Skid Row

Bio plays up their anti-"formula" "bad-itude," leaving open the question of whether any of these double-platinum Jerseyoid bar boys has recorded professionally before. Sounds like someone knows the formula: metal guitar plus amped-to-10 frontman times pop structure equals East Coast G N' R. Class animus is their excuse, the 9-to-5 dead end rejected for salvation by sleaze. Female characters include three hookers, a junkie, a classy bitch, a shotgun bride, a cheater who catches the back of her man's hand and the next train to Kalamazoo, and a crybaby craving "more, more, more." And at least they're characters rather than objects--by the standards of the subgenre, this is not an offensively sexist band. Sheesh. (Grade: C+)