Skid+row

Skid Row were one of the very last hair metal bands to hit the mainstream before grunge took over in the early '90s. While the band's self-titled debut employed standard pop-metal riffs and generic lyrics (albeit to great commercial success), 1991's Slave to the Grind and 1995's Subhuman Race broke away from the pop-metal mold with uncharacteristically hard, thrashy guitars and unique songwriting techniques…

Not to be confused with the platinum-selling glam metal miscreants active in the late 1980s, the original Skid Row blazed a much overlooked trail some 20 years prior, as one of Ireland's earliest contributors to the hard rock field. Skid Row began to coalesce in Dublin, Ireland in October 1967, around vocalist Philip Lynott, bassist Brendan "Brush" Shiels, drummer Noel Bridgeman, and guitarist Bernard Cheevers, who would be replaced the following January by a 16-year-old prodigy hailing from Belfast, north of the border, named Gary Moore. The quartet threw itself into playing pubs and working men's clubs so as to develop their chops and repertoire, eventually recording a 1969 single for Irish label Songs Records entitled "New Places, Old Faces".

Skid Row was a Dublin based blues-rock band of the late 1960s and early 1970s, fronted by Brendan "Brush" Shiels. It was guitarist Gary Moore's first professional band. Not to be confused with the platinum-selling glam metal miscreants active in the late 1980s, the original Skid Row blazed a much overlooked trail some 20 years prior, as one of Ireland's earliest contributors to the hard rock field.

Not to be confused with the platinum-selling glam metal miscreants active in the late 1980s, the original Skid Row blazed a much overlooked trail some 20 years prior, as one of Ireland's earliest contributors to the hard rock field. Skid Row began to coalesce in Dublin, Ireland in October 1967, around vocalist Philip Lynott, bassist Brendan "Brush" Shiels, drummer Noel Bridgeman, and guitarist Bernard Cheevers, who would be replaced the following January by a 16-year-old prodigy hailing from Belfast, north of the border, named Gary Moore. The quartet threw itself into playing pubs and working men's clubs so as to develop their chops and repertoire, eventually recording a 1969 single for Irish label Songs Records entitled "New Places, Old Faces."

Skid Row are out to reclaim their turf as kings of hard rock and proclaim, “The Gang’s All Here”! “The Gang’s All Here” is an oath to joy triumphant, bursting with euphoric energy that makes us hunger for more. It is the logical next-generation leap of the band’s trademark sound which stomps out new ground with singer Erik Grönwall (formerly of H.E.A.T, one of the best frontmen of this or any hard rock era) joining the family. Produced by Grammy Award Winning producer Nick Raskulinecz, a world-renowned producer (Foo Fighters, Rush, Alice In Chains, Halestorm, Evanescence) and long-time fan, Skid Row are ablaze. They are re-energized, picking up exactly where they left us wanting more, kicking their sound way up to modern hard rock royalty.

With both sides of their very obscure two non-LP, pre-first-LP 1969 singles (originally issued on the small Dublin label Song), as well as three tracks from a 1971 BBC session, this CD rounds up the most interesting Skid Row recordings not to appear on their albums. That doesn't mean, however, that these tracks are too impressive in their own right. The first of the singles, "New Places, Old Faces"/"Misdemeanour Dream Felicity," are primarily of interest for being the first official release to feature future Thin Lizzy mainstay Phil Lynott (who sings on the A-side, Gary Moore taking the lead on the flip).

Skid Row are out to reclaim their turf as kings of hard rock and proclaim, “The Gang’s All Here”! “The Gang’s All Here” is an oath to joy triumphant, bursting with euphoric energy that makes us hunger for more. It is the logical next-generation leap of the band’s trademark sound which stomps out new ground with singer Erik Grönwall (formerly of H.E.A.T, one of the best frontmen of this or any hard rock era) joining the family. Produced by Grammy Award Winning producer Nick Raskulinecz, a world-renowned producer (Foo Fighters, Rush, Alice In Chains, Halestorm, Evanescence) and long-time fan, Skid Row are ablaze. They are re-energized, picking up exactly where they left us wanting more, kicking their sound way up to modern hard rock royalty.