2 Sebastian Bach – Kicking And Screaming (2011)

Sebastian Bach is back with a new album, a new(er) band, and a whole new attitude. Fans expecting to hear a new incarnation of hair metal should keep on walking. This is new Bach, and it is highly transformed from old Bach.

The first exceptionally noticeable trait on Sebastian Bach’s latest CD, Kicking And Screaming is how unique the sound is when compared to past Bach. While Sebastian mentioned in several interviews that the new disc was going to be decidedly different from anything he’s previously recorded, it’s hard to know what that means until actually hearing the disc. Bach was not kidding. Fans purchasing Kicking And Screaming hoping to hear regurgitated hair metal from days gone by are in for a big disappointment. Kicking And Screaming is a Sebastian Bach solo record like none that has been heard before and that is great news for metal fans.

Bach’s voice has changed for this release. Known for his primal metal screams and magnificent yowls that ruled the hairspray rock back in the day, Bach has followed more of a modern trend for Kicking And Screaming. The yodeling has been pushed aside for more of an alternative rock sound. Blend together the sounds of Seether, Three Days Grace, Shinedown, Soundgarden, and a lot of London LeGrand, and the end result will be Bach’s voice on Kicking And Screaming. It’s neither a good thing nor a bad thing, but it is different. So different that it is immediately noticeable and after a couple of spins through the disc, it’s likeable. The lengths that Bach went to be more than a cliché of his former self shows and it is a welcome breath of fresh air.

After seeing Sebastian Bach live at this year’s M3 Festival, I knew that young guitar wizard, Nick Sterling, was an exceptional talent. However, once I heard his work on Kicking And Screaming I was reminded of Steve Vai on David Lee Roth’s Yankee Rose. Sterling is close to being that elite and his chops on the album are astonishing. Layered with intense solos and spectacular finger picking, Nick Sterling is every bit as good as Sebastian Bach proclaimed him to be. As lead guitarist for Bach’s band, he provides a fresh and invigorating style of guitar that brings out the best in each song. Nick Sterling is the future sound of hard rocking guitarists, and if he keeps up this great work, he is going to be remembered forever. Like Johnny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd before him, this young superstar can be the next IT guitarist. Let’s just hope he keeps his head on straight and doesn’t fade away into the fold.

Overall, if you are seeking a great hard rock album with a modern spike, purchase a copy of Kicking And Screaming. However, if you are looking for old school Bach ala the Skid Row days, you might want to take a pass. There is no Aqua Net required to enjoy this album.

Notable Tracks: Dance On Your Grave, Long As I Got The Music, Dream Forever

Rating:  Out of 10

Track Listing:

1. Kicking And Screaming
2. My Own Worst Enemy
3. Tunnelvision
4. Dance On Your Grave
5. Caught In A Dream
6. As Long As I’ve Got The Music
7. I’m Alive
8. Dirty Power
9. Live The Life
10. Dream Forever
11. One Good Reason
12. Lost In The Light
13. Wishin’

Sebastian Bach Is:

Sebastian Bach – Lead Vocals
Nick Sterling – Lead Guitar
Johnny Chromatic – Rhythm Guitar
Rob DeLuca – Bass
Bobby Jarzombek – Drums

30 Sebastian Bach – Angel Down (2007)

Former Skid Row singer, Sebastian Bach blazes the comeback trail with his first new album since his collaboration on the Frameshift disc from 2005.

Not only is this an exciting return for Bach, but it is also one for Axl Rose. This disc features 3 songs with Guns ‘N Roses frontman. These are the first new tunes available (bootlegs don’t count) with Axl Rose since his work with Alice Cooper on the 1999 Box Set, The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper.

When Bach’s first mainstream success in 1989 with the first Skid Row album, there was no doubt that they were part of the whole Glam Metal scene. With Skid Row’s 2nd release, Slave To The Grind, they moved toward a more heavy metal sound. In my opinion, Angel Down carries on where Slave to the Grind left off.

