Subhuman Race

In the three years between Skid Row's rarities compilation B-Sides Ourselves--four years if you're counting from their last real studio album, 1991's Slave to the Grind--and Subhuman Race, the world turned its attention away from hair metal and toward hip-hop, grunge, and a harder, faster, louder brand of thrash metal. Which is too bad, because Subhuman Race is the best album of the group's career, forgoing the pop-metal sheen of earlier hits such as "18 and Life" and "I Remember You" in favor of a tougher sound that matches the tenor of the times. Tracks such as "Bonehead," "Beat Yourself Blind," and the title track mix razor-sharp guitar lines, grinding rhythms, and Sebastian Bach's stinging shriek, keeping the emphasis squarely on the music, as opposed to Bach's once-misanthropic ways. --Daniel Durchholz