Skid Row will be releasing a mega-boxset titled “The Atlantic Years:: 1989-1996” on December 3, 2021. The ’89 self-titled debut, Slave to the Grind, B-Side Ourselves (an EP of previously unreleased covers), Subhuman Race, and the Japanese only EP Subhuman Beings on Tour. Subhuman Beings on Tour is a 7-track EP featuring six songs recorded at The Astoria in London, England (except for “Delivering the Goods”.) Track 7 is not listed and is spoken message from band to Japan fans.
The collection includes 180-gram audiophile vinyl 7 LPs, including the band’s multi-million selling, worldwide-charting first three studio albums, plus the B-Side Ourselves EP and the live EP Subhuman Beings On Tour!!, which was previously only available on CD in Japan. It is now being made available globally and on vinyl for the first time ever. All five albums are also newly remastered.
The five-album, seven-LP side-loading box set includes:
* Skid Row
* Slave To The Grind (2xLP)
* B-Side Ourselves
* Subhuman Race (2xLP)
* Subhuman Beings On Tour!!
This five-album, CD side-loading box set includes:
* Skid Row
* Slave To The Grind
* B-Side Ourselves
* Subhuman Race
* Subhuman Beings On Tour!!
Many people are speculating that this just may be what will bring Sebastian Bach into the Skid Row lineup after being dismissed from the band in 1996. There was a failed attempt reported back in 2016 but that “conversation” ground to a halt and nothing ever became of it. If I had to put my chips on anything, I’d put them on that Skid Row will continue to move forward without Bach but I don’t think this will be a silent battle. As seen in the past, the core members of Skid Row have been very collected, cordial, and solidly standing by their decision to not reunite Bach while Bach himself has spent over a decade slinging insults at his former band mates only to state to press that they should get back together. This is going to be a very interesting time and you can bet I will be eating all of the popcorn during this bout of the century. As for where I’ll be standing, I’ll be ringside for Skid Row. Ring the bell!
For years, former singer Sebastian Bach has made claims regarding his contributions as a co-songwriter on many songs from Skid Row’s three studio releases that featured him on vocals. Guitarist/songwriter Dave “The Snake” Sabo was asked in a 2013 interview with Metal Covenant if Bach “actually wrote anything significant on [SKID ROW’s early] albums,” Sabo responded: “To be totally honest, yeah. I mean, he contributed to things here and there. There is no doubt; you can’t deny it. But to the extent that what Rachel and I would put into a song, no. So to sit there and say that he didn’t contribute anything, then I’d be lying. But to sit there and say that he contributed equally as we did, that would be a lie.”
Sebastian Bach claims to be an uncredited songwriter of one of Skid Row’s biggest hits, “18 & Life.” “When they say, ‘We wrote the song ’18 and Life,’ you [just] sang it,’ okay, let’s examine that statement,” he adds. “You can go listen to the original version of that song online, and then you can listen to me doing it, and there’s something called a melody line. … Those are the notes that I wrote, okay? Nobody does that in the version before that.”
At the time, he never considered fighting over credit. “The last thing anybody ever thinks is that somebody is gonna like this shit,” Bach says. “That was, like, the last-case scenario. So I’m not in court, saying, ‘I wrote this note!’ I’m not gonna be in litigation when I’m 19, you know? So, [them saying] ‘We wrote all the songs’ is such a fucking pile of shit.”
I listened to both versions of these songs and I can whole heatedly say that Sebastian Bach is delusional. If you listen to the demo featuring original vocalist Matt Fallon, the “melody lines” were already laid down and solidified. With the exception of a few notes sung differently and ONE changed word in the entire song, it’s safe to say that Bach pretty much just came in, sung the song, and hit some high notes that Fallon didn’t do while he was the vocalist. You tell me what you think:
“The Atlantic Years 1989-1996” LP and CD box set arrives on December 3, 2021. Pre-order any of the multiple formats HERE.
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