Axl's Voice

[Nicos]

i worry a bit about Axl's voice. it's definatly more like in the old day but i think he's been a bit to rough on his voice lately - can't blame him though, i bet he had some great parties the last couple of weeks.

if you listen to live and let die for example. he can't seem to hit the high notes and hold them at the moment, like he did in 2002.

on the 17th they played better half a tune (extra) down compared to the demo. i think because he can't hit those high notes  (to brake the chains...) easily at the moment.

hopefully it's better when they'll hit europe.

N ! 3 |(

ps. i still can't believe they did that acoustic performance... legendary!

[SWINGTRADER]

He doesn't sound terrible but doesn't sound incredible either.  He sounds just ok,  he may be singing like that on purpose on this particular song to save his voice for the other more demanding songs.  I really don't care if he uses his raspy voice on SCOM  unless he was doing the "Sail away sweet sister " intro  .  Axl sounds better than he did in 02' but he is no where near the way he sounded during the UYI era.  There is no way Axl could pull off the " Sail away ..."  in his current voice .  If he did pull it off  he would probably have to leave the stage immediately there after because he would not have a voice left  .

[Nicos]

He doesn't sound terrible but doesn't sound incredible either.? He sounds just ok,? he may be singing like that on purpose on this particular song to save his voice for the other more demanding songs.? I really don't care if he uses his raspy voice on SCOM? unless he was doing the "Sail away sweet sister " intro? .? Axl sounds better than he did in 02' but he is no where near the way he sounded during the UYI era.? There is no way Axl could pull off the " Sail away ..."? in his current voice .? If he did pull it off? he would probably have to leave the stage immediately there after because he would not have a voice left? .

yeah I think you're spot on there.
hopefully he gets it right before rock in rio.
so: no more drinkin' and smokin' cigars for you now my great red friend! 

have a great weekend everyone!

N ! 3 |(

[WARose]

He doesn't sound terrible but doesn't sound incredible either.  He sounds just ok,  he may be singing like that on purpose on this particular song to save his voice for the other more demanding songs.  I really don't care if he uses his raspy voice on SCOM  unless he was doing the "Sail away sweet sister " intro  .  Axl sounds better than he did in 02' but he is no where near the way he sounded during the UYI era.  There is no way Axl could pull off the " Sail away ..."  in his current voice .  If he did pull it off  he would probably have to leave the stage immediately there after because he would not have a voice left  .

did you attend the concerts??  if not listen at least to my michelle from 05. 15.... and stop complaining anyways...

[estranged.1098]

He doesn't sound terrible but doesn't sound incredible either.  He sounds just ok,  he may be singing like that on purpose on this particular song to save his voice for the other more demanding songs.  I really don't care if he uses his raspy voice on SCOM  unless he was doing the "Sail away sweet sister " intro  .  Axl sounds better than he did in 02' but he is no where near the way he sounded during the UYI era.  There is no way Axl could pull off the " Sail away ..."  in his current voice .  If he did pull it off  he would probably have to leave the stage immediately there after because he would not have a voice left  .

In my opinion that intro is quite annoying actually, I'm glad he doesn't sing like that anymore.

[draguns]

I attended the concert on May 12. Axl's voice sounded much like the late 80s/early 90s. He sounded much more stronger than from the bootlegs of 2002. I wasn't sure the direction of the band because his voice was very weak on those bootlegs. Now I have no doubts about his voice and the band- even though I still miss the originals. In my opinion, he can probably still pull off Sail Away Sweet Sister if he wanted to. Guns N' Roses are back!

[IronMaiden415]

Judging from the crappy quality bootleg, it seems like Axl is singing with a way rougher voice than Rio/2002. My Michelle and You Could Be Mine sound great! Just like the 87-93 Axl. A lot of peopel complained of Axl's voice being too clean in 2002.. What are your thoughts on his singing now?

excellent. because he really did sound kind of week in 2002.

[Throatrake]

I think his voice will get better as the tour goes on and he gets in even better singing shape.
On the 15th, he sounded so good most of the show, I was in shock at how great his voice was at some parts. He was so loud.
Other parts it seemed like he was forcing notes that just weren't there yet. (it also could've been due to the monitor mix)
One thing is for shit sure, Axl is serious this time around and it will all work out perfect.

[littleredcorvette]

Bloody hell. So many people talking so much crap.

Look. He has OBVIOUSLY read all of the bicthing about 2002, how he sounds like an 'Out of breath chipmunk on Out Ta Get Me' etc etc. He may have done some vocal work to build a bit more strength back to his voice but not necessarily. He sounds just like in 2002 when he's not deliberately forcing a raspy voice. If you listen to IRS when it's clean and high, he's not putting much effort in. It sounds like the weak 2002 voice people hate. But on the older songs, especially the really hard ones, he tries really hard to sing them in a lower, raspy voice. He's straining to do it, though it does sounds awesome. But partway through some songs if he rund out of breath he will go back to the whiny weak voice. It takes EFFORT for him to sound old skool, it's not effortless like in 1991-3 when his chords were rogh and mangled.

On Better he sounds absolutely atrotious. Partly because the new songs are hard to sing. They use lots of different textures of his voice across different ranges and they're way more complex vocally than most of the older songs. Better requires a lot of power in a lower register, which he hasn't built up yet, but he will as the tour continues. Plus he's doing it for the first few times.

