Angel Down

www.sebastianbach.com 

Label: Get Off My Bach/MRV/Caroline

Genre: Rock

Sounds Like: Guns n’ Roses meets Queen and Skid Row at a bar.

Rating: 4 outta 5

As the 19-year-old, pretty boy front man of Skid Row back in the day, Bach’s penchant for booze, fame and women were barely matched by the benign roar of his undeveloped trachea.  Nonetheless, the band had a great run during his vocal reign, selling over eight million records and filling arenas world-wide.  Still, as 80s hair bands became extinct in the wake of the emerging grunge scene of the 90s, guys like Bach were left behind – doomed to wallow in a primordial stew of endless reality show appearances (vis-a-vi Jani Lane, Vanilla Ice and Brett Michaels).  But alas, unlike his ill-fated reality cohorts, Bach has managed to pull himself out of the frying pan and deliver an inferno with Angel Down.  Now his second solo effort, this album is harder, yet catchier than anything he has ever done.  Even Axl Rose thinks so – he sings on three tracks, including a great cover of Aerosmith’s “Back in the Saddle” and a hysterical tune called “(Love Is) A Bitch Slap.”  From the robust riffs of the opening title track to the Queen-esque closer, “Falling into You,” Angel Down celebrates the excesses of 80s rock and roll, without taking itself too seriously.