twisted sister

GUEST REVIEW: Twisted Sister – Love Is For Suckers (1987) by Tommy Morais (and remembering A.J. Pero)

My old friend and collaborator Tommy Morais passed away in 2024, but miraculously, I found this 2015 email from him.  It contained a complete review of Twisted Sister’s Love Is For Suckers album that we never published, and a memorial for Twisted Sister drummer A.J. Pero, who had recently died.  I am please to finally publish this final review that Tommy sent me to post.  Rest in peace Tommy.

TWISTED SISTER – Love Is For Suckers (1987 Atlantic)
by Tommy Morais – written March 28, 2015
“The ‘Soft & Filler’ album…”  Bought in 2012 in France for something like 17 euros!

Twisted Sister’s fifth and final studio album Love Is For Suckers (unless you count the band’s 2004 Still Hungry, a collection of re-recordings of Stay Hungry) is one that tends to divide people. Some hardcore fans dismiss it as too pop and lacking much substance, while others have a soft spot for it and thought it was an enjoyable release at the time. There’s some claims to be made about both opinions. The main problem with with Love Is For Suckers is that it really isn’t a Twisted Sister album. “Wake Up The Sleeping Giant” is deceiving in that it almost sounds like classic TS. Yet only Dee Snider as an original member remains, and then there’s Joey “Seven” Franco who was in the current lineup on drums. It really should have been a Dee Snider solo album which is what it was intended as and truly was, but instead the record company pressured this to be released as a Twisted Sister album.

Then it is plagued by a few big issues, besides the absence of the classic lineup. Did you ever see Reb Beach and Kip Winger receiving credits on a Twisted Sister album? Well, they played on this. Probably not a happy thought for most Twisted Sister fans, as it ended up taking an ultimately softer and a more pop direction. Then you have to consider that it may have been competitive and cutting edge in 1987, but Love ls For Suckers has not held up well with time. Also for an album title that claims love “sucks”, it’s ironic that most of these songs are well… love songs.

What’s with the drum sound?! The songs are wimpy but with a thunderous, big drum sound which leads to question that maybe Joey was a good drummer who ended up playing on the wrong album. The production by Beau Hill is about what you’d expect, very “1987” and time has not been too kind to its sound.

Opener “Wake Up The Sleeping Giant” is misleading. 1) It sounds like Twisted Sister and 2) It’s the best song on the album, and it leads you to think (and hope) the rest may be up to this standard. “Hot Love” was and is a great candy rock piece tailored for 1987; cheesy but fun and a good overall choice of single. It’s one of the most memorable songs (remember the video that went along?). The title track is actually not a bad rocker at all, it’s consistent as Snider does a good vocal performance and it’s somewhat catchy. This is where the album takes a slide in the quality department with “l’m So Hot For You” and “Me And The Boys” (this one especially is embarrassing) being generic filler tracks that halt any momentum the album had going for it. Sandwiched in between those songs is the slightly better rocker “Tonight” which showcases some aggression; not a bad tune at all. “One Bad Habit” is more filler material. “I Want This Night To Last Forever” has a Van Hagar feel to it, especially during the chorus but is nothing to write home about either. “You’re All That l Need” tried to be a big power ballad but it failed during the chorus, even though it had a nice build up. The keyboards prevent it from being a strong ballad like “The Price”, and as a result it sounds a little too soft and thin. The closing “Yeah Right” ends thing on a more positive note. It’s a solid upbeat rocker and one of the heaviest songs on an album that could’ve used more songs of this calibre.

I own the remastered version with four extra songs. “Statuary Date” is the worst of the bunch. “Feel Appeal” is better than some of the songs that made it onto the actual album, it’s more straight up rock and a little catchier. “I Will Win” is rocking but the chorus doesn’t get it right; close but no cigar. “If That’s What You Want” became “Me And The Boys” although it’s earlier incarnation was stronger and had better lyrics. If you ask me this version should’ve made the album instead!

There you have it. Any way you slice it, Love Is For Suckers is definitely, without a doubt, the worst Twisted Sister album. It suffers from the production, is full of fillers and it doesn’t feature Jay Jay French, Eddie Ojeda, Mark Mendoza, A.J Pero (who left before this was released), even though the liner notes say they were a part of it (minus Pero, replaced by Joey Franco). The first two songs, and the album cover, are the only things that are truly memorable about LIFS. The rest is really unfocused and sub-par. Twisted Sister’s decline had already begun with their previous effort, 1985’s Come Out And Play which would show cracks of the band’s implosion, but this one was a commercial disappointment failing to reach gold status or chart successfully. Simply put, Twisted Sister was no longer a band at this point and the album did nothing to stop them from breaking up and was quite frankly just not very good.

