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August 29, 2008 |
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01. Stay Hungry
02. We're Not Gonna Take It
03. Burn In Hell
04. Horror Teria a) Captain Howdy b) Street Justice
05. I Wanna Rock
06. The Price
07. Don't Let Me Down
08. The Beast
09. S.M.F.
10. Never Say Never (Unreleased '84 Sessions Track)
11. Blastin' Fast & Loud (Unreleased '84 Sessions Track)
12. Come Back ('04 Bonus Track)
13. Plastic Money ('04 Bonus Track)
14. You Know I Cry ('04 Bonus Track)
15. Rock N' Roll Saviours ('04 Bonus Track)
16. Heroes Are Hard To Find (Previously Released Bonus Track)
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First off, let me start by stating that in my humble opinion the original TWISTED SISTER 'Stay Hungry' album was easily the album of 1984. Featuring the classic lineup of Dee Snider on vox, Jay Jay French on guitar, Eddie Ojeda on guitar, Mark Mendoza on bass, and A.J. Pero on drums, 'Stay Hungry' was a landmark release which fused hook-laden, catchy rock anthems with balls-out, all-men-play-on-ten Heavy Metal to head-bangingly staggering effect. Hell...ask anyone who was there and you can pretty much bet your favourite sleeveless jean jacket that they'll list it in their personal 'Top 10' of the period. To this very day I can't help but crack a smile every time I remember a big gang of us kids back in Grade 4, marching around the playground of Helen Wilson Public School in Brampton, Ont. with a ghetto blaster rockin', all of us pumping our fists along to 'We're Not Gonna Take It' and 'I Wanna Rock'.
Man, those were the days. If I was reviewing that album now I wouldn't think twice about giving it a 9-10 out of 10. Respect and recognition for Metal of such an unbreakable blue-steel alloy must forever flow.
For some reason however, Dee and co. have decided that this legendary release they have the honour to call their own somehow didn’t cut the muster the first time out (something about a longstanding bone to pick with original producer Tom Werman over the allegedly 'thin', 'radio friendly' sound of the original) and have thus seen fit to re-record and re-release the whole damned thing. Which brings us to the 2004 incarnation of 'Stay Hungry' now retitled as 'Still Hungry' - still featuring the original lineup - on Spitfire Records.
While I have nothing but love and respect for TWISTED SISTER, I feel they have somewhat missed the boat in going forth with this venture. I mean, I can certainly respect an artist's right to look back upon past works with something of a jaundiced and critical eye. Anyone with any kind of creative streak in them knows the temptation to go back, revise, redo, and seek to perfect whatever it is they have poured so much of themselves into. In the recording business certainly, there must always be something that one feels in retrospect they could have done a better job of...a solo that could have been cut short, lengthened or deleted entirely; a vocal line that could have been delivered with more fire; a drum fill that could have been more on the mark, etc, etc, etc...but man...once it's finished, released, and experienced by an audience...I'm sorry, but you have to let it stand on it's own merits. There's no going back at that point.
I mean, what if Frank Frazetta had decided to 'touch up' the 'Death Dealer'!?! Or what if J.R.R. Tolkien was sitting in his study one day and just up and decided the original Lord Of The Rings wasn't cutting it anymore and chose to rewrite a 'newer', 'fresher' version of it!?! Look at Star Wars. Is it just me or does the magic of the original trilogy not ring a little hollow now, knowing that George Lucas just had to go and add all sorts of extra-special CGI bull-shizzle, not to mention making that godawful, horrible frikkin' prequel series!?! Like what is the deal with that!?! Talk about tainting perfection.
To be perfectly honest, the overall sound of this 'newer', 'fresher' TWISTED SISTER isn't even bad per se. In fact it's a decent enough sounding album. It's obviously much more 'modern' with a denser, tighter, ofttimes more minimalist production value, which is I guess the whole point, being that the resulting sound is sharper, clearer, and for lack of a better term 'harder' as a result. I can only imagine that this is what the band must have wanted anyways. And yeah, it serves some of the tracks quite well too, in particular the title track, 'Burn In Hell', 'I Wanna Rock', and 'S.M.F.' gaining a certain drive or 'punch' from the newer-school production values, particularly in terms of the percussion and backing vocals which are much more defined and powerful. For the most part though, I fail to see where there is any drastic overall improvement.
In fact, 'We're Not Gonna Take It' - the arguable centerpiece of the album - seems to lack much of it’s original fire and anthemic glory, and 'The Price', once a passionate, earnest power ballad among power ballads now just plain sucks, Dee sounding as if he didn't even want to be in the studio that day, which is weird because overall, on a purely technical level all the guys sound just as capable today as they did twenty years ago. Bottom line is this: anything that works on this album already worked to begin with on the original. It was the fact that the songs themselves were and are so strong that was and is the key. There was no need to mess with any of this as it already stood tall to begin with. Anything that doesn't work on this album is purely a product of this album, and not the original. What 'Still Hungry' lacks is the organic warmth, earnestness, innocence, and intangible, impossible-to-copy-or-top electric Heavy Metal magic that the original possessed.
If anything, the real highlight for me on 'Still Hungry' is the chance to hear the two unreleased tracks from the original 1984 sessions including the killer Punk/Metal anthem 'Never Say Never' - easily a perfect opening track for a new TWISTED SISTER studio album! (Hint!) – and the fist-pumping rocker 'Blastin' Fast & Loud'. The 2004 bonus tracks are all good-to-decent TS fare, but nothing really stands out as strong as the older classics.
Look, in conclusion 'Stay Hungry' will always remain a legendary classic in Heavy Metal right up there with anything from the same period by METALLICA, MAIDEN, SLAYER, W.A.S.P. ...any of those greats. Bar none. 'Still Hungry' however, comes across as a crass attempt to commercialize upon the success of the original. There. Said it. Sorry, but that’s how I feel. If the band had simply remastered and then re-released the original as a precursor to say, another new studio effort/world tour...then man, I would be totally down with that as it would give a whole new generation the chance to experience something special and beautiful.
As it stands though, I fear that 'Still Hungry' while hardly large enough of an error to irreversibly taint the band's legacy, will be remembered as something of an effort in needless-insecurity and ego-driven futility. If you're at all curious as to what TWISTED SISTER '04 sounds like, then by all means give this a whirl. Personally I would urge you all to instead go out and purchase the original back catalogue as it is there wherein greater magic awaits.
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