小简介
Skid Row 虽是一支偶像味极浓的 Pop Metal 乐队，但是与其他同类的乐队相比，他们音乐显得暴戾了许多。除此以外，乐队还能写出像“18 And Life”、 “Wasted Time”之类其他同行写不出震撼的优秀作品，当然也不乏像“I Remember You”这样优美的情歌。特别值得一提的是主唱 Sebastian Bach 极端的高音，缓时有如静水清澈见底，噪时有如浊浪咆哮翻腾。
Skid Row 与 Bon Jovi 是老乡，都是来自新泽西。 1986 年，吉他手Dave Sabo 和贝司手 Rachel Bolan 组成了乐队的雏形，此时的 Skid Row 可谓毫无名气可言。在 Bolan 的推荐下，Scotti Hill 加入进来，成为乐队的第二
吉他手。一次偶然的机会，乐队结识了鼓手 Rob Affuso，Affuso 迫切的想加入乐队，并且成为 Skid Row 的一员。最后是歌手 Sebastian Bach，他在听了乐队的一首小样后，决心加入。 Bach 人如其歌，十分狂野，常常在演唱会进行高潮处从舞台上扑向台下观众，曾经就有过歌迷向法院起诉他从太上跃下将其压伤的案例。乐队后来取得的巨大成功，很大程度上归功于 Bach 极其出色的演唱。
乐队成立初期只是为一些知名的摇滚乐队暖场，但他们的声望与实力都已壮大，有时侯甚至他们为其他乐队暖场结束后，真正唱主角的乐队上场后，台下的观众还在大喊“Skid Row，Skid Row…”。一切时机成熟后，Skid Row 在重金属最红火的 1989 年推出了首张传统流行重金属风格同名专辑，在专辑中有一首描写青少年犯罪问题的“18 And Lives”非常经典，是乐队的代表作。专辑一炮打响，仅在美国的销量便超过 500 万张。而在此后的巡演中，他们夸张的台风、谈吐使得他们成为新一代的摇滚偶像。
乐队在 1991 年推出了第 2 张专辑《Slave To The Grind》，让每一个人都大吃一惊，乐队竟然成功的驾驭了 Trash Metal 这种难度极大的音乐风格。一首又一首真正的劲歌让人听的浑身冒火，Bach 逼近极限高音发挥的可谓淋漓尽致，使这支年轻的乐队显得非常老练。虽然专辑的商业味并不浓，但还是迅雷不及掩耳的登上了 Billboard 专辑榜的榜首，但专辑的最终销量不及上张同名专辑。不过,《Slave To The Grind》的成功也给乐队带来了巨大的压力。1992 年，乐队推出一张 B 面歌曲 EP 专辑《B-Sides Ourselves》，在随后的巡演过后，乐队一度消失达两年之久，为的是新专辑的录制。
1995 年，Skid Row 出版第 3 张专辑《Subhuman Race》，专辑的制作人为著名的 Bob Rock。与前两张专辑不同的是，Bach 开始用一种非常沙哑、压抑的嗓音来演绎歌曲，同时还要把这种感觉以最极限的高音喧泄出来。乐队将一堆又一堆的噪音强行加在你的头上，显得非常非常的颓废、沉重，乐队原先的偶像味早已荡然无存。《Subhuman Race》是一张高水准的作品，使乐队走出了传统重金属风格的圈子。但 1994 年以后的摇滚乐坛已不再适合于重金属音乐的发展，喜新厌旧的人们已将注意力转移到一堆堆不知从哪里冒出来的另类上去了，专辑的销量明显低与前两张。
此后的 Skid Row 矛盾四起，主唱 Bach 与其他成员矛盾加剧，最终离开乐队，也有说是其他四人把他排挤出乐队的。 Bach 虽说是乐队的核心人物，但他音乐创作能力显然不及他的演唱能力，乐队音乐风格牢牢得由 Dave Sabo和
Rachel Bolan 掌握着，而且乐队的作品绝大多数都是有乐队的其他四位成员所写。很多时候 Bach 让人觉得只是一个演唱机器，这可能是他离开乐队的一个原因。但一支优秀的乐队就此夭折真的让人感到很可惜。
1998 年，Atlantic 公司为 Skid Row 象征性的推出了一张名为《Forty Seasons: The Best Of Skid Row》的精选专辑，也算是对当年重金属的一种怀念吧，毕竟已经十年过去了。当然大家都没闲着，Bach 在 1999 年推出个人专
辑《Bring 'Em Bach Alive》，他在日本东京的一次成功的演唱会的真实记录，里面大多是他在 Skid Row 时期的歌曲。乐队其他成员找来了新主唱 Shawn McCabe，改名为 Qzone Monday，不过 Qzone Monday 最终因为经营不善而解散，Shawn McCabe 和 Rob Affuso 都离开了乐队。
2000 年，Skid Row 宣布重组，乐队加入了两位新成员——鼓手 CharlieMills 和主唱 Johnny Solinger.
