AC/DC-Blow up your video (1988)
Vs.
Twisted Sister-Come out and play (1985)
Vocals
It is Brian Johnson going against Dee Snider. You have one guy (Johnson) who has never been much good doing alright material so he really sucks doing this sub-par material. AC/DC were never that creative, but for this album they were definitely on empty as far as ideas go. Johnson just stumbles hoarsely through the most tedious tripe of this band's career. Snider was always more about attitude than range in his approach. That's fine if the songs allow him to bring some aggression. The problem here is that they tried to tone down their sound on several songs and Snider sounds like a caged tiger going around in circles because he had no idea where to go with this type of song. However the sound of a caged tiger is better than the sound of a cat having it's tail stepped on so...
Point to Twisted Sister
Guitars
It is Angus and Malcom Young vs. Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda. There was a time when the Youngs could have outplayed these two lightweights on their worst day. Unfortunately by this point the Young brothers had gone through numerous bad days and even worse albums. The fire they showed in the 70's was about gone by this point and they had become shells of their former selves. The Twisted Sister duo struggled even in their best moments and this album was certainly not their best. It's extremely funny when a guitarist goes by the nickname "fingers" yet he can barely play. Still they hit on a few songs while the Young brothers just mailed in their performances.
Point to Twisted Sister
Rhythm section
It is drummer Simon Wright and bassist Cliff Williams of AC/DC against drummer AJ Pero and bassist Mark Mendoza for Twisted Sister. Talk about afterthoughts, neither rhythm section really stands out here. Pero and Wright are both okay but bland as can be. However Williams is alright while Mendoza is barely audible. "The Animal" probably also did help his reputation by playing the bass with a pounding closed fist on those videos from the previous year.
Point to AC/DC
Disappointment Factor
AC/DC's previous full length was "Fly on the wall" back in 1985 and is was mediocre at best. Then came "Who made who" in 1986 which had three new songs which were decent. So my expectations for this album were not that high. Twisted Sister's previous album was the excellent "Stay Hungry" in 1984. "Come out and play" had a few good songs, bit it also had mindless crap like "Leader of the pack" and "Lookin' out for #1". Before this album came out Twisted Sister were really on the brink of becoming huge. Then they went and released an album where half of the songs would not appeal to any self-respecting metal fan. I don't know if they had lost touch with their audience or if they were just arrogant enough to think they could get away with this. No matter the reason, Twisted Sister tanked their once promising career with this album.
Point to AC/DC
Who rocks more?
For a band who loved to put the words "rock" and "rock and roll" in their songs a lot AC/DC had really forgotten how to write good rock songs by this point in their career. There is maybe one or two songs that kind of rock on this album. Twisted Sister blew a golden opportunity by straying too far from the sound they had established on their previous three albums. Still there are four or five songs that rock on this album.
Point to Twisted Sister
There you have it as Twisted Sister take it 3-2. Both albums are severely flawed. AC/DC bounced back commercially on the next album. However for Twisted Sister it was the beginning of the end at least for that run of the band. AC/DC sounded old and tired on this album. Twisted Sister sounded like they were trying to incorporate pop elements into their music. Unfortunately the end results included about half an albums worth worth of stinkers.
There you go, I'll be back with another one in a few weeks.
Come Out and Play had some really good songs on it. I pretty much hate everything with Brian Johnson singing on it.
ReplyDeleteI remember being let down big time by Come Out and Play. AC/DC lost it for me a couple albums earlier, but my vote for the worse LP goes to Come Out and Play.
ReplyDeleteAC/DC really bit the big one on this snorefest. I remember going to Hunt Valley Mall, having saved my money for Come Out and Play and talking myself into liking it. I don't think it's all crap, but it was definitely hard to swallow, like the subsequent album
ReplyDeleteIt seems that I'm in the majority for once. That was a terrible period for AC/DC and a tragic day for Twisted Sister, who I think get a bum rap way too often. Stay Hungry is still a good listen, and take away "We're Not Gonna' Take It" and "I Wanna Rock" and you have a solid, sometimes dark and edgey heavy metal album.
ReplyDeletePope
Holy smokes, I'm agreing with Sean twice in one day! Brian Johnson is so bad that I don't think he even qualifies as a singer.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember Come Out and Play all that well (even though I have a copy), but AC/DC lost what tiny amount of appeal they have for me as early as Highway, so I'm not all that surprised that Twisted Sister won this one.