Skid Row bassist and primary songwriter Rachel Bolan remembered the band’s sophomore studio album, 1991’s “Slave to the Grind,” telling Eon Music on the record’s significantly heavier sound compared to the group’s 1989 self-titled debut:
“It was a natural progression. I don’t know how it happened, but it just did.
“You have your whole life to write your first record, and when we started writing for ‘Slave,’ it was just heavier riffs, and we went for heavier guitar tones and stuff like that.
“So I think all that combined, and when Snake [Sabo, guitar] had that intro for ‘Slave,’ I was like; that’s going to be huge [sounding]! Then we went on to record it, and I was like; ‘Wow, this is a lot different than ‘I Remember You.’
“But it all seemed to fit. We lost a lot of our female contingent as fans but we gained a lot of dudes, and then when we brought Pantera out with us to open [on the US leg of the ‘Slave to the Grind’ tour], everything just kind of matched up.”
The next album, 1995’s “Subhuman Race,” was a very divisive one, and marked the group’s final effort with Sebastian Bach on vocals. Rachel said:
“Well, everything was internally horrible with the band. We were putting songs together just to put songs together, just to meet obligations.
“Bands like us were essentially put out of business by grunge, but that’s the nature of the business, the nature of the beast. So, it happened, and we put that record out.
“Is it one of my favorite records? No. I don’t like the way it came out. The songs were changed so much that for me, it kind of lost the essence.
“It wasn’t the best recording experience that I’ve had, just from a producer standpoint, and just internal sh*t with the band standpoint. It’s not a great memory.”
What would you say are the better songs on the album?
“I listen to those songs, and every now and then we’ll pull one out and do it. I like them, I’m proud of them, it’s just that, you know, sometimes you just have an experience that you don’t look back on fondly.
“I like ‘Medicine Jar,’ it’s one of my favorites. ‘Beat Yourself Blind,’ I think that’s a cool one, ‘My Enemy’ and probably ‘Into Another.'”