
'B-Sides...' has just five songs and runs twenty minutes.Skid Row playing five of their personal favorite covers.
Psycho Therapy (the Ramones) - Nothing's more fun than a Ramones cover. Bach & the boys take on this punk rock classic and seem to enjoy themselves in the process.
C'Mon and Love Me (KISS) - I'll give them credit for not picking an obvious KISS song, and they deliver a faithful cover version.
Delivering the Goods (Judas Priest) - This live track features a guest appearance by Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford. Bach ends the song proclaiming his love for Halford, which you have to find slightly ironic given Rob's (at the time) closet homosexuality and Bach's homophobic "AIDS kills f--s dead" t-shirt controversy. The song still rocks though, and is worth the price of the CD just to hear these two screamers perform together.
What You're Doing (Rush) - Again, I give them credit for picking a song that you wouldn't expect. This one comes from way back on Rush's debut album.
Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix) - It's not easy to cover a legend, but the band does a good job here both musically and vocally. The Ramone's "Psycho Therapy" with bassist Rachel Bolan on lead vocals.Something I didn't at all expect to see here,was with their cover of the Judas Priest tune "Delivering The Goods",that Rob Halford was trading off vocals with Sebastian Bach.The two remaining cuts are Kiss's "C'mon And Love Me" and Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing"
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Skid Row - B-Side Ourselves
Labels: skidrow
Skid Row - Subhuman Race

Bachs trademark pipes soaring and growling their way through tunes that had more in common with Slave to the Grind than the debut. Which is as you'd expect. Heavy rockers abound here as hard riffing is the order of the day, personal faves bein the lead cut My Enemy, the title track and Medicine Jar. That's not to deny the impassioned Bach efforts on Frozen or Beat Yourself Blind. And the band weren't above a few gimmicks, such as the single Breakin' Down being issued in two versions, effectively trying to double sales for the single.Skid Row's finest ever offered, serving up monstrous riffs, Bach dishing out catastrophic vocals, and the entire band bashing away at some of the heaviest music ever.
Every song is slamming', the most fatal ones being My Enemy, Bonehead, BEAT YOURSELF BLIND, Subhuman Race, Frozen and Breaking' Down.Lyrically, a major progression has taken place. Songs like "Frozen" and "Firesign" are great examples of that lyricism at work. "Breakin' Down" a song written by "Snake" Sabo should satisfy the ballad crowd as should "Eileen". The album is a bit of a departure for the band but is still down and dirty rock and roll, just like when the band started.
Labels: skidrow
Friday, November 28, 2008
Skid Row

This album is a classic! It belongs in every serious collection of music.Skid Row distinguished themselves from the legions of pop-metal bands of the late '80s and early '90s chiefly by their attitude, which was closer to Guns N' Roses than to Bon Jovi,Whitesnake or Def Leppard."Skid Row" is one of those albums that embodies that time of my life. From "Youth Gone Wild" to "I Remember You," the simple lyrics talked to every teenager growing at that time. There isn't anything great about any of the songs here, but they were the world to a lot of people back in '89. "18 and Life" is on the Classic Rock.
Big Guns -- Dirty lyric-filled, loud, slightly bluesy pop/metal anthem. A great opener.Sweet Little Sister -- Fast paced, heavy, but also extremely catchy and somewhat poppy tune.Can't Stand the Heartache -- Only a teeny bit less heavy, but more of an arena rock 'post love' anthem. Very underrated and another highlight of the album you won't hear on the radio.Piece of Me -- One of the hits/videos. Probably the toughest, heaviest song on the album. An angry sounding, almost straight metal tune about fighting and partying. It's still singable though.18 & Life -- The most well-known tune. A melodic but still hard-edged pop/power ballad about a suicidal guy named Ricky. A slight departure from what most of the era's bands' power ballads sounded like.Rattlesnake Shake -- Yet again, a tough, streetwise hard rocker about a prostitute. Reminds me of something Guns N' Roses would do.Youth Gone Wild -- Another well known, shout-along rebellious (yet fun) anthem. Loud and heavy, yet slightly melodic.Here I Am -- Not one of my favorites. A non-hit, rawer metal anthem.Makin' A Mess -- A fast paced hard rocker, but it strays from the 'Get Chicks and Party' theme of the album. A first person account of, what sounds like, spouse abuse. Told in an anti- kind of way, but not a ballad at all.
I Remember You -- The other power ballad of the album. A somewhat acoustic tune in parts, almost reminding me of Mr Big's hit "To Be With You." It still rocks, but it's probably the highest song here.Midnight/Tornado -- Yet another underrated rocker that got away.
This one has more of a melodic, power rock sound to it. It's somewhat heavy as well, but it's one of those songs even someone who isn't a fan of hard rock could like.Sebastian Bach's voice is incredible, and he brings the songs on this album to life. It is easy to see why SKID ROW stood out in the crowd of fledgling bands that emerged at that time. The songs don't sound "all the same" and there's absolutely no "filler" in this album. You can expect to enjoy every song.
Labels: skidrow
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Skid Row - Slave to the Grind

