In the decade since Sebastian Bach’s last solo album, Give ‘Em Hell (2014), his former band, Skid Row, has gone through four singers, five if we’re including current live substitute Lzzy Hale of Halestorm fame. Admittedly, the album Skid Row released within that period of time, The Gang’s All Here (2022), was a strong one and easily their finest since Bach’s unceremonious 1997 departure. Considering I had long since considered a worthwhile Bach-less Skid Row to be unfathomable, only to be proven wrong, I must admit that I greatly anticipated the iconic frontman’s musical counterstrike. It took a couple more years, but alas, we’ve made it.
Child Within the Man is Bach’s fourth solo album. On this latest affair, in the words of The Beatles, he gets by with a little help from his friends, just as he has on past affairs. Steve Stevens, Orianthi, and John 5 are amongst the names who join Baz throughout this latest collection of songs, and Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy throws his hat in the ring in a songwriting capacity (we’ll be getting into that shortly). First and foremost, however, let’s address the elephant in the room. Anyone doubting Baz’s vocal capabilities in 2024 will be silenced by Child. The fact of the matter is, whether I care for a particular song or not, Baz gives an impeccable, damn near ageless performance from beginning to end, with very little (if any) studio trickery abound.
When you couple those signature vocals with old school slabs of sleazy ’80s metal, you get pure magic. The John 5 penned “Freedom” sounds straight off of Skid Row’s self titled debut, reveling in arena ready hooks and grimy riffage. If only he had brought this to his new bosses as opposed to the faceless dreck they subjected us to a couple weeks ago. Rockers like the reckless “Future of Youth” and aggressive “F.U.” further expand upon the Skid Row/Slave to the Grind aesthetic. Meanwhile, outliers like the Dio era Sabbath flavored “(Hold On) To the Dream” and ultra accessible “About to Break” charm in their own unique way.
Unfortunately, what holds Child back is a glut of songs that can best be described as run of the mill mainstream hard rock/metal, comparable to the aforementioned Alter Bridge and Halestorm. By no means are any of these songs particularly “bad”. At their best (i.e. “What Have I Got to Lose?”, “Vendetta”), they could pass as WWE intro songs. They’re just too inoffensive and safe for my liking, especially when contrasted against the utterly merciless vocals of Bach. It’s one of those strange situations where the performance on record outweighs the songs themselves, yet is far from overtly terrible.
I’m sure somewhere online, Sebastian Bach is reading this right now and ready to tear me a new one, to which I say, “Dude, you did your part.” From a vocal and lyrical perspective, this album is as fine as one could ask for within the traditional metal/hard rock realm. I just hope the next time I hear from you, it’s with the likes of Rachel Bolan and Snake Sabo at your side. Deep down, I know you want this too. Lord knows the fans have for nearly 30 years now. In your own words, “Let’s get the hair band back together while we still have hair.”
6 out of 10
Label: Reigning Phoenix Music
Genre: Heavy Metal/Hard Rock
For fans of: Skid Row, Alter Bridge, Halestorm