Do you remember the good 'ol days of hard rock? I mean seriously, do you? This is a question you can really only answer if you were born in the early 80's (or before), because if your mother squeezed you out in the late 80's or early 90's by the time you were able to make sense of shit hard rock was pretty much a dead genre. Looking back to the late 80's I was quite young having only been birthed in August of '81, but I have some fond memories hearing real hard rock n' roll on MTV or on Casey Kasem's top 40 show when I was just a tyke.One of those bands that I heard back then and still absolutely love to this day is, Skid Row. Holy fuck, man, '18 and Life' & 'I Remember You' were songs I loved back then even if I probably didn't even know who the hell they were wrote by until a few years later, but this is just more of that stuff that changed me and got me into my own music and prepared me for heavier stuff down the road.
Although similar in style to most other cock rock hair metal bands of the 80's, Skid Row was in fact different visually as they preferred actually looking like men, though Sebastian Bach was pretty goddamn pretty boy-ish looking at times, but will forgive him because he's awesome and cooler than the whole lot o us. Actually, Skid Row was heavier, catchier and far more talented than say, Warrant or Poison, but the same vibe runs through these guys music. It was just all about having a good time, about getting into trouble and chasing chicks around while writing some kick ass tunes.
The opening song, 'Big Guns' has so much life and the fun lyrics about feeling like a prisoner/hostage in love are too cool. 'Sweet Little Sister' has more of that hard rockin' good time feeling going with lyrics about a prostitute that can't be beat. I also once guest DJed on metal nights at a local bar (those were good nights, miss 'em.) years ago and I played this one amongst some black metal songs, much to the chagrin of the attendees I'm sure. 'Can't Stand The Heartache' & 'Piece of Me' are somewhat similar and decent too, though these ones seem more distinctly hair metal-ish and silly in a way, but amusing nonetheless. '18 and Life' is the first ballad on the record and I LOVE THIS SONG! Musically its stunning and the lyrics tell a great story and I don't know about you, but every time I listen to this song I get this cold feeling rush through me. Oh, and that solo, baby! So, damn good!
Other songs like, 'Rattlesnake Shake,' 'Here I Am' and 'Makin' a mess' have more of that typical 80's hair metal thing going for them, but they are always a blast and again although I was tiny it just reminds me of that carefree time of my life. Damn, and, 'Youth Gone Wild' was such a big song for me back then. I remember throwing the cassette in a boom box and blasting that sucka at obnoxious volumes while riding around on my bicycle and feeling unstoppable. That's fuckin' right! Okay, and I got to admit I do like, 'I Remember You,' probably more so now than then, but that's just because I'm an adult now and I know what its like to have my heart broken and what's better than a sappy 80's ballad after all that? And finally I've got much love for the closer, 'Midnight/Tornado!' Who can resist lyrics like, "When the clock strikes midnite, I'm on the prowl of love" and the energetic rockin' spirit behind this one?! That's right, you can't!
Its strange to think that by the mid-90's music like this didn't exist and then just a few years down the road Skid Row didn't even exist. I know nowadays there are plenty of underground bands that are doing the whole 80's hair metal thing, which is cool, but what I long for is this music to be a mainstream thing as it once was. Instead modern music continues to plunge to depths of unforgettable awfulness, with god fucking abominable crap like U2, Radiohead, Coldplay, Foo Fighters and so on being called rock. I realize no one calls these bands, 'hard rock,' because they certainly are not, but I don't see them as even being rock, but rather just shitty fucking pop music that's actually wrote by the people in the band.
As a finale to this one all I can really say is that this is what good ol' fashioned hard rock was all about. Super catchy songs with great riffs and immense solos, diverse and interesting lyrics about love, society, rebellion as well as fantastic vocals from the singer, in this case, Mr. Sebastian Bach who was just nineteen when this one came out. It meant a hell of a lot to me back then and nothing much has changed since then.
Oh, and I'd give up my left testicle to have a shirt with the album artwork on it! And from the looks of things (Check this out) I'd have to do just that, but that's alright my nuts have proven to be completely useless for thirty years now. So, I'd happily give a nut up for Sebastian, Rachel, Dave, Rob and Scotti.
What a great album, let alone great debut album. I don't know if you know this, but I consider myself a huge fan of the hair metal-era rock and metal, and even though I like to think Skid Row offers a lot more than just a generic hair metal band, this album is one of the best of the era.
ReplyDelete"Sweet Little Sister" is probably my favorite, though "Big Guns" and "Youth Gone Wild" are right up there for me. Of the ballads, I'll say "18 to Life" is my favorite. (Poor Ricky).
But of the many different elements that make this album so rocking, my favorite is the backing vocals. A lot of the hair/glam metal-era bands had a lot of great, catchy choruses anchored by killer backing vocals. A lot of such songs were really just based on gang vocals (and "Skid Row" is a lot like that), but there's something about how bassist Rachel Bolan and guitarists Scotty Hill and Snake Sabo back Sebastian Bach up that makes the songs stand out above what other bands were doing. Case in point: the backing vocals in the chorus of "Sweet Little Sister," with distinct harmonizing voices. "Youth Gone Wild" has the obvious killer gang vocals in the chorus, obviously helping its rock factor blast off into the stratosphere.
The follow-up is pretty awesome, too, but in a much different way. Though Bach and drummer Rob Affusio are no longer in the band, the other three still make up 3/5 of Skid Row's lineup today, one that I hear is actually pretty fucking rocking. It'd be nice to see the band sometime soon.