Well, here it is. The anticipation for the new, Erik Grönwall-fronted Skid Row has been much documented, the fire stoked by the release of fan-filmed live nuggets and a trio of vids for the tracks Time Bomb, Tear It Down and the title track of their almost-upon-us new album…

But what am I waffling on about? If you’re a long-term Rower you’ll know all this, right? And you’ll already have formed an opinion on the new man at the front. And if you ain’t, well, let’s just say the phrase ‘it’s your loss’ could have been written just for you…

…Because for once, just once, the hype has been justified. With all due respect to Johnny Solinger (RIP) and ZP Theart, both yeoman vocalists and nice men to boot, nobody has sounded this ‘right’ for Skid Row since you know who. Listening to Time Bomb is to be transported back to the end of the eighties, with Rachel Bolan‘s nicely percolating bass pushing things forward, underpinning Dave ‘Snake’ Sabo and Scotti Hill‘s guitars beautifully as Rob Hammersmith belts out a hair metal tattoo that’ll keep your toes tapping for days… And then there’s the voice, those screams… I was luckily enough to see the band at their famed Hammersmith Odeon debut all those years ago and let me tell you – this is as close to those glory days as it’s able to get without actually owning a time machine.

And whilst the first four tracks on the album do just what they should – remind you of what it was about the band that made you fall in love with them in the first place without actually making too many waves – track five, the titanic Resurrected, actually equals the band’s best output, whilst Nowhere Fast following hard on it’s heels at six, might actually be one of the best things this band has ever come up with. And then there’s the quite, quite superb closing track World On Fire… A new pair of trousers may well be required on first contact, let me tell you…

And it’s not just Grönwall responsible for this – although his stellar performance is undoubtedly the thing that’s going to cause the biggest bustle in your hedgerow – the whole band sounds energised and just downright happy to be back and making vital, relevant heavy metal, Even just as a listener it’s a joy to be a part of, so you can imagine what being at the centre of it all feels like…

As the good-time When The Lights Come On belts out of the speakers, driving a line direct through the space-time continuum to 1989, you find yourself realising that we’ve waited a long time for this. And my word, we’ve been rewarded for our patience handsomely.

The Gang’s All Here releases on October 14th.