lambchops's Full Review: Forty Seasons: The Best of Skid Row by Skid Row
Rewind a decade.
I was a young teenager with angst in my heart and a love for rock music. Of course, as with all other young teens, I loved some less than perfect musical artists. Among these artists, I loved Bon Jovi, Cinderella, White Lion, Poison and Skid Row among so many other hair bands. Now, years later it's time to investigate what it was about Skid Row that I found so appealing. Was it the music? The hair? The lyrics? You'll just have to read on to find out exactly what called out to me and urged me to sing along.
Fast forward to 2001.
I pick up Skid Row's greatest hits album entitled Forty Seasons. Of course, this would lead the careless listener to believe that the band had enough tracks that were hits to actually put together a "best of" album. Of course, as we all know that's not the case. Anyway, Skid Row came about as a result of a pact between guitarist Dave Sabo, bassist Rachel Bolan and Jon Bon Jovi. They grew up together in New Jersey...each promised that whomever became famous first would help the others to accomplish the same. Of course, Bon Jovi made a name for itself in the mid- to late-1980's. Skid Row followed with their endorsement and the addition of the hyperkinetic replacement lead vocalist Sebastian Bach. Also a part of the band were Scotti Hill (guitars) and Rob Affuso (drums).
1989 marks the release of the band's self-titled debut. The same year, metal lovers are greeted with the angst-anthem "Youth Gone Wild". Other hits quickly followed...namely "18 and Life" and my favorite "I Remember You". The band's followup effort released in 1991 Slave To The Grind sold to platinum status almost immediately, but it never gained the following that the band's first album garnered. They finally realized that their stint as pseudo metal gods was over following the relative failure of 1995's heavy-by-comparison Subhuman Race.
The band released Forty Seasons in 1998. It's a retrospective of sorts highlighting sixteen hits, misses, unreleased songs, remixes and live tracks. In all honesty, they could've narrowed the album down even further. Some of the tracks really bite. That aside, here's my thoughts, observations, and ideas regarding this band's greatest hits album.
Leading off is the rockin' metal anthem "Youth Gone Wild" it begins with the stereotypical heavy electric guitars, speed bass, and driving drums. What really drew the fans in was quite obviously Bach's interesting take on metal. He's got a very loud, ruckus, pompous, and soprano voice. It’s great. Also, it’s important to note that the lyrics appealed to a generation of metal heads. Other things I enjoy about this track are: the chanting chorus (lacking Bach’s high-pitched vocals) and the increasing energy throughout the track. Definitely a classic.
They call us problem child
We spend our nights on trial
We walk an endless mile
We are the youth gone wild!
The second track was also from the band’s debut. ”18 and Life” sounds almost like that necessary ballad of every hair band’s album. But, there’s something more to it. Sure, they try really hard to convey the message of the problems associated with being 18 and a troublemaker. It’s a good song, and one that the fans sucked in and spat out back in 1989. Sure, I don’t like it as much as some of the others, but it’s still a classic from that era of music.
Also worthy of my attention is the fourth track, ”I Remember You”. This could very likely be my favorite Skid Row song of all time. Sure I was suffering from a major case of pre-teen PMS when I first saw the video on MTV. It actually made me cry out loud. Like I said, I have an excuse. Anyway, according to the liner notes of this album, this song almost didn’t make it on to the band’s debut album. It’s a good thing that it did…this track help lead this album to top ten glory. The song itself begins with a soft acoustic guitar and Bach’s effeminate voice. But, oops! It breaks into typical hard rocking chorus riffs. It’s a great one. Like I said, my favorite track of their entire career. It’s just about as pretty a song that these bands could ever produce. A must listen, for rock and metal fans alike (although the guitars and Bach’s abrasive, ear splitting voice could prove annoying to the wrong person).
”Monkey Business” was the first single off of Skid Row’s second album, Slave to the Grind. It starts out very gentle and light but then quickly begins to rock with hard guitars, vocals, lyrics, and drums. The sound actually is much harder and seems to echo their contemporary metal geniuses Guns N’ Roses. It’s a great track with some great gratuitous noise…always a plus in my book. It doesn’t measure up to some of the other tracks, but it’s still worth a bit of attention.
The second album also spawned the touching Queensryche-esque track ”Quicksand Jesus”. It’s soft and pleading. The track is very much in contrast to the rest of the original album’s harder edge. It belongs along side the classic ”I Remember You”. Toward the end of the song, Bach’s voice becomes loud and pained…what I like best about the band. On a sidenote, this song was apparently featured on the 700 Club as the subject of one of Pat Robertson’s mislead rants.
The shockingly loud, speed metal track ”Slave To The Grind” also makes it’s appearance on this album. It’s actually a bit too abrasive for me (yes, that’s possible even for me). I prefer to hear more of Bach and less of the electric guitar…especially in this case. It’s almost impossible to understand what is being said in the song, also you can pretty much figure out what it means just by catching a few of the words and incorporating the title into the mix. Not my taste…I prefer other tracks.
Subhuman Race spawned the lighter and more melodic ”Into Another”. It’s a decent song, but doesn’t strike me as a major hit. It’s a bit too aimless and a bit too quiet. Although, when this track was released in 1995, the landscape of music had changed drastically and this is likely a reflection of that change. Bach sounds more mature, the band sounds very whole, yet something is still lacking. Also from the band’s third album were ”Frozen”, ”My Enemy”, ”Breakin’ Down” and ”Be Yourself Blind”. The only one of those that has any redeeming quality is ”Breakin’ Down” that was used in the movie The Prophecy. It’s softer than you’d expect from a song by Skid Row. A good one to listen to, especially if you aren’t too sure about the whole band’s sound. The track is very experimental for Skid Row. It reflects a certain amount of maturity. It could have been sung by any number of bands today.
There are also two previously unreleased tracks on this album. ”Forever” didn’t make the band’s 1989 debut, but it’s pretty good. The lyrics are a bit cliché…in fact, the topic is very much a cross between ”18 and Life” and ”Youth Gone Wild”. It’s okay. Nothing more, nothing less. Also unreleased in 1991’s ”Fire in the Hole”. Aside from the loud guitars, there are no redeeming qualities here. The recording of it even is rotten. Bach’s voice pops into the microphone throughout. Yuck.
I didn’t mention all of the songs on this album. Also included are: ”Piece of Me”, ”The Threat”, and ”Psycho Love”. They don’t impress me in the least. As you can tell, there are some gems here for fans of the band and genre. There are also some major clunkers. I don’t suggest you buy this unless you like something about Skid Row or typical hair bands. I give this album 3/5 stars and a recommendation based on the conditions I’ve just mentioned.
Hey. At least it’s got a few good ones. They could have been a hell of a lot worse.
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