Skid Row (heavy metal band)
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| Skid Row | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Toms River, New Jersey, United States |
| Genre(s) | Heavy metal, glam metal, hard rock |
| Years active | 1986-present |
| Label(s) | Atlantic, Skid Row, SPV |
| Website | www.skidrow.com |
| Members | |
| Rachel Bolan Dave "The Snake" Sabo Scotti Hill Johnny Solinger Dave Gara | |
| Former members | |
| Rob Affuso Sebastian Bach Phil Varone Matt Fallon Sean McCabe Charlie Mills Kurtis Jackson Steve br /otherton Keri Kelli Tim DiDuro | |
Skid Row is an American heavy metal band, formed in 1986 in Toms River, New Jersey. They are named after Gary Moore's first band. Their current line-up consists of Johnny Solinger (vocals), Dave "The Snake" Sabo, Scotti Hill (guitar), Rachel Bolan (bass) and Dave Gara (drums).
As of 2008, Skid Row has released five full-length albums, an EP, a compilation album, and a live album. For album and single sales information, see the Skid Row discography page. They became popular with their first two albums, Skid Row and Slave to the Grind, which are often considered their best-known works to date. Their last full-length studio album, Revolutions Per Minute, came out on October 24, 2006. The group has sold over 20 million albums worldwide, according to former lead vocalist Sebastian Bach.[citation needed]
They are often associated with glam metal, partly due to their appearance and their sound on their debut album, Skid Row, which spawned the hits "18 and Life", "Youth Gone Wild", and "I Remember You" for the band. They would eventually go on to make music more akin to thrash metal with hard rock leanings.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Beginnings and the "self-titled"-era (1986-1990)
Skid Row was formed in Toms River, New Jersey, in 1986 by bassist Rachel Bolan and guitarist Dave "The Snake" Sabo. The pair added guitarist Scotti Hill, drummer Rob Affuso, and lead vocalist Sebastian Bach, who replaced original lead vocalist Matt Fallon, to the line-up by early 1987. The band began playing shows in clubs throughout the eastern United States.
With the assistance of friend Jon Bon Jovi, Sabo secured a record deal for Skid Row with Atlantic Records in 1988, then entered the studio with Michael Wagener (of Ozzy Osbourne, White Lion and Extreme fame) to record their their first album. Skid Row, released in January 1989, was an instant success. The record went 5x platinum and produced the hit singles "18 and Life", "I Remember You", and "Youth Gone Wild".
In what is referred to as "The Bottle Incident" by fans of the band, Bach was hit with a bottle thrown onstage from the crowd at a concert in Springfield, Massachusetts, where Skid Row was opening for Aerosmith on December 27, 1989. Bach threw the bottle back, hitting a girl (not the shooter), so he jumped on the crowd to beat the person who threw the bottle.[1] The incident was captured on video and can be seen on a tour video released by Skid Row called Oh Say Can You Scream in 1990.
Shortly thereafter Bach put on, during a concert, a t-shirt proclaiming the anti-gay slogan "AIDS Kills Fags Dead". The shirt was thrown onstage by a fan, and Bach, without looking at it, put it on. After the concert Bach apologized, stating "My grandmother had recently died of cancer, I guess I would be pissed too if I saw someone wearing a 'Cancer Kills Grandmothers Dead' shirt". In later years Bach apologized seriously for wearing the shirt, and made a substantial donation to an AIDS charity.
[edit] The Slave to the Grind-era (1991-1992)
Skid Row returned to the studio with Wagener in 1990, to record their second studio album. Slave to the Grind, released in June 1991, debuted at Number 1 in the American charts. Slave to the Grind became a major success, and Skid Row once again went out on a worldwide tour which lasted over a year, including a leg supporting Guns N' Roses in 1991 and an appearance at the Castle Donington festival in 1992. Slave to the Grind was a departure for the band; where Skid Row was an album that followed the typical hair band formula, Slave to the Grind had a heavier sound, even verging on thrash with the songs "Mudkicker" and the title track. It was released in two versions, with a "Clean" version replacing the track "Get the Fuck Out" with another, "Beggars Day". The album received strong critical praise, and despite the fact that it disappeared from the charts rather quickly, received 2X Platinum from RIAA certifications.
