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Re: That Metal Show, Trunk/GN'R Discussion
monkeychow wrote:I think us hardcores will notice it more than the casuals though.
If you love the songs with OCD type detail like I do then you know every nuance, and if you've seen Axl live a bunch of times, and watched hundreds of boots, then you notice parts change over the years.
Back in 88 Axl had a very strong voice in all of his range. Now he's still got a lot of power at many pitches but others he seems to avoid doing with too much intensity. Especially his lower to mid notes. He can scream out the high stuff still - but the middle parts he seems to favour his voice a little at times.
Can't blame him. Most people would be hoarse after 2 songs at the quality they are on the studio cuts. I think some of it could be damage from the past, I think some of it is age, and some of it is probably common sense - at 27 and depressed he probably didn't give a shit if it was doing damage, but now he's very careful to protect like he should be.
For the record I'm not saying he can't sing anymore. I'm just saying there's probably isolated tracks where he can't do what he once did, or where it's not sensible to do it on a nightly basis.
Thankfully the guy was that bad ass in the beginning that even with these reductions he still puts on a killer show.
Reminds me of when Dave Mustaine was recently asked if age was making it hard to shred fast, and he said it was, that he's getting slower everyday but that thankfully he started off a long way ahead of most people...so it doesn't show.
Good news is studio Axl could still kick serious ass as there's time to warm up and really nail a particular pitch and so on and the benift of retakes of weaker parts. And hell lets face it - even live - lots of people seem to be loving the shows anyway - so i'm far from bashing - just saying to a hardcore fan the changes are evident.
Listen, I knew when I went to my 2011 show, that immediately when I heard Axl singing as pristine and vintage as he was -- I was lucky. Just flat out luck. I could've just as easily gotten Rio IV-revisited.
But I disagree that us hardcores notice it more than the casuals. No I don't agree there. Maybe at a show, they don't notice.
But on TV, with real promo in 2011, YouTube videos, shit like that... I think the casuals notice it more than the hardcores. Why?
Because alot of hardcores are fananticals. Axl attracts those types of fans, especially in South America. No different then MJ, E, or Lennon. So you get what you had with Rio IV. Axl laid a fat egg, and you got people going "WOOOO, Axl's still got it"
Even Axl wouldn't agree. It was an off night. It happens.
Like you said though, good news is despite Axl's inconsistency live as he gets older and the songs get more difficult is that he has NOT lost his voice actually. In the studio, which he seems to be allergic to, Axl can still sing pieces and fragments like vintage Axl and the studio allows him to do that, and also tweak it.
That's why I think it's a crying shame he doesn't release new albums every couple years, or at least EP's alternating every year. Even if just to get his unique voice on record while he still has it.
Gagarin wrote:LALD and YCBM are two songs I'm no expert on - from my point of view I've NEVER heard a 'good version'. "Does this sound bad or is it supposed to be this way?" applied all the way back to the album version of LALD and all non "Live Era" versions of YCBM. I just think LALD is a weak song with weird vocals, so it's always...weird live. 'Ya got ta doo it wellllllllllllllllllllllll'. Ugh.
A strange choice for them to use on the show. Not strongest vocally or... best representative of Guns N' Roses (past or present), I think.
Yes and no. LALD has never been a great live song. At all. It just doesn't transfer. Maybe some of the 1992 shows with the actual horn section recreated from the studio version... maybe. But Axl's voice was fuckin' shot in 1992 on that song. Maybe not as bad as 2002, but '92 was really the only year the song had a chance live, and Axl didn't bring it unfortunately.
YCBM is a different story. YCBM is an Appetite-reject. A glorious fuck up. A song that like Ritz '88 can be butchered alive by the band, and still be fuckin' sleazy awesome Guns N' Fuckin' Roses. Problem is -- it REQUIRES Axl's voice to be there. It was there 1991-93 & 2006 & 2010. 2002 & 2011 it hasn't and it fucks the song up. It's completely not done right. The song REQUIRES the rasp. Think about it if you hear YCBM today in 2011, and it doesn't have Slash & Duff playing it, and Axl doesn't sound like Axl... who wants to fucking hear it?
Nothing wrong with this
If he got fitter he would be able to pull of YCBM
- tejastech08
- Rep: 194
Re: That Metal Show, Trunk/GN'R Discussion
Nothing wrong with this
Except for the annoying background singers. 
- tejastech08
- Rep: 194
Re: That Metal Show, Trunk/GN'R Discussion
what do you reckon of the version tejastech
You mean Axl? He sounds good in the Paris '92 show. Wish they didn't have the stupid backup singers and orchestra though. It was a great show, but would have been even better if it was just the band.
Re: That Metal Show, Trunk/GN'R Discussion
I think that Axl's voice sounds great there and without Robins awkward backing vocals that's brilliant.
