Axl recording session in London - UPD.: M. Schenker's UFO tribute album (ft. Axl and Slash) to be released on Sept. 20th

[janrichmond]

7 hours ago, Italian girl said:

where is Russ?

He stepped down last year, he'd had enough of GNR and I think he wanted to concentrate more on his podcasts. 

[ZoSoRose]

2 hours ago, ZoSoRose said:

Haven't heard it yet, but I don't imagine it will be too bad. I am expecting it to be like Ozzy on 13. Not the same, and pretty processed, but unquestionably Ozzy.

I was right. Record a new GNR album, Axl. It is still his voice even if he can't do the screamy thing, anymore. Whatever

[Gaanzer]

6 hours ago, Live Like a Suicide said:

Okay, I heard it. It's shit.

Granted, I only listened to it once... But holy shit, it almost sounds like Dustin Bones. It's like Axl did a one session take and thought all the processing could save it.

My GF knows Dustin Bones and she legit thought this was a spoof. 🫣😨

Edited 18 hours ago by Gaanzer

[deerecremer]

I love it! I think he sounds really good. It's a great song! Only thing it could use is more lyrics. But I thought he captured the mood of the song very well. It's a mellow love song, not meant to be a "in your face" screamer. Hopefully he releases more music soon!

[batatadoce]

33 minutes ago, ZoSoRose said:

I was right. Record a new GNR album, Axl. It is still his voice even if he can't do the screamy thing, anymore. Whatever

I think he can still do the "screamy thing". The Houston performance of perhaps shows a lot of that in the chorus, mostly on the second one.

[DeNfr]

I like the original, I think it's a good cover. it would be ridiculous to sing that in falsetto mode.
there's nothing wrong with Axl's voice, the effects are probably an artistic choice it kinda reminds
me some Led Zeppelin songs, the "weird" part is the first verse I think, but it's more the way he
articulates the first words. for the rest, he doesn't engage in vocal showmanship but serves the song.
instrumental and solo are great too. 

[DTJ80]

After reading much of the comments on here I was expecting the worst…..and found the song and vocals to be absolutely fine!

As others have said….this isn’t a song for ‘typical’ Axl vocals for him to go crazy and scream. It’s a composed and controlled performance.

I totally understand why some folks don’t like the effects on his voice….I personally wouldn’t have added that but it doesn’t spoil anything.

Whats evident is that we ‘hardcore’ fans on this site are too harsh IMO. Yeah - he doesn’t have the power of years gone by but he is over 60 with wear and tear. Someone made a good point that because there is a gap of around 17 years we don’t have that gradual change on record….its peak Axl and all of a sudden it’s old Axl so the difference might be stark to some.

When you look at the reviews in the press - I’ve yet to see anyone really criticising Axls vocals…most have been particularly warm…even Blabbermouth!

Edited 16 hours ago by DTJ80

[gnfnr2k]

4 hours ago, jamillos said:

By improvement I meant those just a couple of weeks/months. Normally it's years/decades. Lighten up, man. 

you are being a weirdo

[deerecremer]

I also think people are a little too harsh on Axl's vocals. I played it to some friends who are also rock fans, and they also loved it! I don't understand why people are obsessed with AFD and UYI rasp. Thank God he experiments with different styles and doesn't release the same sounds over & over like some artists do. And yes, I recognize that his live performances don't rip as hard as they used to. But for crying out loud he's in his 60's! I hope I look as good and sound as good as he does if I'm lucky enough to live that long. Robert Plant never really sounded the same from the late 80's onward, but I love his style today. It's a mature sound and suits him too. Hopefully we all grow old gracefully!

[Macho Vidal]

I’ve been listening to the last two and half minutes on a loop. With that edit, its the best rock ballad since 1992, imo.  Of course I’m biased. I’m hoping a fan version can be made starting at “half the time it seems funny….” lyric, then ending 10 seconds after the outro scream and then right back to “half the time it seems funny” lyric and then played all the way through to the end.   THAT would be a great song.   

[deerecremer]

I agree Macho. If this song had a few more lyrics, I personally feel it would get a lot of radio play. Possibly even a hit song. I really dig it! 

[ZoSoRose]

There’s definitely pitch correction wankery all over it. I am enjoying this for what it is, but I don’t think the effects are an artistic choice. We aren’t getting Axl/DC, Angel Down, 2010 TiL, or even Rock the Rock sounding vocals magically in the studio, anymore. That is for sure. 

[rocknroll41]

3 minutes ago, ZoSoRose said:

There’s definitely pitch correction wankery all over it. I am enjoying this for what it is, but I don’t think the effects are an artistic choice. We aren’t getting Axl/DC, Angel Down, 2010 TiL, or even Rock the Rock sounding vocals magically in the studio, anymore. That is for sure. 

Yeah any new music going forward would have to be mostly mellow like this, me thinks. Any new “rocker” songs should probably be sung in his lower register with maybe just the occasional “banshee” moment here and there.

Edited 16 hours ago by rocknroll41

[Gordon Comstock]

Just now, rocknroll41 said:

Yeah any new music going forward would have to be mostly mellow like this, me thinks.

 

People would complain about no 'classic' vocals, but an album of songs like The Seeker and Marseilles would be solid. He can still sound good on rockers like those. Throw in a Duff song and a couple slower/acoustic tracks, they could knock out a great 8-song covers LP.

