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Skid Row have come a long way since the days of "Youth Gone Wild" and "Monkey Business." After two classic 80s rock releases—Skid Row and Slave To The Grind—Skid Row struggled to match the greatness of those two albums with their third full-length album, Subhuman Race. An increasingly volatile relationship between vocalist Sebastian Bach and the rest of the band effectively sent Skid Row to an early grave. However, the band did not stay dead. In 2003 the band released their fourth album, Thickskin; this time featuring the very capable and new lead singer Johnny Solinger. While more modern rock (reference 3 Doors Down, Seether, et al.) than 80s rock, Thickskin was a decent effort. The album featured some very good songs, especially "Ghost", which could have been a top 40 hit—for any band not named Skid Row. And that's the problem. Skid Row is yet another band not willing to let go of a name that is far too synonymous with what they're clearly not anymore, and never will be again. Very few bands can make that generational leap, and the name "Skid Row" will likely always have that "washed up 80s rock band" stigma. Regardless, for the open-minded, Thickskin is a fairly solid release. And now we have the follow-up, Revolutions Per Minute.
While Thickskin had some oddball tracks—like the horrendous updated punk cover of the classic "I Remember You" (titled "I Remember You Two")—Revolutions Per Minute plays like a compilation album. This time out the band seems to have just gone into the studio and recorded whatever came to mind—while drunk. Revolutions Per Minute jumps from modern rock to punk to—puke—country rockabilly nonsense. "Disease" starts thing off, and it's a solid modern rock tune with a slight punk vibe and a nice hook. The sleazy rock anthem "Another Dick In The System" follows, and again it's a very good song. The walls crumble right after. "Pulling My Heart Out From Under Me" is a quasi-acoustic pop rock song, while "When God Can't Wait" is trying way too hard to be Dropkick Murphy's (and would be a respectable song coming from that band). "White Trash" makes Sum 41 seem mature. And the hoedown starts sharply at track 8; "You Lie" is a twangtastic, country rockabilly turdfest—a song we're subjected to twice, this version and the virtually identical Corn Fed Mix bonus track. The one other song worth mentioning is "Strength," an excellent modern rock take on the hit song by The Alarm. The rest of the songs bounce back and forth between styles; making for a seriously uneven, confusing, and difficult listen.
If Skid Row decided to record a stylistically consistent album, they'd do well in either style presented on this album—if they pandered it to the right fans. Unfortunately Skid Row has rock fans, and rock fans want rocks songs, not country, or rockabilly, or punk songs. Somewhere on Revolutions Per Minute there's a great modern rock EP. Getting to it, though, is simply far too much of a chore.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Disease |
| 2. Another Dick In The System |
| 3. Pulling My Heart Out From Under Me |
| 4. When God Can't Wait |
| 5. Shut Up Baby, I Love You |
| 6. Strength |
| 7. White Trash |
| 8. You Lie |
| 9. Nothing |
| 10. Love Is Dead |
| 11. Let It Ride |
| 12. You Lie (Corn Fed Mix) |
: 40.28
| Buy other Skid Row albums |
