Motivation or vocal issue?

[Ratam]

I has the feeling that Axl attitude gig with Ac/Dc was enough irresponsible, of doing risk his own band and ruin his voice.

[Gordon Comstock]

37 minutes ago, MrMojo said:

It's just strained. Saying that, 2013 was one of the weakest years of his career. If he can come back from that I think he can come back from this. A break, vocal coach and trying would help greatly. It'll never be peak but I think it Coul come close.

 

In 2013-14 he sounded like he just didn't give a fuck, like he was on autopilot just waiting for the shows to end. Playing small venues to dwindling crowds on an endless tour was probably depressing. But when he went for a high note or a big scream he could still nail it, and if he wanted to sing the verses of Estranged or PC or Nightrain with rasp, he could do it.

The difference is that now, his voice has been so worn down over the last 5 years, that even when he wants to 'bring it', he can't. That voice that made WTTJ sound effortless 5 years ago just isn't there anymore. He had a year and a half break before this tour but it didn't make too much of a difference. Take SOYL for example, people on here praise the hell out of that song, and while it does sound better than plenty of other songs, his voice sounds much more forced and unnatural. A break or a vocal coach won't bring back the parts of his voice that he's lost, unfortunately.

[WhazUp]

I honestly think that for AC/DC he pushed his vocals to the limit because of his want to not dissapoint Angus, and maybe pushed his vocals a bit too much to where the rasp is harder to do nowadays.

Just comparing 2016 as a whole to everything since, it really is a big difference - even with GNR, nothing after 2016 has ever come close to the raspiness of Houston 2016 for example

Edited September 29, 2021 by WhazUp

[Coma16]

I thought he sounded pretty good during the No Trickery show I attended. Not 2010 vocals or anything, but much better than the 2011 show I attended.

[WhazUp]

42 minutes ago, StrangerInThisTown said:

I think you guys are dreaming. He has sounded the exact same 2016-2021 except for the ACDC shows. Fucking look it up. Nothing changed, he wasn't any less mickey in 2016, apart from the Houston show. He sounded awful on songs like YCBM and RQ and PC BEFORE the ACDC shows, and after. Didn't "damage" or change his vocals at all.

I was just comparing recent videos to videos of the Dodger Stadium gig I caught and the difference is fairly substantial.  Like, if you compare Nightrain, hell even YCBM to any of the shows from this year it definitely is a fairly big difference when it comes to raw power and rasp

[IncitingChaos]

50 minutes ago, StrangerInThisTown said:

I think you guys are dreaming. He has sounded the exact same 2016-2021 except for the ACDC shows. Fucking look it up. Nothing changed, he wasn't any less mickey in 2016, apart from the Houston show. He sounded awful on songs like YCBM and RQ and PC BEFORE the ACDC shows, and after. Didn't "damage" or change his vocals at all.

He sounds good on 15% of the show now versus 2016 he sounded good about 75-80% haha my favorite is to go watch the Washington DC 2016 show. He just looked and sounded like the old Axl. Great show, cool attire, easy to watch the whole thing without getting bored.

 

Axl struggled anytime Angus’s came back to join GNR on stage after acdc. But Axl could have had vocal work done recently as well and has to rebuild his voice back up. That would be unlikely considering he’s almost 60 and covid was going on. He doesn’t sound very capable of holding simple notes on songs, like his voice won’t lock on to anything, he’s just all over the place. I’m hopeful we see improvement though! 

[koldbeer2]

58 minutes ago, StrangerInThisTown said:

I think you guys are dreaming. He has sounded the exact same 2016-2021 except for the ACDC shows. Fucking look it up. Nothing changed, he wasn't any less mickey in 2016, apart from the Houston show. He sounded awful on songs like YCBM and RQ and PC BEFORE the ACDC shows, and after. Didn't "damage" or change his vocals at all.

