Should Axl change his vocal approach on certain songs?

[Tom-Ass]

I don't think it is fair at all  to say he isn't trying but it is fair to say that his voice on many songs has become a turn off.  He just doesn't have the tools to do that anymore and that is fine.. I think it would sound awesome if he sang more songs in the It's So Easy, Brownstone, LALD Chorus, Don't Cry range and just busted out the signature Axl screams at key parts of the songs.. It would be  different than the studio versions but it would still sound great in my opinion.. I can totally hear the opening lines to You Could Be Mine sang like this in my head and I think it would sound bad ass.. Like the voice in the "Nobody ever told you baby" part of Estrranged.. 

You just have to look at him to know he is trying when he is up there.. I just think he is just trying to hard for an outcome that just isn't achievable anymore.

[Gordon Comstock]

4 hours ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

ISE

Brownstone

CD

Slither (change vocal approach, remove Mickey)

WTTJ (requires high voice)

Estranged (requires high voice)

Locomotive (Axl does low melody the entire time)

Bad Obsession

LALD

TAY (clean voice is fine)

PTU

Sorry

Absurd

Perhaps (Let Melissa do the high notes in the chorus. If this band ever releases another single this would be a super nice one for Axl’s voice.)

SCOM

Wichita

You Ain’t The First

Patience

NR

KOHD

Dont Cry

(Slow) You’re Crazy

PC

 

Made this in a few minutes so not that thought out but this would be 10x better for Axl’s vocals. Still has most of the hits. It’s a lot slower sure but would be less embarassing and less taxing on his vocals.

 

I'd swap Slither and Sorry for Down On The Farm and maybe Marseilles or The Garden but yea, they could do a great 2.5-3 hour show that's not nearly as hard on Axl.

[Nintari]

Just drop down a whole step.

[IncitingChaos]

There’s not much good vocally at the moment right? I think he’s trying but not much for his vocals to grip right now. He has damaged vocal chords. If there was ever a time for him to get his vocals right it would have been the break during covid. But I believe his options are to sit out a couple years and have vocal surgery or just accept this is as good as it will get.

The songs currently sound less energetic with the slowed down pace. The performances are less than ideal and casual fans are beginning to notice. I think Axl will require a lot of work surgically and will need a coach. I see neither happening anytime soon at the age of 60. Just enjoy what he can do at the moment.  

[jekylhyde]

13 hours ago, WAR™ said:

I think the best choice could be this approach everytime he can... just the first seconds here for example

 

For the life of me, I don't get it why he ditched that low voice -approach for the bridge on Slither. It sounds sooo good. I mean, fuck the rasp. If he can't do it these days, then he can't. Totally understandable. But there is no excuse to not use that powerful low voice, when it sounds that good. They could play old songs, which are sung in lower register, like Bad Obsession, transpose vocal melodies on other songs a bit (octave lower or singing like a harmony-type of version of the melody, like Ozzy did with Black Sabbath during their later days) and write new songs that utilize his current vocal form.

And I do think he sounds okay with his clean voice and falsetto and I don't want to just bitch about things, but it's kind of bummer that those songs sound a bit iffy, when they could potentially sound much more powerful with that low voice.

Edited June 14, 2022 by jekylhyde

[DTJ80]

What’s clear in this thread is that we are literally 99% agreed on what could be a great setlist AND what vocal delivery would sound awesome. It’s probably the most united I have ever seen a thread on here 🤣🤣🤣🤣.

Irritatingly I can’t post it but there is footage out there from WTTJ from Hershey where at the very end of the song he goes low on ‘it’s gonna bring you down’ and it sounded killer - really good and shows what could be done. Not only would a change like that sound awesome for the fans (keep SCOM/NR with current style) but it would surely be easier and more comfortable for Axl trying to attain notes which just aren’t there anymore. It would probably extend the lifespan of the band immeasurably too.

[El Guapo]

37 minutes ago, DTJ80 said:

What’s clear in this thread is that we are literally 99% agreed on what could be a great setlist AND what vocal delivery would sound awesome. It’s probably the most united I have ever seen a thread on here 🤣🤣🤣🤣.

Irritatingly I can’t post it but there is footage out there from WTTJ from Hershey where at the very end of the song he goes low on ‘it’s gonna bring you down’ and it sounded killer - really good and shows what could be done. Not only would a change like that sound awesome for the fans (keep SCOM/NR with current style) but it would surely be easier and more comfortable for Axl trying to attain notes which just aren’t there anymore. It would probably extend the lifespan of the band immeasurably too.

It could sound amazing and definately way cooler than what he is trying to do now.

Must have crossed his mind a long time ago though, so probably never gonna happen.

[DTJ80]

29 minutes ago, El Guapo said:

It could sound amazing and definately way cooler than what he is trying to do now.

