RACHEL BOLAN : " think the next record, as far as what Snake and I are writing, is going back to what people would expect from Skid Row"

Twenty-five years is a long time to do anything. But when it comes to heading a rock metal band, a quarter-century is a lifetime. For Rachel Bolan, the bassist who founded Skid Row in a New Jersey garage in 1986, the only thing that keeps him going is the music and the chance to rock a live stage.

”It's a love of music first and foremost -- creating and playing and just going out there and doing it,” Bolan said in a phone interview last week from his Atlanta home. “Every night we go on stage, I sit there and go, 'Wow. I'm a lucky, lucky guy'.”

Coming of age in the late 1980s and early 1990s -- a time when metal was king and bands like Guns N' Roses and Metallica ruled -- Skid Row rode the fast track to stardom. The band's self-titled first album sold more than 5 million copies in the United States and, by 1996, the band's first two releases had combined to sell more than 20 million albums worldwide.

In the years since the band's inception, Bolan and Skid Row have toured the world several times over, played packed stadiums and even rocked a couple of music festival cruises. But the band has never made its way to Humboldt County. That's about to change. Skid Row soldiered on, riding the success of their debut album -- headlined by singles “18 and Life,” “I Remember You” and “Youth Gone Wild,” -- to release “Slave to the Grind” in 1991, which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard music charts and would go double platinum fueled by the pulsing, raging single “Monkey Business.”

After following their own paths for a few years, the band reformed in 1999, bringing on vocalist Johnny Solinger to replace the high-maintenance Bach and, ironically, celebrated the reunion by going on tour opening for KISS on the band's farewell tour. In 2003, the band released “Thickskin,” which elated fans but met little critical acclaim. In 2006, the band rejoined forces with Wagener, who had produced their exceedingly successful first albums, and hit the studio. But, this time, the band parted ways with its past and with the general rock-album formula that requires a healthy dose of ballads sprinkled between pulsing, distortion-heavy tracks and speed metal.

In the last couple of months, Bolan said he and guitarist Dave “the Snake” Sabo have been writing some music and gearing up to hit the studio again for the band's sixth album. ”I think the next record, as far as what Snake and I are writing, is going back to what people would expect from Skid Row,” Bolan said. “We're looking forward to it.”

http://www.times-standard.com/entertainment/ci_17509177