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After a hiatus of 8 years, Seb ‘Motormouth’ Bach returns to the fold with
his new release ‘Angel Down’ and does the one thing most have tried to do
for years – get Axl Rose of G.N.R. fame down on vocals to help out, so
full marks at least for that.
There’s no mistaking Roses voice in the harmonies on ‘Back In The Saddle’,
where Bach’s voice almost goes off the scale at one point and also in the
G.N.R. sounding ‘(Love Is) A Bitchslap’, in which Bach shows his true
vocal strength and ability, totally outdoing Rose throughout and sounding
as if he enjoyed it as well.
Musically the album has an almost old-fashioned heavy metal sound to it,
duelling guitars and thumping drum work that makes you sweat just
listening to it, ‘Angel Down’ and ‘You Don’t Understand’ being two prime
examples, the latter being in the Iron Maiden mould. Saying that, there
are touches of up to date sounds in parts and possibly the best song on
the LP ‘Stuck Inside’ with its distorted guitar work and more backing
vocals by Rose, hits the height of the album, again with Bach showing his
true vocal ability before returning to what he seems happier with, the
screeching and snarling as in ‘American Metal-head’ and ‘Negative Light’,
but yet again that’s Seb for you!!!
There had to be at least one ballad somewhere amongst the mayhem and ‘By
Your Side’ doesn’t disappoint in any way, all acoustic guitar and faint
touches of orchestration. Admittedly there’s a similarity to ‘I Remember
You’ from his heyday in Skid Row about the song, but I don’t think many
people would complain. Definitely, Bach on top form here. He goes on to
almost total homage paying to Axl’s past with ‘Our Love Is A Lie’, that
sounds like something that could be taken from a certain early G.N.R.
album, all ballsy guitars and banging drums and Bach actually sounding not
unlike Rose in parts.
Finishing off with the very 90’s sounding power ballad ‘Falling Into You’,
the song seems slightly out of place on this album which for me at 55
minutes long is possibly, 10 minutes too long for my liking. As a whole,
the album is one of hit and miss songs, that offer nothing new really from
Bach.
He claims to be ‘Back In The Saddle Again’ in track 3, well sorry Seb but
on this evidence I’d stick to your reality and Broadway shows, as I think
your time in the ROCKSTAR limelight dimmed dramatically in the 90’s due to
your attitude and big mouth when in Skid Row and I can’t see you getting
it back in a hurry.
*Review by Bob |
