Angel Down : Sebastian Bach : Review : Rolling Stone

"I'm calling all the shots tonight/I'm like a loaded gun": The shredded screech is unmistakable, but it's not ex-Skid Row throat Sebastian Bach. It's his buddy Axl Rose of Guns n' Roses, taking a break from obsessing over Chinese Democracy to join Bach on a cover of Aerosmith's "Back in the Saddle." Angel Down is Bach's first solo album in eight years, yet Rose all but steals the sense of event in three duets here, which also include "(Love Is) A Bitchslap," a cheap-shock title for a bolt of crude, early G n' R, and "Stuck Inside," which pits Rose's sandpaper yelp against squealing-fuzz guitar. On his own, Bach scrapes away the hair-rock gloss of his old band for brittle speed-metal distortion and a raw, bleating vocal style with a lot of Rob Halford. There is some late-Eighties rewind in the power ballad "Falling Into You"; "You Don't Understand" comes with Seventies UFO-style riffing. In fact, more of each would have broken up the repetitive thrash that makes the latter half of the album feel like one righteously hard but overlong song.

David Fricke

(Posted: Nov 29, 2007)

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Review 1 of 3

1of 5 Stars

How nice to have back the man who once sported a shirt saying "AIDS kills fags dead." You just can't get enough of a lovely soul like that. Bach is no angel, and he may be down, but too bad he's not out. I give this one star just because the musical backing is so good, in my opinion, but mere existence, not to mention the talentless singing, of Bach, diminishes that. Why don't you ride your horsie into the hair metal sunset, you pile of human feces?

Nov 29, 2007 12:43:20

Review 2 of 3

Not Rated

if i read another review where David Fricke puts the word "fuzz" next to "guitar". I'm cancelling my subscription.

Nov 23, 2007 14:39:27

Review 3 of 3

4of 5 Stars

Warning: this is NOT Skid Row!!! And if you buy this album looking for another Skid Row album you will be sorely disappointed. If you thought Metallica sold out when they made the black album, you will not like this album! This is however a solid, enjoyable album if you take it for what it is (which I repeat is NOT Skid Row). Bach's vocals are as good as I've ever heard them. "Back In The Saddle" (a cover of Aerosmith's classic cover of the old Gene Autry song) may be one of the best cover songs I've ever heard. Axl Rose's vocals mixed with Sebastian makes for a very powerful duo- a theme continuing through the next two tracks "(Love Is) A Bitchslap" [track #3] and "Stuck Inside" leaving me in high anticipation for GNR's next effort "Chinese Democracy" (in which, according to rumor, Sebastian will contribute some vocals). The guitar work on the album is very good, but a bit repetitive. For good stretch of the album it becomes difficult to tell where one hard thrashing song ends and another begins. There are however, a few breaks in the insane riffs and high pitched blasts that are sebastain's vocals. "By your side" [track #9] is a nice switch with a little bit of the 80's ballad style in there. And there's also the 70's-ish (as Mr. Fricke accurately desciribed)"UFO" guitar style in the second song "you don't understand". The lyrics are very average, but barely relevant anyway. Overall, this album is a good album- it's not a classic, but it's better than a lot of the crap being released now.

Nov 21, 2007 20:48:49

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