Skid Row was one of the last hair metal bands to hit the mainstream before grunge took over in the early '90s; they were also arguably the last of such bands to exhibit much originality. While the band's 1989 self-titled release 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 while still relying on varying '80s metal formulas. Though personal differences and changing trends would eventually tear the core lineup apart by 1996, Skid Row showed a tremendous amount of promise during their short time in the spotlight.
Based in New Jersey, Skid Row was formed in 1986 by bassist Rachel Bolan and former Bon Jovi guitarist Dave "The Snake" Sabo. The pair added guitarist Scott Hill, drummer Rob Affuso, and a larger-than-life vocalist named Sebastian Bach to the lineup by early 1987, and the band spent the next year and a half playing a series of local clubs in the eastern U.S. Having remained in contact with Jon Bon Jovi, Sabo convinced the established rock star to land Skid Row a record deal with Mercury Records. In 1989, the band released their first album, Skid Row, which went multi-platinum on the strength of the Top 40 singles "18 and Life" and "I Remember You." Success was not without backlash, however — the band had naïvely signed away much of their royalties, and Sebastian Bach's wild, often childlike behavior landed the group in additional trouble. During the subsequent tour, Bach garnered harsh criticism for a T-shirt he publicly sported displaying the message "AIDS KILLS FAGS DEAD." Suits were also filed against Bach after a concert during the supporting tour, where the singer allegedly threw a glass bottle into the crowd, injuring a young female fan.
Nonetheless, Skid Row's muscular songcraft retained a devoted audience. 1991's Slave to the Grind debuted at number one on the Billboard chart, an unprecedented accomplishment for a metal band. While the album did not chart any real radio hits, Grind received stronger critical praise and eventually reached platinum status. However, like so many of their peers, Skid Row lost much of their fan base during the grunge invasion of the '90s. As Nirvana stormed the scene in 1992, Skid Row took a hiatus, waiting out the grunge period and pondering breakups (ironically, Nirvana had once gone under the name Skid Row in the '80s). Skid Row returned in 1995 with Subhuman Race, which surprisingly charted in the Top 40 but otherwise did not attract any real attention.
During the supporting tour, tensions between the group members ran high and Skid Row disbanded shortly afterward. Bach went on to form the Last Hard Men with Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, but the group broke up after recording a cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out" for the Scream soundtrack in 1996. Plans to record new songs for the Skid Row greatest-hits album, 1998's Forty Seasons, fell through, as Bach went on to form a solo project and portray the title role in the Broadway musical Jeckyll and Hyde. In mid-2000, Skid Row re-formed with new singer Johnny Solinger and toured as the opening band for Kiss' farewell tour. They released Thickskin with Solinger in 2003, followed by Revolutions Per Minute in 2006. Meanwhile, Sebastian Bach enjoyed a surge in popularity when he appeared in a VH1 reality show opposite Ted Nugent and Scott Ian.
