Axl Voice could have a comeback?

[darkside259]

We witnes the fenix nature of Axl voice in 2006/10 when he went full god mode, and then again in 16s  we saw the fenix with AXL/DC n GNR.

Now we facing a dark time for Axl in terms of vocal range and this could be atributed to the extension of the tour, some might said is becouse the voice is "shot" due to the "way of sing" or "technique" Axl used all this years an in specific  16s with AXL/DC, That this could be terminal to his vocal chords  but if this were true....  is permanent? 

migh be a way for Axl to gaing back his signature voice? an operation? rest? time? 

 we saw Axl in darks times and the people give him for death in terms of voice like in 2001 or 2013/14.

i know the actual state of axl s voice is worst than ever, but could be a rebirth? a fenix era again?  

the death of his all life vocal coach Ron Anderson doesn t help to the matter but is another coach in contact with Axl? 

i personally think that Axl is a rocky case and always has surprises under his many hats.

 

 

[Billy Cundy]

I think it’s safe to say it’s probably gone for good. He’s also now seen that his economical ‘Mickey’ voice will still fill a stadium, so I doubt he’d be willing to put himself through it even if his rasp did come back.

He’s a 60 year old man. His technique at his peak relied heavily on pushing a lot of air, kind of like he’s singing with the force of his chest voice, but compressing and distorting in his throat (mixed voice). This is exhausting, and he bitched and complained and kept people waiting around because of it when he was in his 20s… 

now the bitching and complaining has ceased, but so has the rasp. Maybe that’s the pay off. Axl’s voice is something of an affect, his gift was being able to create that sound and keep it in tune. It wasn’t his natural voice. Steven Tyler still sounds remarkably good because his singing voice is basically his speaking voice, they’re tonally very similar. Bon Scott was the same, he could belt a set because he was amplifying his speaking voice/register. Axl had this crazy demonic screech he could affect but it was so physically taxing that it came and went, and now he’s approaching retirement age, it likely will not return.

[darkside259]

7 minutes ago, Billy Cundy said:

I think it’s safe to say it’s probably gone for good. He’s also now seen that his economical ‘Mickey’ voice will still fill a stadium, so I doubt he’d be willing to put himself through it even if his rasp did come back.

He’s a 60 year old man. His technique at his peak relied heavily on pushing a lot of air, kind of like he’s singing with the force of his chest voice, but compressing and distorting in his throat (mixed voice). This is exhausting, and he bitched and complained and kept people waiting around because of it when he was in his 20s… 

now the bitching and complaining has ceased, but so has the rasp. Maybe that’s the pay off. Axl’s voice is something of an affect, his gift was being able to create that sound and keep it in tune. It wasn’t his natural voice. Steven Tyler still sounds remarkably good because his singing voice is basically his speaking voice, they’re tonally very similar. Bon Scott was the same, he could belt a set because he was amplifying his speaking voice/register. Axl had this crazy demonic screech he could affect but it was so physically taxing that it came and went, and now he’s approaching retirement age, it likely will not return.

i got this point but Axl is really trying to put his voice back so in terms of will i think the man want that voice and respect back, he knows what happend when he sings like hymself with that styled and he really wan t that back, the thing is he can do it in the future?  

[Blackstar]

Yeah, like I said in a similar thread a while back (and without being a vocal expert by any means), I think his signature voice in the high and mid register is gone. It's not just the "rasp" that is gone, but his clean voice in these registers has also deteriorated in power and tone with age. Although many people don't like his clean vocals on CD (e.g. on Catcher in the Rye), his voice was still powerful and had that recognizable "Axl tone" and "texture". Whereas now his clean voice comes out as this thin "Mickey" thing, which has gotten thinner and thinner, and subsequently the "rasp" in these registers, when he pushes for it, comes out unhealthy and forced.

He hasn't lost any power and tone in his natural register though, so he can still sound great by using that more often.

[Billy Cundy]

8 minutes ago, darkside259 said:

i got this point but Axl is really trying to put his voice back so in terms of will i think the man want that voice and respect back, he knows what happend when he sings like hymself with that styled and he really wan t that back, the thing is he can do it in the future?  

