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Skid Row - Skid Row

Park Avenue leads to...SKID ROW! - 87%

Brainded Binky, February 4th, 2015

One of the most prevalent music scenes in the mid-late 80's, Skid Row became a household name among "hair metal" fans who took pride in their appreciation of classic hits like "Youth Gone Wild" and "18 and Life". Despite being one of the more popular ones that aren't quite on the same level of popularity as Poison, Skid Row is anything but annoying and horrendous. In fact, they're one of the only glam bands that actually deserves their classification of being a metal band, 'cos they sure have a lot of songs that suggest so. Some of their songs might be a little cheesy, but they're more fun to listen to than the nasally vocals of Vince Neil.

For starters, the guitars are way heavier than any ordinary glam band around at the time. Even if their songs carry a sort of glam-like vibe like "Big Guns" or "Can't Stand the Heartache", they have a very heavy weight to them, and that's part of the reason why I enjoy them. Yes, they might be a little radio-friendly, but a little radio-friendliness really isn't bad. It's when that radio friendliness goes overboard with pretentious lyrics of the topical cliches, lighter guitars, a horrible fashion sense, and overuse of non-metal instruments (mainly synthesizers), that is when the song is bad. You'll find not one song of that nature on this album, however. The closest thing you're ever gonna get to being cliche are "Can't Stand the Heartache" (a predictable song title, I must say), and the ballad, "I Remember You". Even with that being said, they really don't sound that bad, even if you were to dislike them. "I Remember You" is one of those super-popular "power ballads", but it's less overdone in terms of lyrics. Yes, they're relating to the sort of things that people do when they're in love ("Remember yesterday, walking hand in hand, love letters in the sand"), but they're more down to earth than any ballad that's like "Oh baby, you're the world to me. The universe will fall out of balance and all life on Earth will disappear if you step out that door"*. The other, more well-known power ballad, "18 and Life", is actually very entertaining to listen to. Yes, you read that correctly, it's a good song; possibly the only power ballad worthy of its recognition. It's actually more of a somber and serious song relating to the hardships of the life of a character named Ricky. There is no mention of love, unless you count the metaphors of him marrying trouble and whatnot. That makes it easier and more fun to listen to.

Power ballads aside, we also get quite a few fun songs, no matter how cheesy they get. I did mention the songs "Can't Stand the Heartache" before, but possibly their most famous hit, "Youth Gone Wild" is quite a surprise for those expecting more of the sound you'd find in "Big Guns". It's actually more aggressive and hard-hitting, with Sebastian Bach adding both swagger and punch into his vocal delivery. Personally, it's my favorite track off of the whole album, and it's the very reason why I bought it in the first place. The band had most of the trappings of a typical glam band (they didn't have as much hairspray as Cinderella's members did), but they sure did know how to create a song that even a thrash metaller could enjoy. The powerful and high energy of "Youth Gone Wild" could've never come from any other glam band that appeared in its heyday. The heavy guitars that I mentioned earlier only add to the meat that the track carries.

Glam is a very misunderstood subgenre of metal (if many were to believe that it's a subgenre of metal at all), but that's mainly due to the bands that got the most attention, like Bon Jovi. Even when carrying some amount of radio-friendliness, Skid Row seemed easier to relate to since their music wasn't so pretentious. Their band members (with the exception of the legendary/infamous frontman Sebastian Bach) look more like the sort of people that you could sit down, chat and have a drink with. Can you think of any other glam band that did that?

*No, there (thankfully) isn't a song that ever features these lyrics, for I have made them up just to show how silly some power ballads get.

Getting past the glam. - 84%

hells_unicorn, June 18th, 2012
Written based on this version: 1989, CD, Atlantic Records (US)

Glam has been the subject of much indignation, seldom of it righteous when considering a lot of the so-called decriers of this passé form of rock music. The alleged monotony and self-indulgence of the 80s were long mocked as a short-lived fad amongst politically indifferent hedonists, not withstanding portrayals of social awareness such as “Dr. Feelgood” and “Don’t Close Your Eyes”, not to mention the continual obsession with the subject exuded by Queensryche in the latter half of the decade. It’s difficult to truly ascertain where the shorter-lived grunge craze really upped the ante in this department, as all that ultimately changed was the pretty-boy image being discarded for an unwashed slew of flannel toting manual laborers. Changes in the guard where mainstream music is concerned has always been a matter of novelty in imagery, and anything of actual depth that manages to sneak into the fold does so pretty much by sheer accident.

