Sebastian Bach – ABachalypse Now

Published March 15 2013

*=Staff's pick

CD 1:
Slave To The Grind
Kicking & Screaming*
Here I Am
Big Guns*
Piece Of Me
18 & Life
American Metalhead
Monkey Business
I Remember You
Youth Gone Wild

CD 2:
Big Guns
(Love Is) A Bitchslap
Piece Of Me
18 & Life*
American Metalhead
Monkey Business
I Remember You
Tunnelvision*
Youth Gone Wild

Genre	Heavy Metal	Sebastian Bach	Vocals
Tracks	19	Nick Sterling	Guitar
Running time	102 Min.	Johnny Chromatic	Guitar
Label	Frontiers Records	Jason Christopher	Bass
Release	22 March 2013	Bobby Jarzombek	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboard
Producer	-
Similar artists	Skid Row

Release formats: 2 CD + DVD digipak edition and standard DVD edition. This review handles the double CDs, since I have no access at this point to the DVD material.

These CDs were recorded in 2012 at Hellfest Festival in France respectively at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California and they show the difference between bigger stages and clubs. I sure would have already wanted to have my hands on the DVD, to check out the outcome of the Graspop gig, which I attended, recorded at high noon on rainy Belgian grounds in a temperature not worthy a summer festival.

Sebastian Bach still has his live shows based on the first two awesome and to me timeless Skid Row albums. It’s just face the hard facts that his own material isn’t of the same brilliance, even though much of his solo stuff rocks as well. Only five songs of nineteen can be called his own, which I think is a shame, when there are plenty of songs on his two latest deals that could have found a spot on this release. What I find ridiculously annoying is that seven of the songs are featured on both discs, even if played in slightly different versions and on separate locations.

Bach’s voice works just fine, even though he doesn’t sound like in his younger days. I really can’t say how much that have been corrected and mixed afterwards, but it feels pretty genuine and on this release it sounds good alright. He should study his French better though and if you ever try to learn that language, for God’s sake, don’t listen to Sebastian.

Mostly Skid Row classics, a Slave To The Grind at 45 rpm and a Sebastian Bach filled with energy, screaming his nuts off. So why on Earth buy a Sebastian Bach live release when you have heard most of these songs hundreds or even thousands of times before? I will give you a straight answer. The songs are so damn good, so it’s no use to resist the urge to get a chance to hear these versions.

See also review of: Give 'Em Hell , Kicking & Screaming

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
6	4	5	7	9

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Tobbe