Jump to content

Axl's voice thread 2021


Recommended Posts

So I actually watched the AFDemocracy DVD the other day for the first time in years and was shocked by how much better he was even back in 2012. 

Anyhoo, I've spent some time watching Youtube vids of the recent shows. Yeah, I know he sounds magically better in person and Youtube videos lie blah blah blah, but putting all that aside for a moment, I was surprised to see how he sings almost everything exclusively clean nowadays. Any rasp is blink and you miss it. 

Of course, Hershey was a complete trainwreck, but no worse than some of the lows from 17-19. His voice has become more stable since then. These days, I actually think I prefer Axl embracing the clean sound totally, rather than wheezing and struggling to muster up some rasp which just wrecks his voice and doesn't sound good. No use trying to find something that simply isn't there.

Some songs don't sound too bad with his clean voice, Madagascar, Live & Let Die and even SCOM is passable. Jungle suffers these days. It's a shame as that one always used to be one he could knock out of the park, even on a bad day.

I really think a new arrangement of Nov Rain is needed at this stage. It's just sounded ropey for what seems like forever now. An acoustic version with some melody-line tweaks from Axl would make the world of difference imo.

Edited by Towelie
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Towelie said:

So I actually watched the AFDemocracy DVD the other day for the first time in years and was shocked by how much better he was even back in 2012. 

Anyhoo, I've spent some time watching Youtube vids of the recent shows. Yeah, I know he sounds magically better in person and Youtube videos lie blah blah blah, but putting all that aside for a moment, I was surprised to see how he sings almost everything exclusively clean nowadays. Any rasp is blink and you miss it. 

Of course, Hershey was a complete trainwreck, but no worse than some of the lows from 17-19. His voice has become more stable since then. These days, I actually think I prefer Axl embracing the clean sound totally, rather than wheezing and struggling to muster up some rasp which just wrecks his voice and doesn't sound good. No use trying to find something that simply isn't there.

Some songs don't sound too bad with his clean voice, Madagascar, Live & Let Die and even SCOM is passable. Jungle suffers these days. It's a shame as that one always used to be one he could knock out of the park, even on a bad day.

I really think a new arrangement of Nov Rain is needed at this stage. It's just sounded ropey for what seems like forever now. An acoustic version with some melody-line tweaks from Axl would make the world of difference imo.

This time he is really going out of the way to avoid the rasp and as you put, embracing the clean voice. Even the screams are clean.  As awesome as it is, the rasp does wreck his voice and using it as much as he did in 2016 did him in. Is not as big a step down as the one between 2010 and 2011.

I thought he sounded quite passable on the past 2 or 3 shows. Not great but a lot of 59 year old dudes doing worse these days. His performances are also really intense and there are a lot hints of classic axl in the way he's been movimg and running around on stage. Not much more you can ask from the guy at this point. Except for more new music, of course.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

November rain from AFD is really painful to hear. I don’t know why, but in 2014 I thought the rasp was gone, his voice was a little bit higher pitched but with very few rasp, luckily for us he proved us wrong in 2016. That’s what vocal coaching can do, and that’s what has been lacking (IMO)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was just watching a couple songs off of AFD too and was also surprised by his voice.  I think people are really hard on axl.  I was at that Hershey show and while it was far from his best most of the night he was good.  People tend to focus on when he wasn't.  And there were a lot of times when he wasn't that show.  But I think for the most part he was still solid.  And he has only gotten better since.  Watching the shows the other night I think he sounds really good for his age.  He isn't 28 anymore

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm glad there's more power in his clean voice during some songs but there's also songs that need to be dropped like YCBM, Better, Rocket Queen and Civil War.

If the only new song they play on this tour is Absurd, they should add Down On The Farm at some point too. Similar vocals so it might make Absurd seem less weird to the casual fans, plus it would sound great with this lineup.

