Editing Subhuman Race

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox album
| name         = Subhuman Race
| type         = studio
| artist       = [[Skid Row (American band)|Skid Row]]
| cover        = Skidrow-subhuman.jpg
| alt          = 
| released     = {{start date|1995|3|28}}
| recorded     = October–December 1994<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Miller |first=Gerri |date=May 1995 |title=Skid Row in Vancouver |url=https://archive.org/details/metal-edge-magazine-may-1995/page/n7/mode/2up |magazine=[[Metal Edge]] |volume=39 |issue=12 |publisher=Sterling/Macfadden Partnership |pages=8-12 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>
| venue        = 
| studio       = [[Greenhouse Studios]] and Seacoast Sound (Vancouver, Canada)
| genre        = {{hlist|[[Heavy metal music|Heavy metal]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.metalreviews.com/reviews/album/10527 | title=Skid Row - Subhuman Race }}</ref>|[[alternative metal]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-06-29 |title=SEBASTIAN BACH Says SKID ROW's 'Subhuman Race' Album Suffers From 'A Very Dated Production Sound' |url=https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/sebastian-bach-says-skid-rows-subhuman-race-album-suffers-from-a-very-dated-production-sound/ |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=[[Blabbermouth.net]]}}</ref>}}
| length       = 56:39
| label        = [[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]
| producer     = [[Bob Rock]]
| prev_title   = [[B-Side Ourselves]]
| prev_year    = 1992
| next_title   = [[Subhuman Beings on Tour]]
| next_year    = 1995
| misc         = {{Singles
 | name        = Subhuman Race
 | type        = studio
 | single1     = My Enemy
 | single1date = 1995
 | single2     = [[Breakin' Down]]
 | single2date = November 6, 1995
 | single3     = [[Into Another]]
 | single3date = 1995
}}
}}

'''''Subhuman Race''''' (stylized '''''sUBHUMAN rACE''''') is the third studio album by American [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band [[Skid Row (American band)|Skid Row]], released on March 28, 1995, by [[Atlantic Records]]. This is the last Skid Row album with singer [[Sebastian Bach]] and drummer [[Rob Affuso]], and the last one to be released on Atlantic. Despite receiving positive reviews, ''Subhuman Race'' was not as successful as the band's first two albums. Certain tracks from the album were remixed for the band's compilation ''[[40 Seasons: The Best of Skid Row]]'', given slightly cleaner mixes to fit better with the other tracks.

==Overview==
Released during the decline of [[hard rock]] and heavy metal, ''Subhuman Race'' marked a significant change in the band's sound, with [[Bob Rock]] replacing [[Michael Wagener]] as its producer, and resembling a mixture of heavy metal with [[grunge]], [[alternative metal|alternative]], [[punk rock]], [[thrash metal]] and [[groove metal]] influences.<ref name="somethingelsereviews">{{cite web|url=https://somethingelsereviews.com/2020/04/03/skid-row-subhuman-race/|title=Why Metal Fans Should Give Skid Row's 'Subhuman Race' a Second Chance|date=April 3, 2020 |publisher=somethingelsereviews.com|access-date=January 31, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/120216-wake-the-dead-or-no-one-will-listen-skid-rows-subhuman-race-2496160248.html|title=Wake the Dead or No One Will Listen: Skid Row's Subhuman Race|date=March 23, 2010 |publisher=popmatters.com|access-date=January 31, 2022}}</ref> It has also been noted as more of a dark album than previous works.<ref name="somethingelsereviews" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metal-temple.com/site/catalogues/entry/reviews/cd_3/s_2/skid-row-the.htm|title=Skid Row – The Atlantic Years (1989-1996) review|publisher=metal-temple.com|access-date=January 31, 2022}}</ref>

