SEBASTIAN BACH Shares April Fools' Day Post About 'Box Set' Reissue Of SKID ROW's 'Subhuman Race'

Ex-SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach has poked fun of his notoriously acrimonious relationship with his former bandmates by sharing an April Fools' Day post in which he claimed "all five members" of the classic SKID ROW lineup worked together with Atlantic Records to put together a "box set" version of their last album together, "Subhuman Race".

Released four years after its Billboard-chart-topping predecessor, "Slave To The Grind", 1995's "Subhuman Race" featured a more alternative metal style and was the last SKID ROW record to feature Bach and drummer Rob Affuso.

Although the album landed at No. 35 on the Billboard 200 chart, it failed to reach the popularity or garner the interest of the initial two records, mainly due to the drastically different musical landscape of the time.

On Saturday, Bach shared an Instagram post in which he wrote: "28 Years ago we released sUBHUMAN rACE our 3rd studio album. To commemorate this momentous occasion, our great friends at Atlantic Records have decided to release the first ever sUBHUMAN rACE Box Set! All five members of the band have come together to give fans the ultimate sUBHUMAN rACE experience — unreleased songs, live concert Blu-ray, posters tour programs all included & unseen till now! The Super Deluxe Box Set Edition includes 5.1 Surround Sound Remastered by Flip Wilson & a spoke from the front left tire of the sUBHUMAN bEINGS oN Tour Bus. Release info coming soon on SkidRow.con !"

During a June 2018 interview with "Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon", Bach said that while there are "some good tunes" on "Subhuman Race", the LP's poor sonic quality has made it virtually unlistenable.

"I read a totally hilarious Internet thread that put forth the proposition that 'Subhuman Race' was the first record to debut [producer] Bob Rock's horrible snare sound that ended up on [METALLICA's] 'St. Anger'," Sebastian laughed. "There's a whole fucking thread that says, 'Is this the origins of 'St. Anger'? 'Subhuman Race'.'

"I've gotta be honest with you, when I put that record on when I'm getting ready for my tour, I myself don't understand the production of that record.

"If you came to my living room and I put down… I'm not trying to sell anything here; I'm telling you the god's honest truth. If you came to my living room and we A/B'ed 'Subhuman Race' next to [my 2007 solo album] 'Angel Down', you'd hold your fucking head in your hands," he said. "['Angel Down'] sounds a million times better — everything about it: the drums, the guitars, the voice… There's not even a comparison.

"I don't know what Bob Rock and [engineer] Randy Staub were thinking, really. When I listen to the production of that record, it seems very odd to me."

Bach went on to say: "When we went up [to Vancouver] to work with Bob Rock, we were going up to work with him because of the [MÖTLEY CRÜE] song 'Dr. Feelgood'. To me, that production of the song 'Dr. Feelgood' is the most badass-sounding production. And we though we were gonna get that. But when we got to Vancouver to work with Bob Rock in '94, he was more into VERUCA SALT than MÖTLEY CRÜE. Metal was not cool. He was working with VERUCA SALT and all these bands, and we weren't really on the same page, production-wise. There are some good tunes on there.

"I find that that record is a very dated production sound," he added. "In the same way, probably, [METALLICA's] Lars Ulrich might think 'St. Anger' is dated to that time, I think 'Subhuman Race' might be our 'St. Anger'. [Laughs]

"It sounds like my stereo is broken when I rehearse to that," he said. "I'm, like, 'What the fuck is this?' It just sounds weird. I don't know what to tell you. And then I put on 'American Metalhead' [from 'Angel Down'], and I'm, like, 'Oh my God!' It's like night and day. Do it yourself. I'm not making it up. I mean, you fucking check it out. I'm not trying to sell anything; I'm just reporting the facts."

Bach is not the first member of SKID ROW to speak disparagingly about "Subhuman Race". In a 2006 interview with The Metal Exiles, bassist Rachel Bolan said working on the record "was a nightmare. Internally, the band had fallen apart but we were forced to go in and do another record and it was a nightmare with the recording, writing and producing," he said. "We worked with someone we had not worked with before after being so successful with [previous producer] Michael [Wagener], and we were used to the way he did things. I am not slighting Bob at all — he is a genius producer — but it was bad timing. I did not have the greatest time. It was nobody's fault; it was just the way things were. Also, the record absolutely sucks."

In 2019, Rhino celebrated the 30th anniversary of SKID ROW's multi-platinum debut with a digital deluxe edition that includes the original album remastered for the first time, expanded with the bonus track "Forever". The deluxe edition also featured a previously unreleased live performance from 1989, marking the first-ever release of a full live show from the band.

In a 2015 interview with Loudwire, Bach said that he wanted to "apologize to SKID ROW fans all over the world for one thing: SKID ROW does not acknowledge SKID ROW's legacy." He explained: "I go to Amoeba Records and I buy a 180-gram vinyl RUSH 'Fly By Night' and it is the greatest feeling. I am so excited that they put out these albums and I can go there and get a new copy with all the packaging and the stickers and the downloads. The RUSH 'Sector One' box set with the first album — I took it out and put the poster on the wall of our garage. It's so fun. SKID ROW fans do not get that opportunity. I would like to say it's out of my control.

"It makes me heartbroken that the first SKID ROW album came out 25 years ago and there is not a 180-gram vinyl addition with a poster and a… It makes me nuts. It makes me crazy, if you want to know the truth.

"I don't even have to be in the same room with those guys to do that shit. Why don't we embrace the legacy like every other band? All I mean by that is put out a DVD, put out a vinyl record, put out a box set."

Bach added: "I would like to apologize to my fans and SKID ROW fans. I'm sorry that you can't go enjoy what we made for you. It doesn't exist. There's not one DVD of our videos. You cannot go and buy a DVD of the '18 And Life' video — it doesn't exist. Why? I mean, why?

"It's a bummer being in a business with guys that commit breach of fiduciary duty on a daily basis. I'm still in a company with them. I'm still in the corporation. It's me and Snake [guitarist Dave Sabo] and Rachel. We're the three guys that are the corporation. Not the replacement singer. He's not part of it.

"We got offered a reunion show at [the] Sonisphere [festival in England], and I can tell you all the details because it never happened. We were offered $250,000 per show for two shows, a Friday and a Saturday night. We were going to get paid half a million dollars and Rachel didn't want to do it. If you're in a company with somebody and they are turning down your work, that's really a bummer.

"I'm not a big fan of breach of fiduciary duties. Why do you have to breach your fiduciary duties?"