Interestingly enough, Skid Row proved to be one of the more prized accidents of actual musical credibility to receive mainstream adoration, toting an image more in line with early Motley Crue yet bringing a sound more along the lines of a less sexually provocative yet equally irreverent W.A.S.P. Granted, some parallels can be drawn between earlier Bon Jovi offerings in this regard (minus the keyboard elements of course), which is fitting given Dave Sabo’s own past associations with the band. But this is a band that was cut a bit more from the Guns N’ Roses line of thinking, spending just as much time bashing 80s upper class conformity and disseminating the ugly truth of poverty and youth violence as reveling in the party atmosphere that was played to an all out annoying extreme by the likes of Poison.

Arguments of a fairly heated nature often commence over whether or not Skid Row as a band and also their debut album are of the glam persuasion, but given the application of the term only has meaning insofar as image is concerned, such a debate is largely trivial. Musically this album is about as metal as the mid 80s Accept offerings of “Metal Heart” and “Russian Roulette”, save Sebastian Bach’s LA sleaze oriented vocal style. The riff work heard on “Makin’ A Mess” and “Sweet Little Sister” cut like a knife, loading up the crunchiness and guitars screamed in a manner just a little too fierce for the likes of Slash and Izzy. Even more restrained rocking anthems like “Youth Gone Wild” and “Midnight/Tornado” tend towards that angst ridden, Twisted Sister sound than the so-called party band imagery more proper to the cliché glam outfit. To make it clear by way of analogy, the fact that Kurt Cobain and his band mates put on dresses for their “In Bloom” video doesn’t immediately draw the label of a rocking transvestites, so similar points of derision about Sebastian’s flowing hair in connection to the band’s actual music should be similarly dismissed.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of this album is that this album shines its brightest during their offerings to the most ridiculed area of 80s music, namely the power ballad. “18 And Life” and “I Remember You” are the sort of catchy, sing-along numbers with instantly identifiable clean/acoustic guitar lines meshed with singing lead guitar melodies that populated rock radio like a virus at the time, but they also pack a good amount of lyrical and musical credibility not regularly associated with the typical lovelorn ballad out of Warrant or Aerosmith (how the latter escapes ridicule for songs like “Angel” and “Love In An Elevator” while Jani Lane was repeatedly mocked for “Cherry Pie” underscores the vindictive capriciousness of mainline rock media and consumers). These songs earned their keep as staples of how musicians can paint the harsh realities of daily life in a poignant way, while I still puzzle over what people continue to see in that probably written in 5 minutes joke of a Nirvana ballad “Polly”.

Instead of being wrapped up in an epic debate of Skid Row’s glam status, one ought simply to cut through the manufactured media trite and deal with this music on the merits, and that is ultimately where this album succeeds. It’s by no means perfect, particularly given the inclusion of some fairly vapid filler songs like “Can’t Stand The Heart Ache” and “Piece Of Me”, but it ranks among those mainstream accepted albums that are actually worth the consideration of an independent minded head banger that wants some rock influences accompanying his metal. Indeed, part of not being a slave to trends is occasionally accepting some of their adherents for your own reasons rather than mindlessly rejecting them simply to be a fashionable nonconformist.

Enjoyable, if a bit inconsistent - 70%

The_Blacksmith, February 1st, 2009

First off, this is totally glam. Heavier than say Poison, but no heavier than the likes of earlier Crue or Pantera (think I Am The Night) both clearly glam bands. Second off, this album has some of the best glam songs ever released, but is also plagued with lots of filler which lightens the impact, an issue that will continue to haunt Skid Row for the rest of their career. I will point out though that the album isn’t totally held down by the filler like say, Projects in the Jungle was, which was a great album totally castrated by its three awful ballads.

Things kick off with the song “Big Guns”, a fairly unspectacular mid-tempo glam metal song with nothing out of the ordinary. Fun, catchy chorus, air guitar worthy solo etc, nothing really special about this one, just typical glam metal, but that’s not a bad thing. Things improve though with “Sweet Little Sister”, which has harder riffs, a really cool solo and is bordering on speed metal, but not quite there yet. “Can’t Stand the Heartache” and “Piece of Me” are both fairly forgettable, with the first one having a vaguely sub-par Bon Jovi like sound to it, and the latter being heavier and trying to sound tough and sleazy, but just coming off as a boring and dull heavy metal song. Riff vaguely reminds me of “Enter Sandman” a bit; not a good thing.

