Favorite post 93 version of Axl

[Crazyman]

6 hours ago, Gunner55 said:

2006 for sure. He was in great shape and looked and sounded badass. Also was the first incarnation of the band I've seen live after getting really into them that year so that version always holds close to me. Plus thinking Chinese Democracy was actually coming out that year. To be 16 and naïve again. 

I agree with everything in this post (also went to my first show that year, also was 16 that year and thinking CD was coming out) except with the looked badass part. If only he would've been in shape without those fucking dreads 

[ludurigan]

what does this even mean?

"2018 vocal maestro"

 

 

[something.always]

6 minutes ago, ludurigan said:

what does this even mean?

"2018 vocal maestro"

 

 

I believe this is sarcasm.

[Loseyourillusions98]

6 hours ago, MildlyArtistic said:

I quite like 2000 and 2001. For starters, he still looked like Axl Rose then. Presumably he had a bit of work done after 2001, because he's spent most of the years since looking completely different. 2016-now is probably the most Axl-like he's looked for a long time.

 

But you can't look at the above photo and tell me he didn't have any work done.

Also, I'd like to say that Axl's clean voice in 2001/2002 is so much better-sounding compared to how weak it sounds nowadays. Edit: My favourite Axl voice of the last 20 years has to be his voice in 2010. Nothing comes close.

i think it just might be a weird picture. He pretty much looks the same in 2006 as he did in 1994 minus the cornrows 

Edited July 2, 2018 by Loseyourillusions98

[GN'R MEX]

2006 for me he made a great comeback with that voice and shape it was like seeing the 90's axl again (just remove the cornrows and put his original hair again and ta daaa 90's axl)

[T-Minus]

06.

We had the introduction of "new" songs in the setlist, Axl sounded great, he was in good shape and Izzy guested on some shows.  If only Ron had been given the time to learn the parts as well as he knew them in 2010 onwards, it would have been utter perfection for me.

[Chunder Monkey]

1993 - Axl is probably the greatest front man of all time.

2001-2002 - I like the passion and energy of the shows but overall the clean voice seemed overused in this era. Not enough rasp to convey the normal anger of the songs except of course for the LALD screams from this era which are mind-blowing. 

2006 is the best overall since the UYI era, Axl looked a little older but seemed to be in incredible shape for the age he was, he had total rockstar presence and charisma. He was singing with a lot of rasp and power, a total badass front man. Look at the Jungle opening screams this tour - he was just incredible and had a real sense of confidence about him too.  No disrespect to the other line up fans - but when you consider 2005 Slash visited Axl at his house - it's a tragedy that we didn't get a reunion show in 2006. Listen to Axl's vocals at Rock Am Ring 2006 - great raspy versions of the old songs, lot of passion on the CD songs too. His look was also a nice compromise - he still had the cornrows (which suited him IMO) but he was dressing in more rock clothing than the more rap based look. This was an Axl you can imagine the 1990s Axl growing into. A little older, but still dangerous, still having that kind of cool confidence Axl had, a presence on stage and a powerhouse front man that seemed to be just effortlessly awesome.  Good example is the cover of "Sailing" from this era - basically a throw away cover song they played a handful of times or whatever - didn't seem all that serious - but just happened to have mind blowing vocals that sounded better than almost anything you hear from any band in the studio. This was the sort of Axl who you can believe will have amazing stuff in the vault cos when they were good...they were GOOD....much like 1990s Axl...you put up with some sbit at the show...but you get something no one else can give you when they do deliver....

2009 Axl gets a thumbs up from me for having impressive vocals live. Axl was looking a little less agile than he did 3 years earlier - but he was still delivering vocally - and props for doing some of the great CD stuff here very impressively. Like TWAT in japan is amazing. I also like the "If the World" versions from this era too. 

2010 - Solid year from Axl too - although the sets here became a bit more standardised and so they didn't do a lot of the crazy stuff from 2009 like TWAT.