Your clearly ONLY listening for rasp then, because it doesn't take a vocal expert to hear he can't sing as high, for as long, or with as much rasp, and the rasp that comes out is hit and miss and even when he does somewhat nail it the power is generally not as impressive especially on the mid range notes but even to an extent on the higher stuff.

Compare Jungle from even London 17 (yet alone from an average 16 show) to this year and the difference is as obvious as being punched in the face, especially in the first verses in terms of the texture and tonality of his voice. 

I'd say a strong 21 gig as perhaps similar level as an average 17 show?

Edited September 29, 2021 by koldbeer2

[Alexmee239]

It's just that he doesnt ever prepare. That's why he always starts the tour with a shit show and then gets good at the very end. With AC/DC he was 1. very motivated 2. very prepared, had a vocal coach and did a lot of vocal preparation ahead of those legs. 

[Alexmee239]

Also if you compare 2018/2019/2020 Axl could still do songs like This I love/ Dead Horse while he dropped those now as they would've been a complete disaster .

[North Korean Democracy]

Axl/DC doesn't sound anything like the 90s, it sounds better. 90's were either too raspy or too nasal, 2010 and Axl/DC is the right amount of rasp.

[MildlyArtistic]

17 minutes ago, North Korean Democracy said:

Axl/DC doesn't sound anything like the 90s, it sounds better. 90's were either too raspy or too nasal, 2010 and Axl/DC is the right amount of rasp.

I'm quite inclined to agree. The rasp he had during 2010 and 2016 really sounded much more effortless and controlled than his 90s rasp.

[LAGuns87]

Just now, MildlyArtistic said:

I'm quite inclined to agree. The rasp he had during 2010 and 2016 really sounded much more effortless and controlled than his 90s rasp.

It's better in the sense that he has learned to use his voice in a much better way. If he has lost power since the 90s that has been more than made up by a better technique and control. His longest and most powerful Jungle screams were in the early 00s. Especially Rio is insane, No way he could do that in the 90s. On some 2010 shows he delivers screams with more power and ease than he used to in his prime,

However the old voice is better because it sounds much better, More full and dynamic. It's like Dark Side of the Moon versus Wish You Were Here.

[ChristianGNR]

2 hours ago, StrangerInThisTown said:

I think you guys are dreaming. He has sounded the exact same 2016-2021 except for the ACDC shows. Fucking look it up. Nothing changed, he wasn't any less mickey in 2016, apart from the Houston show. He sounded awful on songs like YCBM and RQ and PC BEFORE the ACDC shows, and after. Didn't "damage" or change his vocals at all.

This is a unpopular opinion, but I agree with that.

his 2016 GNR voice wasn’t near 2010 and very similar to what Axl sounded in 2011-2014.

[darkside259]

2 hours ago, StrangerInThisTown said:

I think you guys are dreaming. He has sounded the exact same 2016-2021 except for the ACDC shows. Fucking look it up. Nothing changed, he wasn't any less mickey in 2016, apart from the Houston show. He sounded awful on songs like YCBM and RQ and PC BEFORE the ACDC shows, and after. Didn't "damage" or change his vocals at all.

not dude, you r dreaming! just look the OTGM or TWAT from the selects, wttj from 2016 was badass shadow too, COMA was raspy as hell and the range and estructure of his voice was stronger.

[WVsax27]

it is kind of interesting we have had "what's wrong with Axl's voice?!" posts since 2001 with the period that he sounded "good" becoming later and later each time. 

[Jwalker19]

2 hours ago, StrangerInThisTown said:

I think you guys are dreaming. He has sounded the exact same 2016-2021 except for the ACDC shows. Fucking look it up. Nothing changed, he wasn't any less mickey in 2016, apart from the Houston show. He sounded awful on songs like YCBM and RQ and PC BEFORE the ACDC shows, and after. Didn't "damage" or change his vocals at all.

I completely disagree. I was watching a random video a few weeks ago from 2016 when he was in the throne doing Better and he sounded night/day different compared to now. Much more rasp, longer sustained notes and less out-of-breath moments.

