REVIEW: Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It” (12″ single)

This is the third review from the The Toronto Musical Collectibles Record & CD Sale!  Wes bought me this 12″ single, which was real nice of him.  So for Wes, here’s the review!

For the last review in this series, click here.

TWISTED SISTER  – “We’re Not Gonna Take It” (1984 Atlantic single)

I’ll skip the formalities, and I won’t be discussing the single A-side.  What is understood need not be discussed.  On the off chance that you spent your youth in Antarctica, here’s the very clever and original music video (later ripped off by Michael Jackson for his own “Black or White”).

The B-sides are three of Twisted’s all time best, recorded live, and unreleased on CD to date.  All three are classics from You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll:  “The Kids are Back”, “We’re Gonna Make It”, and the album’s title track.  These were recorded live in Poughkeepsie, New York.  Although it seems odd, Dee’s usual spoken opening, “We are Twisted fuckin’ Sister” skipped the expletive.  I’m not sure if it’s edited out or not, for the release of this single.

As far as a single side of Twisted onslaught goes, I don’t know if you could have selected three better songs.  The performances are typical live Sister; fast and reckless.  In other words, perfect.  The live tracks were co-produced by bassist Mark “The Animal” Mendoza so you know that the band at least had their hands in the mix, too.

Another cool fact:  neither “The Kids are Back” nor “We’re Gonna Make It” are on the Live at the Marquee CD, minimizing overlap with that later release.  They were recorded within the same time frame, so the band is in similar ferocious shape to that great live album.

4/5 stars

19 comments

        1. Absolutely! Mark Metcalf is the guy’s name. I guess people still walk up to him in the streets asking him to say, “WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE?!”

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  3. Just saw them in Santiago, Chile in April. Besides the A-side (natch), they also included both You Can’t Stop Rock & Roll and The Kids Are Back in their set. It was an awesome, fun show. I must admit to having been a Sister denier before seeing them live, but I have now repented.

    If interested, my Twisted epiphany is briefly chronicled in the guts of the following: http://victimofthefury.com/2013/04/14/metal-fest-2013-santiago-chile-day-1/

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  5. I’m with Mr. Victim on this… I had no interest in these guys until I saw them live (supporting Alice Cooper on the Dirty Diamonds tour). They absolutely killed that night and Dee’s stage banter was priceless. “Anyone still sitting down had better be in a fucking wheelchair” etc…

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    1. Isn’t that funny HMO since that takes us full circle to the conversation on Rich’s blog! I saw the Dirty Diamonds tour too which was amazing — but Helix opened the show I saw.

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  6. Having grown up not in Antarctica but the Namib desert, I love that music video! if only I’d seen it years ago I could have chased all the people who bugged me through the Namibia dressed up like that, ha ha! Thanks for sharing this :-)

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