Then we get to “18 And Life”, and finally we get to one of the reasons this album is worth buying. The song is a depressing and miserable ballad that has everything. The lyrics are dark and thought provoking, the melodies and riffs throughout the work so brilliantly through the song as if they’re alive, the solo is brilliant, and the vocals! Sebastian Bach is easily one of the all time vocal greats. Whether he’s just singing normally are doing one of his ballsy shrieks, he sounds incredible.

We have to go through another fairly boring song before we reach the next highlight in the shape of “Youth Gone Wild”, which is a classic. What a riff this song has! One of the best glam metal riffs ever written (along with the mighty “Too Young to Fall In Love”) and you can just bang your head to it all day! The rest of the song is equally memorable as well, whether it be the solo or the killer anthemic chorus; WE ARE THE YOUTH GONE WILD!!

“Here I Am” follows, and it’s a pretty fun song, but is cursed by the fact that it follows the best song on the album, and sounds average in comparison. On its own though, its fun listen with a catchy memorable chorus that isn’t quite “Youth Gone Wild”, but then, what is?

Pass through another fairly boring song to get to the final two songs on the album which are worth mentioning as well, with the first being the famous ballad “I Remember You”. While not as brilliant or powerful as the first ballad, it’s a nice listen with strong sentimental lyrics, and of course, a strong chorus and solo. The album closes with a bang in the form of “Midnight/Tornado”. Strong hooks, killer riffs that are up there with the best of them, and Bach’s kick ass vocals on top singing some cool lyrics; “I’m the only thing you need, upon your love I feed!”

So on the whole, a far from perfect album, but mostly competent and represents the heavier side of glam metal nicely. Fans of the genre should get this, as well as fans of tradition and 80s metal, even if they aren’t fans of glam, could enjoy some of this as well.

The Best Sleaze Metal Album Ever? Probably. - 86%

Wacke, May 17th, 2008

I fell in love with Skid Row back in 2004 or 2005 when my dad suggested to check 'em out since I was really into bands like the Crüe, Poison and that stuff. He had been a fan of theirs back in the day himself and now I became one too. This was the first Skid Row album that I loved and I thought it was an awesome album. I probably liked it a little more back then compared to today since I'm much more into alternative / grunge and death metal today, but it's still an awesome album that maybe well grow on me again.

I remember when I heard songs like "Makin' A Mess", "Here I Am" and "Piece Of Me". I just couldn't stop listening to it because of it's sleazy smash power they have with the excellent Sebastian Bach on vocals. "18 And Life" which is one of the hits from here is maybe my favorite on this album. It's a really beautiful power-ballad and Sebastian's voice is a fucking gift from God. I think songs like that one and "Youth Gone Wild" really defined what Skid Row are all about. Their combination of sleaze, heavy metal and hard rock is awesome and there are few bands who does it as good as Skid Row. "Midnight / Tornado" which is co-written by their ex. singer and also ex. singer of Anthrax, Matt Fallon, is maybe the heaviest track on here with the part called "Tornado" being pretty heavy at the end.

The production is awesome and it fits this so perfectly. It sounds typical late 80's sleaze metal and it goes along with the songs very well. The only thing I've had a little problem with are the drums. They sometimes sounds like they're a bunch of cookie jars.

The cast is very talented musicians and everyone is very good at their thing. I really love Sebastian's voice and the guitar solos are pretty awesome on some tunes as well.

So finally to my last comments on "Skid Row"...

I totally recommend this album for all fans of sleaze, heavy metal... Maybe even other kinds of metal. I'm pretty open in music and can take the most in metal as well as outside metal and I think this is an album which is easy to get into.

With this album, Skid Row marched into a big success and would follow this album with an even better one.

It's certainly glam, just in a heavier form. - 94%

IWP, January 10th, 2008

Knowing that, this is certainly one of the best glam metal albums ever. Skid Row has a bigger attitude than most glam bands at the time, and the riffs on this album are certainly much more heaiver than what you would expect to hear on a typical glam album. One thing I notice about Skid Row on this album is that even the ballads have plenty of energy while still retaining enough emotion that a ballad needs. Oh, and Sebastian Bach has to be one of the greatest glam metal singers ever. His voice is great, and he has plenty of attitude in his voice.

