speak for yourself when using opinions. so he turns the volume up - good for him. axl is a much more diverse vocalist with a much wider vocal range than the others mentioned = fact. in other words he sets the bar higher and no one sings to perfection every night. here's a trick to hammer home my point. how often does axl have trouble singing mr brownstone? rare to never. because that is his natural singing voice. robert and dave sing in there natural singing voice all or the majority of their songs. again, good for them. nobody is protecting anybody. in fact, i think some are bashing their hero as if to sound objective and intelligent. in the end, the fact remains that axl at his age can do more with his voice than anyone i know can do at 26. anyone who says axl is hiding his voice or cannot sing live doesn't know what they are talking about.

are you guys kidding?

based on boots and live viewings i saw his voice gradually and steadily return to top form as the '06 tour went on.

axl experimented with not using rasp in '02 and i would guess it was to avoid permanent damage down the road or he was trying to establish a new identity as an artist. he proved he has a nice singing voice but when your songs stretch your vocal range as much as his do you have to use all the tricks not in the book to decorate and present the vocals and in his case that means using the rasp with the falsetto. the "helium" sound was the result of him singing without rasp.

in '02 axl's mic level was too high at the show i went to and you could barely hear the music and he certainly had more reason to hide his voice back then and yet he didn't. i could also hear him well in '06 in sync with the band. i am sure it depends on the venue and where you are sitting or standing at.

that's your opinion and that's fine but when he wakes up is for him to decide
i am just explaining why he bitches and mia doesn't

i understand this is hypothetical but we really can't know the answer to this question until we know the circumstances of the reunion.

there are so many but here are a few possible scenarios that i relate to the question.

if geffen/management decide the album is great but they cannot market it without the orginial guns and a deal was struck axl would certainly see to it before the deal was made that they would play cd material. the question then becomes would they re-record with original lineup. maybe a few parts i would assume.

if they release the cd with the current band and it does very well there may never be a reunion, other than a one or two show stint down the road, in which case they would not play cd material.

if they release the cd and it flops then they probably wouldn't play cd material after a reunion cause there would be no pressure to do so, assuming axl doesn't go back into hiding.

and finally, what i hope happens, new gnr releases cd and it does well. they tour for a year or so. axl gets the monkey off his back and then comes to the realization that the music is great the band is good but he wants to take the world by storm again but it's not happening with the hired guns so he gives slash a call. the original band rerecords the second and third album with some new stuff added in. the rest is history.

it is a lot different - the magazine has more people listening/reading. so the question is would he hype the record to all these people if he thinks we're gonna be made to wait a lot longer? cause just days prior he had nothing to say to the forum. something did change. this interview mentioned good news from the day before which was a day after gnr.com announced hiring new management.  richard was openly positive about that part. kinda makes you wonder if he heard about this the same as you and i. my guess is he considers the new management to be a sign that axl's finally ready to give up the album as do i.

madagas - you are right. these people in the gnr camp aren't lying constantly about multiple things and they obviously know more than us, although the band members are clearly out of the loop when it comes down to the business part of it. i think all the times they have said the album would be out they beleived it when they said it. and now we are getting more specific statements like descriptions of the album and how it is in negotiations. we are getting the truth.