Angel Down
After an eight year abscence (from studio recording, not from the spotlight)
Sebastian Bach returns with
Angel Down
, and while it would be uber-cliche to say "it's well worth the wait", it IS a good collection of tracks. Sebastian has assembled a great team of musicians, including long-time touring guitarists Metal Mike Chlasciak and Johnny Chromatic on guitars, Steve DiGiorgio on Bass, Bobby Jarzombek on drums, and of course...
GUNS N ROSES
frontman
Axl Rose donating vocals on three tracks.
Let's focus on the
Sebastian/Axl for a bit. When you think of the contrast these two performers represent, it's odd that they'd get along. Axl is a recluse, and apparently has an objection to releasing records on time (
Chinese Democracy, anyone?). Since his days with
SKID ROW, Sebastian has had a reputation as a loud mouth who likes to party. Also, Sebastian has managed to prove his diversity with stage roles in
Rocky Horror,
Jekyll and Hyde, and a touring production of
Jesus Christ Superstar, as well as a recurring role on the television series
Gilmore Girls. Regardless of their differences, Baz and Rose toured Europe together, and the association with GUNS N' ROSES managed to Raise Sebastian's profile enough to land him a deal with EMI subsidiary Merovingian Records.
The three tracks that Sebastian shares lead vocals with Axl are sequential on the disc, and include: "Stuck Inside", "(Love Is) A Bitchslap", and "Back In The Saddle", a cover of the classic AEROSMITH track. All of the tracks feature a great contrast between Bach's Rob Halford-esque scream and Rose's sandpaper growl. Lead off single, "(Love Is) A Bitchslap" is quite catchy, despite having moronic lyrics (sorry Baz...they're stupid).
The title track, "Angel Down" is kind of hard to decipher lyrically because Sebastian is in full-scream for the whole track, but it doesn't mean that it's lackluster, and showcases the guitar brutality of Johnny Chromatic and Mike Chlasciak.
Bach and producer
Roy Z, who incidentally did a hell of a job helping an old fart like Sebastian sound badass (yes, that's sarcastic.... calm down) co-wrote "By Your Side" a song that brings to mind SKID ROW's "Wasted Time", which, ironically Sebastian sang some seventeen years ago.
Power ballad pioneer Desmond Child was enlisted to co-write "Falling Into You" with Sebastian, and as far as ballads go, kind of falls short in comparison to "By Your Side".
Fans of
IRON MAIDEN and New Wave of British Heavy Metal will get a kick out of "You Don't Understand" with it's dual lead guitars and Bruce Dickinson-ish vocal melodies.
While
Angel Down isn't going to blow away hardcore
SKID ROW fans who remember some of the anthemic classics from their teenage years, but it's definitely a huge leap forward for Sebastian, who, as mentioned earlier in this review, hasn't released an album in eight years.