2011-2014 - Although i liked some of the guys in this line up, i'm not a hater of it, but I wasn't too into Axl's vocals in this era. Reminded me of the 2002 stuff but with noticeably less power. To be honest it's not that they were all that bad - but it's the contrast - when you've seen Axl in the 1990s and in 2006 and 2009 - these vocals were ok in themselves but you just know Axl can do a lot better. Add that to his image looking a little less impressive in this era and the setlist getting a little formulaic and it wasn't the best period. In an alternate world where they released new music here things might have been more interesting - it just all felt a little stale - like good songs and good players - but we'd seem them do this cycle a few times before here when Axl was in better form.

2016 - This was a real return to form for Axl. He was easily better than he had been since 2010 or so. He was back to his classic style, and delivering fairly sold vocals. I would call them on par with 2010 but not up to the highs of 2009. For example although the band did TWAT a couple of times Axl sang the screams a touch lower than he did in 2009. Mixed bag but when it was good it was good here. Special mention for the Houston show which IMO was one of his best performances in a very long time. What I would give for a proshot of that show!

2016 Axl/DC - Quick mention here - Axl really smashed this out of the park. Walking into Ac/Dc mid tour replacing Brian has got to be one of the more impossible feats on the planet. A few of us knew Axl on a good day would nail these songs - but there was also reasonable doubt - 2006 Axl would kill this - 2011 Axl would be stoned by the audience. You can't fuck around on those Brian songs. We were nervous.  But man did he deliver. I'm sure a lot of us long time GNR enjoyed watching the whole music press have to eat their hat when Axl sounded killer on it. I would love some proshot of this stuff too.

2017 - After the highpoint of the AC/Dc tour the year before I felt Axl was noticeably weaker this year. He was still reasonably solid at the stat of the year - but by the end of it - there were a lot of vocals cracks and other worrying signs that he could have damage or have blown out his voice in some way.

So overall...if we can't have 1990s Axl then I think I'll take 2006 Axl, then 2009 Axl and then 2016 Axl.

 

 

 

[Sydney Fan]

Good summarisation.

 

In terms of 2011-2014 wernt the lawsuits coming thick and fast from previous managers and the record company. I wondered if the fire wasnt there because he may have known that the record company had no interest in releasing cd2 or 3 and im sure that killed his motivation and was probably thinking what the fuck do i do now?.

[Stress Fracture]

I suppose I prefer 2016-2018 Axl because that’s the one that hasn’t shot himself in the foot. 2006 and 2010 were good but what a waste. 2010 in particular.

[ruttu69]

2006-2007 (they did shows in 2007 you know©GnrPersia)..

Edited July 2, 2018 by ruttu69

[sl4yer]

I voted for

2006 - Everything is said in this topic. He was badass.

2016 and 2018- I think it's the same just Axl use a lot less rasp. I really like current version of Axl. He reminds me now a lot more of classic Axl than in 2011-2014. He looks a lot better (except he is fat) and his style is a lot better. 

2009-2010 was good too but except vocals I didn't like that years very much

[Italian girl]

2016 definitely!

[username]

2006 Axl was easily the best since 1993 overall. The look, the aura, the vocals, the live performances. 

2001/2002 seemed the most passionate though. Even if I hated his 2002 look (as well as the overall look of the band, what a freakshow). 

2009/2010 was ok. 

2011-2014 was a low point in every way. 

Reunion-Axl is so-so. I miss the fire tbh. When I saw them in Nijmegen last year, the band was on fire when Angus joined them. Like everybody suddenly had something to prove. Some of the other stuff seemed to go into auto-pilot. It was still good, but there wasn't that much fire and joy in it. 

Edited July 2, 2018 by username

[ironmt]

If my memory Is correct, the majority couldn't stand the 2006 version of Axl and wanted him to eliminate the corn rows and put the bandanna back on. Fast forward to 2016, Axl Is reunited with Slash and wearing the bandanna again and people now want the 2006 Axl back. 

[Jw224]

2 minutes ago, ironmt said:

If my memory Is correct, the majority couldn't stand the 2006 version of Axl and wanted him to eliminate the corn rows and put the bandanna back on. Fast forward to 2016, Axl Is reunited with Slash and wearing the bandanna again and people now want the 2006 Axl back. 

Probably because he didn't sound like a dying mickey mouse back then.

[ironmt]

1 minute ago, Jw224 said:

Probably because he didn't sound like a dying mickey mouse back then.

