SKID ROW – Revolutions Per Minute

So how many fell into the trap of believing that once the “Mighty” Sebastian Bach left Skid Row that the band would fall by the wayside? Come on, a show of hands. Well, it’s been over ten years since they parted ways. While Skid Row hasn’t been overly active in the studio since then, they have managed to release their second commendable and attention-worthy album. Their last post-Bach studio album, before the new Revolutions Per Minute, was Thickskin, released in 2003. Thickskin was a commendable release and was proof that Skid Row was back on their game, while utilizing a new singer in Johnny Solinger. One of the best things about Johnny — he wasn’t a “Bach clone”.

Revolutions Per Minute is the second release with Solinger, and the first with a new drummer in Dave Gara. There’s good news here and bad news. The good news … this release does not contain any wimpy ballads, in fact no ballads at all. The bad news is (depending on your tolerance level) the band has replaced the ballad tracks with some minor “experimenting,” if you will.

The release starts out really well with some nice, grooving Metal, full of guitars, via “Disease.” Skid Row shows they’ve changed with the times as the majority of the material is Metal with a modern “edge,” versus rehashing 80’s old riffs. The same holds true for the slightly humorous “Another Dick In The System,” which is more straight-ahead Metal with only slight hints of melody. “Pulling My Heart Out From Under Me” is more of the same, with a tinge of Punk creeping in, but still very Metal.

So far, so good, right? The “experimentation” starts with “When God Can’t Wait,” which is very Punk-ish and doesn’t fit in well with the first three songs on the release. It ends up throwing one for a loop during an initial listening. Then, they get back to their roots with “Shut Up Baby, I Love You,” which is more in-line with the current “standard” modern day Skid Row sound. “Strength” is the longest track on this release, clocking in at slightly over five minutes (the remaining eleven tracks clock in at or under three and a half minutes each). This track has a very Billy Idol-ish type riff, but remains a driving, mid-tempo piece of Metal being nothing quite as diverse as “When God Can’t Wait.”

The remaining experimentation starts off with a slightly less obvious Punk attempt with “White Trash,” which is off-beat with a humorous chorus. The track actually grows on you after several listens. “You Lie” starts off as a Country song before breaking into “Country Punk” about halfway in. Nice attempt if you like Country and have the patience … it remains to be seen if most Skid Row fans will hit their skip button on this one. To make matters worse, the track was repeated at the end of the disc and labeled as a Bonus Track. It’s hard to tell if this is an alternate mix, but it wasn’t that great the first time, much less the second time. “Love Is Dead” is a shining track with an atmospheric guitar riff and catchy chorus and stays heavy enough to be considered Metal.

Johnny Solinger sounds great throughout. Sure there are places where his pipes have tinges of perhaps an older Sebastian in them, but he’s far from being a pure clone. Also gone are the extreme guitar solos from the Skid Row “Hair” days, replaced by more Modern Rock guitar moments (short and succinct).

Bottom line, Skid Row shows with this release that they can forget the past and grow and move on. Revolutions Per Minute is full of great Metal tracks … it just remains to be seen how many have the patience to tolerate their experimental moments. Nevertheless, this isn’t Momma’s Skid Row from the 80’s! It’s a polished, souped up version that’s been injected with an octane boost!

Lineup

Johnny Solinger – Vocals
Scotti Hill – Guitars
Dave ‘Snake’ Sabo – Guitars
Rachel Bolan – Bass
Dave Gara – Drums