SKID ROW has led an interesting existence. Their self titled '89 debut record played by all the conventions and formulas firmly in place for rock bands at the time. Rockers like "Youth Gone Wild" and "Piece of Me" sold a bill of goods to legions of disaffected virgins around the world, and the iconic ballad "I Remember You" is still potent enough to wet the panties of 30-something single moms everywhere. While in their enviable position at the top of the pop metal dung heap, they did the unthinkable. instead of going even softer to maximize record sales like most other bands did as their careers went on, SKID ROW only got heavier and more challenging on their subsequent releases. "Slave to the Grind" put the pedal to the metal big time , and third platter "Subhuman Race" bordered on PANTERA style thrash. Once the A bomb called NIRVANA was dropped, SKID ROW faded off into obscurity like many of their brothers. Singer Sebastian Bach left for a short lived career on Broadway, and now plays the stooge on various VH-1 reality/nostalgia based TV shows. Guitarists Dave "Snake" Sabo and Scotti Hill, and bassist Rachel Bolan recruited Bach sound-a-like Johnny Solinger along with new drummer Dave Gara, and soldiered on. This is the version of the band that gives us this new album, "Revolutions Per Minute." With SKID ROW's previously mentioned recording history, this could be a good thing, right?

Wrong. "Revolutions Per Minute" sounds like an old band that can't figure out how it fits in this whole new millennium thing. The boys are all over the map on this one. The tracks "Disease" and "Strength" tread dangerously close to NICKLEBACK FM rock radio territory, while "Nothing" fills the 80's cheese rock quotient. The disc is also littered with pseudo-punk moments like "White Trash" and "When God Can't Wait," the latter sounding like the DROPKICK MURPHYS on suicide watch. Given the schizophrenic nature of the disc, it's not clear if the country-rock track "You Lie" was meant to be taken seriously or not, but in case you missed it, they supplied a remixed version as a bonus track that is pretty much indistinguishable from the original. Thankfully, the band is able to channel some former glory with "Another Dick in the System." This is where Solinger is at his most Bach-like. It even ends with a gang back up vocal chorus chant of "HEY!" State fairs across the country are reverberating with this refrain on the SKID ROW '06 tour itinerary, no doubt.

Solinger does his best throughout, but can only sound just barely enough like Sebastian Bach on certain moments to carry the band. Between the faceless nature of the music on "Revolutions Per Minute," and the fact that Bach's voice was such a defining characteristic of the band's sound before, there is little in the album to remind the listener that this is, indeed, SKID ROW. This record could've been recorded by anybody, really. Had they started over with a new, baggage-free band name, they may have fared better. The fact that the label is hitting up Peacedogman.com, bastion of rock's underground and undiscovered, is a testament to how far from the rock n' roll mainstream they have fallen.

If you're a die hard fan of SKID ROW, it's certain you've had this disc in your saliva soaked hands for a while now. For the more casual fans of the band, hold off on making this purchase. Perhaps someday soon, VH-1 will no longer have need for a bloated, rock n' roll anachronism-in-residence, and they'll cut Mr. Bach loose so he can be free to rejoin the band he was born to front. Heaven help the single 30 something moms of the world once that day is upon us!

-Broadbent

OFFICIAL SITE: www.skidrow.com

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