Why mention this during Glam Month? This glam metal star has crafted what is possibly the best hard rock record of 2007. Bach has brought in some pretty good players for this record, including Metal Mike Chlasciak, and Bobby Jarzombek from Halford. I have had the pleasure of seeing Chlasciak play live, and his is one hell of a guitar shredder. Jarzombek and his pounding double bass drums is his equal on the drums. The band is rounded out by former Iced Earth bassist Steve DiGiorgio and Johnny Chromatic on guitar.

Roy Z. produced this disc, and like most recordings he touches, Angel Down is a well produced, great sounding disc from beginning to end.

Most of the tracks on Angel Down, were written by Sebastian Bach, but he did have a little help from Roy Z, Axl Rose and Desmond Child. Most importantly, his bandmates wrote a lot of the music. This wasn’t a bunch of hired hands playing Sebastian’s music. This was a complete band output.

Sebastian Bach has been a fan favorite of several years now. Those of you that thought Bach couldn’t sing anymore, are about to be proved wrong in a major way. Bach’s voice soars on this disc. Everything from the screams to the higher pitched songs, he does it all, and does it quite well.

Not every song on Angel Down is perfect, but it is one of the best classic metal discs to be released not only in 2007, but quite possibly this decade. This record has some extremely heavy numbers with tracks like American Metalhead and Negative Light. It also has a couple of tracks Falling Into You, and By Your Side that could have been at home on the first Skid Row record. It is going to be quite hard for me to listen to anything else for a while after hearing this record. This is a fucking great record, and it will be near the top of my best of list at the end of 2007. I can only hope that Bach will put out more quality releases like Angel Down in the future.

Do yourself a favor and go buy this record today!

Rating: Out of 10

Track Listing:
1 Angel Down
2 You Don’t Understand
3 Back in the Saddle
4 (Love Is) A Bitchslap
5 Stuck Inside
6 American Metalhead
7 Negative Light
8 Live & Die
9 By Your Side
10 Our Love Is a Lie
11 Take You Down with Me
12 Stabbin’ Daggers
13 You Bring Me Down
14 Falling into You

Sebastian Bach band is:

Sebastian Bach – Vocals
Mike Chlasciak – Guitars
Bobby Jarzombek – Drums
Steve DiGiorgio – Bass

4 Frameshift – An Absence of Empathy

This release snuck by me, and probably quite a few other people too.

I paid a visit to Sebastian Bach’s myspace page after watching that Supergroup show he was in, on MTV, and found out about this one.

This is Sebastian Bach singing vocals for a Progressive Metal group.

Apparently, this is a concept album, ala Operation Mindcrime, but I haven’t dug into far enough to find out what the actual story is.

Amazingly, this is the best that Sebastian has sounded since the Skid Row CD – Slave to the Grind. This gives me hope that some new Skid Row sounding material could be on the horizon, if Bas ever gets around to doing it. This CD sounds nothing like Skid Row however.

This is Progressive Metal and will likely appeal more to fans of Dream Theater, Spock’s Beard, Vanden Plas, and Angra than it will Skid Row.

I don’t think the average listener is going to get into this on the first listen. This is one of those CD’s that take a couple of listens to grab you and pull you in.

After a few listens, there a certainly some stand out tracks:

Human Grain is probably the easiest listen. Just One More, and Miseducation are halfway decent prog rockers. Push the Button is growing on me. How Long Can I Resist is pretty good.

With this being a concept album, some of the songs get a bit too long, clocking in at over 9 minutes in length. As a whole, I find it hard to listen to the whole CD in one sitting, the initial three tracks are good, but then the pacing starts to slow down and it looses my attention. There are enough decent tracks on here worth giving this a spin or two.

This is definitely a CD for the Progressive Metal fans out there. Sebastian Bach fans may enjoy this too.

Rating :Out of 10

Track Listing:

1. Human Grain
2. Just One More
3. Miseducation
4. I Killed You
5. This is Gonna to Hurt
6. Push the Button
7. In an Empty Room
8. Outcast
9. Blade
10. How Long Can I Resist
11. When I Look Into My Eyes
12. What Kind of Animal