CLEVELAND, Ohio - A man's reach should exceed his grasp.

Note to Axl Rose, front man for Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Guns N' Roses: That cliche does not apply to vocals.

Rose's consistently inconsistent vocals - on those rare occasions during a marathon 31/2 show at Quicken Loans Arena Thursday when they were audible - alternated between off key, screechy and just plain out of tune. His voice marred an otherwise stunning performance by guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and their backing band, especially guitarist Rich Fortus, who proved himself to be every bit as much a Guitar Hero as Slash.

It was at times painful to listen to Rose try to reach the high notes his nasally tenor made famous on songs like "Sweet Child O' Mine'' and "Welcome to the Jungle,'' or rely on a falsetto that had more cracks than a sidewalk in the Great San Francisco earthquake. Not that it probably mattered to the 12,000 or so who packed The Q. Most were GenXers there to relive their own heydays as much as that of GNR.

Hopefully, they had better luck than Rose.

It is especially disappointing given that a little more than a year ago, Rose was very nearly perfect as the fill-in for ailing AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson when Angus Young brought the band to town. Nobody's going to outdo Young in his own band, and he most definitely was the star of the show, but Rose's vocals on the AC/DC tunes were spot on and powerful.

Not so Thursday night with his own band.

It began with "It's So Easy,'' continued with "Mr. Brownstone'' and "Chinese Democracy,'' stumbled in "Jungle'' and fell apart by "Double Talkin' Jive.'' And, lord, that was just five songs into set that stretched past 30!

"You Could Be Mine'' paid the price, and a cover of Wings' "Live and Let Die'' was, in a word, mangled. Live and let it go next time.

To be fair, the celebrated GNR version of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door'' came out just fine, but that was clearly because the key was dropped to a more manageable range, and his cover of the Jimmy Webb tune made famous by Glen Campbell, "Wichita Lineman,'' benefited from the same move. It helped that Rose didn't both attempting his trademark sing-songy calisthenics on either tune.

What makes the vocal failure so depressing is that the musicianship remains top-notch - this may be the best overall group of musicians that will play Northeast Ohio this year.

And it all begins with Slash's ability to turn his Gibson Les Paul into an instrument of mass construction is. Fortunately for fans, the video cameras shooting the show were UHD, so every seat in the packed arena had vivid, sharp images of Slash's almost effortless mastery of the fretboard with what may be the fastest left hand in rock 'n' roll.

It worked even better because of Fortus' own skill on the ax, and THAT was because the two shredders worked in tandem to complement each other, often adding harmonics as well as rhythm. The end result wasn't a duel, but a team in which each helped the other to shine.

Too, McKagan remains one of the most solid bassists in the genre - very nearly Slash's equal on his instrument - laying down lines that are as steady as they are rapid and mesh perfectly with the beats of drummer Frank Ferrer, who's been on the kit for the band since 2006.

Keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Melissa Reese add pizazz and solid backing harmonies to round out the band.

If only they had a singer.