Published on Dec 2, 1999
Sebastian Bach seemed to be headed towards becoming the answer
to a question in “Trivial Pursuit.” After his departure from the
band Skid Row, both Bach and his bandmates struggled to find their
own musical identities – only to be greeted with indifference
thanks to a changing musical scene.
Now, in the midst of rumors about his own musical future, Bach
gathers a group of musical partners in crime to form Sebastian Bach
& Friends. Combining a mixture of new studio tracks and a
re-hash of Skid Row songs recorded live in Japan,
Bring ‘Em Bach Alive! tries to recapture the glory days of
the past.
Bach’s vocals have deepened a bit, giving the live material a
more mature sound – and, dare I say it, a little more credibility.
That said, though, I question how long Bach will be able to sing a
song like “Youth Gone Wild” without it becoming a self-parody, like
The Who singing, “Hope I die before I get old.”
The personnel on this disc flips a little bit between the studio
band and the live act. Anton Fig handles the drum work in the
studio, while Mark “BAMBAM” McConnell smacks the skins in the live
set. Otherwise, the group is pretty stable with bassist Larry (why
do I have a
Newhart sketch running in my head all of a sudden?) and
guitarists Jimmy Flemion and Richie Scarlet. (Oh, friendly word of
advice: Lose those ridiculous fucking costumes. Christ, the guy
dressed as “The Angel”… that looks like a cross between Liberace
and Kiss. And, Sebastian, I didn’t realize people still could make
a suit out of Reynolds Wrap. ‘Nuff said.)
The five new tracks stay pretty much in the musical vein you’d
expect from Bach, although they’re not that bad. Tracks like “Done
Bleeding,” “Blasphemer” and “Counterpunch” all are pretty enjoyable
in their own guilty-pleasure way. Only “Superstar, Superjerk,
Supertears” is a superwaste – and I don’t know why, but I was a bit
disappointed to hear “Rock ‘N’ Roll” was an original, not a cover
of the Led Zeppelin track.
Regarding the live set, if someone were to play this without
telling you who it was, chances are you’d guess you were listening
to Skid Row. While it’s been years since I dug any of my Skid Row
albums out of the dusty halls of the Pierce Memorial Archives, I’m
now intrigued enough to go back and listen to
Slave To The Grind again. Especially noteworthy is the
medley of “Monkey Business” and Blue Oyster Cult’s “Godzilla”, an
appropriate song for the location of the concert – and a damned
fine performance of it as well.
While
Bring ‘Em Bach Alive! is a decent enough set, part of me
hopes that this disc represents Bach closing a chapter of his
musical life and the full-fledged start of a solo career. I
understand he’ll probably always have to do a few Skid Row songs in
his repertoire, but it would be nice to hear him come out with a
set that leans more heavily on new material, even if that concept
scares away some fans. It’s called “musical growth” – and you can
hear it happening on a few of the new tracks.
Bring ‘Em Bach Alive! is the kind of disc that fans of late
’80s/early ’90s metal will be drooling over, especially when
hearing one of the musical heroes like Bach with a more
world-travelled voice. And it is an interesting slice of history to
listen to – but I’m still crossing my fingers that Bach is planning
to start writing a new chapter in the book.