 Peoples biggest complaint was how he looked, what he wore and what he should be wearing, same situation as today, only 12 years later.  Who really gives a shit what the guy Is wearing or how his hair is styled. Did he sound like a dying mickey mouse during the AC/DC gigs? As of right now I would agree that he sounds terrible. I generally give a song about 10-20 seconds to determine whether or not I can stomach listening to it, If I can't, I shut it off and try a different song.  Simple really. 

[Jw224]

4 minutes ago, ironmt said:

 Peoples biggest complaint was how he looked, what he wore and what he should be wearing, same situation as today, only 12 years later.  Who really gives a shit what the guy Is wearing or how his hair is styled. Did he sound like a dying mickey mouse during the AC/DC gigs? As of right now I would agree that he sounds terrible. I generally give a song about 10-20 seconds to determine whether or not I can stomach listening to it, If I can't, I shut it off and try a different song.  Simple really. 

I thought he looked pretty cool in 06 honestly. I agree I don't really care what he's wearing or anything. He definitely looks more like Axl Rose now than he did from 2010 until 2016. He sounded great for ACDC which makes his current vocals even more annoying haha.

[ironmt]

2 minutes ago, Jw224 said:

I thought he looked pretty cool in 06 honestly. I agree I don't really care what he's wearing or anything. He definitely looks more like Axl Rose now than he did from 2010 until 2016. He sounded great for ACDC which makes his current vocals even more annoying haha.

Very true, , It would be Interesting to hear him perform with AC/DC just to see what version of Axl we would get. I can't imagine his current vocals with Guns being acceptable to Angus or anyone else In AC/DC. I would have assumed that this far Into the current leg of the tour that we would have started to see some Improvement and there has been very very little, If any, IMO. 

[bdinan]

2006, mostly based on the fact that he looked healthy and sounded the most like Axl Rose. 

I don't get much into how he "looks," as I'm a straight man who really has little to no interest in how he looks except for his health. The braided ponytail helmet/wig that he was wearing was a bit ridiculous, but I remember being at those four Hammerstein Ballroom shows, and my man came out spittin' fire. 

His vocals were at a post-93 high point at that time. He's had his ups and downs, but those shows were straight up money in the bank. Worth every penny. A reunion at that point in time would have been insane in terms of quality of product. 

[stanleyjp]

Axl/DC-Axl.

[bdinan]

Don't forget this hot mess. 

[Stoymatic]

23 hours ago, MildlyArtistic said:

I quite like 2000 and 2001. For starters, he still looked like Axl Rose then. Presumably he had a bit of work done after 2001, because he's spent most of the years since looking completely different. 2016-now is probably the most Axl-like he's looked for a long time.

 

 

2002 because Axl looked like a straight G!!!!

[bdinan]

18 hours ago, Ratam said:

Great look.

Robin looked badass that era too. I was glad he did away with that goth NIN look in '06. They came out in '06 looking like a band instead of a jumbled up clusterfuck of individual musicians. I was never the biggest Finck fan, but the band was pretty tight in that area. 

Just now, Stoymatic said:

2002 because Axl looked like a straight G!!!!

Can't hate on the Raiders jerseys. As a Raider fan myself, I dug the "ROSE" Raiders jersey he was rockin' for a while, or the Jerry Rice one he had... I didn't mind the jerseys. I'm a sports guy myself. I could dig that. 

[bdinan]

In 2006 he looked like a man on a mission. I'm sure he heard the criticism about how he looked, his weight, his hair, his voice during the Rio, and MTV appearances and everything around that time. He came out in 2006 sounding like he wasn't fucking around. While a lot of people still weren't accepting of the "new" band, Axl was on fire. I had some good times during that era. 

[Jw224]

1 hour ago, ironmt said:

Very true, , It would be Interesting to hear him perform with AC/DC just to see what version of Axl we would get. I can't imagine his current vocals with Guns being acceptable to Angus or anyone else In AC/DC. I would have assumed that this far Into the current leg of the tour that we would have started to see some Improvement and there has been very very little, If any, IMO. 

Yeah his current vocals would definitely not be accepted by Angus. If he's gonna do ACDC again he's gonna have to shape up.