Albums Unleashed Skid Row Rachel Bolan Michael Wagener – Ep260

Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan and producer Michael Wagener join the guys this week for Albums Unleashed Skid Row. Recorded in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Skid Row was released January 24, 1989 on Atlantic Records. Thanks to strong response to singles such as ‘Youth Gone Wild,’ ’18 and Life,’ ‘Piece of Me,’ and the ballad ‘I Remember You,’ Skid Row would go on to sell over 5 million copies. This self-titled debut featured the talents of bassist Bolan, drummer Rob Affuso, singer Sebastian Bach, and the twin-guitar assault of Scotti Hill and Dave “The Snake” Sabo. In this nearly two hour discussion, Bolan discusses the early days of Skid Row, including a period pre-Bach that featured vocalist Matt Fallon. Fallon would unfortunately go down in infamy as someone that lost out on stardom not once but twice as he was jettisoned from jobs with Anthrax and Skid Row. Bolan also shares the circumstances that led to Bach‘s hiring at the young age of 19. Michael Wagener shares his memories of how he was brought on board to produce the album by A&R man Jason Flom and Skid Row manager Doc McGhee.

Albums Unleashed Skid Row decibel geek podcast — Albums Unleashed Skid Row

Skid Row’s beginnings were helped in part to Bon Jovi. Guitarist Sabo was childhood friends with Jon Bon Jovi and the friends had agreed to help each other out if one “made it” before the other. But Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora were not going to lend a hand until Skid Row was ready. In this long-form discussion, Bolan shares stories of rounds of songwriting between he and Sabo being critiqued by the two Bon Jovi leaders and scrutinized until they deemed the band ready.

Recording the album in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Skid Row and Wagener got down to business right away. In this discussion, Michael shares his memories of the production of ‘Skid Row’ and how the band, while certainly having a wild side, were all business when it came to their time in the studio. Rachel also remembers the hobbies that he took up to help pass the time in the Midwest during production.

Bolan and Wagener detail track by track the songwriting and production of each song on the album. It’s an in-depth look behind the scenes of one of the biggest hard rock debut albums of all-time. We hope you enjoy Albums Unleashed Skid Row with Rachel Bolan and Michael Wagener and SHARE with a friend!