[ZoSoRose]

5 minutes ago, rocknroll41 said:

Yeah any new music going forward would have to be mostly mellow like this, me thinks. Any new “rocker” songs should probably be sung in his lower register with maybe just the occasional “banshee” moment here and there.

 

1 minute ago, Gordon Comstock said:

 

People would complain about no 'classic' vocals, but an album of songs like The Seeker and Marseilles would be solid. He can still sound good on rockers like those. Throw in a Duff song and a couple slower/acoustic tracks, they could knock out a great 8-song covers LP.

I agree. I don’t care so much that he can’t do “the Axl Rose thing” because he’s in his 60s now. 2016 was an Indian summer and that is when he needed it most (reunion and AC/DC). The actual singing and his voice in Love to Love is quite nice, it’s just the effects and pitch control is distracting, but I’ll take it.

I believe he is probably self conscious about his voice based on the story of this song’s sessions and from putting out 20 year vocal takes with “new” GNR songs and zero vocal dubs or additions. It’s a bummer, but it is what it is. 

[Gunner55]

Shit, appears I missed the commotion. Is it (and the album) still dropping on Friday? 

[vloors]

9 hours ago, jamillos said:

He did 3 songs, approved one. 

Supposedly he recorded 3 in the studio. Dumped two straight away because he was unhappy with vocals and then worked on that one song tinkering for a few months before Michael clawed it back.

[vloors]

51 minutes ago, deerecremer said:

I also think people are a little too harsh on Axl's vocals. I played it to some friends who are also rock fans, and they also loved it! I don't understand why people are obsessed with AFD and UYI rasp. Thank God he experiments with different styles and doesn't release the same sounds over & over like some artists do. And yes, I recognize that his live performances don't rip as hard as they used to. But for crying out loud he's in his 60's! I hope I look as good and sound as good as he does if I'm lucky enough to live that long. Robert Plant never really sounded the same from the late 80's onward, but I love his style today. It's a mature sound and suits him too. Hopefully we all grow old gracefully!

Robert Plant redid the songs to suit his current vocals because he could not hit the same notes, sound, pitch confidently anymore.

Axl mickeys the f out of everything instead of taking a different approach. Thats the difference between the two when it comes to live performances these days.

Its not a his 60 excuse its just Axl needs to rearrange and relearn the songs and take another approach vocally. No one likes Mickey.

Edited 16 hours ago by vloors

[rocknroll41]

23 minutes ago, vloors said:

Robert Plant redid the songs to suit his current vocals because he could not hit the same notes, sound, pitch confidently anymore.

Axl mickeys the f out of everything instead of taking a different approach. Thats the difference between the two when it comes to live performances these days.

Its not a his 60 excuse its just Axl needs to rearrange and relearn the songs and take another approach vocally. No one likes Mickey.

Yeah changing the keys of all the songs probably wouldn’t be a bad thing, at this point.

[Jw224]

1 hour ago, ZoSoRose said:

There’s definitely pitch correction wankery all over it. I am enjoying this for what it is, but I don’t think the effects are an artistic choice. We aren’t getting Axl/DC, Angel Down, 2010 TiL, or even Rock the Rock sounding vocals magically in the studio, anymore. That is for sure. 

Sounds to me like they've just smeared correction all over it without much thought. Even the parts that he's not straining sound incredibly robotic for seemingly no reason.

[JAxlMorrison]

1 hour ago, rocknroll41 said:

Yeah any new music going forward would have to be mostly mellow like this, me thinks. Any new “rocker” songs should probably be sung in his lower register with maybe just the occasional “banshee” moment here and there.

Sounds good to me! As long as we get it. 

[ZoSoRose]

5 minutes ago, Jw224 said:

Sounds to me like they've just smeared correction all over it without much thought. Even the parts that he's not straining sound incredibly robotic for seemingly no reason.

Yeah I agree

[Coma16]

You guys are way too critical. It sounds fantastic!

[Sweersa]

3 hours ago, rocknroll41 said:

Any new “rocker” songs should probably be sung in his lower register with maybe just the occasional “banshee” moment here and there.

Sort of like Monsters, or really, most CD-era songs. You get Axl's more natural, "clean" voice, which I'm quite fond of, and, when appropriate, the high, screaming vocals. Fire and ice, not so much like the older GN'R music. 

I find the instrumental of this new song to be incredible, and so is Axl's vocal performance, but the processing or whatever was done in post to his vocals, really impacted it negatively. I just hope newer GN'R material isn't treated the same. It's bad enough we're getting CD2 songs with most of Bucket and Robin removed, and horrible mixing and sometimes mastering performed. 

[evilfacelessturtle]

16 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

I’m sorry, but you’re wrong. I’m not talking about digital file compression. And it’s very clear how much reverb he used - you can hear for yourself if you isolate his vocals. 

Also not sure about melodyne/pitch correction to a point that it distorts it. I’m sure he could have used it, but for minor correction, not for shaping the performance. 

Then what compression are you talking about? Dynamic range compression? That wouldn't change the timbre of his voice.

A lot of reverb would be like AC/DC used on Fly On The Wall. This is not much at all.

I'm not saying pitch correction is being used like T-Pain does. Other than some unnatural snapping to notes, we can't really know how much it was used without the unedited track to compare with.

Edited 13 hours ago by evilfacelessturtle