[agustingloger]

From 2011 to 2014 he sounded way worse to me. I think he could do better but he doesn't care. He didn't rehearsed when he was young what makes You think he would rehearse at his 60?! He said it himself when he was with ACDC about going to rehearsals and learn the benefits of them. 

[agustingloger]

1 hour ago, ChrisMaciel said:

This is a unpopular opinion, but I agree with that.

his 2016 GNR voice wasn’t near 2010 and very similar to what Axl sounded in 2011-2014.

Oh no 2011 - 2014 was the worst! 14 years with Izzy was the worst i heard him. You know besides Bridge benefit and RIR 2011

[koldweather]

I agree he often was in cruise control in 11-14. But he could still turn it on if he wanted to (Denver 11, Philly 12,  and the last 2 shows of vegas 14 ). I don't think he could put those sorts of performances anymore even if he wanted to. The rasp control/power and to a lesser extent his very top range are just gone.

So in 11-14 there was at times a lack of effort. Its like he was using 30% of say 75% of his voice that was left. nowdays I don't doubt he is using a far higher effort level, its just what he has left in the tank is much reduced.

Edited September 29, 2021 by koldweather

[Gordon Comstock]

1 hour ago, agustingloger said:

Oh no 2011 - 2014 was the worst! 14 years with Izzy was the worst i heard him. You know besides Bridge benefit and RIR 2011

 

Late 2011-early 2012 was infinitely better than how he sounds now. Like koldweather said above, he could still 'turn it on' between 2011-14 but was mostly just cruising through the shows. Just listen to Yesterdays or TWAT from 2014 and then from 2017-18, it's night and day.

[Lies They Tell]

AC/DC songs and Guns n' Roses songs are very different. That's why singing AC/DC was easier for Axl in 2016. Brian Johnsson songs are full of screaming and in 2016 Axl sounded raspy always when he was screaming. Even on GNR songs. But in general Guns n' Roses songs are more melodic and melodic songs are more difficult to sing with a raspy voice.

That being said, I don't think he can sing like that anymore, but he didn't lose that raspy screaming voice immediately after the AC/DC gigs either.

Shadow of Your Love is the closest thing to a Brian Johnsson type song on the GNR setlist, because that song is pure screaming from start to finish. Axl used to sound pretty raspy on that song in 2018, which means that he would have sounded pretty raspy on AC/DC songs in 2018 as well.

Over the years even Shadow of Your Love has become less raspy and the way he sings it now is the closest indication of what Axl would sound like today if he sang AC/DC.

So if you want to know what Axl would sound like today singing AC/DC, just watch a recent Shadow Of Your Love performance. It's not bad, but it's not really the same as before either.

Edited September 29, 2021 by Lies They Tell

[UYI4]

I’d say let’s not forget dudes almost a 60 year old man.  Wine and cigarettes and everything else in life takes its toll on your pallet.  He’s a human being.  He went long periods without singing at all which could be blessing and a curse.  He definitely holds back more.  There’s glimmers of old Axl, but quitting smoking I’ll bet took a lot of rasp away.  He even said he worked very hard to sing cleaner.  Watching him strain so much back in the day you can tell he likely was singing wrong quite a bit.  Look at Bon Jovi.  You’re hearing Axl more and more like that.  Only a matter of time before more backup singers return IMO.  Hell duff covers a good chunk of ground now too.

[mingsubu]

7 hours ago, downzy said:

Unfortunately no.

The knives have been out for us for awhile, so anything that violates copyright and gets posted here is a potential strike against the forum if we allow it to stay up.  

How do you get a strike against the forum? Other music forum post links all the time.

[Chris 55]

Sounded good when he did that Bugs Bunny song. That was post AC/DC

[downzy]

2 hours ago, mingsubu said:

How do you get a strike against the forum? Other music forum post links all the time.

Other forums don’t have assholes who think they’re doing the band a favour by filing copyright claims concerning anything not licensed by the band.