Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Skid Row - Skid Row

I'm not a Skid Row fan, and this album is so totally because of Andie. This album is so uber cocaine eighties Glam Rock. Oh, you couldn't ask for a more perfect example of what Power Rock Pop on coke sounds like. I think you could achieve the same effect slamming three Red Bulls in a row, but back then it was completely powder driven.

The lead off track is Big Guns. This song is the exact kind of song you would expect with that name, released in that time period.

Sweet Little Sister is a good driving song. It's got speed, a pounding rhythm, and really moves at a real heavy clip. However, like most songs you hear in a scene with cars, it doesn't matter five seconds after you hear it.

Can't Stand The Heartache pretty much carries on what I said in the last song, but this one let's girls bop around the house, being all eighties, and you can throw in some jeans and leather, and it's a good time. I will admit I do enjoy the breif solo. Piece Of Me is a bunch of pretty boys, with a pretty sound, trying to sound all rough and tumble. I really dig the rhythm, and like the way the bass works the back end, but it would sound better if it was buried. Also the solo is total shit.

18 And Life is so cliche of the poor little cast away rough boy, that it's instant panty peeler. Seriously, look at these words and set them to some heavy Arena Rock. "Ricky was a young boy, He had a heart of stone. / Lived 9 to 5 and worked his fingers to the bone. / Just barely got out of school, came from the edge of town. / Fought like a switchblade so no one could take him down. / He had no money, oooh no good at home. / He walked the streets a soldier and he fought the world alone / And now it's / 18 and life You got it / 18 and life you know / Your crime is time and it's / 18 and life to go / 18 and life You got it / 18 and life you know / Your crime is time and it's / 18 and life to go / Tequila in his heartbeat, His veins burned gasoline. / It kept his motor running but it never kept him clean. / They say he loved adventure, "Ricky's the wild one." / He married trouble and had a courtship with a gun. / Bang Bang Shoot 'em up, The party never ends. / You can't think of dying when the bottle's your best friend / And now it's / 18 and life You got it / 18 and life you know / Your crime is time and it's / 18 and life to go / 18 and life You got it / 18 and life you know / Your crime is time and it's / 18 and life to go / "Accidents will happen" they all heard Ricky say / He fired his six-shot to the wind - that child blew a child away. / 18 and life You got it / 18 and life you know / Your crime is time and it's / 18 and life to go / 18 and life You got it / 18 and life you know / Your crime is time and it's / 18 and life to go". The interesting thing about this song for me is the fact that it's under four minutes, but feels easily like it's five. I must give props to Dave "The Snake" Sabo for the lead work on this one.

I think that Rattlesnake Shake should have been a couple of different songs. There are parts of this song that just seem out of place, and makes the song sound disjointed in a way that feels wrong.

Oh how I want to mock, and rip on the next song. If there was ever a song that needed to be mocked by this band it's one of their biggest, Youth Gone Wild. Admittedly it's catchy and has a nifty hook, and you get to yell the bands name at one point, but otherwise, um, yeah, even the solo is a waste on this one. But, like I said there are some great hooks.

Okay I do kind of like Here I Am. It's not a bad track, in the sense that it sounds like filler from Alice Cooper's Trash album. One of the throw away tracks, that sounded like everything else, but with some fun words. This would be a great B-Side if it was done by Bon Jovi, or maybe Motley Crue.

The best par about this album for me is how short the songs on it are. Makin' A Mess, which is such a filler that it's whole point is for me to talk about the fact that every song on this album is under four minutes, most are under three and a half, with the exception of the last two tracks.

So, what's the longest song on the album? It's the big power ballad, I Remember You. This is 5:10 of why I'm not a fan of the music from this time period. Some people like it, but I will pass.

Midnight/Tornado is yet another song on the album I don't mind. I would be fine with this one thrown into a mix. It's got a decent groove to it.

Seriously, I really do not care for the music of this time period and I really don't like the sound of the album. It's pretty much Pop dressed up as Hard Rock. The members of the band have talent and you can clearly hear it. That's the only good part about the production. It's nice and crisp. It's also flat, and you can sense that a click track was being shoved up the drummers ass. I think the band was being held way too tightly to pre-planned tempos, while being jacked full of coke. If they had been given a different producer, instead of just being done all cookie cutter, I may have liked the album a bit more. It really needed to breathe, instead of just vibrate at high frequencies.

6/10 - content

5/10 - production

4/10 - personal bias

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