Axl Voice could have a comeback?

[D4NNY]

5 minutes ago, Screamin' Demon said:

To tell you the truth I generally don't listen to music like hard rock anymore; it's really music for the young generation that is growing up & has a lot of energy & needs music like this to go wild/crazy & rock out. Perfectly understandable if one asks me. I have for the most past grown out of it & it doesn't appeal to me anymore. What I did like about Axl is that each time he did make some music, it was always something different & something new, as well as having some serious talent in it; in fact his song Sorry really amazes me, in that it gave me something to connect with when I was dealing with a malignant Narcissistic mother; Sorry is like a song against Narcissism if you ask me. Nowadays, I have changed tastes & I like music like New-Age/Ambient-Electronic, for example groups like Enigma & Enya as some of the best, but I love the fact that now I can just go on YouTube & subscribe to as many New-Age/Ambient-Electronic musicians & get to listen to hours & hours long peaceful, serene, beautiful songs & all for free. World changes my friend & I'll say that Axl has done some quite amazing stuff nonetheless, just saying that had he filled his time even more productively, he would have been seen across the world as a God within his sort of music which as we know, changed all the time which was what made it so unique anyway. World changes, people change, all changes 

Well, I think hard rock or any genre can be any age, I have family members in their 50’s enjoying heavy metal and I’m sure in their old age they will enjoy it just as much. I love Prince’s music (can you tell ha!) and I was watching a live video of a song called Electric Chair the other day and my 2 year old was dancing.. literally jigging around and busting out all kinds of moves. Point being any age, any genre. 🙂 

You just seemed a little angsty about Axl and his not releasing music choice. There’s more to enjoy elsewhere. Let’s just be happy he’s still rocking, happier than he has been is so long and at least still performing the classics we all love 🙂

[mystery]

30 minutes ago, dontdamnmeuyi2015 said:

I was listening to the Live at the Ritz 88 on cd the weekend. And I guess due to smoking and drinking towards the end of the concert Axl's voice was shot.  Of course, he's older now and all our voices change, but Axl  always tries his best and he still rocks!

I feel like he was also going all out in that era combined with the insane touring schedule when you look at how many dates they played. As for his current voice, I wonder if its just a permanent change? 2016-17 was really good for a guy in his mid-late 50's but looking back it feels like the tail end of his voice being able to bring that power and rasp. We've seen that extended time off hasn't improved it so I don't know what will.

[Tom2112]

23 minutes ago, mystery said:

I feel like he was also going all out in that era combined with the insane touring schedule when you look at how many dates they played. As for his current voice, I wonder if its just a permanent change? 2016-17 was really good for a guy in his mid-late 50's but looking back it feels like the tail end of his voice being able to bring that power and rasp. We've seen that extended time off hasn't improved it so I don't know what will.

It's more about time if with a vocal regiment. If you just sit at home and don't sing then the muscles get weaker and lise flexibility, and then it's harder to regain that. Most great singers (not all) sing/warm up every day.

Axl has breathing control issues, which if he sorted that he would automatically have a more rounded strong and pleasant tone. Bottom line is, be needs a coach to take him back to basics and get him up to level. 

Like what's been said here loads, Axl is playing stadiums with his weak voice, does he feel he isn't delivering? I highly doubt it... But in most fans eyes and ears Axl 2018 onwards has been a struggle to listen to, much MUCH less likely than any other period in time to get a good show from him. Honestly wish he'd either stop outright or do the work and sing well for another 5-10yrs

[Screamin' Demon]

33 minutes ago, D4NNY said:

Well, I think hard rock or any genre can be any age, I have family members in their 50’s enjoying heavy metal and I’m sure in their old age they will enjoy it just as much. I love Prince’s music (can you tell ha!) and I was watching a live video of a song called Electric Chair the other day and my 2 year old was dancing.. literally jigging around and busting out all kinds of moves. Point being any age, any genre. 🙂 

You just seemed a little angsty about Axl and his not releasing music choice. There’s more to enjoy elsewhere. Let’s just be happy he’s still rocking, happier than he has been is so long and at least still performing the classics we all love 🙂

Well, he certainly has made his own footprint on musical history. Maybe he hasn't made as much music as many people would have preferred him to make, but the amount that he has made has certainly been exceptional/incredible. What has made made Axl so outstanding as a musician is that all his music has been quite diverse as well as far more talented than other rock bands of his era. His live concerts have without a shadow of a doubt been some of the most the most incredible you could ever see, due to his preparation, his unique vocals & his stage presence. All I am saying is that he could have put himself even a few seats higher had he wanted to do so, but no doubt that even what he has done has done has been extraordinarily amazing 

[Powderfinger]

1 hour ago, Screamin' Demon said:

To tell you the truth I generally don't listen to music like hard rock anymore; it's really music for the young generation that is growing up & has a lot of energy & needs music like this to go wild/crazy & rock out. Perfectly understandable if one asks me. I have for the most past grown out of it & it doesn't appeal to me anymore.

