North Korean Democracy Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 GNR fan myth #2351: Axl sounded good on 2001-2002. No, he didn't. It was a different kind of Mickey than the current one, more high-pitched and less like Herbert from Family Guy but still Mickey. On many songs he was the weak link of the band. Also, when talking about Axl's voice in 1992 we should acknowledge how radically different he sounds if we compare the Tokyo shows at the beginning of that year and the south-american shows from december. He reduced the rasp to a minimum and sounded very nasal at the second half of the UYI tour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neider Posted October 23, 2021 Author Share Posted October 23, 2021 4 hours ago, North Korean Democracy said: GNR fan myth #2351: Axl sounded good on 2001-2002. No, he didn't. It was a different kind of Mickey than the current one, more high-pitched and less like Herbert from Family Guy but still Mickey. On many songs he was the weak link of the band. And yet Axl's voice in 2001-02 had a pro that only his 2006 voice also had: the high notes in many live songs. Yes, I myself admit that his voice was weak in the verses on 2001-02, but as I have said in other posts, the problem was always the breath and not that it was a clean voice. I feel like people think a lot that Axl's raspy voice = sing well, which is true for him, but with good physical preparation in 2001-02 I'm sure his voice would have sounded good 100% of the time, despite being a clean voice. Sure, not quite up to the mark of 1987, 1988-89, 1992-93 or 2006-10, but something memorable (and still shows like HoB 2001 or Boston, Albany and MSG 2002 were decent for Axl's voice). Two more points I want to add on the subject: The first is that Axl's voice in 2001 is somewhat different from 2002—they have somewhat notable differences but they coincide in being a clean voice and that Axl didn't have as much breath, except for those high notes and beastly screams. And the second point is that Axl's voice in those two years is better than his voice in 2011-14 or 2017-21. If he sang like in those two years, people would still say that in his 50s (practically 60) he is still the best singer in the world. 4 hours ago, North Korean Democracy said: Also, when talking about Axl's voice in 1992 we should acknowledge how radically different he sounds if we compare the Tokyo shows at the beginning of that year and the south-american shows from december. He reduced the rasp to a minimum and sounded very nasal at the second half of the UYI tour. Yes, you are right about it. I think the peak of his voice in 1992 was between April and September, but the shows here in South America were also total fire. Already in 1993 Axl's voice sounded somewhat weakened and he used his midrange a lot; it wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as it was in 1992 and there was almost nothing left of his voice from 1985-87. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RONIN Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Well, to my untrained ears, the last time Axl sounded like Axl was in 1994. His vocals were pretty terrible at the Elton John function in early '94, but he sounds fantastic on Sympathy for the Devil. I wonder what happened between 1995-98 because the Axl on Live Era is completely different. It's like he straight up lost his old voice in those interim years. 1 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nintari Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 On 10/25/2021 at 6:02 PM, RONIN said: Well, to my untrained ears, the last time Axl sounded like Axl was in 1994. His vocals were pretty terrible at the Elton John function in early '94, but he sounds fantastic on Sympathy for the Devil. I wonder what happened between 1995-98 because the Axl on Live Era is completely different. It's like he straight up lost his old voice in those interim years. I think on 'Devil, Axl's probably benefiting from studio trickery, and that's why it sounds better. Because if you listen to that track closely (and I have; I've owned the actual CD single since 1994), you can already hear hints of Mickey, similarly to the way he sounded during that HOF performance. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janrichmond Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 11 hours ago, Nintari said: I think on 'Devil, Axl's probably benefiting from studio trickery, and that's why it sounds better. Because if you listen to that track closely (and I have; I've owned the actual CD single since 1994), you can already hear hints of Mickey, similarly to the way he sounded during that HOF performance. I have the CD too, and I don't hear Mickey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhazUp Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 On 10/22/2021 at 4:20 PM, North Korean Democracy said: GNR fan myth #2351: Axl sounded good on 2001-2002. No, he didn't. It was a different kind of Mickey than the current one, more high-pitched and less like Herbert from Family Guy but still Mickey. On many songs he was the weak link of the band. I think that it is all a matter of opinion in terms of sounding what you want Axl to sound like in 2001/2002, but all in all Axl had a lot of breath control and power to project his clean voice that year, even if he didn't rasp it up much either intentionally or unintentionally. To me Mickey is a different thing, like a clean voice that has none of that ability to project and sounds much thinner than what we heard overall in 2002 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nintari Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 (edited) On 10/30/2021 at 2:24 PM, janrichmond said: I have the CD too, and I don't hear Mickey I said hints of Mickey lol. It's not overt, but you can hear the HOF tightness in his voice, especially when he really goes for it after the breakdown where he talks in spoken voice. It's just not as loose. At least to my ears, anyway. Edited November 2, 2021 by Nintari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaanzer Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 On 10/15/2021 at 1:47 AM, Coma16 said: I'm glad he moved away from his Rapid Fire voice. He wouldn't have been the star he is, had he continued using that voice. Axl's animalistic, unconventional rawness is what attracted such a large audience. