The "Axl's Voice" Thread - Please Keep All Discussion Here

[h2sublime]

I thought he sounded great at the Foo’s show.

[Underhardy]

I don’t care what anyone says, I think that years and years of screaming have caught up with Uncle Axl, mainly due to the insane amount of shows these past 2 years along with AXL/DC. I believe he’s finally reached the point of no return. He can only successfully rasp the Jungle intro and a couple LaLD screams... every thing else is a complete struggle and you never know what you’re gonna get. If all he was doing was resting for the 7 months or whatever he had off, his voice should not be cracking the way it is like never before. He should not be struggling to sing lines and even give lines to the crowd. 

Even at the foo fighters gig, yeah it sounded great, but if we had pro audio of that song, we’d say “damn, he’s really cracking.” Even his “fuck off” it’s more higher pitched now, with less rasp, and usually a crack. And the ending screams of ISE, he’s cracking like crazy. It’s sad to see, I hope he has a lot of unreleased vocals in the vault, as the TIL remix vocals are making me crave me good Axl vocals. We all took 2016 for granted. That was the prime year for this forum and GNR since 93’. All things considered, 2016 was all around the best year for Axl Rose and GNR in their history. 

[PirateRadio]

THE problem is that he probably took 7 months off. Not sure why there are posts here arguing that time off and rest are the answers. Sure, take breaks, but in moderation. Is there one thing that humans do where 7 months off makes them better at it?? Singing well takes practice. 

[Pedrolg]

Zero improvement, Jungle is falling below 2011-2014, 2017 standards. It sucks, I find no enjoyment in seeing live performances of Axl anymore. Will only watch a full gig again if somehow his voice improves. 

 

Truly among the worse I've ever heard from Axl on this song.

[IncitingChaos]

18 minutes ago, Pedrolg said:

Zero improvement, Jungle is falling below 2011-2014, 2017 standards. It sucks, I find no enjoyment in seeing live performances of Axl anymore. Will only watch a full gig again if somehow his voice improves. 

 

Truly among the worse I've ever heard from Axl on this song.

Wow that sucks! Hopefully he’s just in a SA 2014 slump 

[Gnrcane]

1 hour ago, Pedrolg said:

Zero improvement, Jungle is falling below 2011-2014, 2017 standards. It sucks, I find no enjoyment in seeing live performances of Axl anymore. Will only watch a full gig again if somehow his voice improves. 

 

Truly among the worse I've ever heard from Axl on this song.

I don't know how bad he was actually singing into the microphone but the audio on that video is absolutely terrible.  Not just Axl, the guitars also.  Either the venue sounds bad, the microphone on the phone is bad or the location where it was filmed from has bad audio.  Like I said, maybe Axl is singing horribly but this is a case where the recording doesn't sound like what is coming out of his mouth.

[Pedrolg]

57 minutes ago, IncitingChaos said:

Wow that sucks! Hopefully he’s just in a SA 2014 slump 

People liked it, apparently.

[IncitingChaos]

2 minutes ago, Pedrolg said:

People liked it, apparently.

I saw that...their expectations are just low. They forget how good he sounded in 2016 and have accepted 4 songs being sang properly in the set

[WhazUp]

51 minutes ago, Pedrolg said:

People liked it, apparently.

To me sure it isn't the best, but it isn't horrid either, like I could totally rock out to that.  A college buddy of mine was at the show and he said that he thought Axl sounded great throughout the whole show

[Carne_asaDA]

I wouldn't mind it if they cut Slither and replaced it with Dirty Little Thing. It's more suited for Axl's voice.

[Gem Archer]

it looks like he’s still finding difficult to sing the last bridge...😕

IDK why they keep playing this song...

Edited June 16, 2018 by Gem Archer

[AFGnR]

7 hours ago, Gem Archer said:

it looks like he’s still finding difficult to sing the last bridge...😕

IDK why they keep playing this song...

Was just looking at these two songs myself. Axl is struggling to get through them. In TIL especially, he has to switch to this 'other voice' a lot.

[Bansidhe]

On 14/06/2018 at 2:33 AM, Tucknroll said:

His voice is different because he quit smoking.  Smokers have rasp just talking let alone singing

He stopped the cigs in the mid-late 90s.
Only smoked cigars after, not sure if he still does.

His voice has changed a number of times since he kicked the fags so I doubt it was that which caused such changes.