Hey Hey!

My My!!

Rock n Roll can never die….

I listened to The Pistols, Motörhead and GnR when I was 12, I still listen at 44. It’s more than just a young persons energy. It’s a way of life. You never grow out of what you really love, you only fall in deeper. 

[mystery]

1 hour ago, D4NNY said:

Well, I think hard rock or any genre can be any age, I have family members in their 50’s enjoying heavy metal and I’m sure in their old age they will enjoy it just as much. I love Prince’s music (can you tell ha!) and I was watching a live video of a song called Electric Chair the other day and my 2 year old was dancing.. literally jigging around and busting out all kinds of moves. Point being any age, any genre. 🙂 

You just seemed a little angsty about Axl and his not releasing music choice. There’s more to enjoy elsewhere. Let’s just be happy he’s still rocking, happier than he has been is so long and at least still performing the classics we all love 🙂

Off-topic but Electric Chair by Prince was I believe only performed live once on SNL in 1989 and never again. Its surprising since its a good guitar driven song. Update: He performed it one other time in 2013 but its almost a completely different arrangement thats more R&B based.

Edited February 27, 2023 by mystery

[D4NNY]

2 minutes ago, mystery said:

Off-topic but Electric Chair by Prince was I believe only performed live once on SNL in 1989 and never again. Its surprising since its a good guitar driven song. so 

I believe so, that’s the only video I’ve ever seen. Shame because it is a great song but hey the guy had 30+ albums worth of material in his lifetime so set lists were probably very tricky to arrange (to please everyone) 😂

In terms of guitar driven Prince songs, Endorphinmachine is a great track also 😎

[Draguns]

26 minutes ago, Powderfinger said:

Hey Hey!

My My!!

Rock n Roll can never die….

I listened to The Pistols, Motörhead and GnR when I was 12, I still listen at 44. It’s more than just a young persons energy. It’s a way of life. You never grow out of what you really love, you only fall in deeper. 

Perfectly said! I like other music, but hard rock will always be my favorite.

[DoMw94]

54 minutes ago, Tom2112 said:

Bottom line is, be needs a coach to take him back to basics and get him up to level. 

He's had a coach for years

[Gordon Comstock]

13 minutes ago, DoMw94 said:

He's had a coach for years

 

I thought he only worked with a coach (Ron Anderson) for the AC/DC tour?

[Tom2112]

15 minutes ago, DoMw94 said:

He's had a coach for years

Difference between having a coach and going to a coach and following a strict regimen. 

He has had periods where he obviously worked with a coach and you could hear it, but sometime in 2017 he let his foot up from the gas on his exercises and started to fall back on memory rather than good technique. You can argue until you're blue in the face, and I'm no expert but I can hear the obvious deficiencies that are there because he's not doing the right work that a coach would have him do. 

I know Jon Bon Jovi is a poor example of a singer these days, BUT he travels with his personal vocal coach full time.If he can afford it, so can gnr and they fackin need it. I heard Richie Samboras coming back and that he said Jon was working on his vocal issues... so eyes will be off Jon and back to Axl or whoever isn't cutting (if Jon can get it together).

[BillConnor_1982]

On 9/12/2022 at 8:21 PM, 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 .. 😀

Axl’s voice is gone. It’s garbage now. 

Edited February 28, 2023 by BillConnor_1982

[TheSlashrose]

No more

[axlvai]

Idk man. An album comeback maybe yes. 2010 was long time ago to think we gonna have a rasp live show again. 

I hope to be wrong.

[Tom2112]

40 minutes ago, axlvai said:

Idk man. An album comeback maybe yes. 2010 was long time ago to think we gonna have a rasp live show again. 

I hope to be wrong.

I don't think there's any chance of hearing that ferocious 2010 Axl again, but could we hear something similar to 2017? I think it's possible... but it would be 100% on Axl to rehabilitate his voice and get to that point. Possible? yes, likely? no. Prove me wrong @Dexter

[Mascadcar]

Why is Axl given a pass on his piss poor voice since he is in his 60’s?  I’ve seen plenty of rock shows the last few years and they all sound fairly similar to their prime.  Tom Keifer, CJ Snare, Sebastian…The list goes on…none were close to prime Axl, but all still hit the notes.

[SoulMonster]

1 hour ago, Mascadcar said:

Why is Axl given a pass on his piss poor voice since he is in his 60’s?  I’ve seen plenty of rock shows the last few years and they all sound fairly similar to their prime.  Tom Keifer, CJ Snare, Sebastian…The list goes on…none were close to prime Axl, but all still hit the notes.

Axl is given a pass for his voice? Really? 