A stripped down version of November Rain could be great, something like the Skin N' Bones version but maybe tuned down. There's plenty of songs and different arrangements they could do that would keep things interesting while adapting to Axl's current voice.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, Stay.Of.Execution said:

Nobody saying Youtube videos lie, you just hear the voice differently when you're there. And that's a fact.

When I last saw GNR in 2016 there were a shit tonne of effects on Axl's voice you clearly hear in the stadium, which aren't as obvious on video. You also don't have the audience around you on YouTube.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if this was the case for other people or it was because of the venue but when I saw them in Barcelona in 2018 Axl's vocals weren often drowned by the music and the crowd, I vividly remember the "I ain't got no money but it goes to show" line in ISE being almost inaudible live. On Jungle you could hear when Axl was screaming but couldn't exactly hear the specific words. On the other songs, you didn't clearly hear Mickey unless you were actively focusing on hearing it (and why would you do that lol I was singing along to the lyrics). I think This I Love on the first verse when it's stripped down was the song where the Mickey was heard more clearly and it still wasn't as clear. Then I watched Youtube videos and the Mickey voice was easily noticeable, however nobody I know who went to the show complained about Axl's voice. To be fair, Axl's voice was at a decent shape in my show in the context of these last years but he wasn't at 2016 level.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I watched a 2012 show the other day and I got to thinking how ever since 2006 every new rendition of GNR has been seen by me as the worst ever, only to grow on me once a newer , worse one came on the horizon. I never thought anything worse than 2016 could happen in the GNR universe, and then Axl got fatter and his hair got worse in 2018. And then I thought you can't beat that and we got Hershey 2021.

Going back to 2006 shows is such a blast. And to think we used to consider Axl fat in 2006.

  • Like 3
  • ABSUЯD 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Axl's last shows have been pretty good, I think his current 2021 voice sits behind 2017. It is much better than 2018, 2019 and 2020.

His high pitch rasp seems to be totally gone though, it's very noticeable in songs like Jungle or the 1st verse of Nightrain.
His mid range rasp seems improved, like in most of Nightrain, Chinese Democracy or the Patience ending. Those are still very strong.
But I think his best improvement is the clean voice, which sounds much more powerful now. Last show's SCOM is actually enjoyable.

Songs like YCBM or Better should be dropped from the set. Those sound horrible.

Another good thing is that Axl is in a much better shape, too, probably the best since 2016. That helps a lot.
That + the fact that he's actually trying his best + being so interactive with the audience and overall very happy, I think these are the best shows since 2017.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don’t know why this is discussed before every new tour or tour leg after a long break. You should know the score by now, unless Axl is preparing for something “new” like AC/DC or the first leg of the reunion he doesn’t give a fuck. He turns up unprepared and rusty as fuck. That’s why it takes him about a month to sound decent, especially considering they’re only playing about 2-3 shows a week. It’s a shame but it is what it is.

With that being said, his performance at the last show compared to the first is like night and day and I expect he will have improved even more tonight in Vegas.

He’s probably about 5 shows off from being ready to perform Hardskool though so I’m not getting my hopes up for that yet.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Gordon Comstock said:

I'm glad there's more power in his clean voice during some songs but there's also songs that need to be dropped like YCBM, Better, Rocket Queen and Civil War.

There is more to the band than Axl though.. Rocket Queen is one of my absolute favorite Guns N' Roses songs.. As bloated as it is and as much as he can struggle on it I still want to see it. I still enjoyed the fucking shit out of it at Fenway. All 12 minutes of it.. I still get off on seeing Duff and Slash play those songs.. Plus myself and the entire venue were singing along with Axl to help him out.  Same for Civil War.. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, GNRfanMILO said:

Axl's last shows have been pretty good, I think his current 2021 voice sits behind 2017. It is much better than 2018, 2019 and 2020.

