Album #2 of the Skid Row catalog and one of the greatest sophomore albums of all time in my opinion. While many bands stick to the same formula or soften their sound over time, Skid Row went the other way with a much heavier approach on their second album. The first video/single “Monkey Business” definitely was a statement of intent telling fans this is not the same old Hair Metal band that the media lumped them in with. Starting out with a slower intro and then that scream from Bas and we’re off to the races with a great heavy opener and lyrics that took a lot to digest and wasn’t the same old T&A or love story lyrics that had been a sign of the times. The title track follows and was like a boot to the face taking the pace up another notch and was the second video/single which was an odd choice but another great song. The next three videos/singles were the ballads “Wasted Time”, “In A Darkened Room”, and “Quicksand Jesus” and all three are great songs with great and meaningful lyrics that made you pull the lyric sheet out to follow along and the vocals by Bas and solos by Scotti Hill can’t be talked about enough. There was also a video on the VHS home video for “Psycho Love” which was awesome but sadly I don’t think MTV ever played it. With the explicit lyrics BS going on at the time the censored pressings had the song “Beggars Day” while non censored had “Get the Fuck Out”. Walmart was like my local record store at the time so I had the “Beggars Day” version and by the time I heard GTFO I liked it but 30 years later I think “Beggars Day” was a much better song. Other cool album tracks are “The Threat”, “Riot Act”, “Living on a Chain Gang”, and “Mudkicker”. Overall a big leap forward in songwriting and especially lyrically and vocally on this album compared to the debut. While I love both STTG is the best Skid Row album for me.
Skid Row – Slave to the Grind (1991)