To promote ''Subhuman Race'', Skid Row supported [[Van Halen]] in North America on their ''[[Balance (Van Halen album)|Balance]]'' tour. Following the album and tour, they released a live EP titled ''[[Subhuman Beings on Tour]]'', featuring live performances from the ''Subhuman Race'' tour. The band has not played any songs from ''Subhuman Race'' since the album's tour in 1995–1996,<ref name="setlist">{{cite web|title=Skid Row Tour Statistics|url=https://www.setlist.fm/stats/skid-row-63d69e63.html|work=setlist.fm|access-date=August 11, 2018}}</ref> though Bach has occasionally played them on his solo tours, including "Beat Yourself Blind", "Frozen", and the singles "[[My Enemy (Skid Row song)|My Enemy]]", "[[Into Another]]" and "[[Breakin' Down]]".<ref>{{cite web|title=My Enemy by Skid Row Statistics|url=https://www.setlist.fm/stats/songs/skid-row-63d69e63.html?song=My+Enemy|work=setlist.fm|access-date=August 11, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Frozen by Skid Row Statistics|url=https://www.setlist.fm/stats/songs/skid-row-63d69e63.html?song=Frozen|work=setlist.fm|access-date=August 11, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Into Another by Skid Row Statistics|url=https://www.setlist.fm/stats/songs/skid-row-63d69e63.html?song=Into+Another|work=setlist.fm|access-date=August 11, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Breakin' Down by Skid Row Statistics|url=https://www.setlist.fm/stats/songs/skid-row-63d69e63.html?song=Breakin%27+Down|work=setlist.fm|access-date=August 11, 2018}}</ref> "Beat Yourself Blind" was the only song from this album to be performed live since Bach's departure, until [[ZP Theart]] performed "Medicine Jar" in 2018, while "Remains to Be Seen" has never been played live once.<ref name="setlist"/>

The album debuted at #35 on the Billboard 200, staying for nine weeks,<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Skid Row|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/skid-row/|access-date=2022-02-02|magazine=Billboard|language=en-US}}</ref> being a significant drop off from ''Slave to the Grind''<nowiki/>'s #1 debut. By July 1999, ''Subhuman Race'' has sold 165,424 copies, falling significantly behind their previous records.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sludge |first=Metal |title=Sludge Scan For July 14, 1999 {{!}} Metal Sludge |url=http://metalsludge.tv/classic/?p=30164 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230226173811/https://metalsludge.tv/classic/?p=30164 |archive-date=2023-02-26 |access-date=2022-02-02 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Critical reception==
{{Album ratings
|rev1=[[AllMusic]]
|rev1score={{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/subhuman-race-mw0000124696 |title=Skid Row - Subhuman Race review |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |work=[[AllMusic]] |publisher=[[All Media Network]] |access-date=July 19, 2018 }}</ref>
|rev2=''[[Chicago Tribune]]''
|rev2score={{Rating|2.5|4}}<ref name="chicago">{{cite news|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-03-30/features/9503300119_1_star-skid-row-subhuman-race|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031145542/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-03-30/features/9503300119_1_star-skid-row-subhuman-race|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 31, 2014|title=Skid Row Subhuman Race (Atlantic)|first=Dean|last=Golemis|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=March 30, 1995|access-date=February 21, 2013}}</ref>
|rev3 =''[[Martin Popoff|Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal]]''
|rev3Score = 8/10<ref name="martin" >{{cite book | last1 = Popoff | first1 = Martin | author-link1 = Martin Popoff | title = The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties | publisher = [[Collector's Guide Publishing]] | date = August 1, 2007 | location = [[Burlington, Ontario]], Canada | page=402 |isbn = 978-1-894959-62-9}}</ref>
|rev4=''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''
|rev4score=D<ref name="farber">{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/1995/03/31/subhuman-race/|title=Subhuman Race Review|last=Farber|first=Jim|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=March 31, 1995|access-date=February 19, 2013}}</ref>
|rev5 = ''[[Kerrang!]]''
|rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Beebee |first=Steve |date=March 25, 1995 |title=Albumz 
|magazine=[[Kerrang!]] |location=UK |publisher=[[EMAP]] |issue=538 |page=45}}</ref>
|rev6=''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]''
|rev6score={{Rating|4|5}}<ref name=Q>{{Cite magazine|magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]]|date=May 1995|title=Skid Row: Subhuman Race|page=114}}</ref>
|rev7 = ''[[Rock Hard (magazine)|Rock Hard]]'' 
|rev7score = 7/10<ref name="rockhard">{{cite magazine|last=Kupfer|first=Thomas|title=Review Album: Skid Row- Subhuman Race|url=https://www.rockhard.de/megazine/reviewarchiv/review-anzeigen.html?tx_rxsearch_pi1%5Breview%5D=3717|issue=95|year = 1995| magazine = [[Rock Hard (magazine)|Rock Hard]] |access-date=July 20, 2018 | language=de}}</ref> 
|rev8=''[[Rolling Stone]]''
|rev8score={{Rating|3|5}}<ref name=rolling>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/skidrow/albums/album/165073/review/5947059/subhuman_race|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=April 20, 1995|title=Skid Row: Subhuman Race : Music Reviews|last=Gold|first=Jonathan|page=78|access-date=February 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001175756/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/skidrow/albums/album/165073/review/5947059/subhuman_race|archive-date=October 1, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}

