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Old 09-21-2014, 01:11 AM   #1 (permalink)
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He seems to be one of the most beloved frontmen in all of rock music, and I just don't get it. I can't say anything about is stage presence, since I've never seen Guns N' Roses live, but I just never got the appeal. I suppose I can see liking him better than Bret Michaels, if for no other reason than he has a bit more personality to him, but if nobody had ever told me he was supposed to be special then I would have just considered him a slightly-above-average glam metal singer and moved on. If I had two main issues with him...

1.) I say this as a moderate lover of hair bands---with some especial love for Vince Neil, Blackie Lawless, and the guy from Faster Pussycat---but I find his voice ever-so-slightly grating. I suppose it's supposed to sound sleazy, but I just don't see anything special about his take on sleaze. He just comes off like another in a long line of guys who just aren't as good as Steven Tyler.

2.) When he's not doing the raspy sleaze thing he likes to drop his voice low (e.g. "Mr. Brownstone"), which I just find to be even more annoying than his normal singing voice.

P.S. And what's the thing with people who try to describe GNR as a punk band, or I guess a punk band that plays glam? Don't just about all of the not-as-derivative-as-Poison have a heavy punk influence? Wasn't that half the point of the New York Dolls worship? It just comes across as whiny tools who don't want their favorite band thrown in with the likes of Warrant.
Axl Rose falls into a long list of white rockers who have really squeaky voices (Neil Young, Tom Petty, John Lydon ect) it must drive black people nuts to have to listen to it, lol.

I agree with everyone that Axl has a much wider range than Vince Neil, he is simply a better vocalist, that being said Vince Neil's voice does sound slightly less squeaky than Axl's, so I can see where your coming from.

To my regret I never saw GNR live, but I have heard that Axl is a phenomenal front man from countless people, and I believe it.

The whole punk thing largely comes from some of the band members influences, particularly Duff Mckagen who played in North West punk bands before joining GNR. That being said GNR's primary influence were bands like Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones & AC/DC ect, so I would say they are a hard rock band with some punk influence, but overall they have always been in the hardrock metal category.
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Old 09-21-2014, 04:08 AM   #2 (permalink)
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I just think that a lot of people associate a horrible and scratchy voice like Axl Rose's with hard rock and therefore expect it. The fact is, that Axl Rose got his singing inspiration from Dan McCafferty of Nazareth but at least Dan knew how to holler and do it properly.
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Old 09-21-2014, 06:02 AM   #3 (permalink)
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Axl Rose falls into a long list of white rockers who have really squeaky voices (Neil Young, Tom Petty, John Lydon ect) it must drive black people nuts to have to listen to it, lol.
Tom Petty? I don't see how he fits into the squeaky voice thing. He has kind of a mumbly thing going on that I also associate with Bob Dylan and Beck.
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Old 09-21-2014, 06:28 AM   #4 (permalink)
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Tom Petty? I don't see how he fits into the squeaky voice thing. He has kind of a mumbly thing going on that I also associate with Bob Dylan and Beck.
Well Tom Petty is a mumbler in the Bob Dylan style and wouldn't compare him to AXl Rose either.
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Old 09-21-2014, 07:35 AM   #5 (permalink)
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He had some reasonably impressive lung-power, passable improv skills for a rock artist, a touch more creativity than some rock/metal guys from his contemporaries among the mainstream...

But basically? He picked a kick-ass group to play with. Originally.

I'm a classical guitarist, with some flamenco and jazz influences, but even I recognize that Saul Hudson (Slash) was and is a fantastic guitar player.
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Old 09-21-2014, 07:43 AM   #6 (permalink)
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I'm a classical guitarist, with some flamenco and jazz influences, but even I recognize that Saul Hudson (Slash) was and is a fantastic guitar player.
I think Slash is good at what he does but he has no range whatsoever. I saw him with Slash's Snake Pit long after the GnR days and he was still rehashing the same old thing.

I think the realty of GnR is that during a certain period they were more than the sum of their parts. I have no interest in solo output from any of them, but together during a particular period of their lives, it worked. I think there are quite a few bands out there like that. Jane's Addiction comes to mind.
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Old 09-21-2014, 12:49 PM   #7 (permalink)
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Tom Petty? I don't see how he fits into the squeaky voice thing. He has kind of a mumbly thing going on that I also associate with Bob Dylan and Beck.
Well I suppose your right to some respects but I still find that he sings with a high pitched tenor sounding voice most of the time. I love Petty by the way.


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I think Slash is good at what he does but he has no range whatsoever. I saw him with Slash's Snake Pit long after the GnR days and he was still rehashing the same old thing.
I think the realty of GnR is that during a certain period they were more than the sum of their parts. I have no interest in solo output from any of them, but together during a particular period of their lives, it worked. I think there are quite a few bands out there like that. Jane's Addiction comes to mind.
I totally agree, I can't think of one Velvet Revolver or solo song that stands out for me. It looks like the punk influence went a long way for GNR, for Velvet Revolver has that horrible 90's commercial rock sound behind it, & Axl seems to think he's Elton John.
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Old 09-21-2014, 01:30 PM   #8 (permalink)
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for Velvet Revolver has that great 70s-90s commercial rock sound behind it, & Axl seems to think he's Elton John.
Fixed the first part for you and I'd sooner eat my dinner listening to Elton John than Axl Rose.

Or do you mean Scott Weiland? If you do then I'd take him everyday over both Axl and Elton.
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Old 09-21-2014, 01:43 PM   #9 (permalink)
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Fixed the first part for you and I'd sooner eat my dinner listening to Elton John than Axl Rose.

Or do you mean Scott Weiland? If you do then I'd take him everyday over both Axl and Elton.
Depending on the song I might actually agree with you in the case of Axl. I'm not the biggest Elton John fan, but he's generally fun. Of course I haven't dug into his non-single songs.
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Old 09-22-2014, 12:39 AM   #10 (permalink)
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Fixed the first part for you and I'd sooner eat my dinner listening to Elton John than Axl Rose.

Or do you mean Scott Weiland? If you do then I'd take him everyday over both Axl and Elton.
lol, well I guess it depends upon your personal music taste. I came from the school of punk and in terms of a hard rock sound I love AC/DC Van Halen Motley Crue extra, but I loathed that Eddie Vedder Pearl Jam sound from day one. So no I'm not particularly into Scott Weiland or Slash's change in guitar style.

Henry Rollins says it best in this video years ago, forward to around 3:05
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