Thickskin is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Skid Row, and first to feature Sebastian Bach replacement Johnny Solinger and only to feature former Saigon Kick drummer Phil Varone. The album alienated most Skid Row fans due to the absence of Bach. The album charted at number 46 on the Top Independent albums chart.[1]
"Ghost" was released as a single with a music video filmed in Miami, Florida. A video was also made for the second single "New Generation", "Thick is the Skin" (promo single) and "One Light", all of which were featured on the DVD Under the Skin (The Making of Thickskin). "I Remember You Two" is a remake of the single "I Remember You" in a punk rock-influenced fashion. The song "Born a Beggar" was written with Sean McCabe when Skid Row was briefly going under the moniker Ozone Monday.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Melodic.net |  [3] |
| Rock Hard | 8.5/10[4] |
Daniel Böhm in his review for the German Rock Hard magazine was very happy of Skid Row's return and wrote that "Thickskin is modern, dripping US Rock'n'Roll with good taste and 100% street credibility", where are exalted "the most uncompromising corners of the last two Skids albums", which old fans may find hard to digest.[4] AllMusic Alex Henderson found Thickskin "surprisingly good" and appreciated the fact that Skid Row revamped their music, combining the "melodic yet hard-driving effort" of their previous albums with a "sort of post-grunge sound one would expect from the Foo Fighters, Silverchair, Creed, or Default". He also predicted that "diehard Bach loyalists" would "inevitably insist that an alterna-rock version of Skid Row isn't really Skid Row."[2] Melodic.net reviewer is one of them, who would "rather play Slave to the Grind again before hearing this one more time." He found that only a couple of tracks retain the flavour of the old band and wrote that, even though the songs are in general decent and the music sounds modern, Thickskin is not a "classic".[3]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "New Generation" | Rachel Bolan, Dave Sabo | 3:18 |
| 2. | "Ghost" | Bolan, Sabo, Damon Johnson | 3:54 |
| 3. | "Swallow Me (The Real You)" | Bolan, Sabo | 3:38 |
| 4. | "Born a Beggar" | Bolan, Sabo, Scotti Hill, Sean McCabe | 4:28 |
| 5. | "Thick Is the Skin" | Bolan, Sabo | 3:48 |
| 6. | "See You Around" | Bolan, Sabo, Johnson | 4:19 |
| 7. | "Mouth of Voodoo" | Bolan, Sabo, Johnny Solinger | 4:26 |
| 8. | "One Light" | Bolan, Sabo | 4:07 |
| 9. | "I Remember You Two" | Bolan, Sabo | 3:20 |
| 10. | "Lamb" | Bolan, Sabo | 3:41 |
| 11. | "Down from Underground" | Bolan, Sabo, Johnson | 4:35 |
| 12. | "Hittin' a Wall" | Bolan, Sabo, Hill | 3:06 |
Under the Skin (The Making of Thickskin) DVD
"Under the Skin" was released August 12, 2003, and features a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Thickskin. Set in a documentary style, the DVD also includes a photo gallery, interviews, music videos and live performances.
DVD track listing
- "New Generation"
- "Beat Yourself Blind"
- "Lamb"
- "Mouth of Voodoo"
- "Thick Is the Skin"
- "One Light"
- "I Remember You Two"
- "Ghost"
- "Quicksand Jesus"
- "Piece of Me"
- "See You Around"
Personnel
- Skid Row
- Johnny Solinger – lead vocals
- Scotti Hill – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Dave "The Snake" Sabo – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Rachel Bolan – bass, backing vocals
- Phil Varone – drums
- Production
- Steven Haigler – producer with Skid Row on tracks 4-7, 10 and 12, engineer
- Joseph De Maio – engineer, mixing
- Leon Zervos – mastering at Masterdisk, New York
References
- ^ "Skid Row Album & Song Chart History: Independent Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
- ^ a b Henderson, Alex. Thickskin at AllMusic. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
- ^ a b Roth, Kaj (2003). "Skid Row - Thickskin". Melodic.net. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
- ^ a b Böhm, Daniel (2003). "Review Album: Skid Row- Thickskin". Rock Hard (in German). No. 196. Retrieved July 20, 2018.