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

[gunsnchalupas]

7 hours ago, JimiRose said:

Just saw a clip on IG of Axl singing Rocket Queen in 2016. Full Rasp, Power and in key. It's gutting to think he could still sing this well when Slash and Duff were back in the band, but it's taken until 2020 (unlikely) - 2024 for their to be rumours that the band even might be doing new songs with new vocals (probably arent), when Axl vocally has been completely shot since 2018. If they'd done what the pumpkins or chilis did (and rumoured oasis) and recorded a new album straight away in 2015/16 we'd have axl still close to vocal prime with slash and duff. 

Whilst I like the new vocal and don't think it's that bad, it isn't a patch on how he sounded even in 2016 and it is just another missed opportunity by axl and GnR. That is the best way to sum up the entire GnR history. A missed opportunity. 

 

He gave us a song in a Looney Tunes cartoon. What more could you want? Some fans are so ungrateful!

[D4NNY]

2 hours ago, gunsnchalupas said:

 

He gave us a song in a Looney Tunes cartoon. What more could you want? Some fans are so ungrateful!

[rocknroll41]

Call me crazy, but I’m actually glad that those other two songs he sang on didn’t make the cut. I listened to the original versions, and the lyrics are super corny.

[DeNfr]

21 minutes ago, rocknroll41 said:

Call me crazy, but I’m actually glad that those other two songs he sang on didn’t make the cut. I listened to the original versions, and the lyrics are super corny.

crazy 

[evilfacelessturtle]

19 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

That comment wasn’t aimed at you, but I was talking about people who stated that it was all over it. 

But I disagree, I think it’s still questionable. It’s likely that he used, but I wouldn’t say that for certain. 

Listen to 2:17-2:18. The vowel "a" in "guitars" clicks between notes in a millisecond. The human voice simply cannot do that.

 

[evilfacelessturtle]

14 hours ago, Dean said:

Negative. He’s spoken about this too - China Exchange interview springs to mind. The majority of the album is sang clean with sporadic use of drive where necessary. 

I've been over this before at great length, but I think he was trying to save face by saying it was intentional. He also says in that interview that the fans didn't respond well to it, and that he only did it "for a while". But he's only gotten less raspy over time. If it were a choice, a man as frankly insecure as Axl would not stand for decades of Mickey Mouse mockery without going back to his raspy voice.

The fact that the final studio versions of CD songs were more raspy than the live 2001-2002 versions tells me that he was not trying to make the album as clean as possible, because he clearly had the ability to go cleaner. That tells me he was trying to make it raspy, and he was held back from doing it 100% by his voice losing rasp.

We can go through the album line by line, though it would be tedious.

• Title track - mostly mid range so N/A, until the outro where he goes very raspy.
• Shackler - almost entirely raspy except one harmony over the chorus
• Better - super raspy
• Street of Dreams - 50/50, though I do think it bears pointing out that he's never been able to get really raspy hitting his highest notes
• If The World - raspy verses, clean chorus
• TWAT - mostly clean
• Catcher - clean
• Scraped - 2/3rds clean, 1/3rd raspy or so
• Riad - I'd say 50/50, a little more clean overall
• Sorry - mostly mid range N/A, except the pre-chorus in full rasp
• IRS -  mostly raspy except the high notes
• Madagascar - full rasp
• TIL - chorus is raspy, verses are mostly mid range N/A
• Prostitute - clean

Edited Sunday at 10:24 PM by evilfacelessturtle

[Dean]

10 minutes ago, evilfacelessturtle said:

I've been over this before at great length, but I think he was trying to save face by saying it was intentional. He also says in that interview that the fans didn't respond well to it, and that he only did it "for a while". But he's only gotten less raspy over time. If it were a choice, a man as frankly insecure as Axl would not stand for decades of Mickey Mouse mockery without going back to his raspy voice.

The fact that the final studio versions of CD songs were more raspy than the live 2001-2002 versions tells me that he was not trying to make the album as clean as possible, because he clearly had the ability to go cleaner. That tells me he was trying to make it raspy, and he was held back from doing it 100% by his voice losing rasp.

We can go through the album line by line, though it would be tedious.

