In a recent solo concert at the Palace Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota, Sebastian Bach addressed claims made by his former bandmate Rachel Bolan about the creation of Skid Row’s lyrics.
During his February 24 performance, after delivering the song ‘Makin’ A Mess’ from the ‘Skid Row’ album, the singer took a moment to speak directly to the audience. The moment, captured in a video by Melvin Zoopers, saw Bach disputing his former bandmates’ assertions about the writing process behind the band’s music. He stated:
“You might read online, you might read online my old bass player, and my old guitar player, ‘Oh, we came up with 98 percent of that sh*t.’ Well, if you look in the credits, I co-wrote that last song; I’ll have you know. I co-wrote these lyrics. I co-wrote these lyrics. It goes, ‘One, two, baby what you do / Three, four, let me show you the door / You’re better off dead than makin’ a mess of me / Five, six, take your last licks / Seven, eight, I’m gonna give it to you straight.’ It’s like f*cking Shakespeare. Those are some rhyming couplets that I just laid on you.”
Bolan’s Claims
Bolan’s perspective came from a December 2023 interview with the Radio Forrest podcast. When asked if the 1989 ‘Skid Row’ album was already fully written before Sebastian joined and added his vocals, the bassist answered:
“Yeah, pretty much — all except for a couple things here and there, but I would say about 98 percent were written and done, for sure. That’s the way it just worked out. Snake [Skid Row guitarist Dave Sabo] and I, when we first met, we just started writing songs. We each had our own band, and we didn’t commit to a band. And we each did our own gigs and whatever, but we’d get together and write songs.”
He continued, detailing the songwriting partnership between him and Sabo:
“And then once we saw, like, ‘Wow. These songs are really cool. Let’s put something together and just start playing them for people.’ And that’s how Skid Row was born. It was kind of like a two- or three-step process. And so Snake and I just ended up the main songwriters. It’s not to say that we didn’t want anyone else’s contributions ’cause that’s not the case.”
Collaborative Dynamics In Song Selection
Acknowledging the importance of band consensus in the song selection process, Bolan added:
“You know, as soon as you start playing an idea for the guys, whether they like it or not, whether it’s a good idea or not. ‘Cause sometimes I think that I have the next ‘Stairway To Heaven,’ and I’ll bring it to rehearsal, and everyone’s, like, ‘Eh.’ And you’re just, like, ‘Oh, that hurts.’ But it is what it is. All five of you have to have to get off on it for it to become a Skid Row song.”
Bach previously criticized his former Skid Row bandmates for saying they wrote all the early songs without him. On the Snider Comments podcast, he argued that comparing Skid Row’s music with and without him, as well as his solo work, clearly shows his contributions, especially to the melodies and high notes that stand out in their songs. Bach highlighted his role in transforming the music with his vocal style, emphasizing that his work significantly shaped the band’s sound.
Watch Bach’s statements in the concert below.