That’s a bit like saying ‘Tyson can box like he did in his 20s if he wanted to’…. but that’s not how human physiology works. We wear out, and if recapturing your prime was just a matter of ‘wanting it back’, we’d have 70 year old Olympians. 

No surgeon in their right mind is going to operate on a 60 year old, overweight smoker just because they can’t scream like they did in their 20s.

and similarly, If all he needed was rest, he had nothing BUT rest during Covid, and he still came back in full Mickey Mode. 

I admire your optimism, but people can’t just ‘will’ back their former glory… it’s called ageing.  

[Billy Cundy]

2 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

Yeah, like I said in a similar thread a while back (and without being a vocal expert by any means), I think his signature voice in the high and mid register is gone. It's not just the "rasp" that is gone, but his clean voice in these registers has also deteriorated in power and tone with age. Although many people don't like his clean vocals on CD (e.g. on Catcher in the Rye), his voice was still powerful and had that recognizable "Axl tone" and "texture". Whereas now his clean voice comes out as this thin "Mickey" thing, which has gotten thinner and thinner, and subsequently the "rasp" in these registers, when he pushes for it, comes out unhealthy and forced.

He hasn't lost any power and tone in his natural register though, so he can still sound great by using that more often.

It’s 100% falsetto. It’s very jarring because I can not think of one example of him singing falsetto on a recording (except the intro to ‘Better’ and other little bits on CD maybe). 

[Jakey Styley]

The thing is, I would have said in 2012-2014 that it was gone for good. I might’ve said that in 2002 too. I think it’s unlikely his voice comes back, he just sounds so weak now, but this is one area in which Axl has really surprised us before.

[We love Axl Rose]

This is my thread from May. I also made a poll. 76% of people (147 votes overall) voted that they think Axl will never sing as well as he did in 2016.

Edited September 12, 2022 by We love Axl Rose

[darkside259]

7 minutes ago, Billy Cundy said:

That’s a bit like saying ‘Tyson can box like he did in his 20s if he wanted to’…. but that’s not how human physiology works. We wear out, and if recapturing your prime was just a matter of ‘wanting it back’, we’d have 70 year old Olympians. 

No surgeon in their right mind is going to operate on a 60 year old, overweight smoker just because they can’t scream like they did in their 20s.

and similarly, If all he needed was rest, he had nothing BUT rest during Covid, and he still came back in full Mickey Mode. 

I admire your optimism, but people can’t just ‘will’ back their former glory… it’s called ageing.  

thanks! big tyson fan btw lol, i get that axl is old and is a fact 100% but the voice is a wierd thing in contrast with the muscles or any organ, i don t belive axl is gonna sing like in the 90s or even 06s but a 16s voice comeback could be more posible and also Axl is a special client for a surgeron if there is a operation that could bring back some kind of glory voice the age is not gonna be a problem in terms of moral decision , look Elton John for example 

[Billy Cundy]

4 minutes ago, darkside259 said:

thanks! big tyson fan btw lol, i get that axl is old and is a fact 100% but the voice is a wierd thing in contrast with the muscles or any organ, i don t belive axl is gonna sing like in the 90s or even 06s but a 16s voice comeback could be more posible and also Axl is a special client for a surgeron if there is a operation that could bring back some kind of glory voice the age is not gonna be a problem in terms of moral decision , look Elton John for example 

Elton had bad pain in his throat which turned out to be polyps that had to be removed. He was also 20 years younger when he had the surgery than Axl is now, meaning going under the knife carried less risk.

[darkside259]

2 minutes ago, Billy Cundy said:

Elton had bad pain in his throat which turned out to be polyps that had to be removed. He was also 20 years younger when he had the surgery than Axl is now, meaning going under the knife carried less risk.

my bad i had the info wrong

[Billy Cundy]

1 minute ago, darkside259 said:

my bad i had the info wrong

He could completely prove me wrong and come back swinging at some point. I saw him in Axl/DC and the 2016 first euro leg and he sounded awesome. 100x better than he did in the early 2010s… but then I do think the odds off it happening go down as he gets older 😔

[Blackstar]

10 minutes ago, Billy Cundy said:

It’s 100% falsetto. It’s very jarring because I can not think of one example of him singing falsetto on a recording (except the intro to ‘Better’ and other little bits on CD maybe). 