The best songs on here would have to be Big Guns, Sweet Little Sister, Rattlesnake Shake, Midnight/Tornado, and the ballad, I Remember You. All of these songs have nice riffs and are pretty damn heavy as well. I Remember You is one of the best power ballads I've heard. It has a fine amount of emotion and is pretty catchy as well, and for a hair ballad, it's prettydamn awesome. Other songs to consider are Youth Gone Wild, one of the faster tracks known as Makin' A Mess, and the other ballad, 18 and Life.

Skid Row's self-titled album has taken the glam metal sound and mixed it with an extra dose of attitude, and made the riffs heavier. This album is a great gateway album for metaheads who want to get into glam. At least it worked for me, because this along with Pantera's 80s albums helped get me into glam. However, Skid Row would get even heavier and ditch their glam metal roots on their next album, Slave to the Grind. However, if you're looking for a nice catchy and fun yet still heavy metal album, this would be a great album to get. It's great for both metalheads and 80s glam fans alike. This is an essential, get it now!

One Of The Best Albums Ever! - 100%

Lord_Head_Hunter, January 30th, 2006

This is one historical album that influenced many bands. The album is categorically their best.
Sebastian Bach shows great vocals in almost every song. Also the album is much more "heavy" than "glam" and this is one of the main reasons that this album is so welcome by the fans. The album have everything that one fan can want-power opening song, fast songs and heart-breaking ballads. Simply essential to every fan that loves american 80's metal.

Big Guns-Absolutely outrageous opening song that crash you with its speed, rhythm, guitars, vocals........and of course powerful chorus. Nice song that is suitable to open such a great album. One of the best songs in the hole career of the band. 10/10

Sweet Little Sister-Really powerful song that will became favourate for every 80's fan. The song reminds me to the great years of Ratt. The style of the song is typical 80's hair metal. Maybe it's little bit fast but it carries enough positive energy with itself. Song that is one of the best in the hole album. 10/10

Can't Stand The Hearteache-Another great song that is really powerful. Here Sebastian Bach shows his great vocal possibilities. The solo guitar is just wonderful. The only thing that is not so good is the chorus. It sounds really simple and unprincipled. In spite of this Can't Stand The Heartache is nice song. 9/10

Piece Of Me-The HARD song of the album. Song that is really Rock'N'Roll. Short and clear, the song was made with only one purpose-to make you going crazy. Great solo guitars and absolutely devastating vocals from Mr. Bach. Another great song that is more different that the other songs from this album and this make it really special and amazingly good. 10/10

18 And Life-Together with "I Remember You" this song is the best in the hole history of Skid Row. Heart-rending song with painful lyrics. This make the song very serious. Sebastian Bach again is perfect with his vocals and the solo guitars are again fantastic. The two couplets and the chorus are really good. This song is absolutely suitable to be a single with a videoclip. Little bands can be praised with such song. Powerful heart-breaking song that is one of the best ballads ever. 10/10

Rattlesnake Shake-Really nice song that increase your positive feelings. While listening you will notice that this song is not like the other songs in the album-it has own atmosphere and temper. The chorus is good but it can be better. In spite of this the song is good with great vocals, rhythm and solo guitars. 9.5/10

Youth Gone Wild-Many people thought that this is their best song. In my point of view this it is good but not their best. Typical Skid Row's song that can be distinguished with its GREAT chorus and backvocals. Without doubt I can say that the song is good but it has its own defects-couplets and rhythm. But it has also good sides-totally devastating solo guitars. 9.5/10

Here I Am-Song with great rhythm, guitars and drums. The vocals can't be remembered with something amazing, but well, I must says that they are nice. Here the solo is worse than the others in the album and that destroy the good impression. Well, it is contradictory song, but it has its good parts. 8/10

Makin' A Mess-Great Song. Fast, loud and positive song that is suitable for a saturday night party. The vocals are really good. Also the rhythm is nice-in the spirit of the 80's. But the best thing here is the grand solo guitars. A favourite song for every Skid Row fan. 10/10

I Remember You-Simply the best! One of the greatest ballads you ever heard. It will sound surprisingly, but I will say that the lyrics of this song is one of the greatest I ever heard. The vocals of Sebastian Bach are in its zenith. The rhythm is imressive with a great acoustic guitar in the beginning of the song. The solo guitar is wonderful-it will melt your heart. But the best side of the song is the chorus. I think Seb Bach is put in here something really personal. Maybe the girl that is praised in the song is his former girlfriend. Only he knows that. Whatever, this song is the best in the album, the best in the hole career of the band, and one of the best ballads ever. 10/10