2/5 stars

Mike liked this album slightly more.  Click here for his review.

REMEMBERING A.J. PERO by Tommy Morais

It was grade six.  I was 11 years old, and it was the Friday before a holiday, which meant the whole class got to do nothing but chill and watch a movie. For the rest of the day our teachers let us hang out and do nothing. We each brought pop, chips or both to share. One of my friends Maxime brought one of his dad’s CDs. That CD? Twisted Sister’s greatest hits. He asked the teacher if he could play it for us, and the rest is history. I was introduced to my first taste of Hard Rock and Metal. I distinctively remember telling one of my friends “this is not bad huh?”, to which he agreed. I glanced at the album cover. It said “Twisted Sister Big Hits & Nasty Cuts“. Then l proceeded to tell Maxime that this (ugly) “girl band” was pretty good. I wasn’t familiar with Glam/Hair/80’s metal at that point and even less so with the look. Truth is l had been exposed to some AC/DC, Loverboy and Metallica prior to that but this was the first time it really clicked.  Maybe it was just just the right age, the right time. There you have it, Twisted Sister was the first band I recall really taking a liking to. From then on l discovered my dad and his brother’s LPs and played them on the turntable (I remember digging the first Van Halen a lot).  I definitely have a soft spot for Twisted Sister.
It is with sadness that I learned of longtime drummer and classic lineup member A.J. Pero’s unfortunate passing. Pero was a crucial part of the band and its sound, and a great drummer too. I approached Mike about maybe doing something Twisted Sister related on his blog to which he was very enthusiastic. I wanted to review something AJ played on, like Come Out And Play as l plan to review all of TS’s material in the upcoming days, but with time restraints l had to settle for my (still brand new) Love ls For Suckers. The band has said that were to make some big announcement next week. One can only assume that it is regarding Twisted Sister’s future as a band. Jay Jay said on social media that they were already thinking about hanging it up prior to Pero’s passing. Then Dee Snider said it would be profitable to the Pero family if the band kept playing and that they were thinking about winding down in 2016 for the band’s 40th anniversary. I’m not against them continuing performing live and going out on a final tour to honour AJ and the anniversary of the band just as l am not opposed to the band calling it quits. I have a feeling they’ll at least play a few more shows and maybe do one last concert CD/DVD (that would be cool). Rest in peace A.J., the rock world lost a great drummer.

 

#1179: Spring Dinner With Aaron

RECORD STORE TALES #1179: Spring Dinner With Aaron

The clocks have changed and we have beaten winter once again!  Though it was the harshest winter for weather since the 1990s, it was the easiest winter for my mental health in decades.  And I have you to thank for supporting me through it.  Though winter’s not completely over, the darkness that pervaded my evenings is.  We’re due for one or two more big storms, but nothing like what we endured in February.

Spring is so close I can taste it.

Coinciding with the clock change, another sign of spring has emerged:  that being Aaron of the KMA!  Aaron was in town on Sunday, so we met up with him and his lovely wife Cindy for a dinner at my favourite local establishment, Borealis.  Shop local, buy local!  So that is what we did.  Aaron was curious about the “local” aspect.  “Does Kitchener have a lot of wild boar?” he asked, only partly joking.  All the food comes from Ontario.  Aaron and Cindy had the wild trout, while I had mushroom rigatoni and Jen had prime rib.  All-Ontario menu!  They did serve some foreign spirits such as Absinthe, but we didn’t look too deep into the liquor menu.

Of course there were gifts!  I gave Aaron his own copy of Live In Ontario by Max the Axe, and he gifted me a Def Leppard tour shirt (with Journey), a Jacob Moon album I needed, and the new 40th Anniversary edition of Stay Hungry by Twisted Sister.

Dinner was incredible, and we received special service from “Cousin” Luigi, whom we have not seen since before the pandemic.  I have been wanting to take Aaron to Borealis for years, so it was a happy circumstance that we had Luigi.  We didn’t want to eat upstairs due to Jen’s health conditions, so they opened up the entire downstairs dining room just for us.  We had the whole room to ourselves.

And Luigi made sure Jen never ran out of drinks.

A delightful night, and two wonderful reunions in one.

#1170: The Smaller the Better – Christmas 2024

RECORD STORE TALES #1170: The Smaller the Better – Christmas 2024

2024 was one of our smallest Christmas gatherings, both in budget and in population, but it was certainly one of my happiest.

Sometimes everything just feels right, and this year’s Christmas Eve was held back at the old family home once again.  It was the first Christmas Eve there in over a decade, but that’s my happy place at Christmas.  A place I can feel comfortable.  After all, it was my home for 29 years.  I settled in with my dad and watched Superman the Movie while Jen made cookies.  We awaited the arrival of my mom, Dr. Kathryn, and a few dogs.