''Subhuman Race'' received mixed to mostly positive reviews from music critics. [[AllMusic]]'s [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] wrote that it saw the band "strip back their music to the basics" and was their "strongest and most vicious record to date."<ref name="allmusic"/> ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' reviewer called it "the freshest [[riff]]age since last year's [[Superunknown|Soundgarden record]]" and also noted the "tight, hot guitar lines and radio hooks that burn themselves into your brain".<ref name=rolling/> ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' praised both the guitars that "grumble and mutter more menacingly than ever" and Bach's "awesome vocal pyrotechnics", summarizing that "Skid Row has come up with an outright winner."<ref name=Q/> Canadian journalist [[Martin Popoff]] found the album quite complex, with Skid Row "absorbing the best elements of [[grunge]] into their over-the-top love of all things metal." He praised Bach's performance and the band's "street-savvy" attitude and "prog ethic" shown in the record.<ref name="martin" /> 

Conversely, Jim Farber of ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' considered ''Subhuman Race'' made of "the same squealing, yowling, third-rate metal that made Skid Row pariahs in the first place", calling them an "unrepentant [[hair band]] of the '80s" which had mangled their melodies "to get over their old '[[power ballad]]' stigma."<ref name="farber" /> Dean Golemis of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' criticised Skid Row's "[[Camp (style)|campy]], formulaic arrangements that still cater to commercial appeal and offer nothing new to a genre plagued by cliches and copycats", but remarked as "Bach's vocal bravura stands as the album's saving grace."<ref name="chicago" /> Thomas Kupfer in his review for the German ''[[Rock Hard (magazine)|Rock Hard]]'' magazine wrote that "Skid Row will offend a lot of old fans with this disc", where "mediocrity dominates, the songs seem uninspired, and only the compact sound and the solid craftsmanship of the band members" save the album.<ref name="rockhard" />

The band members also do not reflect positively on their work on ''Subhuman Race''. In an interview in November 2006, bassist [[Rachel Bolan]] expressed his negative feelings about the album: "That record was a nightmare. Internally the band had fallen apart but we were forced to go in and do another record and it was a nightmare with the recording, writing and producing. We worked with someone we had not worked with before after being so successful with [[Michael Wagener|Michael]] and we were used to the way he did things. I am not slighting [[Bob Rock|Bob]] at all, he is a genius producer but it was bad timing. I did not have the greatest time, it was nobody's fault, it was just the way things were. Also the record absolutely sucks."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metal-exiles.com/modules/news02/article.php?storyid=162 |title=Interviews 2004 : Rachel Bolan - Skid Row |last=Easton |first=Jeffrey |publisher=Metal Exiles.com |date=November 11, 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070219133515/http://www.metal-exiles.com/modules/news02/article.php?storyid=162 |archive-date=February 19, 2007 |access-date=July 19, 2018 }}</ref> In a June 2018 interview on the "Rock Talk with Mitch Lafon" podcast, vocalist [[Sebastian Bach]] indicated that, despite featuring "some good tunes", the "very dated production sound" of ''Subhuman Race'' has made it an unlistenable album: "In the same way, probably, [[Lars Ulrich]] might think ''[[St. Anger]]'' is dated to that time, I think ''Subhuman Race'' might be our ''St. Anger''."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/sebastian-bach-says-skid-rows-subhuman-race-album-suffers-from-a-very-dated-production-sound/|title=SEBASTIAN BACH Says SKID ROW's 'Subhuman Race' Album Suffers From 'A Very Dated Production Sound'|work=[[Blabbermouth.net]]|date=June 29, 2018|access-date=July 21, 2018}}</ref>