Must have crossed his mind a long time ago though, so probably never gonna happen.

Surely it will get to a point where something has to be done - even a setlist revamp would do wonders. Or release new songs in his current capabilities…….but…..well…..you know 🤣

[Gnrcane]

3 hours ago, jekylhyde said:

For the life of me, I don't get it why he ditched that low voice -approach for the bridge on Slither. It sounds sooo good. I mean, fuck the rasp. If he can't do it these days, then he can't. Totally understandable. But there is no excuse to not use that powerful low voice, when it sounds that good. They could play old songs, which are sung in lower register, like Bad Obsession, transpose vocal melodies on other songs a bit (octave lower or singing like a harmony-type of version of the melody, like Ozzy did with Black Sabbath during their later days) and write new songs that utilize his current vocal form.

And I do think he sounds okay with his clean voice and falsetto and I don't want to just bitch about things, but it's kind of bummer that those songs sound a bit iffy, when they could potentially sound much more powerful with that low voice.

The issue with the "clean" voice/falsetto is that he doesn't sound like Axl Rose. It isn't "bad" or off key singing, it's just not what we expect Axl Rose to sound like.

[SoulMonster]

Axl's high-pitched and nasally voice is really an acquired taste for most people. Back in the days he masked it using lots of drive and rasp which made the voice fuller and really powerful. Nowadays he has also lost some of the sustain (naturally for someone at his age) and it has become more pitchy at certain levels and he sometimes fails at sustaining high-pitched singing for a long time so he has to resort to going an octave down or so to continue singing, making for abrupt changes mid-song.

He does have a very beautiful lower register, though, and it is a bit unfortunate that he hasn't displayed this voice more over the years. If he had released more songs him singing in lower register (like Patience and One in a Million) I think the public perception of him as a singer would have been (even) more favorable.

[Underhardy]

How can we be THIS far in (2+ decades of Mickey) and still be asking these questions… Axls just a meme at this point.. 

[FabioRoses]

it's so easy
mr. brownstone
chinese democracy
welcome to the jungle
double talkin' jive
bad obsession
live and let die
so fine
pretty tied up
estranged
absurd
hard skool
civil war
street of dreams
shadow of your love
attitude
sweet child o' mine
november rain
you ain't the first (acoustic)
used to love her (acoustic)
knockin' on heaven's door
think about you

don't cry
you're crazy (slow)
patience
paradise city

alt list:
slither
sorry
raw power
new rose
down on the farm
marseilles
wichita lineman (acoustic)
move to the city (acoustic)
dead flowers (acoustic)
locomotive (low voice as someone stated here)
shackler's revenge (melissa can sing the high harmony in chorus)
perhaps
yesterdays
dust n' bones

a shame that even fans could do better setlists than the band. i'm sure that this set Axl would sound amazing and all the fans would love to hear it. 

[axlslash]

He should change his approach to Wichita Lineman from "singing it" to "not singing it anymore."

[DTJ80]

16 minutes ago, axlslash said:

He should change his approach to Wichita Lineman from "singing it" to "not singing it anymore."

Gonna hard disagree - I think he and the band do a great version. 🤷🏼‍♂️

[DTJ80]

2 hours ago, SoulMonster said:

Axl's high-pitched and nasally voice is really an acquired taste for most people. Back in the days he masked it using lots of drive and rasp which made the voice fuller and really powerful. Nowadays he has also lost some of the sustain (naturally for someone at his age) and it has become more pitchy at certain levels and he sometimes fails at sustaining high-pitched singing for a long time so he has to resort to going an octave down or so to continue singing, making for abrupt changes mid-song.

He does have a very beautiful lower register, though, and it is a bit unfortunate that he hasn't displayed this voice more over the years. If he had released more songs him singing in lower register (like Patience and One in a Million) I think the public perception of him as a singer would have been (even) more favorable.

Yup. And the funny thing is - he tried to vary it up on CD with lower voices and clean singing.

Im still looking forward to the gig in Glasgow - I’m well aware of what to expect and not one of the folk who expect him to sound like he did in 1992 (absolutely unreasonable). But it’s just bonkers to not even dip into the back catalog to play stuff he actually sang lower on?!

[shootingstar]

On 6/13/2022 at 1:44 PM, swirkh said:

Doesn't he also sing NR/YCBM/SCOM nowadays higher than back in the day ?

I'm a guitar player, not a pro singer, so I might be wrong. But I think we're not talking here about a need for him to go super low on these songs. Just going to his speaking-like voice (example chorus 1&2 in Don't Cry) would sound way better than how he sings right now ? There's no rasp there, it's also a clean voice, but not squealing.

No, he doesn't sing them higher, but you're into something valid here. Where he "normally" sings with the upper spectrum of his normal low/mid range voice, he now uses the lower range of his falsetto instead and it all sounds weak. But a good way to save his voice.

