THE ALBUM OF THE DAY IS… SKID ROW, SLAVE TO THE GRIND
With Slave to the Grind, Skid Row’s follow up to their massively successful self-titled 1989 debut, Baz and the boys turned up their amps a bit and knocked out a series of songs that were harder, heavier, and faster than anything they’d done prior.
Both the title track and “The Threat” skimp on the pop-metal cliches often present on Skid Row’s first album, replacing them instead with ballsy, gigantic guitar riffs beneath a gruffier-than-ever sounding Bach. The bass intro and opening guitar riff of “Psycho Love” call to mind the GN’R classic “Rocket Queen,” but the chorus is pure Skid Row with Sebastian’s ever-present knack for a great hook, and the arpeggiated chorus guitar in the bridge curiously references King’s X. Meanwhile, “Get the Fuck out” let’s the band’s punk influences shine encased in an early ’90s metal shell. Even the album’s ballads “Quicksand Jesus” and “Wasted Time” are more intricately constructed and less predictable than their counterparts on the first album. Both Snake Sabo and Scotty Hill are excellent on this album as well, trading off excellent guitar solo after excellent guitar solo.
If their next album Subhuman Race was any indicator, Skid Row was on a Pantera-like trajectory to get heavier and heavier with time had Sebastian Bach not left the group. Though these days Baz may be traipsing the globe singing “My Michelle” with Axl Rose, we’ve still got these three awesome albums to get us through.
-VN
Buy Slave to the Grind
