Subhuman Race (stylized sUBHUMAN rACE) is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Skid Row, released on March 28, 1995, by Atlantic Records. This is the last Skid Row album with singer Sebastian Bach and drummer Rob Affuso, and the last one to be released on Atlantic. Despite receiving positive reviews, Subhuman Race was not as successful as the band's first two albums. Certain tracks from the album were remixed for the band's compilation 40 Seasons: The Best of Skid Row, given slightly cleaner mixes to fit better with the other tracks.
Overview
Released during the decline of hard rock and heavy metal, Subhuman Race marked a significant change in the band's sound, with Bob Rock replacing Michael Wagener as its producer, and resembling a mixture of heavy metal with grunge, alternative, punk rock, thrash metal and groove metal influences. It has also been noted as more of a dark album than previous works.
To promote Subhuman Race, Skid Row supported Van Halen in North America on their Balance tour. Following the album and tour, they released a live EP titled Subhuman Beings on Tour, featuring live performances from the Subhuman Race tour. The band has not played any songs from Subhuman Race since the album's tour in 1995–1996, though Bach has occasionally played them on his solo tours, including "Beat Yourself Blind", "Frozen", and the singles "My Enemy", "Into Another" and "Breakin' Down". "Beat Yourself Blind" was the only song from this album to be performed live since Bach's departure, until ZP Theart performed "Medicine Jar" in 2018, while "Remains to Be Seen" has never been played live once. being a significant drop off from Slave to the Grind<nowiki/>'s #1 debut. By July 1999, Subhuman Race has sold 165,424 copies, falling significantly behind their previous records.
Critical reception
Subhuman Race received mixed to mostly positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that it saw the band "strip back their music to the basics" and was their "strongest and most vicious record to date." In a June 2018 interview on the "Rock Talk with Mitch Lafon" podcast, vocalist Sebastian Bach indicated that, despite featuring "some good tunes", the "very dated production sound" of Subhuman Race has made it an unlistenable album: "In the same way, probably, Lars Ulrich might think St. Anger is dated to that time, I think Subhuman Race might be our St. Anger."
Track listing
<small>† The song "Iron Will" ends at 4:45 followed by 2:15 of silence before a hidden track plays.</small>
Personnel
Personnel per liner notes.
Skid Row
- Sebastian Bach – vocals
- Scotti Hill – guitar, backing vocals
- Dave Sabo – guitar, backing vocals
- Rachel Bolan – bass, backing vocals
- Rob Affuso – drums, percussion
Production
- Bob Rock – producer
- Randy Staub – engineer, mixing at The Warehouse Studio, Vancouver, Canada
- Brian Dobbs, Darrin Grahn – assistant engineers
- George Marino – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York City
Charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
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! scope="col"| Chart (1995)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
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! scope="row"| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)
| align="center"| 15
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!scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)
| align="center"| 36
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! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| 6
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