• Title track - mostly mid range so N/A, until the outro where he goes very raspy.
• Shackler - almost entirely raspy except one harmony over the chorus
• Better - super raspy
• Street of Dreams - 50/50, though I do think it bears pointing out that he's never been able to get really raspy hitting his highest notes
• If The World - raspy verses, clean chorus
• TWAT - mostly clean
• Catcher - clean
• Scraped - 2/3rds clean, 1/3rd raspy or so
• Riad - I'd say 50/50, a little more clean overall
• Sorry - mostly mid range N/A, except the pre-chorus in full rasp
• IRS -  mostly raspy except the high notes
• Madagascar - full rasp
• TIL - chorus is raspy, verses are mostly mid range N/A
• Prostitute - clean

We are hearing that record entirely different - You've gone from agreeing with 2 to almost 6 though, so it's a start! Singing clean in his mid range is still singing clean - TIL has very little drive behind it though, it's mostly all clean - alternatively, listen to the Brain remix for the opposite end of that scale. I appreciate you taking the time listing all of that though, agree to disagree etc, as they say!

[Blackstar]

1 hour ago, evilfacelessturtle said:

I've been over this before at great length, but I think he was trying to save face by saying it was intentional. He also says in that interview that the fans didn't respond well to it, and that he only did it "for a while". But he's only gotten less raspy over time. If it were a choice, a man as frankly insecure as Axl would not stand for decades of Mickey Mouse mockery without going back to his raspy voice.

The fact that the final studio versions of CD songs were more raspy than the live 2001-2002 versions tells me that he was not trying to make the album as clean as possible, because he clearly had the ability to go cleaner. That tells me he was trying to make it raspy, and he was held back from doing it 100% by his voice losing rasp.

We can go through the album line by line, though it would be tedious.

• Title track - mostly mid range so N/A, until the outro where he goes very raspy.
• Shackler - almost entirely raspy except one harmony over the chorus
• Better - super raspy
• Street of Dreams - 50/50, though I do think it bears pointing out that he's never been able to get really raspy hitting his highest notes
• If The World - raspy verses, clean chorus
• TWAT - mostly clean
• Catcher - clean
• Scraped - 2/3rds clean, 1/3rd raspy or so
• Riad - I'd say 50/50, a little more clean overall
• Sorry - mostly mid range N/A, except the pre-chorus in full rasp
• IRS -  mostly raspy except the high notes
• Madagascar - full rasp
• TIL - chorus is raspy, verses are mostly mid range N/A
• Prostitute - clean

He didn't say that he tried to go as clean as possible, but "a lot clearer" (which is slightly different) and that the fans didn't respond well to him singing clean in live performances.

To me, it's simple:

- Main vocals recorded before 2001-2002, which were also the final versions (Title track, The Blues/Street of Dreams, If The World, TWAT, Catcher, Riad, IRS, Madagascar, Prostitute): mostly clean with controlled use of rasp.

- Live vocals 2001-2002: mostly clean.

The fans didn't like the live vocals, so he used more rasp in the vocals and overdubs he recorded after that, as well as in the live shows (2006 and 2009-10).

So up to that point it was a choice.

Then his voice started to gradually decline, so the "mickey" voice became partially a choice until it became a no choice.

Edited Sunday at 11:41 PM by Blackstar

[Voodoochild]

2 hours ago, evilfacelessturtle said:

Listen to 2:17-2:18. The vowel "a" in "guitars" clicks between notes in a millisecond. The human voice simply cannot do that.

 

That video is unavailable to me, but I’ll take another listen to the track and isolated vocals once I get the chance. 

[eggers]

Finally listened to this. That’s a lot of pitch correction.

[SoulMonster]

7 hours ago, evilfacelessturtle said:

Listen to 2:17-2:18. The vowel "a" in "guitars" clicks between notes in a millisecond. The human voice simply cannot do that.

Sounds like the voice is quivering to me. It is not obvious use of pitch correction, at least not to me. I have listened to enough music, mostly from before the Age of AutoTune, to not react to this. Besides, if I was doing pitch correction, or generally editing the vocals to perfect them, I'd certainly corrected it and not left it like this with that obvious flaw.

[gunsnchalupas]

The more I listen to it, the more I dislike it. It's awful. Bordering on embarrassing and unprofessional for a member of a major rock act to release. 

