Subhuman Race

Subhuman Race

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
In the three years between Skid Row's rarities compilation B-Sides Ourselves--four years if you're counting from their last real studio album, 1991's Slave to the Grind--and Subhuman Race, the world turned its attention away from hair metal and toward hip-hop, grunge, and a harder, faster, louder brand of thrash metal. Which is too bad, because Subhuman Race is the best album of the group's career, forgoing the pop-metal sheen of earlier hits such as "18 and Life" and "I Remember You" in favor of a tougher sound that matches the tenor of the times. Tracks such as "Bonehead," "Beat Yourself Blind," and the title track mix razor-sharp guitar lines, grinding rhythms, and Sebastian Bach's stinging shriek, keeping the emphasis squarely on the music, as opposed to Bach's once-misanthropic ways. --Daniel Durchholz

Tracks:

My Enemy
Firesign
Bonehead
Beat Yourself Blind
Eileen
Remains To Be Seen
Subhuman Race
Frozen
Into Another
Face Against My Soul
Medicine Jar
Breakin' Down
Iron Will/Bonus Track 1

Amazon.com

In the three years between Skid Row's rarities compilation B-Sides Ourselves--four years if you're counting from their last real studio album, 1991's Slave to the Grind--and Subhuman Race, the world turned its attention away from hair metal and toward hip-hop, grunge, and a harder, faster, louder brand of thrash metal. Which is too bad, because Subhuman Race is the best album of the group's career, forgoing the pop-metal sheen of earlier hits such as "18 and Life" and "I Remember You" in favor of a tougher sound that matches the tenor of the times. Tracks such as "Bonehead," "Beat Yourself Blind," and the title track mix razor-sharp guitar lines, grinding rhythms, and Sebastian Bach's stinging shriek, keeping the emphasis squarely on the music, as opposed to Bach's once-misanthropic ways. --Daniel Durchholz

Customer Reviews:

Solid, if forgotten, metal blast.......2007-04-11

Honest magazines of the time agreed that this rocked mightily. But it was 1995 and they were few and far between as it was basically illegal to like Skid Row at the height of grunge and alterna-rock hegemony.

But bugger the mainstream - this rocked! A mature slice of corporate metal still with Bachs trademark pipes soaring and growling their way through tunes that had more in common with Slave to the Grind than the debut. Which is as you'd expect. Heavy rockers abound here as hard riffing is the order of the day, personal faves bein the lead cut My Enemy, the title track and Medicine Jar. That's not to deny the impassioned Bach efforts on Frozen or Beat Yourself Blind. And the band weren't above a few gimmicks, such as the single Breakin' Down being issued in two versions, effectively trying to double sales for the single. But hey, Maiden relentlessly issue all sorts of versions of everything to siphon the last cent (or pence) from their fans wallets and let's not even start on KISS! So I can forgive 'em and really this solid metal outing should of sufficed to silence critics and to ensure the bands survival.

Other tidbits you may find helpful in making your choice would be A) bob Rock production, B) nifty foldout packaging on the initial pressing and C) a defiant will to win. Though to be fair, reasons not to buy this would be A) not quite the kill factor of Slave to the Grind, B) knowing the band were disintegrating from within - yeah it's a downer and C) the absence of chilling slower numbers - there is nothing approaching In A Darkened Room, Wasted Time or Quicksand Jesus.

Still, recommended metal.

subpar.......2006-10-03

so the image conscious marketing geniuses wanted to make SR more grungy and less glam? fair enough, but SR wasn't very glam to begin with, and with S to the G, they had already made all the transition they needed. SubHmn Race is just grunge for the sake of grunge, SR's distinctive style is lost, the songs are non-descript, and Baz' vox are restrained, sounding more like a Pantera imitator than the guy who was giving Axl a run for his $ in the range dept.

Not very good.......2006-07-13

After reading all of the stellar reviews, I bought this CD used. I expected much more since Skid Row's debut & Slave To The Grind were great records. This record was released in the mid 90's, and it's obvious the band wasn't sure which direction to go in. This is not a metal record as some of the other reviewers have claimed. One song was punk. Only 2 tracks were melody based, and sounded good. There was a lot of great playing on this record, but no great songwriting. Several of the pieces used odd time signatures ala progressive rock. Many of the pieces tried to borrow from the then hot alternative rock scene. I could here Alice In Chains types of guitar riffs, and big diminished chords ala STP. Boz's singing was more of a raspy hurl then actual singing. Nowhere on this record is a great sustained note like in "18 and Life". Overall, I am super disappointed, and plan to put this back up for sale.

skid row is NOT A HAIR BAND!!!!!!!.......2006-05-26

listen to me...HAIR bands are poison, warrant, motley crue, cinderella etc.... skid row is one of the few good musical things to come from the 80's, and they dressed really no differently than metallica, is metallica a hair band? c'mon!!

If you think Skid Row is a "Glam" or "Hair Band", then you have never heard this..........2006-03-18

Nothing like the self titled "Skid Row" release of 1989 and "Subhuman Race" is even harder than the 1991 album "Slave to the Grind". It is really too bad that the record labels were dumping "grunge" and "alternative" hype on the public in the `90s so everyone basically ignored this album thinking it was just another "hair band" release. If it was actually given a chance, this may have actually saved Skid Row from virtual obscurity today.

In my humble opinion, this album could go toe to toe with any of Metallica's releases in recent times and even thrash them out of the water while reminding Metallica that the term "Heavy Metal" starts with the word "HEAVY".

In my opinion, after this album; it is truly unfair to continue to describe Skid Row using bands such as Warrant, Mr. Big, Poison or other `80s hair or glam bands as references.