Jen knit custom gifts for the dogs (shawls, mittens and hats).  She also knit custom shawls for the ladies, and toques for the men.  I love mine.

As an introvert, I do well in small groups.  Dinner was the traditional beef fondue (or chicken or schnitzel), with bonus vegan options.  I brought over some special flavoured salts and hot sauces to sample.

We did that Christmas “white elephant” game, or whatever you want to call it.  The “$10 gift game” is another name for it.  Initially, I won this cool set of chocolate “coffee bombs”.  I made it very clear how happy I was with it, and that I intended to make myself a coffee as soon as I got home.  I spotted one with little marshmallows and relished the idea of it.  Then my mom went next and stole it.  I stole it back when I had the chance, and then she stole it again at first opportunity.  The funny coda to this story is that after Jen and I got home, we put on a “Best of Saturday Night Live” show and there was a sketch featuring the exact same game.  One character was complaining that it was a mean-spirited game, because he had received the perfect gift for himself, and someone stole it.  I called my mom to laugh about that.  The story doesn’t end there.

Christmas day featured some sleeping in and some Marvel What If? on Disney+.  SPOILER this episode featured a Kiss song as an integral part of the story, and even had a line of dialogue from Howard the Duck explaining that the song was written by Kiss in 1979.

I won the $25 Amazon gift card at the “Christmas pickle” game.  I wasn’t even going to participate, but after seeing Jen and Dr. Kathryn getting nowhere, I entered the fray.  I quickly boxed Dr. Kathryn into a corner, where she was unable to see the front of the tree, where my mom had announced the pickle to be.  Once spotted, I used the pickle to order the new Van Halen For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge box set.  It’ll be here Saturday.

There were some really cool items in my grab bag this Christmas.

I had hoped someone would get me Brothers by Alex Van Halen, and Dr. Kathryn came to the rescue there.  It’s a beautiful looking book, and emotional too from what I have read while skipping through.

Bubbles from the Trailer Park Boys has a new album out with standards new and old:  Longhauler: The Best of Bubbles and the Shitrockers.  If you need to ask, don’t.  I was surprised that the album was produced and engineered by Eddie Kramer!

Queen’s A Night at the Odeon (1975) is another album that came highly recommended.  I wishlisted it and it magically appeared in my stocking thanks to my parents.  It looks like a winner.

Finally, some anniversary editions from Jen:  Judas Priest’s Rocka Rolla, and Twisted Sister’s Stay Hungry.  Rocka Rolla is probably the best album remix I have heard in my life.  Tom Allom pretty much just made the album sound like itself, but beefier.  As if you had always heard it distant and muffled, and now you can hear it fully for the first time.  As if you just got a new stereo and are hearing this music properly for the first time.  As for Twisted, I find it funny that I already own the 30th anniversary edition, with a very different set of bonus music.

Of interest:  this is probably the 3rd time I have received Rocka Rolla for Christmas.  It is my 2nd for Stay Hungry at Christmas time.

As usual, I received some treats and games, including two more editions of Uno to play at the cottage this summer.  My mom got me some Trailer Park Boys pickle flavoured chips, and who knew that such a thing existed?

As for my mom, she used to do this thing when we were kids, where she would take a larger box of candy and split it up into smaller gifts that could fit into stockings.  She did that for me this year…with her chocolate coffee bombs that she got the night before.  She gave me one of each flavour, since I had called about the Saturday Night Live sketch.  Thanks mom.  You win this time.

Hope everyone had as merry a Christmas as we did!

REVIEW: Twisted Sister – The Best of the Atlantic Years (2016)

TWISTED SISTER – The Best of the Atlantic Years (2016 Atlantic)

Nobody likes buying the same thing twice, so Twisted Sister have ensured this “greatest hits” album is vastly different from their other stand-by, 1992’s Big Cuts & Nasty Cuts.  That album boasted a side of live B-sides, now collected as Live at the Marquee.  As such, it only had 10 studio tracks, whereas this new compilation has 17 plus a previously unreleased bonus.

The repeated songs are the obvious ones:

  • “I’ll Never Grow Up, Now!”
  • “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll”
  • “I Am (I’m Me)”
  • “The Kids Are Back”
  • “I Wanna Rock”
  • “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
  • “The Price”

That leaves a whole lotta songs, including a few singles, that you’ll find here but not on Big Hits.  Notably though, that means this compilation doesn’t have “Shoot ‘Em Down”, “Under the Blade”, or “Bad Boys of Rock ‘N’ Roll”.

