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Do you think Axl will ever sound as good as 2016?


Do you think Axl will ever sound as good as 2016?  

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  1. 1. Do you think Axl will ever sound as good as 2016?

    • Yes, Axl will sound good as 2016 again.
    • No, Axl will never sound as good as 2016 again.

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  • Poll closed on 05/31/2022 at 12:00 PM

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No. If there wasn’t for AC/DC, he could have used that power he still had in 2016 gradually in GN’R shows, in a sustainable manner, for years on and he still would have sounded good (better than in the few years before). But this thing took a huge toll, and you could hear it as early as in 2017 (actually towards the end of 2016 already). I understand he had to do that, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and a dream come true. But now, we’re condemned to just glean whatever scraps there may be and grasp every glimpse of rasp/power voice that occasionally occurs (essentially sounding like Herbert the Pervert having micro hissy fits). As per usual, it may get slightly better during the course of the tour, but his voice has been shot for a few years now, basically since 2018, with some surprising exceptions. It’s not about practicing, it’s not about a vocal coach any more. 
Sure, miracles could always happen, I’m still an optimist. But why wouldn’t he have sounded better if he could recently? I don’t buy that "he’s lazy" nonsense. 
Maybe it also depends on the drive – NITL was stale in the last years. 
Maybe they need to, you know, release something. 
I want to believe. 

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1 hour ago, jamillos said:

No. If there wasn’t for AC/DC, he could have used that power he still had in 2016 gradually in GN’R shows, in a sustainable manner, for years on and he still would have sounded good (better than in the few years before). But this thing took a huge toll, and you could hear it as early as in 2017 (actually towards the end of 2016 already). I understand he had to do that, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and a dream come true. But now, we’re condemned to just glean whatever scraps there may be and grasp every glimpse of rasp/power voice that occasionally occurs (essentially sounding like Herbert the Pervert having micro hissy fits). As per usual, it may get slightly better during the course of the tour, but his voice has been shot for a few years now, basically since 2018, with some surprising exceptions. It’s not about practicing, it’s not about a vocal coach any more. 
Sure, miracles could always happen, I’m still an optimist. But why wouldn’t he have sounded better if he could recently? I don’t buy that "he’s lazy" nonsense. 
Maybe it also depends on the drive – NITL was stale in the last years. 
Maybe they need to, you know, release something. 
I want to believe. 

How long have you been an otolaryngologist?

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56 minutes ago, Oldest Goat said:

Axl deliberately chooses to sing the mickey way, that's a fact, people tend to forget this. I don't think he blew his voice in ACDC

I think that’s two different things. He probably sings the Mickey way to save what’s left from his mid range but I think he blew some of his upper range with AC/DC. When you watch videos of the Axl/DC NA tour 2016, that’s the first time he struggles to hit high notes and it stayed that way after the tour finished (that’s why he can’t sing ie the Better bridge properly anymore). 
Imo him sounding like Mickey doesn’t have anything to do with AC/DC but him not reaching the high notes anymore does

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1 hour ago, SAU3R said:

I think that’s two different things. He probably sings the Mickey way to save what’s left from his mid range but I think he blew some of his upper range with AC/DC. When you watch videos of the Axl/DC NA tour 2016, that’s the first time he struggles to hit high notes and it stayed that way after the tour finished (that’s why he can’t sing ie the Better bridge properly anymore). 
Imo him sounding like Mickey doesn’t have anything to do with AC/DC but him not reaching the high notes anymore does

You’re absolutely right, but some people will never understand this. Sustainability is one thing, but another thing is the fact that there are spots where rasp should be and he’s clearly reaching for it, yet the throat is not having it and the result just sounds bad. 
I don’t know how much this magical "practicing" or even "rehearsing" can do about it (the latter being basically just warm-up before the show). 
Again, I do think he still has something left in the tank – and I never doubted he still can nail it in the studio. Short portions – no problem. It’s the tireless, endless, unnecessary touring that ruins him. 

