Vim Fuego Skid Row proved glam metal could be tough and edgy without becoming a self-parody, like Motley Crüe. While second album Slave to the Grind had the obligatory weepy ballads, it also showed more than a passing acquaintance with punk ("Get the Fuck Out") and thrash (the title track). Next came this tasty little covers EP “B-Side Ourselves”, which further showed off the band’s musical versatility.

Singer Sebastian Bach reckoned each band member picked their own song for this EP, but since four out of the five track were previously released as b-sides, he might well have been talking bullshit. No matter, you can actually match the songs to be band members. Bach sung onstage with Rob Halford on the surprisingly weighty cover of Judas Priest’s “Delivering the Goods”, and since it’s too good an opportunity to pass up a cliché, them goods got delivered.

Bass player Rachel Bolan’s punk credentials were often on show in Skid Row’s early attitude, so it’s a fair guess that he picked The Ramones’ “Psycho Therapy”. Now, The Ramones may seem a simple band to cover, but their songs can be fucked up, as Metallica proved with their dire covers of “Commando”. Skid Row did it a shitload better.

Scotti Hill picked the cover of “Little Wing”, a Jimi Hendrix Experience cover (this one’s a cheat- I remember it from an interview), and he weeps and wails. Not quite like Hendrix, no, but a fucking good shot at it.

And so who picked the KISS cover and who picked the Rush cover? Meh, who the fuck knows? It doesn’t matter. Great songs, great versions, and both have that distinctive gritty Skid Row stamp on them.

“B-Side Ourselves” is not life-changing, nor is it deep and meaningful, but there are far worse ways to spend an idle eighteen and a half minutes.