What makes this compilation a little more special is that the tracks go almost chronologically, and don’t skimp out on songs from Come Out and Play, or Love Is for Suckers.  Founding guitarist Jay Jay French mentioned in the liner notes that Suckers was supposed to be a Snider solo album, but we do get two songs.

Opening with Twisted’s first Atlantic album Under the Blade, we are treated to the 1985 remixes of “What You Don’t Know (Sure Can Hurt You)”, “I’ll Never Grow Up, Now!” and “Sin After Sin”.  It’s a nice one-two-three punch, with “I’ll Never Grow Up, Now!” being a bubble gum punk sandwich, stuck between two heavy metal hard hitters.  It’s actually a nice change of pace, getting the echo-laden remixes this time.

The heavy metal assault continues with what might be my favourite Twisted song of all time:  “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll”.

“Like a charging bull, it’s a juggernaut,With steam at full, never to be caught,Incarnate power, roaring from the sky,While others cower, rock ain’t gonna die.”

The slow intro, the chugging riff, the pounding drums of the late great A.J. Pero (my favourite member as a kid) and the roar of Dee Snider made this the perfect heavy metal song to entice a young teenager back in the 80s.  “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll” is part of a trio included from the same-titled album, joined by melodic metal masterpieces “I Am (I’m Me)” and “The Kids Are Back”.  When Twisted went all melodic, they drew upon classic influences, but combined with the heavy guitars, they almost sound like precursors to pop-punk.  In many regards, Twisted Sister were ahead of their time.  It’s a simple recipe:  Guitars chug, bass joins them, drums throw in some catchy fills, and Dee Snider delivers the hooks with the band on backing vocals.  Simple, but difficult to master.

The largest clutch of songs obviously comes from Stay Hungry, with six.  The three big singles are the obvious ones, but also thrown in are the classic deep cuts “Burn In Hell”, “The Beast” and “S.M.F.”  In these songs, you get the heavier side of “Stay Hungry”, minus the title track itself.  People who don’t actually know Twisted Sister might be surprised how heavy Stay Hungry could get once you ventured outside the safe singles.  “Burn in Hell” is an exersize in intensity that deserves every listen you can give it.  Perhaps the oft-forgotten “The Beast” is the most welcome here, as a true red-blooded slow burner metal monster.

Despite the quality of the lesser-heard Stay Hungry songs, one remains the pinnacle of Twisted Sister’s finest moments:  “The Price”.  Twisted probably took guff from the press and the doubters for attempting a ballad, but “The Price” puts the “power” in power ballad.  Notably, A.J.’s drums are far busier and heavier that you expect from the average paltry power ballad.  Dee Snider demonstrates his expert-level versatility here on the high notes, rendering this song very hard to sing note for note today.

This album wastes no opportunity.  Come Out and Play is finally given a fair shake.  The dark ugly duckling of the Twisted discography is represented by the title track, “Leader of the Pack”, “The Fire Still Burns” and the forgotten sing-along “You Want What We Got”.  They didn’t skimp out here, and you get the full length version of “Come Out and Play”, including the Warriors homage of “Twisted Sister, come out and play!”  Pero’s final album, and his drumming on this track is as blazing fast as it got for Twisted Sister.  “Leader of the Pack” is campy fun, but it really had to be included, being an integral part of Twisted’s early history and eventual failure (at least according to Jay Jay in the liner notes).  “The Fire Still Burns” has an intense flame indeed, though did Dieter Dierks’ production do it any favours?  Of note:  “You Want What We Got” is not the album version.  It is longer at 4:21, and contains an outro with Dee Snider talking, and dropping a deleted expletive!  This version is not credited as being unique, and it’s currently unknown where it originated.

Love Is For Suckers is often neglected.  The Beau Hill-produced album was written to be Dee’s solo debut, and included members of other bands from the Hill camp, such as Fiona, Winger and Kix.  Reb Beach played lead guitar, which led to a sudden change in sound, away from the heavy metal of Twisted Sister’s roots, and more towards what was popular at the time:  the subgenre they call “hair metal” today.  Joey “Seven” Franco replaced A.J., and was so nicknamed as he was the band’s seventh drummer.  Franco also followed Dee into his solo band the following year.  “Hot Love” was the single, which should have been a hit, while “Love Is For Suckers” was the only cover the band ever recorded without playing live first.

The final song is the bonus track, “Born to be Wild”, the Steppenwolf cover that they have indeed played live (going back to 1976, but more recently on Live At Wacken: The Reunion).  This new studio version was recorded in 2005 and produced by Mark “The Animal” Mendoza.  It was used prior to this release in a reality TV series called Knievel’s Wild Ride.  It’s tremendous fun, with Twisted Sister ripping into it with their usual reckless abandon.  Mendoza’s bass is delightfully bass, but Dee Snider really lets loose at the end.

