Skid Row - Skid Row (1989)

I remember yesterday.

A videoclip in the 'new' private TV Channel, RCTI. The song was titled "18 and Life." Later, Hai magazine wrote an article about the new band. Skid Row was their name. The story was about some young musicians from New Jersey, who started their career hopping from one pubs to another in their home town. With a big help from Jon Bon Jovi - another New Jersey-based musician, a good friend of guitarist Dave 'Snake' Sabo - Skid Row finally got a chance to go into record studio.

Not long after that, their self-titled album was available in the music stores. It didn't take me long to get a copy. True, their music, their appearance, was still within the hairmetal mainstream of the era. But Skid Row was different. While Poison, Motley Crue mainly wrote about hedonistic lifestyles, Bon Jovi was about love or romantic relationship, Skid Row's lyrics was about youth energy, anger, but also hope.

Some things in life were meant to be. They happened to meet Canadian-born Sebastian Bach. His voice, his persona, were all the things required by a rock band. Skid Row started as Bon Jovi's prodigy. But they didn't have to stand under Bon Jovi's shadow for long. They immediately stamped their presence. Skid Row became the new favorite among my peers.

I remember yesterday.

Going through the album tracks. From Big Guns to Sweet Little Sister, to Can't Stand the Heartache. Then tried to imitate the bass track in Piece of Me. Wait - let me get my accoustic guitar. It's 18 and Life. I need to impress my peers by showing how I can play the intro.

Youth Gone Wild could potentially be the heavymetal anthem at that time. It could also be the album's title, I wonder why they didn't choose it. And what more can I say about I Remember You? If you can't play it, you are not cool, period.

Their second album, Slave to the Grind (1991) was also a good one musically, although not as commercially successful. They played heavier, darker sound compared to the first album. But entering the 1990s, the music industry has changed. Most 1980s metal band either changed their sound (because of the grunge invasion), had internal problems, or ceased to exist.

Bach broke up with Skid Row after he agreed to be Kiss' opening act. The other members thought they were too big to be an opening band. Bach, a huge fan of Kiss, said "one can never be too big to open a Kiss concert." They they parted the way. Some attempts to reunite them has never succeeded.

So everytime now I woke up in a pouring rain, I always remember them.

Favorite tracks: Big Guns, Sweet Little Sister, Youth Gone Wild, I Remember You, Can't Stand the Heartache