Midnight Tornado-After "18 and Life" and "I Remember You" this is the best song in the album. Moderate fast song with its own atmosphere. The vocals are really great, the rhythm is amazing, the drums are wonderful, and the solo is grand. Song that brings with itself the spirit of 80's metal. Suitable ending song that you will remember. 10/10

Jersey's finest - 83%

OlympicSharpshooter, September 8th, 2005

Many metalheads believe with some justification that Jon Bon Jovi never did anything worth a damn in his career. I mean, I dig Bon Jovi in a kitsch way, laugh my ass off at the music videos, sing along enthusiastically to "Living on a Prayer" and "You Give Love a Bad Name", but I never considered Bon Jovi to be one of the best hair bands. It also annoys me that Bon Jovi, through his awful acting and tabloid love life, has many managed to outlast other (superior) hair acts on the strength of his borderline celebrity status and Brian Adams-y balladry. But folks, even if Bon Jovi's status as one of the top five highest selling 'metal' acts of all time sticks in your craw, remember that he helped make a band who've masterminded a near genocide of your brain cells through sheer headbanging rock on monsterworks such as Slave to the Grind.

I speak of course of the inimitable Skid Row, the band who brought balls and grit to hair at a time when Motley Crue could hardly even remember Too Fast for Love and Def Leppard had forsaken all reason for a dive into shimmering pools of teeth-eroding soda pop pap.

Here on their first album Skid Row was only half-way to their lewd and tattooed height, at this point sort of a fusion of US power metal and Poison. This was a band of street punks with a love of Judas Priest and Anthrax playing paint-by-numbers glam and the result was an uneasy balance between riffic intensity and paint-peeling vocal histrionics and radio-ready hooks. If any other band was playing these songs, they'd be crap. But Skid Row, they had something extra. A flick of the wrist, a flip of the hair, a cracked smile, a gleam in the eye... these guys had their eye on heavier shores and as a result this record is one of the most aggressive and well-remembered of all the LPs in the hair metal pantheon.

The songs here are dead simple and damned short, packaged for easy commercial digestion but sneakily poisoned by Baz's rasp and Snake's violent guitar tone. Some of the more straight ahead heavy tracks are rather dull, "Rattlesnake Shake" foreshadowing Slave but not matured enough to really nail it, "Piece of Me" and "Big Guns" pretty much dead on arrival. Its the songs that seem cynically crafted for radio success that are really the stand-outs here, tracks like "Can't Stand the Heartache" burying some really shiny hooks in your spine while you just flash the devil horns because Skid Row's raw quality makes you willing to accept what would otherwise be third tier pop. "Here I Am" is positively buoyant ("Psycho Love" from the subsequent record sounds like this track gone pure evil), and "Sweet Little Sister"'s speedy riffery and rapid fire vocals are consistently a ball of fun.

The best tracks on this record are positively sublime though. "Youth Gone Wild" is a monster anthem, the kinda riff that rapes and pillages all of the villages that the ol' tourbus makes a stop in, the kinda lyrics that make you shout along til your chest burns ("well park avenue leads tuh... SKID ROW!"), the highlight of many a cover band's lovingly reverential repertoires. "18 and Life" is metal's answer to "Living on a Prayer" and Springstein's entire catalogue, a spot of drama on an otherwise drooly riff-drunk album, with a massive solo in the classic mould. "Midnight/Tornado" is a scorching piece of USPM, squarely sinister and riffed with a steely-eyed seriousness that reveals what they might've been if they hadn't aimed for commercial success.

As usual, Sebastian Bach steals the shows. On the tour-de-force ballad "I Remember You" he transmutates Bon Jovi's pastoral "I'll Be There For You" into a soaring and piercing ode to teenage love. It should be silly, it should be lame, but Baz is a fucking extreme screamer and the tortured howl that he reveals in his upper register lends credibility to it and woe to he who might try to match the crowning chorus:

"I remembaherrrrr yyyyyyoooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu whoooooooaaaaaaaa ohhh ohhhh oh yeeeahh!!!!!!"

Cold sweats I tell ya. And he doesn't hit a wrong note on the CD, only his grunting come-ons not yet fully developed.

This has to be one of the top twenty or thirty hair releases of all time, and given that it goes dirt cheap these days you've no excuse not to pick this up and get your rock on. Do ya?