The Blues sounded absolutely fucking amazing, on the other hand, as it's now something he's sung many times, and he sang it in a fully raspy old Axl voice, and the same goes for Madagascar. In fact, it seems that when he's been continuously forcing and old style raspy voice, it's much harder for him to quickly move into the stupidly high range he used all the time in 2002. At the end of The Blues and in Madagascar he would sometimes go ridiculously high. The highest ever was the end of Jungle in London 2002. When he's doing raspy, he can't seem to make a quick transition to that anymore. But he can do a very high, strong rasp at the end of The Blues and in Jungle, it's just more like the old high notes he used to do.

IRS, he tries to sing the same way as on the demo. It's mostly very clean, whiny and high. The screaming bit in the middle he does very well, same goes for Better, but the rest of the song sounds bad and it will probably get better as his voice builds up and he practices the songs more. They're both very hard to sing. He's written far more complex vocal pieces than he did on Appetite and you can hear on the demos how hard he's pushing himself and that's hard to match live. He totally bailed on the high bit of IRS. First time he did a short lower scream, second time he didn't try at all, third time he just held a long very low note. But the stupid thing is he sings that high loads of times in Nightrain, Heavens Door etc. It just shows that the new ones are gonna need practice. They didn't do TWAT after the first night, probably mostly cause it's gonna take more time to get right. He said they were gonna bumble their way through.

[Crashdiet]

I don't care what any of you fuckers say axl hasn't sounded so good since late 93 or 89. For most of the illusions tour his voice was destroyed and sounded like he gargled with bleach before he got on stage.

I was at all 4 shows in new york and while there was the odd moment where he struggled.... overall the dude is back on top of his game. He had the hungry look back in his eyes.... he wants this now more than ever. His voice was awesome and his performances inspired and provoking.

I'm tired of everyone beating up on the dude. He's back, playing new songs, doing interviews, and looking very happy and content with life. Isn't that what we've been waiting for since dec 2002. Be encouraging we are 'fans' afterall. Axl gets enough fucking slack from everyone else he sure the fuck doesn't need it from us.

[ZoulonFire]

Out Ta Get Me was a definite highlight.

I really had never thought about how hard IRS is to sing until last night.  But he pulled it off.  I'd love to see him try Catcher In The Rye live - it seems to me as though that song has too many layered vocals to do live - but I'm sure they could figure some way to do it.

Did Catcher leak?  Did I miss somethin  

ACK!

A

[jimb0]

Yeah catcher leaked like months ago dude

[WAxlRose]

Why is everyone criticizing/questioning Axl's voice... just be glad he's doing shows. He's Axl fuckin Rose he knows more about his voice than you guys do, so quit acting like you're an expert, when you really don't know anything and enjoy the tour.

[jimb0]

Why is everyone criticizing/questioning Axl's voice... just be glad he's doing shows. He's Axl fuckin Rose he knows more about his voice than you guys do, so quit acting like you're an expert, when you really don't know anything and enjoy the tour.

I somehow think opinions are part of message boards, or some what related to them.

[jeorose]

Why is everyone criticizing/questioning Axl's voice... just be glad he's doing shows. He's Axl fuckin Rose he knows more about his voice than you guys do, so quit acting like you're an expert, when you really don't know anything and enjoy the tour.

Thats my picture can you get your own please.

[Rosettta7]

I thought Axl sounded absolutely great!  No complaints!  It was awesome!  He's back, he's in top form, and anyone there at the shows in NY will probably say the same thing.  Those shows were just the top of the line.  I can't say enough about how amazing he is!

[marknroses]

I was never a fan of the way Axl sang (or performed) between 2001 and 2003, and I knew it to be inferior with the ways of old.

Axl can now sing really well and hold his own (as he did on stage with the Yowler, sebachian bach) and Im sure he kicked Kid Rock's ass on Nightrain! He still not 100% of his glory, I'd say 80%, but thats a lot better than before.
I think Axl's getting his groove and you'll be seeing improvement in his rock star as he builds up experience and endurance.

MNW

[Nicos]

I think Axl's getting his groove and you'll be seeing improvement in his rock star as he builds up experience and endurance.

MNW

I totally agree. I'll be @ the Rock In Rio-Lisboa festival next weekend. My first GN'R show since Pukkelpop 2002. It'll be great, I'm sure. I think it will be my greatest.

Have a great week everyone!

N ! 3 |(

[Appetizer]

So it seems Axl's voice is much better this time around..   He seemed to struggle a bit with it in 2002, i wonder what he's done/changed in order to improve. Hope he had this voice during the recording of the album too..

[TheRealThing]

I think he sounds fantastic. Check dankrass' bootleg from 15th. I really don't understand how anyone can appreciate more his damaged UIY tour voice. And that Sail Away Sweet Sister/Bad Time intro was just pointless and horrible. I'm very glad he doesn't ruin his voice with it anymore. What I'd love him to do is It's Alright or maybe try something new (for him) like Imagine as an intro to November Rain. Some softer stuff, he's brilliant singing (and playing) It's Alright.

The new big guns are harder to sing than Appetite's stuff. He sounds much better on The Blues now than in 2002 then it sounded like he had to sing over his range.

He sounds very Ritz '88 to me and that's damn perfect for me.

And it's rock n' roll, not damn opera or Toto.


P.S. Just watched Plant singing Innuendo at the Freddie Mercury Tribute and he seemed so sad compared to Axl's current form. (Plant was also 44 then)