Best hair metal albums 5-1

Here they are.


5-Twisted Sister-Stay hungry-1984
Any of their first three albums would fit here but I think this one had the greatest influence on the genre.


4-Def Leppard-Pyromania-1983
These guys started out doing NWOBHM and eventually became an AOR band. In between they knocked out this really catchy album.

 
3-Motley Crue-Shout at the devil-1983
Wow, what a great album. A shame they never came close to this level after this album.


2-Motley Crue-Too fast for love-1981/1982
To me this was a an 80's hair metal album that had a slight nod to 70's glam.


1-Guns and Roses-Appetite for destruction-1987
If people try to turn up their nose at all hair metal this is the first I point out as the one showed how good this style could be. Unfortunately for every band like GnR or early Motley Crue you got five bands like London, Trixter or Warrant.

Top 10 best re-issues/re-releases of 2011

Our top album lists we be out later this week. In addition to a list of new releases I started doing a list of the top re-issues and re-leases two or three years ago. This year was had so many good entries that I decided to expand the list from 5 to 10. So here they are in order from 1-10.


1-Twisted Sister-Under the blade CD/DVD set
It's one of the best Twister Sister albums with bonus tracks and the DVD is a live show from when they were still raw and angry.

2-Orange Goblin-5 disc box set
Five great helpings of pure thick stoner rock and bonus tracks on each one. WOW!

3-Jethro Tull-Aqualung 40th anniversary special edition 2 disc set
A great sounding remix on Aqualung and a whole disc of bonus tracks.

4-Mos Generator-s/t
Their debut debut re-issued with bonus tracks.

5-Sigh-Scorn Defeat
They had a rougher sound nearly twenty years ago, but just as impressive.

6-Stone Axe-S/T CD/DVD set
The original just came out a couple of years ago, but this version has bonus live tracks and a whole DVD full of live songs.

7-Uncannny-MCMXCI -collected works
Their one album plus demos equals a massive attack of classic early death metal.

8-Thin Lizzy-The boys are back in town, Live in Sydney, Australia 1978
Not their greatest live album, but it's a prime Thin Lizzy show with the band sounding very relaxed.

9-Warlock-Hellbound
My favorite Warlock albums got the re-issue treatment this year.

10-Atomic Rooster-s/t
A very underrated album.

Heavy Metal Thunderdome

I still think that 1984 was absolutely the best year ever fro hard rock and metal. Think about the albums that came out that year from the likes of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica, Van Halen, Dio, WASP, Dokken, Accept, Anthrax, Deep Purple and Whitesnake. That's just for starters. Not one to throw out easy match-ups I selected two albums from 1984 and remember with Heavy Metal Thunderdome judging which album you prefer based on the music. So let's get ready to rummmmmmble.

It's west coast vs east coast in this contest.

Hailing from LA on their first full length album it is those hard rockin' rodents.....


Ratt-Out of the cellar

and their opponents hail from the Big Apple, it is those ripped clothes wearing, painted face lunatics....


Twisted Sister-Stay Hungry


***So based on the music which album do you prefer?

Twisted Sister-Love is for suckers

Spitfire
1987/2011

This was the Twisted Sister album that really wasn't a Twisted Sister album. Yes, confusing I know and the whole back story didn't come out until well after this album was released late in the summer of 1987. This album was originally set to be a solo album for Dee Snider. He brought in outside people to help him record it including Reb Beach and Kip Winger plus drummer Joey Franco programmed the drum machine for the album rather than playing drums. However when it came time to release the album Atlantic records felt it would sell better with the Twisted Sister name on it so Dee had to get the band members to agree and so they are listed as "Twisted Sister are" and their names even though none of them except Dee actually played on the album. On their short tour Joey Franco was their drummer as he replaced AJ Pero who had quit in 1986 to re-join his old comrades in Cities. No matter who the players are this is a very uneven album. I originally had this on cassette and remembering thinking that side one was promising was side two was weak bubblegum rock. My opinion hasn't changed much over the last album 25 years since it's release. Three of the first five tracks (including the title track) are real solid bruners while the other two are more melodic, but quite decent. Tracks 6-9 show the real decline as they are all pop-rock pulp not far off from Bon Jovi or some of the lighter tracks that KISS were doing at the same time. Closer "Yeah Right" might be the only alright song in the second half. It's total cornball for the lyrics and I actually think that it may be as much good as it is that it's not as bad as the four previous tracks. The best thing about this re-issue and the previous re-issue is that it includes four bonus tracks. All four for whatever reason didn't make the final cut for "Love is for suckers". None are fantastic, but all of them are likable and Dee seems very comfortable with them. If these four tracks had been put in the 6-9 spots on this album then I would have given it say a C+ instead of the C-/D+ that I would have to give the finished album. Kind of an odd album that frequently gets forgotten altogether when talking about Twisted Sister and the above story is large part of that, but there are several fine songs on here and the bonus tracks are worth hearing.

