Down On The Farm:

PTU, Bad Obsession and Down On The Farm? But what will people whinge about now that they've changed up the setlist?

The difference, I think, is that if you apply an AI layer of Young Axl to another singer, it's just going to sound like that singer trying to do an Axl Rose impression. Whereas if you apply a Young Axl AI layer to 2023 Axl, it's going to sound like, well, Axl. The dynamics, the tonality, the way he delivers the notes, will be identical – it'll just have his rasp from the 80s or 90s. Hell, you could even train it on different eras of his voice and dial in 1993 Axl or 1987 Axl or whatever.

I doubt it. It's why I think it'll predominantly be used in studio or live settings to give a little boost to the dynamics of a singer's voice, using that singer's voice as a "guide." Kind of like how de-ageing VFX is applied to an actor's face; it's easier to work with the existing bone structure and muscle movements than plop a mask of an actor over some other actor's face.

Compare, say, de-aged Harrison Ford in the new Indiana Jones trailer:

which was achieved by placing Young Harrison Ford's face over Old Harrison Ford and using his muscles and bone structure to guide the VFX…

…to resurrected Peter Cushing in Rogue One:

which was achieved by 3D scanning an old face cast of Peter Cushing and then dropping it over a different actor's performance.

I could very easily see the tech bods training up an AI model using the best-quality, isolated studio vocals of Axl from the 1980s and 1990s, and then applying that as a subtle effect layer over 2023 Axl's vocals. Taking the dynamics of modern Axl's voice and buffing them slightly with his old rasp. Probably in-studio initially, but as the technology matures it could be used in a live setting too. No one would be any the wiser, and it'd become one of those industry secrets that no-one talks about, like the way <famous aging drummer> allegedly has a session guy play his parts backstage while he mimes along, at concerts.

I blow hot and cold on the bloated excesses of Gilby-era GN'R, the horn sections, the costume changes during Civil War etc. I would love to see a proper release from those 1993 shows where Izzy briefly returned to the band, though.