Stand-Outs: "18 and Life", "Youth Gone Wild", "I Remember You"

Glam? Not really. Good? Yep. - 91%

cyclone, April 28th, 2005

Being from New Jersey in late 80s, it wasn't hard to be mistaken for a glam band. Especially if your singer was Sebastian Bach, a guy who made teenage girls go wild everytime he showed up. But hell, Skid Row weren't glam metal. Poison were glam metal. Sure, Skidz had some glam moments on this record, but that was mostly in their two ballads. Otherwise this is straightforward heavy metal with some blues/rock influenced guitar work, big, memorable arena choruses and a great vocal delivery. You could probably compare it to some early Mötley, just with more of a late 80s feel to it.

The lyrics are typical for heavy metal, they are mostly about girls, rebellion and fun -> which is also the main point of the album. BUT, this lyrics are actually intelligent and funny in a good sense. The production is quite typicall for this kind of bands and there is nothing wrong with it.

Skid Row are great musicians. Sebastian Bach is definitely one of the best singers in heavy metal. From being really emotional on 18 And Life to shouting his lungs full of hatred out on Youth Gone Wild - he does it all. Snake also does a great job on this one. Well, he doesn't really show anything new or groundbreaking, but then who did back in the late 80s heavy metal? Nevertheless, his solos are very good and riffs are heavy and memorable (especially the Youth Gone Wild one). You can also hear that his playing is quite strongly blues based. Rachel Bolan is the bassist and the songwriter (you don't see that often, huh?) .Well, the songwriting is definitely amazing, but his bass playing stays in the background most of the time. There's nothing special to say about drums.

Yet again, this is a nicely balanced record. Makin A Mess is, while being one of the fastest song on the record, probably the worst one. But it's still fun to listen to and it's not a real let down. The best songs on here are the two mega hits, Youth Gone Wild and 18 And Life, and then also Sweet Little Sister and Big Guns. Youth Gone Wild is the ultimate rebel anthem. It's one of the catchiest songs ever made and the chorus is a singalong must. 18 And Life is a touching ballad with a great performance by Sebastian.

Skid Row's self titled surely isn't groundbraking or anything, but I still consider it as one of the best CDs in my collection, because of it's sheer power and energy.

Good ol' rock n' roll fun - 81%

Nightcrawler, September 7th, 2004

Yeah, that's what we've got on our hands here. Plain old rocking fun to light up another smoke, crack another beer and screw your woman to. And if you say this is glam, I'll kick your ass. Sure, it has the ridiculous oversexual lyrics, they had the hair and a little bit of makeup, but musically, for the most part this is classic rock n' roll/heavy metal with certain glam influences. But Poison and their sissy ass piece of crap music, this is not.
Catchy riffs, memorable vocals and nifty solos abound, and that's about all there is on here.

The best stuff on here is pretty much all the standard rockers in greatest "Welcome To The Jungle" meets Priest's "Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days" fashion. "Big Guns", "Sweet Little Sister" and so on, most of the stuff here is good. Though there's one song that stands out as exceptionally bad - "Rattlesnake Shake", which is even worse than the Mötley Crüe song with the same title. Also, "Can't Stand The Heartache" is pretty average and plodding. But that does very little to put me off this album, which is often spinning on my CD player, just for the plain fun value this baby has.

The opening duo is among the highlights of the album, the previously mentioned "Big Guns" and "Sweet Little Sister" - two very sexual songs with an underlying sense of humor (I really hope the humor is intentional), and insanely catchy melodies, especially on the latter, which is probably the second greatest song on here.
"Piece of Me" is pretty rocking too, a somewhat midpaced tune with nicely highlighted basswork on the verses, and maybe the most ridiculous lyrics on here - "Sleazin' in the city/You know I'm lookin' for a fight/I got my heels and lookin' pretty, on a Saturday night night night". Yeah, it's pretty silly, but it's all in the name of fun, and doesn't get awkward and annoying like certain "Look What The Cat Dragged In" albums.

Another excellent rocker is the fastest song on here, "Makin' A Mess", with further insanely catchy vocals and fun singalong sections, and more stellar riffwork and so forth, just like just about all the stuff on here.

Then there are the ballads - "18 And Life" and "I Remember You". The first is easily the best - Sebastian Bach definitely does a fine performance on here, and the song is overall very well done and memorable, but the highlight is probably the short but killer solo. "I Remember You" is more of a happy, fluffy gummy bear song, but still pretty nice and fun, and somehow gets alot better if you're a little inebriated.

