SKID ROW: Skid Row (HEAVY METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

October 30, 1989, Skid Row, a young band from New Jersey, opens for Mötley Crüe, then at the height of its glory at the Zenith in Paris. During their last song, 'Youth Gone Wild', they will atomize the room.

This youth, this ardor, is the main asset of the first Skid Row album. Indeed, on the musical level, this album gives in a rather traditional genre, a kind of mix between a muscular Hard Rock and a domesticated Heavy metal. Nothing very special except for the voice. And what a voice! It transcends rather classic songs and transforms them into very effective titles. Sebastian Bach, the singer, is at ease as well in the ballads as in the fast tracks where his phrasing and his capacity to go up in the high notes hit the mark. That it is on the fast titles ('Makin' A Mess', 'Sweet Little Sister'), or on the magnificent ballads ('18 And Life', a power ballad which will ensure the success of the group on MTV and the acoustic 'I Remember You'), the aggressive and high voice of Bach makes wonders.

If the whole band knows how to use the usual recipes in vogue in the heavy metal of the time (guitar duet, soli...), nothing really allows to distinguish them radically from the competition. The whole remains however very effective (7 songs on 11 are between 2'45 minutes and 3'45 minutes). And then there is this bomb that is 'Youth Gone Wild', a catchy track that is like an anthem for the band. The chorus with its unifying choirs is made for the stage.

Without any real weakness, "Skid Row" is a very good first album, in a style that is certainly conventional but that pushes the excellent singer and frontman Sebastian Bach to the front of the stage. In short, a very good calling card that prepares us for the madness that will be "Slave To The Grind" their second album. - Official website

SKID ROW

SKID ROW

ATLANTIC RECORDS

HEAVY METAL