Funny is that he could easily sing ycbm with the same voice as as he use on the chorus on ChiDem, for example. That would sound awsome.

But I'm a bit tired of the suggestion he should sing in lower tunes. His high falsetto is just fine. 

[Pedrolg]

19 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

No, he doesn't sing them higher, but you're into something valid here. Where he "normally" sings with the upper spectrum of his normal low/mid range voice, he now uses the lower range of his falsetto instead and it all sounds weak. But a good way to save his voice.

Funny is that he could easily sing ycbm with the same voice as as he use on the chorus on ChiDem, for example. That would sound awsome.

But I'm a bit tired of the suggestion he should sing in lower tunes. His high falsetto is just fine. 

It is not just fine. I challenge you to show WTJ or SCOM from last gig to anybody who is not a hardcore fan, get a positive reaction "hmm, this sounds fine" and post it here. Fine it is not. Axl sounds like a parody, I've seen better renditions of GNR songs at karaoke bars.

[shootingstar]

2 hours ago, Pedrolg said:

It is not just fine. I challenge you to show WTJ or SCOM from last gig to anybody who is not a hardcore fan, get a positive reaction "hmm, this sounds fine" and post it here. Fine it is not. Axl sounds like a parody, I've seen better renditions of GNR songs at karaoke bars.

I said his HIGH falsetto is fine, and you're giving med examples of songs where he doesn't use it. Those songs are exactly examples of what I'm talking about - dominated midrange songs he on most parts didn't use to sing in falsetto, but now do. 

If you don't think his intro line to wttj sounds fine its a matter subjectivity.

But still claim this as an objective fact, he has replaced his midrange nasal voice with a lower falsetto instead. And on Scom, wittj, ycbm and so on are not too high for him, but on the edge to low for his falsetto.

Axl goes in "high" mode too early on too low tunes. It's like accelerating a car on a too high gear.

Anyone here, singer or not, try to sing the lowest tunes you can in falsetto. Then you have it.

 

[shootingstar]

23 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

I said his HIGH falsetto is fine, and you're giving med examples of songs where he doesn't use it. Those songs are exactly examples of what I'm talking about - dominated midrange songs he on most parts didn't use to sing in falsetto, but now do. 

If you don't think his intro line to wttj sounds fine its a matter subjectivity.

But still claim this as an objective fact, he has replaced his midrange nasal voice with a lower falsetto instead. And on Scom, wittj, ycbm and so on are not too high for him, but on the edge to low for his falsetto.

Axl goes in "high" mode too early on too low tunes. It's like accelerating a car on a too high gear.

Anyone here, singer or not, try to sing the lowest tunes you can in falsetto. Then you have it.

 

 

3:37, 5:08 & 5:15. That's the highest notes hi hits on the song, and those particular notes not only sounds decent, but awsome.

Edited June 14, 2022 by janrichmond
removed yt video

[janrichmond]

@shootingstarI removed the YT video, only official YT videos are allowed.

 

[Dangom1]

I think at some point we will get to the stage where Axl will just sing the low notes and Melissa the high notes. Like David Coverdale

[El Nono Pololo]

On 6/14/2022 at 6:47 PM, Dangom1 said:

I think at some point we will get to the stage where Axl will just sing the low notes and Melissa the high notes. Like David Coverdale

Let Melissa handle the high notes, Frank the low notes and Duff the mid-range, and Axl could just focus on snake-dancing throughout the show.

[FabioRoses]

On 6/14/2022 at 6:02 PM, shootingstar said:

 

3:37, 5:08 & 5:15. That's the highest notes hi hits on the song, and those particular notes not only sounds decent, but awsome.

what song it was??

[shootingstar]

17 hours ago, FabioRoses said:

what song it was??

I've been here since 2004, but now like a noob as I haven't been here for a while. Forgot what song I wasn't aloud to link, but the rule is applicable on any song. Take any song, and the highest notes sounds the best. NV outro, outro of Scom, the stick in ycbm, outro on ISE and so on.

Anyway, on midrange songs he sings with falsetto on songs he didn't do falsetto on back in the days, that makes his voice sounds like the cleaner woman in family guy, instead of pushing up his normal deep nasal voice. I'm a lead singer myself, not that I'm famous, but think I know what I'm talking about. And that's why I loved Axl in first place, he's totally out of the box as a singer. Even now. He's hard to analyze, but I've heard every single word recorded for the last 20 years. 

 

[Tom2112]

Yes, but certain songs and certain parts of songs require the lift that singing in a higher range gives a song. For example you're crazy where he sings low the whole time is a little monotonous, with him raising his pitch throughout the verse it's exciting. 

November rain could probably have low voice Axl on the verses, but the outro needs the high range or at least somebody on stage singing the higher line.