This set, being limited to the Atlantic years, gratefully doesn’t include anything from Still Hungry or Twisted Christmas.  That’s fine and dandy; they would unbalance this release.  The Best of the Atlantic Years is the best single Twisted Sister compilation on the market.

5/5 stars

#864.5: “Oktoberfest Cheer” – A Thank-You to Max the Axe

It was laundry night, when my phone blew up.  Uncle Meat was desperate to get a hold of me.  He rang my phone twice and there was a text message to call him immediately.  Of course, I was worried about my buddy.  If he needed me, I’d be there.

The urgency was apparently musical in nature.

Max the Axe had just finished mixing the three songs that will make up a forthcoming punk EP.  He finished that day…a full sweaty day at the studio that ended with “Thirsty and Miserable”, “Pygmy Blowdart” and “Oktoberfest Cheer” on a burned CD-R.  The only way for Meat to hear these tracks, songs that he sings on, was convoluted.  Max had to physically deliver the CDs to my house, and then I had to rip them to PC and email them to Uncle Meat.  That’s how ass-backwards those two guys are with technology.

The bonus in this case is getting an early copy of the still-untitled punk EP, which I assure you, is a killer.  But Max was so appreciative of my favour that he randomly gifted me this cool set of Twisted Sister guitar picks.  10 picks mounted on a paper matte, with a cool Twisted Sister picture.  Ready for framing.  Thank you Max!

What about the EP?  “Thirsty and Miserable” is a Black Flag cover with inspiration from Lemmy Kilmister.  It’s brilliant is all I can tell you.  “Pygmy Blowdart” is an original (Meat stresses that he did not write the lyrics) that sounds like a Josh Homme hit.  Finally “Oktoberfest Cheer” is a drunken, sloppy, very messy Kitchener-centric party song that could very well become a local anthem.  Oktoberfest actually ended a couple weeks ago, but this song captures the boozy oom-pa-pa of our annual Bavarian celebration.  “Don’t crush my smokes, and don’t spill my beer!”  I think it’s brilliant in that lager-soaked punk rock tradition.  I only heard an early mix, so I hope they take my advice when I say “more accordion”!

Enjoy  “Thirsty and Miserable” by Max the Axe featuring lead vocals by Eric “Uncle Meat” Litwiller!

REVIEW: Twisted Sister – Live at the Marquee (2011)

“Ladies and gentlemen…Twisted mother fuckin’ Sister!”  – Lemmy Kilmister

 

TWISTED SISTER – Live at the Marquee (2011 Rhino Handmade)

First of all, this thing is huge.  There’s a CD in there somewhere.

You already know some of these recordings from the Big Hits and Nasty Cuts CD.  In 2011, finally, after numerous B-sides and compilations, the entire legendary Marquee club show was made available on CD from the fine folks at Rhino Handmade. Coming in this beautiful (but fragile) cardboard die-cut cover, this was so long overdue.  For a long long time people sank many dollars into collecting as many of these live versions as possible.  Few collected all the released tracks, but now the entire show is available.  That means you get all those B-sides plus a bunch of unreleased songs from the gig, including all the talking.

From Lemmy’s now legendary introduction to the final notes of “Feel So Fine”, this is Twisted Sister at their absolute heaviest. When I first heard five of these recordings as the “Nasty Cuts” on the Big Hits (1992) CD, they turned me off a bit. They were too heavy. Too fast. Too ragged. Too punk rock. Not what I was expecting from what I considered to be a pop rock band, back then. However, Dee’s rants made this so difficult to turn off! You never know what was going to come out of Dee’s mouth next.

Eventually I realized, this stuff is actually Twisted Sister at their absolute best! They are in their element and in their glory, playing these songs for the fans and also the haters in the crowd that night, whom Dee addresses frequently.

I’m sure the band won the haters over that night.

The recording is crisp, clear, and powerful. It is in your face.  It feels like you are right there on that stage with the band.  The mix is perfect.  The guitars have good separation and the drums are recorded perfectly.  The vocals are also clear and only slightly overpowered by the stampeding band.

Personal fave: “You Can’t Stop Rock And Roll”. The crowd had never heard this one before, being brand new and unreleased.  Finally I am hearing a version of “You Can’t Stop Rock And Roll” that lives up to the song’s potential. The album version, as great as it is, isn’t as heavy as it was live. This, my friends, is Sister at their absolute best. I’m saying that without a trace of hyperbole. For me, this is it. This is Twisted Sister at their tightest, fastest, heaviest and inspired. The crowd eats it up.

