this one

are we not men?

Subhuman Race (Atlantic Records)

Skid Row

By Kory Wilcoxson

When I started hating Skid Row, I had a good reason. They were easily lumped into the lame group of pretty metal rockers like Cinderella, Great White and Poison. You could hate them all as a group without having to list individual reasons for each band.

But now that their big hair and Spandex fraternity has been dissolved, I have to come up with more justifiable reasons to not like Skid Row.

Subhuman Race makes my task fairly easy. Not a lot has changed for the band, and what changes have taken place are predictable ones. The band has taken on a more alternative sound, adding substance to their previously transparent rock.

It did not help much. The songwriting is still lame, and Sebastian Bach can't do much with the lyrics. Skid Row's efforts to go from pretty boys to Pearl Jam has left them hovering somewhere in the middle, and it is not a pretty sight.