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom2112 Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 On 10/30/2021 at 9:14 AM, Nintari said: I think on 'Devil, Axl's probably benefiting from studio trickery, and that's why it sounds better. Because if you listen to that track closely (and I have; I've owned the actual CD single since 1994), you can already hear hints of Mickey, similarly to the way he sounded during that HOF performance. The HOF performance was totally off the cuff, no rehearsal. And while Axl didn't sound great, he was definitely using a UYI type voice, flirting with voice break. No Mickey whatsoever! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North Korean Democracy Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 The 2001-2002 shows had a controlled and slightly better Mickey but 0 rasp, the 2011 and 2012 shows had an uglier Mickey but at least a certain amount of rasp per show on songs like Jungle, Nightrain, WLR or Riff Raff. Disaster shows like Rio 11 or Bridge School were actually an exception. BTW, in the shows with the Stones in 89 Axl sounds really good, a lot better than in late 88 and closer to 87. His voice definitely benefited of the rest after the end of the AFD tour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom2112 Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 7 hours ago, North Korean Democracy said: The 2001-2002 shows had a controlled and slightly better Mickey but 0 rasp, the 2011 and 2012 shows had an uglier Mickey but at least a certain amount of rasp per show on songs like Jungle, Nightrain, WLR or Riff Raff. Disaster shows like Rio 11 or Bridge School were actually an exception. BTW, in the shows with the Stones in 89 Axl sounds really good, a lot better than in late 88 and closer to 87. His voice definitely benefited of the rest after the end of the AFD tour. RQ also had exceptional rasp on 2012 a lot of the time. 2012 is an underrated year! Of he sang like 2012 now people's heads would explode Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweersa Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 27 minutes ago, Tom2112 said: RQ also had exceptional rasp on 2012 a lot of the time. 2012 is an underrated year! Of he sang like 2012 now people's heads would explode Shackler's Revenge was amazing live when I heard it in 2011 and 12 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ifon Harries Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 (edited) 1989 is the best I’ve ever heard him. Patience @ AMA awards. Free Fallin/Heartbreak Hotel @ VMA’s. Stones opener in October 1989. Salt of the Earth w/ Izzy and Stones. It’s the most “Axl” Axl has ever sounded. Edited November 2, 2021 by Ifon Harries 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underhardy Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 1 hour ago, Ifon Harries said: 1989 is the best I’ve ever heard him. Patience @ AMA awards. Free Fallin/Heartbreak Hotel @ VMA’s. Stones opener in October 1989. Salt of the Earth w/ Izzy and Stones. It’s the most “Axl” Axl has ever sounded. Disagree. His voice certainly did have a slightly distinct sound in 89. But I liked parts of 86-88 and 92-93 a lot better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neider Posted November 2, 2021 Author Share Posted November 2, 2021 11 hours ago, North Korean Democracy said: The 2001-2002 shows had a controlled and slightly better Mickey but 0 rasp, the 2011 and 2012 shows had an uglier Mickey but at least a certain amount of rasp per show on songs like Jungle, Nightrain, WLR or Riff Raff. Disaster shows like Rio 11 or Bridge School were actually an exception. The problem is, most of you think Axl only sounds good when he sings in a raspy voice. 2001/02 was not the best time for his voice, but he had a lot more breath than he has since 2011, and his most brutal high notes were in those two years (and also in 2006). I'm more agnostic on the subject and that's why my favorite years for Axl's voice are 1987 and 2006. 48 minutes ago, Underhardy said: Disagree. His voice certainly did have a slightly distinct sound in 89. But I liked parts of 86-88 and 92-93 a lot better Yes, I think 1989 is a year of Axl's voice that is separate from the others, but personally I like him more than his voice on some 1988 shows. As the title of this post says, Axl's voice in 1988 was very, very different from his 1985-87 voice. People encompass Axl's voice as "1987-93" but I think that's a mistake—between 1985-93 he had several changes, and I think his 1985-87 voice is so different from 1992-93 as well as 1992-93 is different from 2001. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nintari Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 19 hours ago, Tom2112 said: The HOF performance was totally off the cuff, no rehearsal. And while Axl didn't sound great, he was definitely using a UYI type voice, flirting with voice break. No Mickey whatsoever! Completely disagree. To me, the HOF voice sounds choked, weak and tiny. It's like someone is literally squeezing his neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamillos Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 (edited) At that point, he just hadn't rehearsed or toured for a while, that's all. Plus the wear and tear from the UYI tour must have had taken a toll by then. But overall, 1994 was still strong, while maybe not as much as 92, where he was at his peak power-wise. Edited November 3, 2021 by jamillos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom2112 Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 2 hours ago, Nintari said: Completely disagree. To me, the HOF voice sounds choked, weak and tiny. It's like someone is literally squeezing his neck. UYI 'type' voice doesn't mean the voice he used on all the best tracks, but that it has a relation to it in tonality. Obviously he sounds like all of those things you listed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underhardy Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 On 11/3/2021 at 2:56 AM, Nintari said: Completely disagree. To me, the HOF voice sounds choked, weak and tiny. It's like someone is literally squeezing his neck. Definitely. But hey, maybe he didn’t have space to actually warm up his voice and just went at it without warming up much. Doubt he’d do that, but it would explain how weak he sounds. Voice was very linear and weird during most of that performance. Springsteen sung him off the stage! Lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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.