(Frontier Records)
Of all the classic hard rockers that emerged from Canada in the early Eighties, Peterborough Ontario’s Sebastian Bach ruled supreme. As frontman for New Jersey’s Skid Row, with their chart-topping “18 And Life”, Bach appeared on the front cover of Rolling Stone magazine as the pin-up boy of the Eighties hair band movement. And although all of those bands were swept under the carpet with the advent of the Nirvana-led grunge movement, those bands are now back on the circuit and thanks to labels like the Italian-based Frontier Records are actually recording decent albums.
“Give ‘Em Hell” is one such release. Bach has surrounded himself with a pretty decent support cast in Billy Idol’s Steve Stevens, Guns N’ Roses’ bassist Duff McKagan and John 5 from Marilyn Manson’s band, support that stands him in good stead with instrumental arrangements that are both dynamic and complex. Bach still has the vocal chops but he also exhibits a fair level of musical creativity, mixing up the dynamics on tracks like “Had Enough” and “Temptation” , showing his production prowess on the ambitious five-minute “Push Away” and even creates some clever titles in ‘Gun to a Knife Fight’ and the poignant `All My Friends Are Dead”.
Yet the record highlight for is his updated version of April Wine’s “Rock n Roll Is a Vicious Game”, a track that bristles with renewed energy with the wailing harmonica background added an extra snap to the arrangement.
Download: “Rock n Roll Is a Vicious Game”, “Push Away”, “All My Friends Are Dead”
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