Skid Row

[supersonic]

Saw them live in the early 90s', the were really good, great tone, they were playing through JCM 800s' I think.

 

[C1-ocaster]

They were a very good band during that era of over produced cookie cutter hair rockers.
I don't consider Skid Row a "hair band". Sure, they had long hair, but so did all of us.
But they were a heavy hard rock band NOT a "hair band".

I am so glad those hair metal guitar sounds stopped with their ridiculous amounts of reverb on EVERYTHING.
The guitars sounded like they were playing down the hall around the corner in a back bedroom from where the singer and bass player were.
Hate it or love it, but grundge hard rock brought back guitar tone and recording where the band sounded like they were in the room with you.

 

[OldSkoolNJ]

Cool background info

A tour long education in tone

What was Dave Sabo using back then before wolfgang's?

When I saw them here in Jersey before STTG they were both using Kramers but both of them seemed to favor Spector Blackhawk customs
Sabo had one that was Les Paul or Jr shaped 1 hb 1 sc at the neck with a floyd.
Hill had 2 JR shaped ones, blue with single hb and floyd and another a different color but with 1hb 1sc floyd.
If you watch the old videos from the first album you can see them in every video

http://www.vintagekramer.com/spector.htm

2 years or so back I tried score one of the blackhawks like Hills

I like the first album but Slave To The Grind had some chunky sounding solo's by Hill

One of the coolest Skid Row things I remember back before I went to tech school and went to see Brian Setzer in the Ballroom at the Trump Marina here in A.C. instead of rows of seats it was assigned seating at tables like a wedding.
The chick I was with tapped me on the shoulder and said look who is sitting next to us and it was Scotti Hill

 

[threadkiller]

......Hate it or love it, but grundge hard rock brought back guitar tone and recording where the band sounded like they were in the room with you.

Yes, you could clearly hear that they couldn't play shit.

 

[tubortski]

I'm a Soundgarden fan and saw them play with Skid Row. I was blown away by Skid. Great songs, energy, tones.

 

[Hollis]

When I was a kid my band played "18 and Life". I still remember that guitar solo! Lol

 

[Jer]

Good stuff, I'd always wondered what the first album gear was.

 

[Heritage Softail]

It was an MP-1.

From Wagener himself it was a Rivera TBR1

I'm not sure what the model number for my Rivera head is. It's a dual 120W stereo head and it has a knob to adjust the input impedance to fit it with your particular guitar. It was extensively used on Skid Row's "Slave To The Grind" album and on Saigon Kick's first album.

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/high-end ... -amps.html

As i said before the question was also answered here on the forum with our own Q&A with MW himself.

The MP1 that MW owned was ran through a Mcintosh solidstate power amp and used extensively on Extreme's album at the time

Killer player.

Didn't he actually play the leads on Aerosmith Train Kept A Rollin? When you listen to that one song, it is very obvious someone else played it.. Or that was the single best session Joe ever had and chooses not to plat it that way live!

 

[rcm78]

My original band back in the late 80's played a lot of shows with Skid Row before they were signed. Honestly they were not that good. There was a buzz about them due to their connection with Bon Jovi.

The New Jersey original music scene back then was just incredible. Tons of great bands, killer venues, awesome shows. It was a lot of fun. Skid row was a very small fish in that pond until word got out that Jon Bon Bovi was going to get them a deal. Next thing you know they are headlining and filling all the best rooms.

So the Skids get signed, they fire their singer and bring Baz down from Canadia. Early '89 the record comes out. Now I have to admit some sour grapes here. I really didnt think these guys deserved to get signed. There were a few other bands that got overlooked.

I heard Youth Gone Wild on the radio right when the record came out. All I could think was WTF happened? This isnt the same band. I thought it was great!!!

All the clubs we hung out in were playing the record. All the songs were really good. I bought the record and became a fan. Those guys were put into a sink or swim situation and they proved they belonged there...

When Slave to the Grind came out I bought it right away. To this day it's one of my favorite albums...

 

[rlord1974]

Sebastian had the best recorded voice from that time... IMO

FIXED. His pitch live was HORRENDOUS.

 

[mystixboi]

Sebastian had the best recorded voice from that time... IMO

FIXED. His pitch live was HORRENDOUS.

Good call. I did, however, get to see him play Jesus in JC Superstar a few years back. When he sang in his mid c to high A, his voice was awesome. Gave me chills. He rattled speakers and outsang trained broadway singers. His pitch was actually pretty good

 

[C1-ocaster]

......Hate it or love it, but grundge hard rock brought back guitar tone and recording where the band sounded like they were in the room with you.

Yes, you could clearly hear that they couldn't play shit.

Well, maybe for some of the bands around then that could be true, but the guitar tones and recordings were a lot better.
I wouldn't say Alice In Chains or Soundgarden couldn't play shit.
Cantrell is an excellent player, and the guys in SoundGarden were very creative and didn't just use one guitar tone for the whole album.
Pearl Jam were great players as well.
To me those were THE best of the Grundge bands.
What bands are you talking about?

 

[crankyrayhanky]

^depends on how you define "great players"
All those grunge guys you mentioned can certainly craft a decent tune as a songwriter, but for pure technical shredding power over the neck they were less than mediocre. Tough to get the whole package as a player

 

[threadkiller]

......Hate it or love it, but grundge hard rock brought back guitar tone and recording where the band sounded like they were in the room with you.

Yes, you could clearly hear that they couldn't play shit.

Well, maybe for some of the bands around then that could be true, but the guitar tones and recordings were a lot better.
I wouldn't say Alice In Chains or Soundgarden couldn't play shit.
Cantrell is an excellent player, and the guys in SoundGarden were very creative and didn't just use one guitar tone for the whole album.
Pearl Jam were great players as well.
To me those were THE best of the Grundge bands.
What bands are you talking about?