As for why I personally give him a pass: Well, mostly because I find it childish to criticize an old man for what is clearly age-related deterioration of his voice, I never would have expected Axl to be able to continue to sing such highly challenging songs as he got into his 60s. And yes, some singers are able to keep on singing their material perfectly, but again, we age differently, and they might not have such challenging songs to sing anyway. It's kind of like chastising one runner for not being able to keep running at the same speed when he gets into his 40s while other athletes can. Who on earth would do such a thing?  

I also don't agree that his voice is "piss poor". Granted, that is highly subjective and there is no "correct" opinion on this, but I think he still sings about half of the set more than good enough (It's So Easy, Mr Brownstone, Chinese Democracy, Double Talkin' Jive, Reckless Life, Shadow of Your Love, Absurd, Hard Skool, Sorry, Wichita Lineman, Whole Lotta Rosie, Patience and Don't Cry). 

[Stay.Of.Execution]

Imagine listening to enya

[Ant000]

today's voice was the cost for providing things like Ritz '91

worth it!

Edited February 28, 2023 by Ant000

[bumcheecksmcghee]

Lol..

But seriously...no..

The mouse is here to stay, enjoy

[SoulMonster]

On topic, no, I don't think we can expect much improvement, unless Axl decides to transpose the songs into a lower register or something equally drastic. I mean, it's the way the cookie crumbles, it is just going to get worse and worse the older he gets. Then there will be some tours or legs where he will be somewhat stronger again, maybe after hiatuses, but the trend is negative and we will just have to accept it and be realistic about it. 

Still, I am of the opinion that his voice is still strong. Not on every song, for sure, but for about half of the songs in the set he is doing good to great. And he is still doing a great job as a performer. That Axl is not ruining the shows is also evident from the fact that people keep turning up for the shows. That doesn't mean he isn't ruining shows for some fans here on mygnrforum, and that's an entirely legitimate opinion to have, but I think that's one of the downsides of being hardcore fans, we get too fixated on some things that ruin the total concert experience compared to more casual fans who don't obsess over such things.

[jamillos]

I still don’t understand why he keeps insisting on doing songs like Better live. Why he just doesn’t drop these things (after 6 years) that are audibly hard for him and bad for the audience. And why he doesn’t alternate songs like RQ or YCBM according to his current form. There are other songs to be played, and by alternating these (who says they have to be played at every gig?), he would get two birds with one stone, because there would be some diversity in the playlist created this way, some element of surprise. But no, the horrible stuff stays, and we can predict the setlist almost exactly every night. *Sigh* 

[SoulMonster]

10 minutes ago, jamillos said:

I still don’t understand why he keeps insisting on doing songs like Better live. Why he just doesn’t drop these things (after 6 years) that are audibly hard for him and bad for the audience. And why he doesn’t alternate songs like RQ or YCBM according to his current form. There are other songs to be played, and by alternating these (who says they have to be played at every gig?), he would get two birds with one stone, because there would be some diversity in the playlist created this way, some element of surprise. But no, the horrible stuff stays, and we can predict the setlist almost exactly every night. *Sigh* 

Because he doesn't consider it to be "horrible"?

Also, I don't think he cares much if a few GN'R nerds can predict the setlist or not . I think he is more focused on making sure the order of songs flows well for him and the crew and that it is a great representation of the band's discography, to please the thousands of people attending the shows. 

[jamillos]

43 minutes ago, SoulMonster said:

Because he doesn't consider it to be "horrible"?

Also, I don't think he cares much if a few GN'R nerds can predict the setlist or not . I think he is more focused on making sure the order of songs flows well for him and the crew and that it is a great representation of the band's discography, to please the thousands of people attending the shows. 

Maybe not horrible, but they’re audibly hard for him. And he can’t not be aware of it. And he can’t not be aware of the more or less same playlist either, with negligible alternations between individual shows/legs. I know you know what I’m talking about. 

[SoulMonster]

1 minute ago, jamillos said:

Maybe not horrible, but they’re audibly hard for him. And he can’t not be aware of it. And he can’t not be aware of the more or less same playlist either, with negligible alternations between individual shows/legs. I know you know what I’m talking about. 

I guess he could be completely deluded in regards to the current state of his voice, or he could be more aware of this than we are. I definitely leans toward the latter because he seems to be highly critical of himself in general and we know his voice has been bothering him throughout his career. There are so many quotes from band members who have talked about how much he cares about giving a great performance to the point where it becomes paralyzing.

So why then does he not replace the most challenging songs in the set? I think the most likely explanation is that he realizes that as far as the totality of the shows go, it doesn't matter so much if he is not singing as great as he would like here and there. He could always replace these songs, like Better, with some he is able to sing...better, but I believe he not only thinks that would let his fans down who deserve to get the right show and set (because Better is a great song), but also the song itself which he feels deserves to be played and heard. Basically, his decision to include or exclude songs seems to be based on other factors than his ability, other perhaps more important reasons, at least to him. I also hope he realizes that most concert-goers don't obsess over his singing on every song, but consider the overall experience of being at a show, and then it doesn't matter that much to them and hopefully to Axl. But I don't know.