[edit] Hiatus and the Subhuman Race-era (1993-1998)
Before a third album could be recorded, Skid Row took an extended hiatus in 1993, following the Slave to the Grind tour.
For sometime, Skid Row parted ways with Wagener, possibly due to their music taking a different direction for the follow-up to Slave to the Grind. In 1994, the band returned to the studio with Bob Rock (of Metallica, Mötley Crüe and The Offspring fame), to record their third studio album. Subhuman Race, released in March 1995, surprisingly charted in the top 40. Although it did not achieve the success of Skid Row and Slave to the Grind, it generated a few hits, but at that point, their videos were rarely played on MTV.
Eventually, Bach was fired by the band in late 1996, just after turning down a show with KISS. He was replaced in Skid Row by Sean McCabe. Although the group never officially disbanded, the remaining members went on to play briefly in a band called Ozone Monday in mid 1998, which also featured lead vocalist Sean McCabe.
[edit] Post-Bach period (1999-present)
Skid Row re-formed in 1999 with new lead vocalist Johnny Solinger, formerly of Solinger, and drummer Charlie Mills. Mills soon left the band and was replaced with then-new drummer Phil Varone, formerly of Saigon Kick. After re-forming, they opened for KISS on their farewell tour, and have also played with other 1980s metal bands such as Poison. They have been on tour every summer. In 2002 they were part of the Rock Never Stops Tour.
Skid Row released their fourth full-length studio album, Thickskin, in 2003, which was their first album to feature Solinger and Varone. This would also be their first proper studio album in 8 years. After the release of the album, Varone left the band and was replaced by current drummer Dave Gara.
The fifth (and most recent) Skid Row album, Revolutions Per Minute, came out on October 24, 2006 through SPV Records. It was produced by Michael Wagener, who produced their first two highly-acclaimed albums Skid Row and Slave to the Grind. In 2007, the band recorded Jingle Bells for a Monster Ballads Christmas album. Skid Row will embark on Vince Neil's Motley Cruise with other hard rock bands such as Ratt and Slaughter. The cruise is set for late January
[edit] Band members
[edit] Discography
- For more details on this topic, see Skid Row discography.
[edit] Studio albums
| Date of release | Title | Label | Billboard peak | RIAA cert. |
| 1989-01-24 | Skid Row | Atlantic | #6 | 5x platinum |
| 1991-06-11 | Slave to the Grind | Atlantic | #1 | 2x platinum |
| 1995-03-28 | Subhuman Race | Atlantic | #35 | None |
| 2003-08-05 | Thickskin | Blind Man Sound | - | None |
| 2006-10-24 | Revolutions per Minute | SPV | - | None |
[edit] External links
Skid Row | |
|---|---|
| Johnny Solinger · Dave "The Snake" Sabo · Scotti Hill · Rachel Bolan · Dave Gara Rob Affuso · Sebastian Bach · Phil Varone · Matt Fallon · Sean McCabe · Charlie Mills · Kurtis Jackson · Steve Brotherton · Keri Kelli · Tim DiDuro | |
| Studio albums | Skid Row · Slave to the Grind · Subhuman Race · Thickskin · Revolutions Per Minute |
| Live albums | Subhuman Beings on Tour |
| Extended plays | B-Side Ourselves |
| Compilations | 40 Seasons: The Best of Skid Row |
| Videos | Oh Say Can You Scream · No Frills Video · Road Kill · Under the Skin |
| Singles | "Youth Gone Wild" · "18 and Life" · "I Remember You" · "Wasted Time" · "Monkey Business" · "In a Darkened Room" · "Slave to the Grind" · "My Enemy" · "Breakin' Down" · "Into Another" |
| Related articles | Discography · Members · Michael Wagener · Bob Rock |
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Categories: Articles needing additional references from December 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since November 2007 | 1980s music groups | 1990s music groups | 2000s music groups | American rock music groups | Classic metal groups | Glam metal groups | Musical groups established in 1986 | New Jersey heavy metal musical groups | Skid Row
