Subhuman Race

Subhuman Race
Studio album from Skid Row
Publication (s)	March 28, 1995
admission	1994
Label (s)	Atlantic Records
Format (s)	CD
Genre (s)	Hard rock , melodic rock
Title (number)	14th
running time	56:39
occupation	Singing : Sebastian Bach Guitar : Dave Sabo Guitar : Scotti Hill Bass : Rachel Bolan Drums : Rob Affuso
production	Bob rock
chronology B-Side Ourselves (EP) 1992 Subhuman Race Subhuman Beings on Tour 1995

Subhuman Race is the third studio album by the US hard rock band Skid Row , released in 1995 . It was created by Bob Rock produced , reached in the United States ranked 35th of the Billboard 200 and the Top Ten in the UK , Japan and Australia . It was the group's first album that was not awarded a gold record and the last that featured singer Sebastian Bach and drummer Rob Affuso.

background

Slave to the Grind, the previous album by Subhuman Race, was already much harder and less commercial than its predecessor. In the USA it was the first heavy metal album that managed to reach the top of the US album charts in its debut week .

Skid Row had released an EP called B-Sides Ourselves in 1992, which, however, did not contain any new material, but cover versions of songs by other bands.

In September 1991, was the second album of the band Nirvana , Nevermind , appeared whose single Smells Like Teen Spirit trigger of grunge - hype was. Thanks to the frequent use of the music video on the music television channel MTV , the song became a hit. The music industry and the media developed from then a strong interest in the subgenre. Spin magazine described it in the December 1992 issue: "Seattle is now to the rock world what Bethlehem is to Christianity."

This development did not leave many bands of other styles of rock unaffected. Skid Row also took on the influences and used elements of alternative rock and grunge for the album Subhuman Race , which was only released in 1995, four years after Slave to the Grind .

Track list

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Subhuman Race   DE 57 04/17/1995 (7 weeks)   CH 49 04/30/1995 (1 week)   UK 8th 04/08/1995 (3 weeks)   US 35 04/15/1995 (9 weeks)

Singles

Breakin 'down   UK 48 11/18/1995 (2 weeks)

1. My Enemy (Rob Affuso, Rachel Bolan, Scotti Hill) - 3:38
2. Firesign (Sebastian Bach, Bolan, Hill, Dave Sabo) - 4:54
3. Bonehead (Bolan, Sabo) - 2:16
4. Beat Yourself Blind (Bolan, Hill, Snake) - 5:02
5. Eileen (Affuso, Bach, Bolan, Snake) - 5:36
6. Remains to be Seen (Bolan, Hill, Snake) - 3:34
7. Subhuman Race (Bolan, Hill, Snake) - 2:40
8. Frozen (Bolan, Snake) - 4:43
9. Into Another (Bolan, Snake) - 4:02
10. Face Against My Soul (Affuso, Bach, Bolan, Snake) - 4:20
11. Medicine Jar (Bolan, Hill, Snake) - 3:36
12. Breakin 'Down (Snake) - 4:30
13. Ironwill (Affuso, Bolan, Hill, Snake) - 7:43
14. Untitled Hidden Track - 0:40

reception

Thomas Kupfer wrote for Rock Hard that in his opinion Skid Row would "offend a lot of old fans" with this record . What the band have won their first two albums, namely "youthful insouciance and the knack for songs with hit potential" is in 'Subhuman Race' "receded into the background" . Instead, “trendy riffing and a gloomy atmosphere, which does not match the previous image of the quintet at all.” The only positive exceptions are the semi-ballad 'Into Another', the 'Firesign' with a catchy chorus ” and the “ Candlebox-like ” 'Breakin' Down '. Otherwise “dominate mediocrity” , the songs seemed “uninspired” , and “only the compact sound and the solid craftsmanship of the band members” would lift 'Subhuman Race'.

Steven Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic wrote about the album that Skid Row returned in 1995 with " their strongest and worst album to date" . The group had "banned most of their Pop-Metal" and reduced the music "to the essentials, namely roaring guitars and Sebastian Bach's screeching voice" . The album was "not a hit in the sense of slave to the grind" , but "showed itself in an impressive way" and reached the top 40 of the US charts.

Web links

• Subhuman Race at Allmusic (English). Retrieved March 5, 2012.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Slave to the Grind Review at Allmusic (English)
2. ↑ Skid Row in the German charts on OfficialCharts.de
3. ↑ Chart discography Austria on Austriancharts.at
4. ↑ Chart discography Switzerland on Hitparade.de
5. ↑ Subhuman Race in the Official UK Charts (English)
6. ↑ Skid Row in the US charts
7. ↑ Thomas Kupfer in Rock Hard , issue 95 (1995)
8. ↑ Subhuman Race Review at Allmusic (English)