Skin
Skin
1992
Parlaphone

Classy melodic rock five years too late

1. Money (Gray)
2. Shine Your Light (Gray)
3. House of Love (Gray)
4. Colourblind (Gray)
5. Which Are the Tears (Gray/Meagre)
6. Look But Don't Touch (Gray/MacDonald)
7. Nightsong (Gray/Meagre/Paris)
8. Tower of Strength (Gray)
9. Revolution (Gray/MacDonald/Held)
10. Raised on Radio (Gray/MacDonald)
11. Wings of an Angel (Gray)

If Skin had been based in Los Angeles and been around five years earlier they would have been huge. But as it was Skin came into being too late and were caught in the grunge backlash against all things melodic. Formed in the early 1990s by ex-Jagged Edge members Myke Gray and Andy Robbins along with vocalist Neville MacDonald and drummer Dicki Fliszar the band churned through a few names and played a few small clubs during 1992 where I first caught them. A record deal with Parlaphone thanks to Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden followed.
When ‘Skin’ was released it peaked at number 9 on the UK chart thanks to some solid touring (I caught them supporting Thunder) and also some great singles like ‘Money’ the opening track from the album which hit number 18 in the charts. ‘Tower of Strength’ which followed reached number 19 (backed by their live performance at Donington split over two versions of the single). Things looked great for Skin who was about the only UK melodic rock band bothering the charts in 1993-1994.
A support slot with Bon Jovi at their massive 1995 Gateshead Stadium gig in the UK should have been the peak of their career and the exposure they needed to push on; but technical difficulties conspired against them. Skin was already on the way down. Despite a great second album ironically title ‘Lucky’ things didn’t happen and a change of musical style couldn’t pull things into line. I caught them for the last time in 1997 after they had lost their UK deal and as a live band they were still an amazing proposition. Rock music was at a low ebb at the time in the UK and after a last big push and some manic touring in 1998 Skin just slipped away leaving some great recordings behind them. The debut album ‘Skin’ really is an undiscovered treasure and over the years I’ve had great pleasure in introducing people to this forgotten classic.
Skin reformed in 2009 to play the Download Festival (whose organiser Andy Copping, I recall, used to book them at Rock City) and have since announced a small tour around England in December 2009. They have plans for an acoustic project and a brand new album in 2010.
‘Skin’ is a classic album. If you like melodic rock with a driving beat, great sing along choruses, a bit of funky bass and can handle the odd beautifully crafted ballad then Skin is a ‘must hear’. I honestly cannot think of many melodic albums I would rate as highly: Danger Danger’s first comes close, Tyketto’s Don’t Come Easy but few others come close.

‘Money’ the opening track is as fast and as funky as Skin gets this time out. It’s a great song that could have driven many a sunset strip band of the late 80s. Sing-along stuff you can almost dance to but totally infectious.

One unusual thing about Skin’s debut was the preponderance of ballads or slower tracks. It’s not something they repeated on later albums and whilst I would normally argue that a slow song an album is enough it’s the sheer quality of the slower tracks here that make this album a bit of an exception.

‘Shine Your Light’ is a glowering rising epic of a song that starts off slow and builds before rising to a roar. It’s spellbinding song-writing that elevates this release to another level. At once funky, heartfelt, soulful and very rock and roll it’s hard to put your finger on a song like this because it doesn’t follow a formula, and remains on of my favourite tracks on the album.

‘House of Love’ is one of the catchiest songs in a catchy collection it just flows perfectly and the huge cherry on the top is the chorus. It’s like the album Van Halen might have made after 1984 if Dave had stayed and they’d mellowed out to a Hagar level.

‘Colourblind’ is a semi-acoustic tract against racism driven by a great vocal but whilst it’s a powerful song it just doesn’t quite take flight like most of the tracks on here though again it’s a beautifully conceived and put together song.

‘Which are the Tears’ is a song I must admit I didn’t listen to much but revisiting the album it’s actually a stunningly beautiful song, underpinned by some beautiful Hammond organ and great female backing vocals.

If you really want to know what this album is all about and you haven’t heard Skin before there are two songs which for me sum up this album: the first is ‘Look but Don’t Touch’ and the second “Tower of Strength’ both encapsulate the two great aspects of the band- the sticky addictive rockers and the sweeping beautiful slow numbers.

You can check out ‘Look but Don’t Touch’ on You Tube. It has to be one of the great undiscovered party songs of all time, while if anyone has written a ballad as beautiful and uplifting as ‘Tower of Strength’ then I haven’t heard it.

With an album with so many great tracks a few are bound to disappoint but only in comparison.

‘Nightsong’ is the closest we get to filler but a bit rockier and saved by a cool chorus; ‘Revolution’ is another builder and a good solid track that sounded better live. It’s not that there are any bad songs here just tracks you wish they’d just pushed a little harder. Like a kid who doesn’t have to try too hard to get B-grades and as he has a few A’s is quite happy to settle for that. ‘Raised on Radio’ is a friend of mine’s favourite Skin track and while it’s a good song (possibly my favourite song called ‘Raised on Radio’ and there are a few contenders) again it’s not an out and out classic.

‘Wings of an Angel’ that closes allows Neville MacDonald to show what his voice can do. There’s plenty of heart and soul and anyone could have had a hit with this in another time. I imagine Heart following up These Dreams or Alone with this one. It’s a better song though and that’s a big call.

I for one am listening to the back catalogue in anticipation of the reunion.

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