Honorable Mention: “I Am (I’m Me)”, which comes close to the end of the set. Dee’s voice is off on a few notes, but this is rock and roll baby! I’d pay my life savings to be able to sing as well as Dee did that night!  (note: my life savings are not much, but I’d pay ’em anyway.)

Dud: “Leader Of The Pack”. It’s just weird to hear it at a show this insane. It kinda slows things down a bit much (even though it’s so much heavier than the Ruff Cuts version).

5/5 fuckin’ stars!


     

 

REVIEW: Twisted Sister – Come Out and Play (1985)

“Twisted Sister…come out and play!”  Happy anniversary to Come Out and Play released on this day 34 years ago.

TWISTED SISTER – Come Out and Play (1985 Atlantic LP & Spitfire CD remaster)

What was a band at the proverbial crossroads to do? Continue along the commercial path of the 3 million copy selling Stay Hungry?  Or revert to the tried and true heavy-as-an-SMF sound of yore?

There was only one dissenting vote.  Bassist Mark “The Animal” Mendoza felt that putting “Leader of the Pack” on the new album was a mistake.  The other four voted “yes” but some grew to regret it.  Both Dee Snider and J.J. French have since realized the error of their ways.  Today, Come Out and Play is acknowledged as the beginning of the end, though it has its fans and some sturdy tracks to support it.

Twisted Sister recruited Scorpions producer Dieter Dierks and enlisted high profile guest stars like Alice Cooper, Billy Joel, Brian Setzer and Clarence Clemons.  They were top-loaded onto a old-time rock and roller called “Be Chrool to Your Scuel”, and the gamble backfired immediately when MTV banned the music video for its zombies and ghouls.  It’s an interesting track at least.  You don’t hear a sax solo on a Twisted Sister song every day, nor the kind of plucking that Brian Setzer deals in.

“Leader of the Pack” was a failure as well, actually a re-recording of a track that debuted on the Ruff Cuts EP.  The video (starring the then-hot Bobcat Goldthwaite) further painted Twisted Sister as a novelty band.

Tensions, especially between Mendoza and Snider, were amplified.  The songs that sound like they were meant to be “hits” fall far short.  The impression you get from “You Want What We Got” is that it was intended to be a specific kind of hit.  Unfortunately it’s just a repetitive anthem.  “Lookin’ Out for #1” is similarly filler, a song that never quite clicks.

Some tracks maintained a heavy rock presence. They include the anthem “I Believe In Rock and Roll”.  It’s a manifesto for the PMRC generation; a decent attempt that just misses the mark.  “Come Out and Play” features A.J. Pero nailing down a speedy beat, but the production of Dierks neutered the powerful drummer.  Dierks introduced keyboards to some of the tracks, watering them down needlessly.  “The Fire Still Burns” works better than some of the other songs, and despite the production you can hear A.J. is just crushing the kit.  If the backing vocals sound unusually lush, that’s Don Dokken and Gary Holland.  “Out on the Streets” trades the speed in for plaintive melodies, and is the better for it.  Finally “Kill or Be Killed” does what it promises.  Unbelievable that A.J. could play at such a relentless velocity, but he was an absolute beast.

Strangely, some of the best tracks are the ballads.  Dark ballads.  Ballads of depression, of loneliness, of alienation.  “I Believe in You” is the first of two, bolstered by strong melodies and Dee Snider’s enviable pipes.  The one that impresses the most is the CD and cassette bonus track “King of the Fools”.  Although “Kill or Be Killed” ends the album just fine, this coda adds some substance.  Sounding like a man destroyed, Dee sings the melancholy lyrics.

What kind of kingdom has no throne?
No crown or castle do I own,
I don’t have silver gold or jewels,
Yet I’m the king, king of the fools.

It’s surprisingly thoughtful songwriting, complimenting the mournful melodies.  Yet there is a defiant, powerful streak in the choruses.

King of the fools,
Who are these people to cast stones?
King of the fools,
Better a fool than just a clone.

Dee Snider has always resonated with the underdogs, the bullied, the downtrodden.  “King of the Fools” might be the most honest of all those songs.  Some regal guitar melodies by J.J. French and Eddie “Fingers” Ojeda show that they were picking up what Dee was laying down.

Here’s the catch though.  If you’re buying this album, you need “King of the Fools”.  To get it, you’ll want the CD.  But Come Out and Play might be most notable for the album cover you can only get on vinyl.  Open up that manhole cover and out pops Dee Snider in all his…all his…rags.

Heeere’s Dee!

Do what I did.  Get CD and LP, just for the cover.  Everybody needs a pop-up Dee Snider.

