There are at least two good reasons why this baby torpedoed straight to Number One. First, the world is full of heavy-metal kids who think adolescence is a shit sandwich, and Slave to the Grind, Skid Row's sophomore shriekout, features the Skidders bitching loud and long on their behalf. Second, when Slave first hit the streets, those kids were still waiting for the new Guns n' Roses album, and...

Among discredited styles, late-'80s haircut metal is at the top of the heap. Consequently, Skid Row are about the last place you would look for the salvation of rock. They may have sold 10 million records worldwide, but in even mildly progressive circles the group is thought to be more or less synonymous with the sexist dinosaur Nirvana was supposed to have killed off for good.

Yet with Subhuman...