I don't know, I'm not familiar with singing techniques, but I've read differing opinions on whether it's falsetto or not (I suppose we're talking about the "Mickey" voice). What about his live vocals in 2002?

[Gordon Comstock]

18 minutes ago, Jakey Styley said:

The thing is, I would have said in 2012-2014 that it was gone for good. I might’ve said that in 2002 too. I think it’s unlikely his voice comes back, he just sounds so weak now, but this is one area in which Axl has really surprised us before.

 

The difference in 2012-14 was that occasionally, he still proved that he could 'bring it' when he wanted to. Nowadays when he pushes his voice, the results just aren't there. People will point to the change from 2002-06 or 2012-16, but those aren't good comparisons to now. AC/DC undoubtedly damaged his voice, but it's been simply deteriorating since 2017-18.

Best case scenario would be for him to sing most of the shows with his baritone voice, like the 2nd London show, and only do screams/high vocals on a few songs per night.

[Billy Cundy]

1 minute ago, Blackstar said:

I don't know, I'm not familiar with singing techniques, but I've read differing opinions on whether it's falsetto or not (I suppose we're talking about the "Mickey" voice). What about his live vocals in 2002?

Yeah it’s all head voice. Very weak, I dread to think how much compression he has on his mic. 

2002 is his mixed voice… he’s pushing the air from his diaphragm (proper chest  voice) and managing to get the pitch as he would back in the day, but he’s not adding distortion. He’s slipping into head voice occasionally in 2002 as well. I think his ability to distort has always come and gone, because this happens in the larynx, which is temperamental and prone to infection or strain. Some tours he had it, Some he didn’t. 

Now he can only achieve pitch with falsetto, and because falsetto happens in the head (hence, head voice), he can not distort, because that’s also where the distortion was coming from. Can only do one or the other!

 

[AxlRoseCDII]

Axl’s voice is beyond shot. I listened to some audio of a isolated “Better” from RIR and his voice is worse off than I thought. I think people who thinks he sounds good rn are lying to themselves to be honest, it’s really bad currently, and not just “oh, he’s a little unpracticed” levels, it’s unhealthy. I don’t know why Axl puts such an awful strain and continues to sing songs like YCBM, Better, etc. I think he should just go full baritone, his voice isn’t coming back.

Edited September 12, 2022 by AxlRoseCDII

[Billy Cundy]

3 minutes ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

Axl’s voice is beyond shot. I listened to some audio of a isolated “Better” from RIR and his voice is worse off than I thought. I think people who thinks he sounds good rn are lying to themselves to be honest, it’s really bad currently, and not just “oh, he’s a little unpracticed” levels, it’s unhealthy. I don’t know why Axl puts such an awful strain and continues to sing songs like YCBM, Better, etc. I think he should just go full baritone, his voice isn’t coming back.

100%.

I saw Genesis on the last domino tour, and Phil was quite frail. Vocally, he still kicked Axl’s ass, haha, but he did have 3 young blokes singing incredible BVs. No vocals on track so you were getting your moneys worth, and they were doing Phil’s studio arrangements justice. 
 

Duff is not a backing singer, he’s just been allowed to muel and honk into a mic since 1986 for some reason. He’s terrible. Michael Anthony he is NOT. And Melissa … well… she’s fine I guess? But her voice is timid and usually buried in the mix. They should get a proper backing vocal section to help out and do those old recordings some justice. It’s a travelling tribute to the glory days anyway, might as well try make it sound as good as possible. Get some fellars who can help belt it.

[Alejandro GNR]

His voice is absolutely bad...that said, if Mustaine can still sound like his former self on record, then Axl may as well. Thats all my concern

[AxlRoseCDII]

7 minutes ago, Billy Cundy said:

100%.

I saw Genesis on the last domino tour, and Phil was quite frail. Vocally, he still kicked Axl’s ass, haha, but he did have 3 young blokes singing incredible BVs. No vocals on track so you were getting your moneys worth, and they were doing Phil’s studio arrangements justice. 
 

