Skid Row - Self-Titled

Andrew at Aversionline has long banged on about the awesomeness of the first two Skid Row records. While in the back of my mind I've known he's probably right, it's been over 15 years since I heard those songs. Recently, though, I had occasion to revisit them while reviewing the new Sebastian Bach album, which is surprisingly good.

Midnight/Tornado
18 and Life

It's strange to return to music you listened to as a child. You hear albums for what they are. I know I didn't wear out my tape of Skid Row (Atlantic, 1989) like I did with Appetite for Destruction or Dr. Feelgood. Beyond that, though, I didn't parse the band other than wondering if the chain between Rachel Bolan's earring and nose ring ever got caught on anything.

Now the filler is more obvious. Basically, all the songs about girls are pap. Even the massive ballad "I Remember You" is weak. It commits the sin of rhyming a word with itself: "I said I'd give my life for just one kiss / I'd live for your smile and die for your kiss." Oof.

But even the filler is catchy. After so many years, I discovered I still knew pretty much every solo and chorus. In fact, the songwriting is so much better than on every other Skid Row record that I can't help but wonder if Jon Bon Jovi (the band's friend, and in whose studio they recorded their demo) lent a hand. The follow-up Slave to the Grind mostly ditched hair metal for actual metal (not too dissimilar to mediocre middle-era Overkill, actually). It's satisfyingly heavier ("Monkey Business" rules), but otherwise doesn't come close.

This record has a weird footnote, Matt Fallon, who briefly sang for both Anthrax and Skid Row before Joey Belladonna and Sebastian Bach, respectively. He was singing "Youth Gone Wild" and "18 and Life" live with the band, which is hard to imagine, as those songs are now so associated with Bach. Fallon co-write "Midnight/Tornado," one of the album's best songs, as it's basically straight-up Eurometal. That twin guitar harmony at 2:23 owns.

My other favorite is "18 and Life." Skid Row were at their best when they dropped girl talk for social commentary. That's not to say they were good at social commentary. It's just that Sebastian Bach looked so much like a girl that when he talked about banging one, it was hard to take him seriously. Just check out his Rolling Stone cover, which probably came in brown paper wrap on newsstands.

On a (slightly) more serious note, "18 and Life" may be the greatest hair metal vocal performance ever ("Sweet Child O' Mine" is also a candidate). For a band that only went downhill, Skid Row sure could overachieve.