Subhuman Race - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

Subhuman Race received mostly positive reviews. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it four stars out of five, and said that it saw the band "strip back their music to the basics" and was their "strongest and most vicious record to date." Rolling Stone gave it three stars, calling it "the freshest riffage since last year's Soundgarden record" and also noting the "tight, hot guitar lines and radio hooks that burn themselves into your brain". Q gave it four stars praising both the guitars that "grumble and mutter more menacingly than ever" and Bach's "awesome vocal pyrotechnics", summarizing that "Skid Row has come up with an outright winner."

Subhuman Race has also been criticized by fans and critics, who call it Skid Row's "worst album". Bassist Rachel Bolan has made known his mixed feelings about Subhuman Race. In an interview in November 2006, Bolan stated: "That record was a nightmare. Internally the band had fallen apart but we were forced to go in and do another record and it was a nightmare with the recording, writing and producing. We worked with someone we had not worked with before after being so successful with Michael and we were used to the way he did things. I am not slighting Bob at all, he is a genius producer but it was bad timing. I did not have the greatest time, it was nobody's fault, it was just the way things were. Also the record absolutely sucks."