Rush’s Beyond The Lighted Stage movie threw up some indubitable facts: Rush are more fun than people think; their manager once tried to sack Geddy Lee; and an enthusiastic Sebastian Bach had got really fat. For those who haven’t seen the movie, Bach, once as pretty as Beyonce, looked cartoonish and flabby. It was like bumping into an ex-girlfriend and silently thanking God you never married her.
To his credit, he’s addressed that, and any other concerns you might have had about his singing career after Skid Row. Now snake-hipped and with a familiar snap and verve to his voice and delivery, Bach looks and sounds like he’s still in his 20s.
Admittedly the title track is familiar bluster – you can almost see him strutting across the stage with each biting pronouncement – but his new album has got more depth than that. Live The Life could have sat happily on Alice In Chains’ Dirt, I’m Alive is stirring, almost profound, ditto the sublime Wishin’.
While Tunnelvision is as gutsy, uncompromising and clever as anything on Skid Row’s Subhuman Race, this album – like Bach – will probably get right up their nose.