His high pitch rasp seems to be totally gone though, it's very noticeable in songs like Jungle or the 1st verse of Nightrain.
His mid range rasp seems improved, like in most of Nightrain, Chinese Democracy or the Patience ending. Those are still very strong.
But I think his best improvement is the clean voice, which sounds much more powerful now. Last show's SCOM is actually enjoyable.

Songs like YCBM or Better should be dropped from the set. Those sound horrible.

Another good thing is that Axl is in a much better shape, too, probably the best since 2016. That helps a lot.
That + the fact that he's actually trying his best + being so interactive with the audience and overall very happy, I think these are the best shows since 2017.

I agree with everything said. I’ve been saying YCBM should be dropped from the set for years now. Yes it’s a classic but Axl sounds like dogshit on it, since 2011. As someone who has been to a 2019 show and enjoyed it, I do think the 2021 shows are superior as well. New music goes a long way.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Bitchisback said:

I was just watching a couple songs off of AFD too and was also surprised by his voice.  I think people are really hard on axl.  I was at that Hershey show and while it was far from his best most of the night he was good.  People tend to focus on when he wasn't.  And there were a lot of times when he wasn't that show.  But I think for the most part he was still solid.  And he has only gotten better since.  Watching the shows the other night I think he sounds really good for his age.  He isn't 28 anymore

When he was 58, I thought that might work.  If his current age doesn't rhyme with "late" it doesn't work well in the verse.  I was just watching the video my wife shot at the Missoula, MT show of Estranged and Axl actually messed up the lyrics.  He sung "Old at heart but I get so hard to wait"  on that line.  I guess he wasn't looking at one of the teleprompters.  I wasn't going to post it on YT because she missed the opening lines but I guess I'll upload it since I noticed that little error.

Edit:  He actually messed up again (or realized he messed up the first time) and sung, "young at heart but I'm only 28" instead of "young at heart an' it gets so hard to wait" later in the song.

I saw a video of Dexys (well, I guess just the lead singer) performing "Come on Eileen" a few years ago.  He changed the lyrics from "We are far too young and clever" to "We were far to young and clever" and added "or so we thought."

Edited by Gnrcane
Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be fair to the "Axl sounds good in person" argument, I don't think anyone has ever claimed they've heard rasp in person that is magically taken away in videos. It's just that his clean/"mickey" voice may not sound as bad in person as in the videos (either soundboard or cell phone videos). And that could be due to a combination of factors (the mix and how it comes off in a live setting, the atmosphere, people singing along, etc.).

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

To be fair to the "Axl sounds good in person" argument, I don't think anyone has ever claimed they've heard rasp in person that is magically taken away in videos. It's just that his clean/"mickey" voice may not sound as bad in person as in the videos (either soundboard or cell phone videos). And that could be due to a combination of factors (the mix and how it comes off in a live setting, the atmosphere, people singing along, etc.).

Exactly.  His voice doesn't magically sound like the UYI tour when you are there in person but it doesn't stand out like it does in recordings.  I've theorized that the cell phone camera apps bring the vocals out more in the mix because they are designed with the assumption that when you are recording audio, it's a person talking and it suppresses the background noise, which, in the case of a concert, is the instruments in the mix.  The official releases from the sound boards they might just make the vocals more prominent in the recording.

In the pit at the last show I attended in Missoula, it was a little difficult to hear what Axl was saying when he was talking to the audience between songs.  I had to really pay attention to what he was saying against the din of the crowd.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Tom-Ass said:

There is more to the band than Axl though.. Rocket Queen is one of my absolute favorite Guns N' Roses songs.. As bloated as it is and as much as he can struggle on it I still want to see it. I still enjoyed the fucking shit out of it at Fenway. All 12 minutes of it.. I still get off on seeing Duff and Slash play those songs.. Plus myself and the entire venue were singing along with Axl to help him out.  Same for Civil War.. 

 

Rocket Queen is way too drawn out for me... I know lots of Slash fans like it but I grew tired of the talkbox solo a while ago. They could honestly do a good version of Bad Obsession instead, with an extended intro and solo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...