2.5/5 stars

REVIEW: Twisted Sister – Big Hits and Nasty Cuts (1992)

TWISTED SISTER – Big Hits and Nasty Cuts (1992 Atlantic – Canadian CD)

When Twisted Sister split at the end of 1987, they went rather quietly into that goodnight.  No big magazine articles, no solo projects incoming, not until 1992 when Dee Snider finally re-emerged with his new band Widowmaker.  It was a quiet five years, broken only by the low key release of Twisted Sister’s first “greatest hits” compilation in March of that year.

Big Hits and Nasty Cuts was a compilation that both fans and band deserved.  No careless cash grabs here.  In 1992 it’s doubtful that Atlantic thought they’d be making much money off “I Wanna Rock”, one of the biggest cheerleaders of the obsolete generation.  While Kurt Cobain cashed his biggest royalty cheque yet, J.J. French was writing the liner notes for this CD.  (Mark “The Animal” Mendoza did the remastering with Ted Jensen.)

For the era, Big Hits and Nasty Cuts was one of the most fan-friendly, value-intensive CDs on the market.  Even better for American fans, this time they got the bonus track!  The album was split into two sides — the hits and the “nasty cuts”, all rare B-sides recorded at the Marquee club in England.  Fortunately the entire show has since been issued by Rhino, but in 1992, very few fans had the original 12″ singles these songs were sourced from.  Another rarity included was Twisted’s first single, “I’ll Never Grow Up, Now!”  These were first releases for the CD format!  Good thing too, because “I’ll Never Grow Up, Now!” is indelible as any of the hits.

The hits portion of the album isn’t quite predictable.  Would you have expected the heavy metal uppercut “Under the Blade”?  Or the raw “Shoot ‘Em Down”?  Here they are, and thanks to the liner notes, you can find out why.  (Oh fine, we’ll spoil one.  “Under the Blade” was included because it’s been played at every Twisted show since it was written.)  The three biggest hits are present and accounted for.  “I Wanna Rock” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It” would be the two hits that everyone knows, and “The Price” is runner-up.

Also present:  “I Am, I’m Me” and “The Kids Are Back” demonstrate Dee’s early knack for melodic songwriting, very punk-like in its simplicity especially when coupled with Twisted’s 4/4 rock.  “You Can’t Stop Rock and Roll” also had to be here.  Perhaps it’s Twisted’s best metal anthem.  Finally “Be Chrool to Your Scuel” featuring Alice Cooper ends the hits side with the last one chronologically.  (“Bad Boys of Rock and Roll” on the US version.)  There’s no “Leader of the Pack” and no “Hot Love”.  All hail the classic lineup:  Dee Snider – lead vocals.  J.J. French – guitar.  Eddie “Fingers” Ojeda – guitar.  Mark “The Animal” Mendoza – bass.  The late, underappreciated A.J. Pero – drums.  The lineup that set MTV on fire relied on catchy videos, yes, but the songs have survived equally well.

The nasty cuts may just be too heavy for the average listener.  Recorded to 2-track tape, there’s no fixing the mixes here.  The lengthy start to “What You Don’t Know (Sure Can Hurt You)” includes Lemmy’s intro and plenty of noise. There is no overlap with any other songs on the CD.  “Destroyer” grinds so hard it’s almost a parody of itself.  “Tear It Loose” is out-of-control fast, blowing away the album version.  The US got “Run For Your Life” right after “Tear It Loose”, another fast rendition once it kicks in.  (In Canada, “Run For Your Life” was only on cassette.)  The cover tunes “It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll” and “Let the Good Times Roll/Feel So Fine” include plenty of crowd interplay.  Just the thing to turn off Joe Average Listener, but amazing to hear the energy of the band and audience that night.

The live cuts really highlight, with 20/20 hindsight anyway, the power of A.J. Pero.  The guy could really kill a drum kit, and his timekeeping is the cornerstone of what made Twisted Sister heavy.

Don’t buy this CD if you’re looking for a party CD.  Buy it because you’re intrigued and want to learn more about a band who doesn’t get enough credit for being one of the world’s most dangerous.  Buy it to check out the rarities and get a taste of what those in the know had in their collections back in 1983.  Buy it because you’re going to get liner notes and photos of band members you never even heard of before.  Buy it because this is a great compilation, done with loving care and value.

5/5 stars

#785: Seasons End (Oh Deer) + BONUS Nutshell Review: El Camino – A Breaking Bad Movie

A sequel to #774.5: Seasons Ends. Buckle up, it’s a busy one!

GETTING MORE TALE #785: Seasons End (Oh Deer)
+ BONUS Nutshell Review: El Camino – A Breaking Bad Movie
+ BONUS Star Wars – The Black Series 6″ figures “Abandoned” Video Reviews

“Be careful of the deer problem,” said my dad when I phoned him from Lucknow, about 20 or 30 minutes away from the cottage.