I guess we derailed the tread. I listened to all of these bands back in the day. They've got some good tunes and I appreciate the songwriting. I never really thought of AIC as grunge even through they got lumped in there, I guess from being on the bill at Lollapalooza. Thayil wrote some cool stuff. Never heard a decent lead. Pearl Jam's album production sucked IMO across the board. Leads were sloppy and they always hid behind the we just record em live and catch em in one take to capture the emotion/energy cliche. I contend that they are sloppy players who play sloppy solos. Some good tunes but I don't think the slop wasn't about catching the energy in the moment. That's how they play, it's the best they can do. Cobain sucked. Hard. Billy Corgan, hmmmh. Shitty tone and worse playing. And the cherry on top is he actually thinks he's good. Let's see, who else. There was the Screaming Fat Guys. Any other grunge bands of note?

Now, I understand music needed something else at the time and the music was overproduced, solos were wankf fests, songs were predictable, etc. I appreciate the songs and listened to and enjoyed all the bands I just bashed on. I just wish they had maybe kept the chops and technical skills and been more selective about when and how to use it, instead of throwing the technique out the window in the name of playing with energy/emotion/whatever.

 

[Heritage Softail]

^depends on how you define "great players"
All those grunge guys you mentioned can certainly craft a decent tune as a songwriter, but for pure technical shredding power over the neck they were less than mediocre. Tough to get the whole package as a player

I hear ya. But also think of a technical player as one that knows how to serve the balance of the song. People grew tired of long drawn out leads the same way they did of indulgent drum solos.

To the music buying public it would seem that balance in the song is part of being technically sound.

For a bunch of guys at a wankfest, whoever gets to a million notes in the fewest bars appears to be technically proficient..

 

[rlord1974]

I understand music needed something else at the time and the music was overproduced, solos were wank fests, songs were predictable, etc. I appreciate the songs and listened to and enjoyed all the [grunge] bands I just bashed on. I just wish they had maybe kept the chops and technical skills and been more selective about when and how to use it, instead of throwing the technique out the window in the name of playing with energy/emotion/whatever.

I think you're trying to have your proverbial cake and eat it too.

The whole reason the grunge movement turned rock back in the right direction, away from all of the needless wankery and shredding, was because these guys were not technical "virtuosos". They were meat and potatoes players. This allowed them to focus on writing good songs, as opposed to good solos. The reality is, for the majority of players, the more technically proficient you become, the more that proficiency will show up in your writing. I have not known many guys over the years that were killer shredders that were able to truly park their egos and play what the song needed, as opposed to showing the world what finger acrobatics they were capable of. This, of course, is my experience and YMMV. And, to be clear, I am speaking in reference to songs based around a vocal, not instrumental guitar music.

Wait a minute! This thread is about Skid Row!

 

[Heritage Softail]

Skids had some great songs. Not over the top Vai crazy leads. Pop metal executed well. Youth Gone Wild was one of my favorites. Not my 100% of the time music, but it had a place.

I like the guitar tone and lead playing. But I like the guitar tone Keifer had with Cinderella.

 

[ChadVanHalen]

The Skids got me into the whole "pop/hair/melodic/glam" thing. Was a big thrash fan and hated everything else, until I saw videos of my idols Pantera play a KISS song with Skid Row (My little 14 year old opinionated brain couldn't deal with it)

Then I actually listen to Youth Gone Wild (catchy as all hell, eh?) and since then, well, here I am in a glam metal cover band building a Mick Mars guitar...

I liked Skid Row because they didn't just chug power chords, they had very different rock chords then anyone else at the time, very unique... Wish I could listen to anything after Subhuman Race

 

[borninwinter]

I understand music needed something else at the time and the music was overproduced, solos were wank fests, songs were predictable, etc. I appreciate the songs and listened to and enjoyed all the [grunge] bands I just bashed on. I just wish they had maybe kept the chops and technical skills and been more selective about when and how to use it, instead of throwing the technique out the window in the name of playing with energy/emotion/whatever.

I think you're trying to have your proverbial cake and eat it too.

The whole reason the grunge movement turned rock back in the right direction, away from all of the needless wankery and shredding, was because these guys were not technical "virtuosos". They were meat and potatoes players. This allowed them to focus on writing good songs, as opposed to good solos. The reality is, for the majority of players, the more technically proficient you become, the more that proficiency will show up in your writing. I have not known many guys over the years that were killer shredders that were able to truly park their egos and play what the song needed, as opposed to showing the world what finger acrobatics they were capable of. This, of course, is my experience and YMMV. And, to be clear, I am speaking in reference to songs based around a vocal, not instrumental guitar music.

Wait a minute! This thread is about Skid Row!

Agree. I think few people, outside of a certain subset of guitar players, really care that much about shredding ability. If you can use that technical ability in the service of creating great songwriting, that's great - and some bands do this. But, if you don't have a good songwriting ability also, it's a actually not that useful a skill other than as a personal hobby. You can take it out of the 80s/shredding context - look as something like Animals as Leaders. Great ability (in sorta a different direction), and I like it for a song, but it gets really boring really quickly.

 

[tubortski]

I always try to to what's right for the song. I can appreciate players that convey something in a unique manner, whether it be technical or not. It helps too, when the emotion takes over, and hopefully the listener feels it as well. I guess I'm one of those meat and potatoes types.


Back to Skid Row. Checked out some Subhuman tracks and it ain't bad. Not so sure about albums after that. Would be cool if Sebastian came back...