[IncitingChaos]

Alcohol will thin out your voice, which is what has happened 

[shootingstar]

I honestly think some of us, including me, exaggerate. He doesn't sound that bad in general. He still nail pretty much every highlight moment vocally... during a concert it's at most 25% where he sound bad or less good. 25% of the time he's still a world class vocalist that still amazes me and others..

[shootingstar]

This is 2018

Compared to 1992

So..

Let's compare. The first 15-20 seconds (counting from where the video begins) sounds Mickey, but lets for the sake of it ignore that.

Let's split his voice, of pedagogical reasons, into his core clean voice in both versions. It sounds pretty much the same. Hell, the 92 voice sounds actually more whiny behind the cracks/rasp

Overall the 92 versions sounds not raspy but cracky compared to 2018. Yes, there's less crack or rasp 2018.. BUT when there's rasp, even if its moderate, it does sound better. Listen at 1:05 when he sings "ooooooh got nothing for me" on the chorus. Much better. And he does sound more relaxed and professional from that point forward..

I think, from our side, we're not objective. We lay so much weight on those weak spots that we don't hear how good he actually sings on the rest of the songs.

 

 

[tbaugerud]

If Axl was in great shape, he would improve a lot. 

But he is doing okay for the most parts as it is.

[bangit]

18 hours ago, IncitingChaos said:

I saw that...their expectations are just low. They forget how good he sounded in 2016 and have accepted 4 songs being sang properly in the set

Ok, back down to earth.... most people in the audience would never have seen Axl live and therefore are not comparing him to '2016' vocals... which by the way were only slightly better than what we have today. 

I've seen Axl 11 times since 2006 and every gig i've had a fantastic time and have never found his voice 'perfect'. Watching live i'm not stood analyzing every fucking word/phrase/aspect of each song. I just stand an take it in. 

When you say 'sang properly' what are you referring to exactly? DO you expect that the show will resemble an album recording or something from 1991/2? The vocal range / complexity of GNR tunes combined with the unfortunate fact that Axl has lost some mid range (and is 25 years older) compared to the illusions tour.. probably due to damaging his voice with that rasp.. never going to happen. 

Bottom line is that Axl is nearly 60 and never will sound like he did 30 years ago. Axl and the band still put on an awesome show and live you do not hear (and you don't give a shit) the little slips which occur. 

I was at Donington last week and it was fucking cool. The band and Axl sounded great. Not perfect but still fucking great. I didn't hear anyone moaning about the performance overall and i cant wait to see them again in Tallinn in July. 

Edited June 16, 2018 by bangit

[sl4yer]

This Yesterdays for me sounds surely a lot better in 1992 but not that bad in 2018.

It's mickeyish but listenable and enjoyable

[Waemoth]

48 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

This is 2018

Compared to 1992

So..

Let's compare. The first 15-20 seconds (counting from where the video begins) sounds Mickey, but lets for the sake of it ignore that.

Let's split his voice, of pedagogical reasons, into his core clean voice in both versions. It sounds pretty much the same. Hell, the 92 voice sounds actually more whiny behind the cracks/rasp

Overall the 92 versions sounds not raspy but cracky compared to 2018. Yes, there's less crack or rasp 2018.. BUT when there's rasp, even if its moderate, it does sound better. Listen at 1:05 when he sings "ooooooh got nothing for me" on the chorus. Much better. And he does sound more relaxed and professional from that point forward..

I think, from our side, we're not objective. We lay so much weight on those weak spots that we don't hear how good he actually sings on the rest of the songs.

 

 

Just my opinion but: Axl never sounded very good in parts where he originally rasped through (AFD to Wembley 1991 essentially), but eventually was forced to abandon the rasp in favor of the higher range of his clean voice. That being said though, I agree on the 2018 clean parts sounding better than the clean parts than those from one of his worst performances of 1992. What balances this up, to me, is that in 1992 he would go into rasp more often, which is how the songs were supposed to be sung.

As far as Yesterdays goes, Maimarksgelände 1991 is by far my favourite performance.

Edited June 16, 2018 by Waemoth

[Pedrolg]

I think denial/sugarcoating is at an all time high right now. 

Jungle has been fantastic throughout 2016 and even bits of 2017, and it sucks now. For the first time in his career since recording TIL his voice is failing to reach some of the notes and he is switching to a lower voice. For the first time in his career since releasing UYI he is failing to reach notes in the bridge of YCBM, and his voice is reverting back to a low voice, voluntarily or not. His voice cracks and falters whenever he goes high, and he even had a bad Nightrain performance for the first time since god knows when.