“Don’t worry, I’ll drive safe,” I reassured him in that voice that hardly reassured him.

“You know about the deer problem?” he asked to confirm.

No, but now I did.  Funny thing; I’d been driving up to the lake by myself for over 20 years and never came close to hitting a deer.  There are warning signs along all the major roads, some with flashing yellow lights.  Turns out Thanksgiving 2019 was my first on-the-road deer sighting.

It got dark quick after Lucknow, and soon it was like pitch.  I had been driving slower since the sun went down but it was Jen who saw the deer first.  I slowed down carefully until he jumped away unto the brush.  The guy behind me wasn’t paying attention and almost rear-ended me.

It’s so strange to review the dashcam footage afterwards. What felt like an eternal moment of tense surprise was really only seven seconds.*

Until that moment, we were wrapped deep in Iron Maiden.  I played the first album, with Paul Di’Anno, and the bonus tracks for the full-on experience.  This was music I’d been listening to for 35 years and under the weight of all that nostalgia, I immediately began singing along.  I remember “Charlotte the Harlot” coming up just as we were detouring past a town called Dorking.  I don’t know about you, but I think that’s funny.  Once completed, we switched over to Piece of Mind.  That’s the Maiden studio album that I have the longest deep relationship with.  Every word was dancing on my tongue, even “Revelations”.  But then again, I remember having that song memorised back in highschool.  My friend Andy and I sang it back to a rap kid named Patrick Barnes who claimed that metal lyrics are just unintelligible noise and nonsense.

All this Maiden reminiscence led to the writing of a new future chapter of Getting More Tale called “Run 2 the Hills”, a direct sequel to Record Store Tales Part 1.  Look for that one in the near future.

We had the near miss with the deer after both albums were complete, and I’d started on random tunes from Powerslave.  “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” was  the song playing when Bambi was spared by some good driving.

Upon arrival, I had get my Netflix fired up to watch El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.  Nutshell review:

EL CAMINO: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019 Netflix)

I didn’t think I cared where Jesse Pinkman went at the end of Breaking Bad.  Turns out, I cared enough to watch this well-written coda to a great TV series.  Aaron Paul rules, equipped with very little dialogue and only his body language.  Paul gives us a hard insight to the PTSD-infested survivor Pinkman.  Every cameo you desire is in store via relevant flashbacks, fleshing out the original series a little bit.  After a while, you, like Pinkman, are disoriented and can’t remember if you’re watching past or present.

4/5 stars

It was a little freaky when I finished the film, went on Twitter, and saw Bryan Cranston announced that Robert Forster had died, just after I watched his final film.

In the morning I wrote up the rough draft of my new Maiden chapter while it was all fresh in my head, but I otherwise accomplished very little, creatively speaking.

I tried, I really did try.  When mom & dad stepped out of the house for a few minutes I thought I could squeeze in time for a Star Wars Black Series video review.  You’ll see what happened.  Something like this occurred any time I attempted to make a video.  So what you see is what you get; I gave up!

Abandoned Reviews

For entertainment use only.  Back off, fanboys!

Instead of using my creative juices for this one final weekend of the lake this season, I decided to pour it into cooking instead.  I picked up three beautiful steaks and a pound of lobster tail. I made some garlic butter, clarified it, and put the tail on the grill.  Everything was phenomenal.  I felt like we ended the season right with these meals.

There was the traditional turkey dinner the following night too, stuffed with goodness, but I feel the lobster tail and the steaks really put a cap on the season.

The drive home was enabled by Twisted Sister’s Live at the Marquee and The Razors Edge by AC/DC.  I don’t know how often I’ve played The Razors Edge in the car since it came out before I could drive.  Could this have been the first time?  I liked it better in the car than I do sitting at home.  As for Twisted Sister, Live at the Marquee is by far their greatest live product.  The raw heavy stage purity can’t be touched.

And now we are home, preparing for the arrival of winter routines and monotony.  Hibernation begins.  But spring will return again, and with it, so will the roadtrips, the steaks, and the sun.

Stay warm, my friends!

* It was just a young deer  When you start having more frequent animal sightings in cottage country like this, it means they are being displaced from somewhere else.  There has been a lot of building and development this year.

VHS Archives #39: Dee Snider says “Don’t drink and drive!” (1984)

This public service announcement from Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider mostly likely aired on an episode of Toronto Rocks’ Midweek Metal Mania show, the prototype for the Power Hour. It’s probably from 1984 or 85. I don’t know its exact origin because this comes from one of the “Balasz Tapes” — stuff originally recorded by next door neighbour George and then taped by me in one of our childhood recording sessions.

It’s lower quality because it’s a tape of a tape, but I think it’s still pretty cool.