Editing Slave to the Grind (section)

==Composition and recording==
Skid Row wrote most of ''Slave to the Grind'' in a New Jersey studio and demoed the tracks with [[Michael Wagener]], who produced their previous album. Recording began in late 1990 and took place at two studios: New River in [[Fort Lauderdale, Florida]] and Scream in [[Studio City, California]]. ''Slave to the Grind'' marked the band's move toward a heavier sound, with the title track verging on [[speed metal]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Wiederhorn|first=Jon|title=24 Years Ago: Skid Row Release 'Slave to the Grind'|url=http://loudwire.com/skid-row-slave-to-the-grind-album-anniversary/|work=[[Loudwire]]|date=June 11, 2015|access-date=June 6, 2016}}</ref> but the album also includes [[power ballad]]s<ref name="AM" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://loudwire.com/10-power-ballads-dont-suck/|title=Top 10 Power Ballads That Don't Suck|website=Loudwire|date=April 12, 2018 }}</ref> and a few lighter tracks. Some sources still classified the album as [[glam metal]], despite its heavier sound.<ref name="metaledge">{{Cite news|title=7 hair metal records to bang your head to|url=https://www.metaledgemag.com/lists/7-hair-metal-records-to-bang-your-head-to|access-date=2023-05-27|newspaper=Metal Edge Magazine|language=en}}</ref> The lyrics were more complex, criticizing modern ways of life, authority, politics, drugs, and organized religion, among other topics. Wagener said the demoing and pre-production went well, and the title track was recorded and mixed in an hour, and was placed on the album without being remixed.<ref>{{cite news|title=Producer Michael Wagener Looks Back On M The Grind'|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/producer-michael-wagener-looks-back-on-making-of-skid-rows-slave-to-the-grind/|work=[[Blabbermouth.net]]|date=January 15, 2015|access-date=June 6, 2016}}</ref>

During a February 2017 interview for the ''Backspin'' segment of [[Yahoo! Music]], vocalist [[Sebastian Bach]] revealed that the version of the title track included in the finished album is actually the original demo the band recorded during pre-production with producer Michael Wagener. The band recorded a proper version during the album sessions, but were unable to match the intensity of the demo, and therefore opted to use the former instead.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBVl7RSSfys&t=124s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/hBVl7RSSfys| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Backspin: Sebastian Bach on 'Slave to the Grind' |publisher=[[Yahoo!]] |date=February 1, 2017 |access-date=July 18, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref>