

 

Honestly, at this point I'm more excited about the chance of AC/DC touring again and possibly an album with Axl, than I am about the GNR shows I'm seeing this summer (even though my shows are near the end of the tour). The difference in his performances are night and day. With Angus, he performs like he did when I saw him in 2010 and how he should be performing when earning $1,000,000 per show playing with Slash.

[MADDOGJONES]

4 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

Definitely agree. I never really got into AC/DC except a few songs, never really liked Brian. Axl brings his own element to songs I would otherwise be kinda bored with, but I'll admit that after Axl joined I listened to more Bon stuff (deep cuts/live shows) and I've grown to appreciate him more, for sure. Beforehand I acknowledged his uniqueness but never really cared for albums that weren't Highway To Hell (which I still think is their best album), but I 'get' the love for Bon now. Yes, it took me this long.

 

Honestly, at this point I'm more excited about the chance of AC/DC touring again and possibly an album with Axl, than I am about the GNR shows I'm seeing this summer (even though my shows are near the end of the tour). The difference in his performances are night and day. With Angus, he performs like he did when I saw him in 2010 and how he should be performing when earning $1,000,000 per show playing with Slash.

What shows did you see in 2010? The best GNR show I've seen live was in 2010, o2, London, when duff came out. Axl sounded insane, awesome show.

I will take a new GNR album over an AC/DC album, but since I've already seen this line up I would be more excited to hear an album from AC/DC or catch a show. Axl just isn't on enough studio recordings and I would love to hear how he'd work with AC/DC on an album. Could he write for them? Or would it be Angus? His writing style is quite different, but it would be really interesting to see how it turns out. This is still so unexpected. For people who want to hear Axl on a new studio release, with AC/DC it will be sooner rather than later, Angus doesn't mess around.

[Gordon Comstock]

11 minutes ago, MADDOGJONES said:

What shows did you see in 2010? The best GNR show I've seen live was in 2010, o2, London, when duff came out. Axl sounded insane, awesome show.

I will take a new GNR album over an AC/DC album, but since I've already seen this line up I would be more excited to hear an album from AC/DC or catch a show. Axl just isn't on enough studio recordings and I would love to hear how he'd work with AC/DC on an album. Could he write for them? Or would it be Angus? His writing style is quite different, but it would be really interesting to see how it turns out. This is still so unexpected. For people who want to hear Axl on a new studio release, with AC/DC it will be sooner rather than later, Angus doesn't mess around.

 

I think the Axl/DC thing has the potential to bring out some great lyrics from Axl actually, I imagine he'd have some good tongue-in-cheek lines and produce a few songs in the vein of Bad Apples (which is a favourite of mine). With GNR (or CD at least) he tried to keep it more serious (aside from If The World).

 

I saw the second show of 2010, in Calgary. They were still spontaneous with the setlist and Axl was on fire. Unfortunately there's not many videos because apparently security was really tight, in listenable quality I've only seen SCOM, PC and This I Love from the show, which is a shame because mostly the CD songs were the highlights - I.R.S., Better, If The World, Shackler's all stand out in my memory and then of course Out Ta Get Me, Rocket Queen, Nightrain etc.

[MADDOGJONES]

2 minutes ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

I think the Axl/DC thing has the potential to bring out some great lyrics from Axl actually, I imagine he'd have some good tongue-in-cheek lines and produce a few songs in the vein of Bad Apples (which is a favourite of mine). With GNR (or CD at least) he tried to keep it more serious (aside from If The World).

 

I saw the second show of 2010, in Calgary. They were still spontaneous with the setlist and Axl was on fire. Unfortunately there's not many videos because apparently security was really tight, in listenable quality I've only seen SCOM, PC and This I Love from the show, which is a shame because mostly the CD songs were the highlights - I.R.S., Better, If The World, Shackler's all stand out in my memory and then of course Out Ta Get Me, Rocket Queen, Nightrain etc.

I think Shacklers worked fucking great live, would love to see that back at some point. Can't remember what show I saw that played, 2010 or 2012, but It was great.

I'm sure it will be great, I think what he did on Sebastian's album was awesome and it was apparently as good as off the top of his head. More waiting though, mate. Soon.

[double talkin jive mfkr]

i hate shacklers and that entire era of 2006-2007 era of GNR the most along with 2013-2014 

for some reason 2009-2012 seemed quite on edge and very unpredictable along with the best period in 2010 of axl vocals 

other than that he's seemed to get good again lately 

but the golden years of 85-93 is untouchable, he only slightly fell off somewhere in 92 for a little bit but that was it 

i think late 93, early 91 and 88 +86 + all those demos are the best what's fucked up is that by the time he recorded spaghetti he reached his vocal peak again - shame 

[IncitingChaos]

Some have mentioned Axl's 91 voice sounding gravely with too much rasp...it happened with AC/DC a few times. When Axl's voice would crack it wouldn't go to a Mickey sound it would actually crack into a gravelly rasp

probably Axl's worst performance of Back in Black was in MSG, from 1:33-2:14 his voice goes into rasp overdrive where it sounds like he's getting inconsistent vibrations coming out of his throat like his vocals are coming out with a double sound. 

It causes an even deeper rasp that can sound unhealthy. But it's interesting that his voice even cracks raspier with AC/DC..clearly all technique driven 

[IncitingChaos]

Does anyone have any idea what Axl is chewing on to start this show...

1:57 you see him chewing and he has whatever it is in his mouth the whole performance. I imagine it's something for his throat...but it's interesting for one that he can sing with it and two what it does