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17 hours ago, darkside259 said:

i think axl is doing just fine, the other artists r falling apart, james from metallica fall apart the other day crying he s "to old for this shit" bon jovi is doing playback, brian jhonson is deaf, axl is in a good lvl of rock legend for his age and his voice comes and goes but slash has no excuse he s doing pretty plain for somone of his calibre 

This. At this point, with all of these stories in the news, I think it shows that Axl - for all of our complaining - sounds relatively good given the demands of the songs and his age. I am not saying Axl couldn't try harder, but ultimately it is what it is. I think it's telling that after every show I have attended in recent years with friends, people leave talking about how great Axl sounds; point being we're the most critical of him. I do agree that he seemed to show some improvement in 2021 over the past few years before that, so I'm hoping that carries over. 

 

20 hours ago, alfierose said:

Are we moving the goalposts?  I'm sure this question used to be posed as 2006 then 2009. :lol:

 

I imagine with something as fleeting as vocal ability, it will always be a moving goal post by default. I do not think anyone in here would not want him to come back out this year sounding like he did in 2006/2009/2010, but I think we can all accept he won't be there again just by virtue of age. It seems most people acknowledge that 2016 was a good compromise of him sounding vital, but not absolutely wrecking his voice like he probably did in 2006/2010. 

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21 hours ago, Tom2112 said:

More importantly Hetfield can confidently sing every song in the Metallica set and he sounds like James Hetfield...

No he doesn't lol. Go watch Metallica perform Master of Puppets live in Seattle in 1989... then go watch that group-hug nonsense back to back and tell me James still sounds like James. It's just tragic how far that band has fallen. If James has mental health issues that he can't reel in on stage, he should retire, go deal with them, heal and be happy. This is not Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. This is metal. It's suppose to be done a certain way. And watching a sixty-year-old-man cry it out on stage while his band mates console him is not the right way.

I know that sounds callus and blunt, but it's true. If I want to watch that sort of thing on stage, I'll start liking Harry Styles.

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On 5/17/2022 at 5:03 PM, darkside259 said:

i think axl is doing just fine, the other artists r falling apart, james from metallica fall apart the other day crying he s "to old for this shit" bon jovi is doing playback, brian jhonson is deaf, axl is in a good lvl of rock legend for his age and his voice comes and goes but slash has no excuse he s doing pretty plain for somone of his calibre 

I think Metallica are doing just fine. This video is from two weeks ago and it is better than any live Guns video I have seen in 30 years. Metallica are constantlly releasing shit like this.. Guns can't because pro-shots expose the fact that they really aren't a great live band anymore and even more so how bad Axl looks and sounds... 

 

 

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46 minutes ago, Alexmee239 said:

The bridge in YCBM will be a good indicator of where Axl stands in terms of both vocals and stamina. Last tour he was unable to sing it fully until 6-7 shows in. If he can do that from the first show, it's a big improvement from last year.

YCBM, Slither, Better, Nightrain outro... If he can sing those songs properly at the first show, then it's a good start. :lol:

 

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15 hours ago, Tom2112 said:

Sorry but you're obviously an angry teenager that can't understand that a rockstar has issues too. 

Where in that video did he walk off stage or fall on his knees crying and couldn't continue the show? Exactly nowhere. Over the past 20yrs Hetfield has changed his stage talk dramatically bye bye are the days of calling everybody cunts (he probably would make an exception for you) and in are the days where he's a father and going through shit and sees no reason why he can't use his huge platform to help others. It was 30seconds in a 2hr show and they kicked straight into sad but true afterwards most people didn't even realize it was happening.

Also, I'm not saying he sounds like a 28yr old, I am saying he sounds fucking great for a 58yr old though. Of course vocals from 30yrs ago are better but listen to him sing Ride the lighting live from the last few tours it sounds better now than it did for a long, long time. Yeah some parts are cleaner other parts are heavier... There's a thing called creative freedom and there's also a thing of your voice maturing over time. He also said in the early 90s that he always wanted to sing but he was both too shy and didn't know how. I'm positive if he knew more from the beginning the recorded vocals on the earlier albums would be different.

I didn't need to educate you, but I hold out hope that you might one day remove your head from your ass.

