Skid Row released their debut in January of 1989. At the time, there were a lot of copycat and second-tier versions of 80s hard rock bands saturating the scene. Skid Row proved that while they were totally part of that 80s hard rock sound, they had their own identity. Powerhouse vocalist Sebastian Bach took the band through two more albums, Slave to the Grind (1991)—their masterpiece—and Subhuman Race (1995) with an EP, B-Side Ourselves (1992), in between. After that, inter-band relationships fell apart. What follows is a very brief attempt at summarizing a long and complicated history that no one seems to completely agree upon.
Bach had volatile episodes. He clashed with people, including his bandmates. Compounding matters, the band’s sound was falling out of favor in the wake of grunge. Things began to boil over when Bach argued with bassist Rachel Bolan about opening for KISS. Bach wanted to do it, but Bolan thought they were too big to be openers. Bach didn’t want to record the new material the band was bringing to him. Bach left a nasty message on co-guitarist Dave “The Snake” Sabo’s answering machine. Finally, Skid Row and Bach parted ways. Bach formed another group, The Last Hard Men, and then started focusing on making solo albums. Skid Row reconfigured themselves as Ozone Monday, and later moved forward as Skid Row with various replacements vocalists (ironically, they opened for KISS in 2000). Neither side has been as powerful or successful apart as they were when they were together. Bach maintains he is open to a reunion. Skid Row continue to say they are happier without Bach—though they understand the perspective of the fans who want a reunion. If Guns N’ Roses can do it . . .
Seemingly out of nowhere, the deluxe edition of Skid Row appears. Here’s the bad news: Currently, there is no physical release. Boo! That means no liner notes, photographs, or the sound quality of CD or vinyl. The album is also “mastered for iTunes” which is great if that’s how you listen to music. I drop CDs on there for travelling, but I prefer to load a CD and hear on my home system.
I’m not sure how much involvement the band had with this release. Less than a month ago, Bach said that Skid Row “are too self-absorbed to even think about our 30th anniversary or re-releasing the old records on vinyl or putting out Oh Say Can You Scream on Blu-ray.” While such comments evidence Bach’s frustration with getting older material back out to the fans and also probably won’t ingratiate himself with his former band members, his words also strongly suggest that Bach probably knew nothing about this release. Maybe the rest of Skid Row were involved, but if so, it seems they didn’t communicate with Bach. Strange, too, that they haven’t said anything about the release.
A couple of months ago, Bach discussed his desire for a re-release and explained that his vision would include, “a re-release with bonus material and Oh Say Can You Scream Blu-ray and posters and passes.” So what is on this deluxe edition? The first part is Skid Row plus “Forever,” a 1988 track that first appeared on a 1998 best of compilation. I’ve always thought and still think Skid Row is one of those releases that while some tracks stand out more than others, there are no filler tracks on here. The big choruses and soaring guitar solos that characterized the era are fully present. Even all these years later, what really strikes me is the power of Bach’s voice. Every frontman and frontwoman of a band is vocalist, but Bach is an actual singer. As for the one additional track “Forever,” sometimes when you hear a bonus track, you understand why it was left off of the original release. “Forever” is not one of those tracks. Instead, it belongs to that other category of extra material that makes you wonder why it wasn’t included on the original album.
The second part is a live show from 1989 that trims two tracks from Skid Row and adds a spirited cover of KISS’ “Cold Gin.” Comparing this official version to the bootleg version running around, the official version seems cleaned up, clearer, and less muddy. Perhaps it’s from a higher-generation recording or from a different source. This official version is much better. However, “18 and Life” and “Youth Gone Wild,” for example, still have squeals of microphone feedback in them. I appreciate that the live concert actually sounds like a live concert, but surely someone could have gotten in there and fixed or reduced these sorts of small but distracting issues. Still, despite all of my griping, this is a pretty good—not perfect—live show. At least it’s authentic, and no one will accuse this of being redone in the studio.
Some of these deluxe reissue editions go for a hundred to several hundreds of dollars. I don’t know that the marketplace would support that level of edition for Skid Row (it’s not in my budget). On the other hand, the deluxe edition of Black Sabbath’s Paranoid goes for less than twenty-five dollars and includes four CDs, a sixty-page hardback book, a poster, and a mini-reproduction of their 1971 tour program. Now, that’s the way to do an expanded version! Would the studio album with more than one additional track, the live 1989 show, the Oh Say Can You Scream collection of live videos on DVD or Blu-ray, and a booklet with some liner notes and photographs have been that difficult to come up with and assemble?
Pink Floyd have provided a good model for these types of releases. For example, Dark Side of the Moon comes in three editions: Discovery, Experience, and Immersion. Discovery has just the studio album. Experience features the studio album and a live set. Exceeding perhaps even Bach’s expansive wish list, Immersion gives you everything but DNA samples and fingerprints by including the Discovery and Experience material as well as a DVD, a Blu-ray, different mixes, live versions, demos, documentaries, replica tickets and passes, coasters, marbles, and a scarf. Thus, fans can pick their package. Skid Row is the equivalent of the Experience version. By giving us a bonus track, it is, in a sense, giving us a little more than the Experience version. However, as the only expanded version available, it seems somewhat paltry.
Maybe this is all that was available. After Hurricane Irene hit in 2011, Bach was quoted as saying that a variety of Skid Row master tapes, audio recordings, and video recordings that were in his home were destroyed. Later, he said those items were not in his flooded basement but in a higher level of his house (in 2014 he also said he ran across the masters for the 1993 Roadkill video). While this makes one wonder why Bach has these materials and why they are not sitting in a vault or under the control of the record company or the Skid Row organization, one wonders even more why none of these resources were tapped for the re-release. Are there legal issues? Did no one contact Bach? Though it’s difficult to imagine he wouldn’t have responded back or commented on an encounter with Skid Row, was Bach unresponsive or difficult? Is everyone convinced he has these items?
The lack of a physical component, any physical component, seems positively cheap and so much more could have been done with this release. The deluxe version is about two dollars more than the download of the regular version, so it’s worth it if you don’t have any version and acquire your music via downloading. My hope is that Rhino is experimenting with the market, and perhaps a physical release will still arrive. In fact, the five comments currently on Rhino’s product page for the album all request a physical version. I would gladly buy such a release—if the quality and value were there.
I am encouraged with this re-release that there will be more Skid Row expanded editions. However, there are better, or, at least, different ways to expand and commemorate Slave to the Grind and Subhuman Race.
TRACKLIST
Big Guns
Sweet Little Sister
Can’t Stand The Heartache
Piece Of Me
18 And Life
Rattlesnake Shake
Youth Gone Wild
Here I Am
Makin’ A Mess
I Remember You
Midnight/Tornado
Forever (bonus track)
Live at The Marquee, Westminster, CA (April 28, 1989)
Makin’ A Mess
Piece Of Me
Big Guns
18 And Life
Sweet Little Sister
Rattlesnake Shake
I Remember You
Here I Am
Youth Gone Wild
Cold Gin
