Twilight Of The Idols: 'Monkey' Edition
Today's post is from our friend HIM.
I’ve been gloating a lot lately about my none-too-amazing prognostications of years past (see 2015 and 2016). I also haven’t been contributing that much (I’ve hinted at the reasons why and will leave it at that). So I decided to meet myself halfway and do a bit of both. I am kind, to myself, that way.
We all know the story: we are losing the bands and musicians we love. Tours are becoming odder, combining bands in ways that often defy logic. Festivals are becoming weaker, with a few bloated goats at the top and a whole lot of ‘huh’ bands filling out the middle and bottom. When it comes to metal and glam, we can put all the faith we want in the new guns. But, and let’s be honest here, the bands we really love are going extinct. That’s just the nature of life.
Case in partial point: Skid Row. The classic line-up is still alive and sorta’ kicking. They just don’t see eye-to-eye. On one side stands Bach, a megalomaniac of diminished range but also infinite appeal (at least for some). On the other side stand people like Sabo and Bolan and, to a lesser extent, Hill. They have diminished appeal but also a ‘we don’t care’ approach to the whole reunion idea. They go through singers like underwear. Bach goes through tirades about them like underwear. And they all go through rounds and rounds of releases that are less and less interesting, playing in places that are less and less crowded. Bach scores some points for being a bit more in the spotlight. But those points aren’t exactly doing him any favors.
And so we arrive at this: the 30th Anniversary release of Skid Row. A classic of the era. Should be a celebration, right? Nope. It is a Rhino Records digital release (meaning: it exists in the ether like bits and bytes of this and that) with only an already released bonus track and a live concert performance already available on YouTube and other sites. Not too amazing. Then again, no one in the band (currently) or Bach likely had anything to do with this. This is stuff other people own. But imagine what it could have been. What stuff must be out there, even if Bach did suffer the loss of a lot of memorabilia in the flood a few years ago? What sort of tour would have been mounted if all the major players could get in the head space necessary to please the fans?
That said, what we do have is proof that they mattered, 30 years ago:
Skid Row - Monkey Business (Live On SNL) from Jaehyung Lycanus Sim on Vimeo.
Simply put, that stuff is amazing! Yes, Bach seems to be a bit too amazed by his own stage presence. Then again, wouldn’t you be if you were Bach back then? Watch how he moves and drops and swings and bangs his head. And the band is tight. Really tight. That is something we will never, ever, see again. No matter what. Even if they all decided to play nice and get back together. It . . . won’t . . . be . . . the . . . same. Ever.
This is a long post with a short, if bittersweet, payoff. Many of you just watched what you wanted to see. None of you will ever see that again. Unless you push repeat.
Yes, there are new bands carrying the torch. Yes, there are other genres and sub-genres. But, no, what all of us really dig is dying. And it won’t get better. It will just get different. Reason being, we are all trapped in amber. And, as I said in a recent post, the bill always comes due. So play what you can while you can, because we will all pay when we must.
We are lucky to Bring Back Glam! But we can’t go back. Skid Row is dead. Long live Skid Row!!!