Skidrow Slave to the Grind album is the absolute epitome of Southern American Hard rock, from the same school as Blackfoot. "Monkey Business", "Slave to the Grind", "Living on a Chain Gang", and "Mudkicker" are some of the heaviest and best songs ever recorded.
Heavy doesn't always make it good. Hard rocking doesn't always make it heavy. But it all comes together - completely together - on Slave to the Grind.The Guns 'n' Roses comparison is tempting, but GnR have a completely different style overall (with the exception of maybe "Welcome to the Jungle") and, as a vocalist, Axel Rose sounds positively weedy and strangled next to Mr Bach's mighty lungs. It must also be noted that Slash's solos lack the tight structures of Sabo's.
This album shares the same qualities of greatness. The whole feeling of a journey is there from start to finish - and that feeling at the end of having arrived somewhere. This is often accompanied by dissatisfaction, in the sense that it is better to travel than to arrive, and there is a powerful urge to start the whole thing over.Slave to the Grind" is far heavier and meaner than the debut album. It sounds like "Appetite For Destruction" era Guns N' Roses meets Pantera.
The songs are heavy, and in-your-face, yet also highly melodic, and filled with killer solos. Singer Sebastian Bach has a very distinct set of pipes that make him unique and set him apart from all the generic David Lee Roth wannabe singers from the late 80s.This was a real shame, because Skid Row was a great band, and their sophomore album "Slave to the Grind" remains great record.
Labels: skidrow
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Skid Row - Thickskin

Snake and the boys came up with a fresh new aproach that should still keep the die hards happy. From the first track "New Generation" you know what to expect. Heavy and energetic rock is back. No the singer is not Sebastian, But he is very talented in his own right.The song writing of Rachel Bolan & Snake Sabo along with Scotti Hill on the heavy-rockin "Hittin' the Wall" are great.Johnny Solinger helped out in writing "Mouth of Voodoo", and a couple of outside writers helped out in a couple of other tunes.
The group proves that haven't lost a step when it comes to songwriting either. "Born a Beggar" starts off with a great twangy guitar intro, as the deep vocals of Solinger describe one's devotion to their significant other. The group goes in the opposite lyrical direction on "See You Around", a moving power ballad about breaking up. The chunky guitars of "Thick is the Skin" boast more of the updated sound, as does "Mouth of Voodoo". "Lamb" has a wicked baseline and a distinguished chorus.
Track Listings
1. New Generation
2. Ghost
3. Swallow Me (The Real You)
4. Born a Beggar
5. Thick Is the Skin
6. See You Around
7. Mouth of Voodoo
8. One Light
9. I Remember You Two
10. Lamb
11. Down from Underground
12. Hittin' a Wall
Labels: skidrow
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Skid Row - Revolutions Per Minute

The twelve new songs on Revolutions Per Minute see Skid Row pulling out all the stops. Bolan, Hill and Sabo play their guitars with a vengeance, firing off power chords by the second, turning their amps to the max and apparently knowing but one "Slave to the Grind," Skid Row lyrics have taken on pretty weighty issues and dealt with relationships in more mature prose than most any other metal band.direction straight ahead! Whether on the hook-oriented opener, Disease, the aggressive Another Dick In The System, the catchy White Trash or the programmatic Shut Up Baby, I Love You - their unadulterated vitality seems to practically jump at the listener.It has the classic Bolan writing, Sollinger's vocals are solid, and the songs are memorable, but it's probably the least 'Skid Row' sounding album of the bands career. It doesn't compare by far to "Slave to the Grind" or "Thickskin." It's only comparable to "Subhuman Race" - Bas's final effort with the band - in that it has both the classic Skid Row sound.ohnny Solinger is a worthy successor and Bolan continues to write incredibly memorable songs with big riffs and metal sensibilities.
Track Listings
1. Disease
2. Another Dick In The System
3. Pulling My Heart Out From Under Me
4. When God Can't Wait
5. Shut Up Baby, I Love You
6. Strength
7. White Trash
8. You Lie
9. Nothing
10. Love Is Dead
11. Let It Ride
Labels: skidrow