Skid Row (Skid Row album)

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Skid Row is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Skid Row, released on January 24, 1989, by Atlantic Records. After signing with manager Doc McGhee, Skid Row signed with Atlantic and began recording its debut. The album was recorded in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, with producer Michael Wagener, and received mixed reviews upon its release. The band toured behind the album mainly as an opening act, supporting Bon Jovi and Aerosmith in 1989–1990. The album peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 and was certified 5× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1995 for shipping five million copies in the United States. It generated four singles: "Youth Gone Wild", "18 and Life", "I Remember You" and "Piece of Me", all of which were accompanied by music videos and received heavy rotation on MTV. The album's commercial and critical success made Skid Row a regular feature in rock magazines and brought the group nationwide popularity.

Background and recording

Skid Row was formed in 1986, in Toms River, New Jersey, when guitarist Dave Sabo met bassist Rachel Bolan in a local guitar store where Sabo worked. As they shared similar musical influences, they began rehearsing in Bolan's parents' garage. Guitarist Scotti Hill came from Bolan's previous club band, and Sabo's acquaintance, upstate New Yorker, Rob Affuso, played drums in a Rush tribute band.<ref name="RS">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Once the band was formed, Skid Row started gigging in nightclubs throughout the Eastern United States and quickly built a small following.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Sabo was a childhood friend of Jon Bon Jovi and they had agreed if one of them succeeded in the music business, to help the other out. Skid Row caught the attention of Bon Jovi's manager Doc McGhee while opening for Bon Jovi on their 1987 Slippery When Wet Tour. McGhee suggested the band replace original singer Matt Fallon because he lacked the rest of the group's drive.<ref name="CR">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Sebastian Bach was introduced to Skid Row by the parents of Jon Bon Jovi, who saw Bach sing at rock photographer Mark Weiss' wedding. After completing the lineup, the group signed with Richie Sambora's and Bon Jovi's publishing company Underground, unknowingly giving them the lion's share of the group's royalties. Skid Row later restored Sambora's share of the royalties, but Bon Jovi kept his, which caused a rift between Bon Jovi and Bach.<ref name="CR"/> After negotiating with Geffen and A&M, Skid Row finally settled with Ahmet Ertegun and Atlantic in 1988. The band used the Royal Recorders studio in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin with producer Michael Wagener to record its debut album. The unpretentious studio was in the back end of a hotel, where the band stayed. Skid Row worked according to a schedule made by Wagener and stayed "dry" while recording.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The sessions went smoothly as the band had been playing and performing the songs for the past year.<ref name="Spin">Template:Cite journal</ref> The label initially pressed 150,000 copies of the album and booked the band an opening slot on Bon Jovi's 1988–1989 New Jersey Syndicate Tour.<ref name="RS"/>

Critical reception and legacy

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Upon its release in January 1989, Skid Row did not immediately connect with listeners and received mixed reviews from the music press.<ref name="Larkin"/> With the success of the "I Remember You" single which cracked the Billboard Top 10 in the autumn of 1989, the album took off and eventually sold over 5 million copies, establishing the band as one of the top metal acts of the late 80s. Phil Wilding of Kerrang! found the album quite formulaic, but wrote that the praises for Skid Row expressed by Bon Jovi band members and the range of diversity in their music were "a big hint that they could be something very special in the future."<ref name="kerrang"/> Q magazine described the album as a fusion of rock riffs and commercial hooks, and proclaimed it a notable debut.<ref name="Q"/> Spin's Erik Davis said Skid Row was slightly different from contemporary albums by Warrant and Great White because it contained less "fake-gutter narratives of sluts and bad boys", and instead leaned more towards Bon Jovi's earnest anthems.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Aniss Garza was more critical in the Los Angeles Times, finding the record "highly unoriginal" and lacking any lyrical substance or musical ingenuity.<ref name="Garza"/> Robert Christgau in his negative review remarked how the band attempted some social commentary and was not "offensively sexist" if only by heavy metal standards, jokingly saying that the disreputable women in the songs were at least "characters rather than objects".<ref name="CG"/> Rock Hard reviewer wrote that this album is an example of how "independence and originality are by no means as in demand" in the US music world as the following of the "success schemes" established by bands like Guns N' Roses, with only a couple of good songs saving it from "sad mediocrity".<ref name="rockhard"/>

Modern reviews are generally more positive. Canadian journalist Martin Popoff described the album as a "basic well-executed corporate metal feast" and praised Bach's performance for carrying the record and "raising the average to something worth reckoning."<ref name="martin" /> He thought Skid Row represented a "grittier, more street version of hair metal", unlike its California-based peers.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> AllMusic's Steve Huey classified the album as "typical pop-metal fluff" of the late 1980s, but praised it for the consistent songwriting and said Bach's vocals gave the songs the much-needed nasty attitude.<ref name="AM"/> Sputnikmusic's Dave Donnelly considered Skid Row one of the more talented bands of the glam era because of its charismatic frontman, and described the group's debut as mainly a "party album" best remembered for its ballads.<ref name="Sputnik"/> The critical and commercial success of Skid Row made the band a regular feature in rock magazines such as Hit Parader, Circus, and Metal Edge in the late 1980s and early 1990s.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 2022, Loudwire placed the album at No. 4 on their list of the Top 30 Hair Metal Albums, saying Skid Row "were decidedly more edgy [than other hair metal bands of the decade], focusing more on razor sharp riffs than razor-slashed stage wear".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Promotion and touring

The 17-month worldwide tour included an appearance at Moscow Music Peace Festival in August 1989 to a crowd of 70,000. The event was organized by McGhee as a penance for drug smuggling and featured artists managed by him or his brother. Skid Row made its UK debut at the Milton Keynes Bowl supporting Bon Jovi, and headlined London's Hammersmith Odeon two months later.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> After finishing the tour in support of Bon Jovi's New Jersey album, Skid Row opened on Aerosmith's Pump Tour, which launched in October 1989 and lasted a year. At the concert in Springfield, Massachusetts in December, a fan threw a bottle onstage during Skid Row's set. Upset, Bach threw the bottle back into the crowd and hit a 17-year-old female fan in the face. The incident was filmed by a fan and Bach was arrested after the show. He was set free on $10,000 bail and received three years of probation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At another show in 1990, Bach wore a T-shirt with the anti-gay slogan "AIDS Kills Fags Dead". Bach said he put the T-shirt on after a fan threw it onstage, but later regretted the incident, saying he does not support homophobia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Thanks to heavy touring and the band's exposure on MTV, Skid Row quickly went platinum and remained a Billboard top 10 album three months after its release.<ref name="Spin"/> The album spawned three singles: "Youth Gone Wild", "18 and Life", and "I Remember You", of which the last two charted in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.<ref name="Billboard">Template:Cite magazine</ref> "Piece of Me" was released as a promo single and also featured a music video.

Track listing

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Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.<ref name="booklet">Template:Cite book</ref>

Skid Row

Sebastian Bach – lead vocals
Dave Sabo – guitar, backing vocals
Scotti Hill – guitar, backing vocals
Rachel Bolan – bass, backing vocals
Rob Affuso – drums, percussion

Production

Michael Wagener – production, engineering, mixing
David Kent – additional engineering
David Michael Kennedy – front cover photography
Mark Weiss – back cover photography
Gina Guarini – logo design
Bob Defrin – art direction
Jason Flom, Dorothy Sicignano – A&R

Charts

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Weekly charts

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Chart (1989–1990)	Peak position
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)<ref name=FINI>Template:Cite book</ref>	5
Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)<ref>Template:Cite web Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Skid Row".</ref>	16
Japanese Albums (Oricon)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	35