Duff is not a backing singer, he’s just been allowed to muel and honk into a mic since 1986 for some reason. He’s terrible. Michael Anthony he is NOT. And Melissa … well… she’s fine I guess? But her voice is timid and usually buried in the mix. They should get a proper backing vocal section to help out and do those old recordings some justice. It’s a travelling tribute to the glory days anyway, might as well try make it sound as good as possible. Get some fellars who can help belt it.

Yeah, except for ISE and a few of the other songs Duff really doesn’t sound right. On CD songs his backing vocals are just really off putting. They basically buried Dizzy in the mix so no clue how he sounds, guessing bad as well. Think some backing vocalists is basically what Guns needs rn to sound good again but Axl doesn’t seem to agree.

[Alejandro GNR]

I just listened to November Rain from Rio...its embarrasing

[James Bond]

Part of the problem when it comes to backing vocals is that there isn't much in the way of gang vocals or backing harmonies in most Guns songs as it is, so by default there's been less opportunity for Axl to step back and let someone take over for a chorus or something like that. I still think they need to use Melissa more. She's there anyways, so take advantage of that.

Then Axl needs to pull a Robert Plant and go the route of restructuring the arrangements of songs to fit what he's still capable of as well as choosing songs he can sing more comfortably. There's no reason he still can't have many years of singing ahead if he's smart about it.

[Blackstar]

The most telling sign of the deterioration is that he can't even sustain his voice on songs like Jungle. Some people believe that it's because of lack of effort and training (and generally of not taking care of his voice). However, considering that he can sing on key, and with a lot of power and control, in his lower register, it's clear to me that lack of practice is not the case; he just can't sing beyond his natural register any more. So it's not a situation comparable to Bon Jovi's who can't sing at all (although, to be fair, that's just based on the few videos of JBJ I've seen, since I don't follow him, so I'm not sure if they're representative of his current state).

I think believing that Axl still has it but doesn't bring it because he doesn't do what he needs to is just as "copium" as saying that he sounds good.

[Karice]

1 hour ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

Axl’s voice is beyond shot. I listened to some audio of a isolated “Better” from RIR and his voice is worse off than I thought. I think people who thinks he sounds good rn are lying to themselves to be honest, it’s really bad currently, and not just “oh, he’s a little unpracticed” levels, it’s unhealthy. I don’t know why Axl puts such an awful strain and continues to sing songs like YCBM, Better, etc. I think he should just go full baritone, his voice isn’t coming back.

On the now Defunct Guns N'Roses Fan Website, an Angry Fan of Axl/Guns N'Roses said something like,"Axl's voice is gone. It's garbage now. " I responded,"Axl still has his amazing voice." A Poster responded something like,"Ban this Karice Troll for saying Axl still has his amazing voice." Axl still has an amazing voice and his voice isn't gone nor is it garbage .. 😀

[darkside259]

1 hour ago, Karice said:

On the now Defunct Guns N'Roses Fan Website, an Angry Fan of Axl/Guns N'Roses said something like,"Axl's voice is gone. It's garbage now. " I responded,"Axl still has his amazing voice." A Poster responded something like,"Ban this Karice Troll for saying Axl still has his amazing voice." Axl still has an amazing voice and his voice isn't gone nor is it garbage .. 😀

ok 

[Billy Cundy]

7 hours ago, James Bond said:

Part of the problem when it comes to backing vocals is that there isn't much in the way of gang vocals or backing harmonies in most Guns songs as it is, so by default there's been less opportunity for Axl to step back and let someone take over for a chorus or something like that. I still think they need to use Melissa more. She's there anyways, so take advantage of that.

Then Axl needs to pull a Robert Plant and go the route of restructuring the arrangements of songs to fit what he's still capable of as well as choosing songs he can sing more comfortably. There's no reason he still can't have many years of singing ahead if he's smart about it.

Yeah true, they’re hardly rich with harmony… When I’m revisiting rock bands that I listened to as a kid, now I’m a musician I can appreciate the harmonies and vocal arrangements with a bit more of a critical ear. 
 

Go back and listen to the Aerosmith stuff, right through from 70s to 90s. Steven adds some incredible harmonies. Same goes for VH.

GNR… not so much haha. I genuinely just think Axl stopped listening to Clink after appetite. He thought adding a ‘cool ranch dressing’ bass over dub, and a screechy octave made it sound like ‘Queen’…. It did not.. that’s not harmony…