FREE DOWNLOAD: SKID ROW: “18 & LIFE” — NEW VERSION FEAT. TONY HARNELL

By now you’ve probably heard the news — Skid Row have parted ways with vocalist Johnny Solinger after 14 years together and TNT frontman Tony Harnell is their new lead singer.  Personally, I liked the music they made with Johnny Solinger.  I wasn’t crazy about Revolutions Per Minute, but Thickskin was a very solid album that bridged the gap between alt rock and old school heavy metal and the two United World Rebellion EPs they released with him were great, too, a real return to Skid Row’s Slave to The Grind sound. That said, I’m very excited about Tony Harnell fronting the band.  He has one of the most powerful voices in heavy metal and can easily hit all the high notes from the Sebastian Bach years.  To prove it, the band has re-recorded one of their most popular songs, the classic “18 & Life” from their self-titled debut, with Tony on vocals and they’re giving it away for free on their website: http://www.skidrow.com/  And, wow, it’s amazing.  I’ve heard a lot of bands of this ilk re-record their hits for various reasons and most of them pale in comparison to the original recordings.  But I’d say this remake is just as good as the original, something I find myself surprised to be saying because the original is so near and dear to my heart, one of the songs I grew up with, being a teenager during heavy metal’s glory years.  Then again, I’ve always been a big fan of TNT and Tony’s amazing voice so it’s hardly a shocker.  Check it out for yourself and make up your own mind about it.  Just grab it soon because I don’t know how long they’ll be giving it away for. http://www.skidrow.com/

And if you’ve never heard TNT, you should seriously check them out.  The last few albums feature a different vocalist, Tony Mills, who I didn’t care for as much as Tony Harnell, so you’ll definitely want to dig back a little deeper and check out the brilliant Firefly or the killer All The Way to The Sun.  You should also check out Westworld, Tony Harnell’s side-project band, which has released three studio albums to date, my favorite of which is Skin.