Leave it to Rhino to roll out a 25th anniversary edition of Twisted Sister’s infamous album Stay Hungry. Remembering the cartoon-like videos for “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock,” hearing Dee Snider’s guttural growl and the syncopated guitar work of J.J. French and Eddie Ojeda brings one back to the 80s when these guys ruled with their spandex and glitter. This is pop/metal at its most aggressively frilly and the nine songs of the original album and the 15 extras are pretty much what you’d expect, want and remember.
Besides the hits, there’s the album’s title track, a rather fast opener, maybe not the best Snider vocal, but still it pumps with an infectious chorus. The album’s centerpiece, part of a Snider rock opera that became his Strangeland movie, is “Horror-Teria (The Beginning)” with “Captain Howdy” and “Street Justice.” Elsewhere, “The Price” really shows drummer A.J. Pero off and sounds like TS doing the Scorpions. “Done Let Me Down” again has another catchy chorus, while “The Beast” boasts a plodding mean snarl drive. The aptly named “S.M.F. “(also the moniker used for the more fervent Twister Sister fan) marks a great ending, again with Snider at about the edge of his range, but it all works great on this very nasty tune.
The second of this double-CD set features 15 unreleased outtakes and demos from the original Stay Hungry sessions, plus a new track recorded by the classic ’84 Twisted line-up. There’s “Death From Above,” a heavy track that doesn’t try too hard, with a nice upfront Snider delivering a bit simple yet apocalyptic effective lyric. Then there’s the almost slow funk “Prime Motivator” with TS sounding a lot like early Kiss (not a surprise if one considers that TS is from NYC, and at one time even hung out and played with Gene Simmons and the boys). Demos of “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” “S.M.F.,” “The Price,” “Burn in Hell” and “Stay Hungry” are also here. These are really only noteworthy for their place in TS history, not because they are interesting alternate versions, because they’re not.
“Call My Name” and “Pay The Price” are pretty rockin’ and makes you wonder why songs this tight were left off Stay Hungry. They might be the best songs between the two discs. A KMET Radio Spot is fun at the end of the CD, as is that new tune “30.” Snider’s voice actually sounds pretty controlled singing these rather banal lyrics about the band’s history, and the whole band plays pretty well on this one.
Twisted Sister sound like a lot of other bands of their ilk, sometimes a little too close to them actually, but Snider and the boys managed to slip in a steady chunk of pop sensibility on the triple-platinum Stay Hungry. And whether they reform for the Sturgis festival once a year, or their videos enjoy a heavy rotation during VH1’s 80’s weekends, the 25th anniversary edition of Stay Hungry, with a whole extra disc of unreleased stuff, is sure to keep Twisted Sister alive for all of us — S.M.F. or not.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
