Skid Row were always one of the more "serious" hair metal bands, and unlike Cinderella, they didn't have a corny name. Also, Skid Row released two of the best VHS tapes with their Oh Say Can You Scream and Roadkill releases. These unflinchingly candid tapes showed viewers the antics, the pranks, the spills, and the douche chills that come with being in a band. They showed viewers the old school appeal of being in a band by showing the guys being dumb with each other and having a laugh with themselves, often at each other's expense. Skid Row is also one of the rare bands that got heavier with each release. Subhuman Race is undoubtedly their most metal album. AND it's a "modern" for the times release too! At this point in the mid nineties, every "hair metal" band released a shitty grunge album. Poison, Dokken, Danger Danger, Pink Cream 69, Motley Crue, Warrant, Def Lep... the list is endless! But Skid Row's addition to the shit pile is actually pretty good. Subhuman Race also is probably tied with the Motley Crue self titled album for lowest selling Bob Rock produced album. Honestly, I don't even hear much influence from the guy on this album. He mainly seems to have gotten a great performance from the band. Rachel "my face piercing sux" Bolan, Dave "da Snaaaaake" Sabo, and Scotti "Big Dick" Hill are excellent songwriters, and it really doesn't seem like their efforts have been heavily edited.

So what makes me so gushy in the pants over Subhuman Race? This is a heavy album, with modern influences, but with a singer of the caliber of Sebastian Bach. My Enemy and Firesign are typical 90's rock songs but with Sebastian's incredible voice. Comparing the guitar sounds to say, the self titled debut, one has to be comatose to not notice the huge difference in sound and delivery. Sounding much like a Pearl Jam / Soundgarden hybrid (guitarwise), these songs are taken to the next level by Baz's performance. Firesign has a really floaty chorus with ringing clean guitars and Sebastian sounds like he's wearing a flannel fucking jacket while delivering a gut wrenching hook melody. Bonehead and the title track are short, sub(AHA) three minute songs that are heavily punk influenced. They rage hard, they hit fast and strategically, and they leave the listener pumped up and panting. Frozen was one of the two big singles from this album. It's a pretty solid, mid tempo, slightly groovy track. Heavy and definitely not an obvious "commercial" pick. Beat Yourself Blind (gettit?) was the other single and it too is a rowdy thumper of a song. There was another single released as well and, someone record this! it was for the excellent ballad Breakin' Down. Eventually someone has to get ballad right and holy shitheels, this is a one in a fucking million type of song. The super clean verses are given that extra push by Sebastian Bach, and the chorus just oozes conviction BECAUSE of its clumsy and awkward lyrics! This sounds like something someone would tell someone! Authenticity! OMG! Into Another gets a mention for being the "unsung" single of the album. It's my personal favorite of the album and blends the right amount of nineties flair with eighties melodic sensibility.

When Skid Row had Sebastian Bach at the mic, they were magic. Rachel / Snake / Scotti are the tripod of doom, but Sebastian is the Nikon lens of Crom! He focused and aligned the songs written by Bolan / Snake / Hill so deftly, so expertly. The fact this is the lone "hair metal gone grunge" album that DOESN'T suck speaks massive monolithic volumes about its bad assery! I also have to remark on their super down to earth vibes. I was watching an old vid from some European tour that Skid Row was on for this album. They were on MTV Europe and Rachel made a comment about liking Korn's song Blind. He relayed enough info to show that he wasn't blowing smoke up anyone's ass. But then he looked right at the camera and said, "like it matters to you." Skid Row have always been real, and Subhuman Race is an ass burner of an album.