Skin weren’t around for too long in the 1990s though what a band they were.
Thunderous “proper” hard rock songs with a bluesy edge to them built around the lung-busting voice of Neville MacDonald and the guitar histrionics of Myke Gray.
There’s a NWOBHM connection as MacDonald was formerly with the excellent Kooga, bassist Andy Robbins formerly of Tokyo Blade, drummer Dicki Fliszar formerly with Bruce Dickinson’s touring band. Myke Gray was formerly with Jagged Edge.
Bad Reputation Records have done a fine job in putting together this triple-CD package together consisting of the band’s eponymous debut album beefed up with three live cuts from Skin’s performance at the 1994 Monsters of Rock at Donnington, a CD of 14 assorted bonus tracks and a CD of 15 live cuts capturing the band on top form. They must have been some live act.
The debut album is a monster. It made the UK top ten album charts. Eleven strong hard rockers with, in particular, MacDonald and Gray up to eleven and beyond. It starts with the mighty Money – itself a top 20 UK single as was House of Love.
Both irresistibly powerful and energetic hard rockers. MacDonald out-Coverdales Coverdale. Myke Gray effortlessly peels off the big muscular riffs and spectacular shredding backed up by a thudding backbeat from Robbins and Fliszar. A third single from the album – Tower of Strength – does the business also.
The rest of the album certainly has no slouching going on. For example Look But Don’t Touch has a huge singalong chorus (shown to full effect in the bonus live bonus track from that Castle Donnington), Raised on Radio has a nice edgy/jaunty/economical riff and Wings of an Angel wanders in to brooding power-ballad territory with some tasty brooding fretwork from Myke Gray.
No wonder the album sold as well as it did. Have a listen to Money and how good it is:
The other CDs in this package are more than worth their place – particularly the live performances. The energy is remarkable. It’s all out. They save nothing for themselves.
With support slots for the likes of Little Angels and Thunder, that Monsters of Rock performance and even on the bill with Bon Jovi at Gateshead allied with a hit single and killer debut album surely Skin were going straight to the big time………or were they…..
For whatever reason they didn’t last too long back then which is a huge shame.
Enjoy that debut album and all the bonus and live tracks now in this excellent triple-CD package.
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