This x 100. After all the online comments I saw with people bitching that Hetfield was "breaking down" and "crying on stage," it was a shock to me how much of a non-issue the whole incident was. To start, he didn't cry (that I could see). In some between song banner, he off handedly mentioned that he felt a little anxious about getting on stage, but his band mates helped him overcome that anxiety and the energy of the crowd got him back on his feet. His band mates hugged him because he's - you know - their friends, and for whatever beef you have about how the play the music now, they seem to get along on a personal level much better than they did prior to say 2004. The ironic thing about a GN'R fan (like the one you responded to) complaining about this type of thing is that Axl made much more personal rants about his personal and mental issues at the absolute height of the band's career. Does this same person think Axl was a "wuss" for talking about his abuse on stage during the Use Your Illusion tour? 

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17 hours ago, Nintari said:

No he doesn't lol. Go watch Metallica perform Master of Puppets live in Seattle in 1989... then go watch that group-hug nonsense back to back and tell me James still sounds like James. It's just tragic how far that band has fallen. If James has mental health issues that he can't reel in on stage, he should retire, go deal with them, heal and be happy. This is not Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. This is metal. It's suppose to be done a certain way. And watching a sixty-year-old-man cry it out on stage while his band mates console him is not the right way.

I know that sounds callus and blunt, but it's true. If I want to watch that sort of thing on stage, I'll start liking Harry Styles.

I mean, Hetfield has dealt with his demons. On numerous occasions. There are plenty of singers who have the same attitude you have, and then they crack under the pressure of their own mental health and either kill themselves, or vanish from the public entirely. And not in a good way.

These things don't just go away because they're on a stage.

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12 minutes ago, Zeppelin said:

I mean, Hetfield has dealt with his demons. On numerous occasions. There are plenty of singers who have the same attitude you have, and then they crack under the pressure of their own mental health and either kill themselves, or vanish from the public entirely. And not in a good way.

These things don't just go away because they're on a stage.

Yep, it's quite manly to do what James did. All these toxic little fucks in the comment sections should be ignored.

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I skipped voting because I don't remember 2016 being that great. I actually remember it being comparable to now (with the exception of Axl/DC which was great).

Is there a performance from 2016 I should look up for context? Surprised people remember it this way.

I have to say though I feel for the guy - yes, it's Father Time, but he's said that he knows that fans don't much like his clean voice, but it hurts him to sing with rasp, so he's kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.

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46 minutes ago, BangoSkank said:

I skipped voting because I don't remember 2016 being that great. I actually remember it being comparable to now (with the exception of Axl/DC which was great).

Is there a performance from 2016 I should look up for context? Surprised people remember it this way.

I have to say though I feel for the guy - yes, it's Father Time, but he's said that he knows that fans don't much like his clean voice, but it hurts him to sing with rasp, so he's kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Again, I do not think anyone seemed to think it was on level with 2006 or 2009/2010, but he seemed to be using the raspy voice more consistently and it was a considerable step-up from how he sounded from 2011-2014. Even into 2017 he still seemed to have some energy and rasp left, but it started "slipping" again in the later part of 2017. 

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54 minutes ago, BangoSkank said:

I skipped voting because I don't remember 2016 being that great. I actually remember it being comparable to now (with the exception of Axl/DC which was great).

Is there a performance from 2016 I should look up for context? Surprised people remember it this way.

I have to say though I feel for the guy - yes, it's Father Time, but he's said that he knows that fans don't much like his clean voice, but it hurts him to sing with rasp, so he's kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.

It's not really comparable to now in that he did have a lot more power, control and seemingly more range... in other ways you can draw comparisons, but Axl has always been inconsistent from night to night.

2016 was a decent year for him vocally, but I wasn't listening to it thinking "this is a return to form". I thought the end dates at the hard rock in 2014 were a return to form.

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1 hour ago, Tom2112 said:

It's not really comparable to now in that he did have a lot more power, control and seemingly more range... in other ways you can draw comparisons, but Axl has always been inconsistent from night to night.

2016 was a decent year for him vocally, but I wasn't listening to it thinking "this is a return to form". I thought the end dates at the hard rock in 2014 were a return to form.

I just listened to two Jungle performances - Pittsburgh 2016 and Hollywood, FL 2020 and I do see what people are saying now. Kind of a shame but it is what it is.

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