But for the definite highlight, we have "Youth Gone Wild" - the best fucking song on here, and is my fondest memory of the first time ever I was drunk, and is just a barrel of fun and rock n' roll packed with attitude and lyrics about rebellious teens and such. Great song, total classic.


Skid Row's self-titled debut is definitely essential for the fans of rock n' roll bands like Guns N' Roses, AC/DC or maybe even Kiss, as well as fans of the classic 80s heavy metal scene. Though be warned, this band was part of the LA glam scene, and even though this stands above the vast majority of the scene and musically doesn't quite fit into it, it's quite evident where they come from. However, I myself, as an enemy of glam "metal", I'd still say that this is fucking good for those who're just out to have a good time.

We Are The Youth Gone Wild! - 95%

Benign_Hypocrite, September 5th, 2003

This is the first album of Skid Row,some say that this is glam shit,some others that Skid Row is a band which plays good,powerful heavy metal.Yes their first album it has for sure commercial success and MTV put on in this release but this album is absolutely amazing.The songs are heavy metal for sure and despite the commercial success i can say that this is a legendary heavy metal album.The vocals of Sebastian Bach are fascinating,this guy has awesome long range voice.The guitars are also stunning,great riffs and solos.The album opens with "Big Guns" what a harsh riff is this?The catchy chorus of this song is also splendid.The second track "Sweet Little Sister" has a superb fast rhythm combined with the fabulous voice of Sebastian Bach.The third track "Can't Stand The Heartache" is also good,heavy and amusing.The fifth song "Piece Of Me" is stunning,check the great bass intro and the powerful heavy riff of this song.The album continues with "18 And Life" a semi-ballad with wonderful lyrics and great rhythm ,the voice of Sebastian is full of feelings and passion,one of the best songs in the album.All of this album is great but there are some songs that really stand out and one of them is "Youth Gone Wild" is fast,catchy,heavy it has all that an amazing heavy metal song needs,check out the lyrics in this song too,inside them is hiding the true spirit of this wild heavy metal generation.The album goes on with ripping fast songs "Here I Am" and "Makin' A Mess".The ninth song is "I Remember You" a classic emotional ballad with marvelous lyrics and the magnifical vocals of Sebastian Bach, i really like the tearing solo of this song too.The album closes with "Midnight Tornado" another song with a tremendous riff and chorus.Ok people i want you now to understand that this isn't just another "hair band" Skid Row are playing perfect heavy metal and this very strong debut and i think that this is their best album.If you are a heavy metal fan you must have it this album.

Forever wild... - 96%

grim_reaper, September 4th, 2003

When I first got into row's page to see the reviews for their new album thickskin I was trully dissapointed with the overall rating for this album, which is one of the finest pieces from the 80's american hard rock/heavy metal era. You rate this 40% because you just don't like the style the band plays? I don't like black metal but I don't bury the albums of this genre because I don't listen to it. Another guy said that Slave to the grind is heavier than this. In slave to the grind there are 3 ballads, in this one "I remember u" and a semi-ballad "18nLife". This album is the first of row and gone straight to the top when released. It has heavy songs like "Big guns", "Youth gone wild" and "Piece of me". It's more of an easy listening album with great complications and glam lyrics. The production is excellent-Just listen the end of the solo in "I remember you" to realise how the guitar can sound! Another thing I must comment and insist on this, except the excellent performance on every instrument, is the voice of Sebastian Bach. The guy was and still is charismatic, and a true defender of 80's music. One of the best voices I've ever heard. Without him Skid Row would recognise the success they did and now his absence changes the whole group. A great album for everyone who likes heavy metal or hard rock or even likes good music...

Glam? Yeah, but this album kicks ass! - 90%

PowerMetalGuardian, May 22nd, 2003

Skid Row's self titled was everything 80's glam metal was about. Some people say that this music is shit, I say it kicks ass! This album not only has some of the coolest riffs and solo's, but very kick ass vocals by Bach and some of the most unforgetable anthems in metal history.

This album starts out on the glam side with Big Guns, Sweet Little Sister, Can't Stand the Heartache, and Piece of Me. These songs aren't bad, more mediocre for this album. Big Guns has a nice lead intro, and Can't Stand the Heartache...come on! What glam band didn't shout the name of the song before playing it?!?! After these four filler songs we bust out one of the greatest metal anthems in metal history - 18 and Life. Everything about this song kicks ass, from the clean melodic main riff to Bach's screeching high pitched vocals. This song also has one of my top favorite solo's of all time. This album is worth getting for this song alone.

