Slave to the Grind
| Slave to the Grind | ||||
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| Studio album from Skid Row | ||||
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Publication |
June 11, 1991 |
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admission |
1990-1991 |
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| Label (s) | Atlantic Records | |||
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Format (s) |
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Title (number) |
12 |
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running time |
50:01 |
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Studio (s) |
New River Studios in Fort Lauderdale and Scream Studios in Studio City |
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Slave to the Grind is the second studio album by the American hard rock band Skid Row , released in 1991 . It was produced by the German music producer Michael Wagener , reached number one on the Billboard 200 in the USA, made the top ten in Great Britain , Sweden , Japan , Australia and Canada and was awarded two platinum awards in the USA .
background
With their debut album, the group achieved a sensational success: The song 18 and Life and the ballad I Remember You reached the top ten in the USA and helped the album to sell over 5,000,000 copies there, for which Skid Row was awarded five platinum awards . To date, it is the band's most commercially successful album.
In August 1989, eight months after the release of their debut, the group had played at the Moscow Music Peace Festival alongside bands such as Bon Jovi , Ozzy Osbourne , Mötley Crüe , the Scorpions and Cinderella , and at the Milton Keynes Festival alongside Bon Jovi, Europe and Vixen performed, and traveled with Mötley Crüe and White Lion and then with Aerosmith through Europe, which was followed by another tour of the USA.
The musical direction of Slave to the Grind , which the group recorded with Michael Wagener from 1990, had become significantly harder and less commercial than its predecessor. In addition to the tracks later released on the album, the band recorded two other songs, namely Fire in the Hole and Burned . The song Fire in the Hole was released in 1998 on the best-of album 40 Seasons: The Best of Skid Row .
A total of four singles were released: Wasted Time, Monkey Business, In a Darkened Room and Slave to the Grind.
Track list
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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- Monkey Business (Rachel Bolan, Dave Sabo) 4:20
- Slave to the Grind (Sebastian Bach, Bolan, Sabo) 3:31
- The Threat (Bolan, Sabo) 3:52
- Quicksand Jesus (Bolan, Sabo) 5:26
- Psycho Love (Bolan) 3:58
- Get the Fuck Out (Bolan, Sabo) 2:42
- Livin 'on a Chain Gang (Bolan, Sabo) 4:00
- Creepshow (Bolan, Rob Affuso, Scotti Hill) 3:59
- In a Darkened Room (Bach, Bolan, Sabo) 3:57
- Riot Act (Bolan, Sabo) 2:42
- Mudkicker (Bach, Bolan, Sabo) 3:56
- Wasted Time (Bach, Bolan, Sabo) 5:50
reception
Slave to the Grind was internationally successful and reached number 12 in the charts in Germany and number 5 in Great Britain . In the USA, the album went straight to number one, making it the first heavy metal album to reach the top spot in its debut week the US charts.
Frank Trojan wrote in Rock Hard that for him Skid Row with the first album was initially “just another test-tube troupe from Amiland, as unidentified as most of the bands”. But already with the good video Oh Say Can You Scream it was announced that there was more to it than that, and with Slave to the Grind they got the confirmation. Skid Row are “by no means just good-looking guys, but a hell of a good band!” He praised Monkey Business as “brutal, tough and incredibly rough whip”. Many songs are "pure metal". Skid Row could not have been prescribed, "but produced a surprisingly aggressive, varied and tough album." He awarded nine out of ten points. The panel reached together with Yesterday and Today Live from Y & T , two of the monthly "Editorial Charts" place. In 2007, the magazine's editors ranked the album 236th in its best list of 500 titles. Thomas Kupfer wrote that Slave to the Grind had caused a "blatant course correction". This “masterpiece of sheer energy” was dominated by “catchy melody lines and catchy refrains”, at the same time the band had “increased heaviness, that it is a real joy.” The quintet was “at the height of their creativity” with the album. Kupfer also praised the production by Michael Wagener , "who impressively managed to capture the balancing act between more traditional songwriting and the snotty-rock attitude."
Steve Huey from Allmusic wrote about the album that Skid Row had become “harder and heavier” with their second album and had understood how to combine the “grippy and dirty voice” of their singers with “slim, driving riffs” . For the most part, "the pop-metal fluff of the debut" is missing , instead "stories from the dark side about drugs, corruption and the like have taken this place" , while singer Bach has "a tough, sometimes threatening charisma" . Many observers were “surprised” when Slave to the Grind became the “first heavy metal album” that “ debuted at number one on the Billboard charts” , but it was “really one of the best and toughest examples of mainstream music. Hard Rock and Heavy Metal ” .
Web links
- Slave to the Grind on Allmusic (English). Retrieved March 4, 2012.
- Official website of the band
Individual evidence
- ^ RIAA gold & platinum database . Retrieved March 4, 2012.
- ↑ a b c Slave to the Grind Review at Allmusic (English)
- ↑ Skid Row in the German charts on OfficialCharts.de
- ↑ Chart discography Austria on Austriancharts.at
- ↑ Chart discography Switzerland on Hitparade.de
- ↑ Slave to the Grind in the Official UK Charts (English)
- ^ Joel Whitburn 's Top Pop Singles 1955-2006. Billboard Books, New York 2007, ISBN 0-89820-172-1 .
- ^ Joel Whitburn: The Billboard Albums , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
- ^ Frank Trojan: Review of Slave to the Grind , in: Rock Hard, No. 52, July 1991, p. 53.
- ↑ Rock Hard (Ed.): Best of Rock and Metal, Heel-Verlag, Königswinter 2007, ISBN 3-89880-517-4 , p. 120