But hey, everything is fine, Axl is fantastic. People who paid and go to shows, drink lots of beer and sing along the songs are surprisingly not complaining. 

To each their own, I guess. I know the shows are great and very enjoyable when you are there, but to not recognize what's going on with his voice right now is a level of delusion that baffles me.

[sl4yer]

I just listened to Yesterdays from Apollo and this from 2018 is a lot better in my opinion.

[ZoSoRose]

30 minutes ago, bangit said:

Ok, back down to earth.... most people in the audience would never have seen Axl live and therefore are not comparing him to '2016' vocals... which by the way were only slightly better than what we have today. 

 

Yeah.... Thats not true.

2016 was way better than 2017 and especially this year. Appetite songs almost sounded like they did in the old days to me. Stuff like Nightrain, OTGM, My Michelle, etc had immense energy and power. There wad also zero voice cracking and minimal micky for the majority of the rest of the set, too. Some songs like Yesterdays and TWAT were a little rough, but nothing unbearable. He may not have been quite as raspy and powerful as 2010, but he was pretty spot on 

Not to mention the ACDC gigs where he was straight up AFD Axl, surpassing it equating even 2010 Axl

People get older, but its been a big decline in only 2 years. I dont know the reasons, could be age, lack of preparation, fatigue...Idk. The shows are still great. I saw them last year, I still had fun, but its natural to talk about Axls vocals here, since it is a fan forum. For the most part, they are just not comparable to 2016. I havent seen a single consistant 2017 or 2018 show that equates to a single 2016 show vocally. Again, that doesnt mean the tour sucks, it's just my observation based on the vocals.

I wouldnt even rule out improvement. People thought he was done 2011-2014 (sans the last few shows), and he came back with a vengeance in 2016. We will see what happens in the future, at least it seems theres a little improvement since Berlin

Edit- forgive spelling errors, mobile post

Edited June 16, 2018 by ZoSoRose

[bangit]

5 hours ago, IncitingChaos said:

Alcohol will thin out your voice, which is what has happened 

Don't agree, didn't thin Lemmy out. 

[IncitingChaos]

1 hour ago, bangit said:

Ok, back down to earth.... most people in the audience would never have seen Axl live and therefore are not comparing him to '2016' vocals... which by the way were only slightly better than what we have today. 

I've seen Axl 11 times since 2006 and every gig i've had a fantastic time and have never found his voice 'perfect'. Watching live i'm not stood analyzing every fucking word/phrase/aspect of each song. I just stand an take it in. 

When you say 'sang properly' what are you referring to exactly? DO you expect that the show will resemble an album recording or something from 1991/2? The vocal range / complexity of GNR tunes combined with the unfortunate fact that Axl has lost some mid range (and is 25 years older) compared to the illusions tour.. probably due to damaging his voice with that rasp.. never going to happen. 

Bottom line is that Axl is nearly 60 and never will sound like he did 30 years ago. Axl and the band still put on an awesome show and live you do not hear (and you don't give a shit) the little slips which occur. 

I was at Donington last week and it was fucking cool. The band and Axl sounded great. Not perfect but still fucking great. I didn't hear anyone moaning about the performance overall and i cant wait to see them again in Tallinn in July. 

 YCBM based on Axl’s voice the last 5 years should be in this neighborhood 

the people going to shows now and enjoying the show is great! But don’t be surprised when they finally get on a pro shot and sound like shit. The comparison doesn’t have to be 2016, maybe the comparison is just decent singing and at the moment Axl isn’t a decent singer. 

On a side note one of my favorite shows i went to was in 2013. Axl sounded phenomenal. The video may not back it up but it was a great show. So I understand where enjoying a show that’s not perfect may come from, however Axl has been embarrassed by nearly every pro shot released of this band. 

And nearly every 2018 song in comparison to 2016 is going to sound bad. So really I’m comparing a 54 year old to a 56 year old. Right now Axl is nailing 4 songs a night where as 2016 a majority of the set was enjoyable. 

If you want to talk about how great a show was then go to the show thread for that show. We are here talking about his vocals in this thread, so there’s going to be some criticisms 

3 minutes ago, bangit said:

Don't agree, didn't thin Lemmy out. 

Did Lemmy stop smoking ever?