The rest of the album is very memorable, filled with great songs. Rattlesnake Shake is one of those corny glam songs, come on all they wanted was money and pussy. The riff is interesting, and the vocals fucking amazing. Next song, Youth Gone Wild. I think this song summed up my teen years in the 80's. It was one of those anthem songs that proved we were not to be messed with, or we would kick your ass. Again, amazing vocals and headbanging guitar riffs, a very catchy song!

Here I Am, is another one of those, I just want to get laid songs. Not only is this song corny, but it has an amazing lead intro, and very catchy lyrics. The solo is another classic Skid Row classic, along with the occasional lead fills during the riffs. Making A Mess is probably the only song I don't care for, it is to simple. There isn't a lot of lead fills like most of the songs on this album, however, the solo does kick ass. Then we have I Remember You, one of the best ballads of all time. What can I say? Every bad boy has his soft side! I Remember You has a very awsome acroustic swing. The blending of heavy riffs and acroustic parts is perfect. Everything about this song just fits! Something that I don't see a lot in ballads, whether it is from a glam band or any kind of heavy metal band.

We end this album with Midnight/Tornado, a very awsome song, catchy chorus and awsome guitar riffs. People don't like this album because they think it is to glam. Well it is...but give it a try first. This album offers awsome vocals from Bach, amazing guitar riffs and solo's, and fun, catchy lyrics from some of the greatest anthems of the 80's!

spotty but fun - 68%

ironasinmaiden, January 5th, 2003

Skid Row's 1989 debut can be divided into 3 categories: borderline metal anthems, decent (if not spectacular) hard rock riffers, and Bon Jovi wanna be horse shit. As seems to be the case with most 80s mainstream metal, the radio singles more or less carry this cd, which leaves lots of room for filler. Skid Row would later undergo a facelift and kick the world's ass on Slave to the Grind, but their debut is mediocre at best.

The good: Snake Sabo is one hell of a guitarist... definitely from the Slash/Joe Perry school of playing, he sprays hot licks all over the place. "Broadway" Bach's vocals are somewhat in check... not as much falsetto as he is capable of. 18 And Life, Youth Gone Wild, blah blah... if you have a radio you've heard these songs, no need for me to dig any deeper.... Sweet Little Sister and that Tornado song are the other stron gtracks, everything else is more or less crap.

So yeah if you're into that whole glam thing, Skid Row is somewhere in between the light stuff of Bon Jovi (I REMEMBER YOUUUU) and the harder side of Motley Crue... I suggest you skip this one and get Slave to the fuckin Grind.

Not glam, so fuck off! - 72%

UltraBoris, August 18th, 2002

This album is no more glam than, say, Grim Reaper. What it is, is straight-up classic-sounding 80s metal. Nice solos, fun to listen to, generally memorable and catchy songs, you know the drill... the occasional ballad, etc etc.

We start with "Big Guns" - a pretty typical song for this album, not the best nor the worst, kind of average. Uptempo without being speed metal, some nice riffs. Then, "Sweet Little Sister" is more of the same, and "Can't Stand the Heartache" is a bit slower, and "Piece of Me" just a bit faster. Four average songs, nothing really stands out, but not bad.

Then, "18 and Life", one of the hits off this album - a nice ballad, very well executed, with some kickass vocals by Sebastian Bach and a nice solo by Dave "Snake" Sabo thrown in as well. "Rattlesnake Shake" is merely decent, and then we get to....

YOUTH GONE WILD!!!! This was my absolute favourite song when I was about 9 years old, and I am not ashamed to admit that :-) I still think it totally fucking kicks ass, even now when I know what a three piece suit is. That solo in there is total "Hell Bent for Leather", man I had some good taste when I was a kid, this song owns!!

"Here I am", "Making a Mess" - pretty average, and then "Remember Yesterday", a kind of slower ballad, not really all that exciting, and then we get to "Midnight/Tornado" - the other really fucking kickass song on here. "The clock strikes!! Midnight!!"

Okay, so overall this album isn't anything special, and it only has three outstanding songs, but even the rest is pretty decent (except the ballads, only one of the ballads is any good) - it's pretty typical 80s metal, definitely not bad. Get it, if you like that kind of thing. Remember, Park Avenue leads to... SKID ROW!!!!