''Angel Down'' is the third solo release and the first studio album by
heavy metal singer
Sebastian Bach
Sebastian Philip Bierk (born April 3, 1968), known professionally as Sebastian Bach, is a Canadian-American singer who achieved mainstream success as the frontman of the hard rock band Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. He has acted on Broadway and ha ...
. Released on November 20, 2007, it is the first release to feature all original studio recorded material. It is also Bach's first release since his 2001 release ''
Bach 2: Basics''. The album gained attention due to
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...
lead singer
Axl Rose
W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its incep ...
's guest appearance on three tracks and Bach's appearance on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
's ''
Celebrity Rap Superstar
''Celebrity Rap Superstar'' is an American reality show which premiered on MTV on August 30, 2007. The series was hosted by Kevin Hart and Liz Hernandez.
Overview
The series features eight rappers teaching eight celebrities to be able to perform ...
''. The front cover art of the album is David Lees's photo for ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' magazine of the
1966 Florence flood.
Reception
In an exclusive preview of the album,
Paul Cashmere
Paul Cashmere is an Australian entrepreneur, broadcaster, music journalist and media executive. In 1995 he founded the digital music CD-ROM magazine, ''Undercover'', with Australian photographer and domestic partner, Ros O'Gorman (1960–2018) ...
of ''Undercover'' described ''Angel Down'' as "The metal album of the year, if not the 21st Century so far."
On October 27, 2007, "
Back in the Saddle
"Back in the Saddle" is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith. It was written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. It is the first track on Aerosmith's hard rock album '' Rocks'' released in 1976. The song was also released as the thir ...
" was played on the Texas radio station Q94.5. According to the station, the phones rang off the hook when the single was played and it became the station's No. 1 most requested track and also charted at number 4 in Finland,
however the album only debuted at No. 191 on the
Billboard Top 200
The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artis ...
chart, selling 6,400 copies in its first week.
Track listing
DVD (limited edition)
The ''Angel Down'' DVD is included on the limited edition of the album and features a documentary titled "Roadrage" made by Sebastian Bach himself and features a close look at the making of the album and backstage vision with the
Trailer Park Boys
''Trailer Park Boys'' is a Canadian mockumentary sitcom television series created by Mike Clattenburg that began airing in 2001 as a continuation of his 1999 film bearing the same name. The show follows the misadventures of a group of trailer pa ...
.
The DVD also includes six live performances and a music video.
# "American Metalhead"
# "Stuck Inside"
# "(Love Is) a Bitchslap"
# "You Don't Understand"
# "By Your Side"
# "By Your Side (Acoustic)" (bonus)
# "(Love Is) a Bitchslap" (music video)
Personnel
*
Sebastian Bach
Sebastian Philip Bierk (born April 3, 1968), known professionally as Sebastian Bach, is a Canadian-American singer who achieved mainstream success as the frontman of the hard rock band Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. He has acted on Broadway and ha ...
– lead vocals
*
"Metal" Mike Chlasciak
"Metal" Mike Chlasciak (born December 24, 1971) is a Polish-American musician, best known as the guitarist for heavy metal band Halford, led by Rob Halford.
Musical career
Chlasciak and Halford have toured the world several times over with the ...
– guitar
*
Johnny Chromatic – guitar
*
Steve DiGiorgio
Steve Di Giorgio (born November 7, 1967) is an American bass guitarist. He is known for working with numerous heavy metal bands such as Sadus (of whom he was one of the co-founders), Death, Testament, Megadeth, Sebastian Bach, Iced Earth, Autop ...
– bass
*
Bobby Jarzombek
Bobby Jarzombek is an American musician of Polish and German ancestry who is currently the drummer for country music legend George Strait. Bobby also has been a drummer for: vocalist Sebastian Bach, and progressive metal band Fates Warning. ...
– drums and percussion
Additional personnel
*
Axl Rose
W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its incep ...
– vocals on "Back in the Saddle"; backup vocals on "(Love Is) a Bitchslap" and "Stuck Inside"; writing credits on "Stuck Inside"
* Adam Albright – guitar on "Angel Down"
* Ed Ross – piano and strings on "By Your Side" and "Falling into You"
* Roy Z – guitar tracks 2, 4, 9, 10
Chart positions
Trivia
Bach also has the album cover tattooed on his arm. The tattoo was done by
Kat Von D. He was a celebrity guest on her show ''
LA Ink
''LA Ink'' is an American reality television show on TLC that follows the events of the High Voltage Tattoo (and, later in the series, American Electric) tattoo studios in Los Angeles, California. The spin-off of TLC's ''Miami Ink'', premiered ...
''.
References
{{Authority control
2007 debut albums
Sebastian Bach albums
Caroline Records albums
Albums produced by Roy Z