More so, the production on the vocals. It's difficult to judge the actual performance because we're not really hearing it. 

I hope this is the case where the actual vocal track isn't bad enough to necessitate this kind of production, and Axl is just being self conscious. 

This should not have seen the light of day. It's just not appropriate to release it as it was released. The vocals are completely jarring and ruin an otherwise great track. 

Keep in mind, I am an Axl nutswinger. I listened to Scraped more than once. I want to like everything the guy puts out, but I can't pretend. The emperor has no plaid shirt tied around his waist. 

[Lies They Tell]

I really like it! If there's any pitch correction, it's subtle enough that it doesn't bother me at all.

As someone who loves Axl's voice, it's been incredible to hear some fresh studio vocals from him. Even though the song itself might feel a bit underwhelming if it were a GNR track, Axl's delivery elevates it. He has a way of making even the more average songs sound great,

[beardedranga]

Love to love you line is a bit weird sounding but I think its intentional to stay in line with misty green and blue, the rest sounds good to me though, a more reserved voice than the classic banshee but thats to be expected. Same amount of effects, processing etc as rock the rock I'd say

[colonizedmind]

"Radio Edit"

[rocknroll41]

My brother is more so a casual GnR fan, but he says he really likes this new version of Love To Love, for what it’s worth.

[colonizedmind]

15 minutes ago, rocknroll41 said:

My brother is more so a casual GnR fan, but he says he really likes this new version of Love To Love, for what it’s worth.

I've had similar reactions from non-GNR purests. I think the overall reaction - fandom/critics' and randoms has been 90% positive! 👌

[Cosmo]

Finally got to listen to this. Wow, sounds worse than I expected. Such a shame :/

[Alejandro GNR]

I've said I really liked Axls performance...I think his interpretation of the song ifs what defined the way he sings it, kinda worn out like Madagascar.

Pretty interesting that Melisa produced it and not Caram, isn't it? 

I do agree that he is the only singer on the record that used effects on the vocals. 

[Ratam]

At time Axl voice sound and resemblance of S Tyler voice.

[Duwz]

2 hours ago, colonizedmind said:

"Radio Edit"

I love that it's credited to Axl only, not like it's Schencker's song LMAO

i gotta say it's a fun little remix to listen to though

[Voodoochild]

21 hours ago, evilfacelessturtle said:

Listen to 2:17-2:18. The vowel "a" in "guitars" clicks between notes in a millisecond. The human voice simply cannot do that.

 

Heard it here. The video you linked doesn't work for me, so I just listened to the original track.

It could be autotune, but I just hear it as a vibrato. I thought it could even be a two-takes splice, but listening to the isolated vocals, I don't think it is that either.

[GNR78]

2 hours ago, colonizedmind said:

"Radio Edit"

So is it the official radio edit? Someone?

thx

[Sweersa]

On 9/21/2024 at 6:34 PM, evilfacelessturtle said:

... huh? Axl tried to get every bit of rasp he could muster on CD. Except Catcher and Prostitute, really.

Unless I misunderstood you, that’s simply not true. Axl was absolutely capable of “rasp” during the CD recording sessions, him not singing the entire album or most of the album like that was a stylistic choice, much like he has done on previous albums, perhaps to a lesser extent. Axl talked about this a bit during the China Exchange interview.  I like his “Civil War” style of singing when he goes from his natural voice to his raspier side. Scraped, Monsters, Sorry, Hard Skool, Shackler’s Revenge, etc. I know some want every song to sound like the This I Love leak with full rasp Axl, but that’s not realistic and not everyone likes screaming vocals for an entire song, and variety is nice. I happen to love the officially released This I Love.  I consider it a masterpiece. A great Axl song with Robin’s incredible lead guitar. They made a great creative pair, and Bucket also complimented Axl well too. It wasn’t to be in the end, but at least we got to hear as much as we did with the official releases and leaks. 
After I get my CD of the UFO album I’ll give it many listens in my Explorer to see if the seemingly weird vocals effects take me out of the experience. I find the instrumental great, and I imagine Axl’s raw vocals or his vocals with a reasonable level of production would be equally great.

[Gordon Comstock]

51 minutes ago, GNR78 said:

So is it the official radio edit? Someone?

thx

 

It's obviously fan made...