==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| title1       = My Enemy
| writer1      = {{hlist|[[Scotti Hill]]|[[Rob Affuso]]|[[Rachel Bolan]]}}
| length1      = 3:38
| title2       = Firesign
| writer2      = {{hlist|[[Sebastian Bach]]|Hill|Bolan|[[Dave Sabo]]}}
| length2      = 4:54
| title3       = Bonehead
| writer3      = {{hlist|Bolan|Sabo}}
| length3      = 2:16
| title4       = Beat Yourself Blind
| writer4      = {{hlist|Bach|Hill|Bolan|Sabo}}
| length4      = 5:02
| title5       = Eileen
| writer5      = {{hlist|Bach|Affuso|Bolan|Sabo}}
| length5      = 5:36
| title6       = Remains to be Seen
| writer6      = {{hlist|Hill|Bolan|Sabo}}
| length6      = 3:34
| title7       = Subhuman Race
| writer7      = {{hlist|Hill|Bolan|Sabo}}
| length7      = 2:40
| title8       = Frozen
| writer8      = {{hlist|Bolan|Sabo}}
| length8      = 4:43
| title9       = [[Into Another]]
| writer9      = {{hlist|Bolan|Sabo}}
| length9      = 4:02
| title10      = Face Against My Soul
| writer10     = {{hlist|Bach|Affuso|Bolan|Sabo}} 
| length10     = 4:20
| title11      = Medicine Jar
| writer11     = {{hlist|Hill|Bolan|Sabo}}
| length11     = 3:36
| title12      = [[Breakin' Down]]
| writer12     = Sabo
| length12     = 4:30
| title13      = Iron Will
| writer13     = {{hlist|Hill|Affuso|Bolan|Sabo}}
| length13     = {{ref label|album number|†|}}7:43
| total_length = 56:39
}}
<small>{{note|album number}}† The song "Iron Will" ends at 4:45 followed by 2:15 of silence before a hidden track plays.</small>

==Personnel==

===Skid Row===
*[[Sebastian Bach]] – vocals
*[[Scotti Hill]] – guitar, backing vocals
*[[Dave Sabo]] – guitar, backing vocals
*[[Rachel Bolan]] – bass, backing vocals
*[[Rob Affuso]] – drums, percussion

===Production===
*[[Bob Rock]] – producer
*[[Randy Staub]] – engineer, mixing at The Warehouse Studio, Vancouver, Canada
*Brian Dobbs, Darrin Grahn – assistant engineers
*[[George Marino]] – mastering at [[Sterling Sound]], New York City

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (1995)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
{{album chart|Australia|5|artist=Skid Row|album=Subhuman Race |rowheader=true|access-date=January 26, 2024}}
|-
{{Album chart|Canada|31|chartid=9161|artist=Skid Row|album=Slave to the Grind|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 26, 2024}}
|-
{{album chart|Netherlands|84|artist=Skid Row|album=Subhuman Race |rowheader=true|access-date=January 26, 2024}}
|-
! scope="row"| Finnish Albums ([[The Official Finnish Charts]])<ref name=FINI>{{cite book|last=Pennanen|first=Timo|title=Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972|edition=1st|publisher=Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava|location=Helsinki|year=2006|isbn=978-951-1-21053-5 | language= fi}}</ref>
| align="center"| 15
|-
!scope="row"| French Albums ([[Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique|SNEP]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.infodisc.fr/Album_S.php |website =Infodisc.fr |language=fr |access-date=January 26, 2024|title=Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – S |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022124902/http://infodisc.fr/Album_S.php |archive-date=22 October 2014 }} ''Select ''Skid Row'' from the menu, then press ''OK''.''</ref>
| align="center"| 36
|-
{{album chart|Germany4|57|id=2061|artist=Skid Row|album=Subhuman Race |rowheader=true|access-date=January 26, 2024}}
|-
! scope="row"| Japanese Albums ([[Oricon]])<ref>{{cite web|title=Skid Row Chart History|url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/92521/products/release/|publisher=[[Oricon]]|access-date=January 26, 2024}}</ref>
| 6
|-
{{album chart|Scotland|18|date=19950402|rowheader=true|access-date=January 26, 2024}}
|-
{{album chart|Sweden|21|artist=Skid Row|album=Subhuman Race |rowheader=true|access-date=January 26, 2024}}
|-
{{album chart|Switzerland|49|artist=Skid Row|album=Subhuman Race |rowheader=true|access-date=January 26, 2024}}
|-
{{album chart|UK2|8|date=19950402|rowheader=true|access-date=January 26, 2024}}
|-
{{album chart|UKRock|1|date=19950402|rowheader=true|access-date=January 26, 2024}}
|-
{{album chart|Billboard200|35|artist=Skid Row|rowheader=true|access-date=January 26, 2024}}
|}

== Certifications==
{{certification Table Top}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Subhuman Race|artist=Skid Row|type=album|region=Japan|award=Gold|relyear=1995|certyear=1995|certmonth=4|access-date=July 21, 2022}}
{{certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Discogs master|type=album|94199|name=Subhuman Race}}

{{Skid Row}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1995 albums]]
[[Category:Skid Row (American band) albums]]
[[Category:Atlantic Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Bob Rock]]
[[Category:Albums recorded at Greenhouse Studios]]