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Wednesday, October 3, 2007

The last hurrah for hair metal

Ah, Skid Row and their second album, Slave to the Grind (yes, I own it,) debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts in the summer of 1991. Good times, good times.

Rachel Bolan, the bassist, and Dave "The Snake" Sabo, the guitarist, wrote most of the songs, including this one, Monkey Business. Sebastian Bach is the singer with a powerful set of rock and roll pipes.

Not only does this song have a relentless driving rhythm, it has some of the best lyrics ever found in a hair/pop metal tune. It's tough to pick out a single line, because, like the beat, the words just keep rolling along in a rapid staccato attack.

Here's a sample:

"Little creepy's playing dollies in the New York rain, thinkin' Bowie's just a knife, oh the pain" which leads right into "I ain't seen the sun since I don't know when, the freaks come out at nine and it's twenty to ten." A little dark humor keeps it all from being totally morose.

And that's just the way I like it.

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