Skid Row - Matt Fallon demos (1986)

Country: USA
Year: 1986
Line-up: Matt Fallon (vocals), Dave "the Snake" Sabo (guitars), Scotti Hill (guitars), Rachel Bolan (bass), Rob Affuso (drums)

Track Listing:

1.	Midnite/Tornado
2.	Forever
3.	18 & Life
4.	Youth Gone Wild
5.	Rattlesnake Shake
6.	Rescue You
7.	Walk With a Stranger

Fletchanator's comment: Following on from yesterday's posting of the Reckless Youth CD, here is another piece of Skid Row history - the demos recorded with original singer Matt Fallon. He was of course replaced by 18-year-old Sebastian Bach and the rest is history.
It's definitely interesting to hear some of the band's biggest hits (18 & Life, Youth Gone Wild) how they originally sounded. Fallon doesn't have the pipes that Seb does, but that doesn't mean he's a bad singer. His voice is okay, it's just hard to compare him with one of the most talented hard rock singers of all time.
What is apparent from listening to these demos is that the songs that ended up on the self-titled debut album three years later were already written three years earlier and didn't change much except for inserting Bach's voice. I think this debunks the "Sebastian Bach WAS Skid Row" argument, because the songwriting was great before he joined the band. Sure, his voice elevated the band to dizzy heights, but credit needs to go to Bolan and Sabo for their kickass songs.
As for Fallon (who had briefly fronted Anthrax in 1984), after Skid Row he toiled away in relative obscurity, playing in a number of New Jersey bands (including Fallon) but never reached stardom.

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Skid Row and Sebastian Bach demos - Reckless Youth (2005)

 Country: USA, Canada
Year: 2005 (CD released), 1985-2000 (material recorded)
Line-up: Various

Track Listing:
CD1 - Skid Row demos 1988-89

1.   Makin' a Mess 2.   Midnight/Tornado ver 1  3.   Walk with a Stranger  4.   In it to Win  5.   Knock Knock  6.   Shame Shame 7.   Can't Stand the Heartache 8.   Love Comes Down  9.   Rattlesnake Shake ver 1 10.   Edge of the Night

11.

Can't Wait 'til it's Here

12.	Midnight/Tornado ver 2

13.

18 & Life

14.	Rattle Snake Shake ver 2

15.	Shine in the Night

16.	Dirty World

17.	Waiting for Me

18.

Piece of Me

CD2 - Other demos

1.	Kid Wikkid - Take a Look at Me
2.	Kid Wikkid - Money in a Hurry
3.	Madam X - High in High School
4.	Madam X - We're Gonna Have
5.	Madam X - She's Hot Tonight
6.	Madam X - Dirty Girls
7.	Madam X - Heavy Metal in my Veins
8.	Madam X - We Reserve the Right
9.	Madam X - Good with Figures
10.	Madam X - Cat Got Your Tongue

11.	Madam X - We Want Rock

12.	Madam X - Stand Up and Fight

13.	Skid Row - Thick is the Skin (Johnny Solinger on vocals)

10.	Skid Row - Youth Gone Wild (Johnny Solinger on vocals)

Requested by: Jani

Fletchanator's comment: This double CD was released in 2005 by Metal Sword Records and gathers together a whole bunch of demos from the career of Skid Row and their one-time enigmatic frontman Sebastian Bach. Because there are demos the quality ranges between "close to the finished product" and "barely listenable".
CD1 is the demos Bach and Skid Row recorded for their first album in 1988 and 1989. A bunch of the songs didn't make the cut, while some of the familiar tracks from the self-titled album are there - 18 & Life, Piece of Me, Midnight/Tornado, Makin' a Mess etc. This CD is the stronger of the two, giving an insight into the very early days of Skid Row, before they became superstars.
CD2 is a mishmash of demos from Bach's pre-Skid Row bands (plus a couple of post-Bach demos thrown on at the end for some reason). The Kid Wikkid songs are pretty good, showing that even as a teenager Seb had great pipes. The Madam X songs are also good, but I have to point out that I'm not convinced that's Bach singing on these demos. The CD says they are 1986 demos, and Brett Kaiser had left Madam X by the end of 1985, but it doesn't sound like Bach. Let me know what you think in the comments.
Overall this CD is made for Skid Row/Sebastian Bach fans. If you count yourself in that group, you'll enjoy it. If you could take or leave them, this won't change your mind. They're rough demos afterall.

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