Originally Posted by The Batlord

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.