Twisted Sister-Come out and play

Spitfire
1985/2011



Twisted Sister's forth full length album has the unfortunate but not totally deserved reputation of being a real missed opportunity. After the success of Stay Hungry in 1984 this band was really at the brink of becoming huge. They just needed their next album to push them over to the next level. There was no reason to believe they wouldn't because their first three albums were all tremendous. Even though it took radio and MTV pushing the singles off of Stay Hungry to get them noticed they still seemed like a band that would make it. All of that changed in 1985 though largely because Twisted Sister underrated their fans. Believing "Leader of the pack" was a wise choice to release as their first single (or even put it on their album) was a foolish decision. It obviously wasn't going to appeal to the teenage hard rock fans that loved "Stay Hungry". Also "You want what we got" and "Lookin' out for #1" are lame anthems. Both suffer from complete lack of spirit or any kind of edge. The slightly moody ballad "I believe in you" is okay overall. They try, but it does out kind of dull. With those songs out of the way we get to the better tracks on the album. "Be chrool to your scuel" was the second video and had a cameo from Alice Cooper. Not so hard rock perhaps, but a fun song although I can see it not being the best choice to release as a single. Again it probably didn't appeal to the band's established audience. "King of the fools" was originally added as a bonus track on the cassette and CD only. It's a slow winding affair, but I have always enjoyed it and thought Dee Snider have his vocals the right degree of emotions. "Out on the streets" also tends to get ignored, but again the vocals help and it's a likable track. Now to the absolute best of this album. "I believe in rock n' roll" has the typical cornball lyrics, but it's a high spirited, fist pumping song that sucks you in right away. "Kill or be killed" is still one of the heaviest Twister Sister songs ever done. Perhaps one of the band's most underrated tacks ever is "The fire still burns" which is one I always have to press the repeat button on. The band must like it to as it has appeared on some of the live performances they have released in recent years. The title track has an opening inspired by the 1979 cheeseball gang film "The Warriors", but quickly burst out and knocks you flat. So I like about 2/3 of the album which makes it above average and certainly not the bomb that so many people dismiss it as. Not the band's best moment for sure, but there are still gems on this one. The new re-issue includes slightly different packaging from the previous re-issue.

Twisted Sister-Club Daze: Volume 1 The studio sessions

Armoury
1999/2011

Many people didn't get into Twisted Sister until the mid-80's when they briefly became a household name due their anthems and crazy videos. Sometimes it's easy to forget that they spent nearly a decade playing in clubs in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut before finally getting a break and releasing "Under the blade" in 1982. This album is a collection of songs the band played back in the late 1970's-early 1980's while they were cutting their teeth and establishing themselves as one of the wildest club bands in their area. The band began in 1973 bringing in elements of glam, hard rock and early punk rock. In 1976 Dee Snyder joined and helped elevate the glam elements in the band despite the changes in the music climate around them. Many of the songs on here are from 1978 and represent a variety of styles. "Come back" is huge thumping rocker with a lot of power behind it. "Rock-n-roll saviors" has an early Judas Priest feel to the music and the lyrics are all about supporting our beloved rock music and pushing past the hated trend of disco. "High steppin' is a push groove-infused trip that bounces along and has a very live feel to it. By 1979 Mark Mendoza replaced Kenny Neill on bass and the line-up was getting closer to the one that most us would know. The tracks from 1979 include a version of "Leader of the pack" that is much more raw than the one that would doom this band when they chose to release it as a single in 1985. There is also and early version of "Under the blade" that shows they had this song about down three years before it became the title track for their debut LP. The real on here is "I'll never grow up now". I first heard this song when it was added as a bonus track on the 1985 re-mixed version of "Under the blade". Having been recorded in 1979 this could be considered a blue print for late anthems like "I am, I'm me" and "We're not gonna take it". However I would say for Twisted Sister that "I'll never grow up now" is the big daddy of anthems because it really is that good. It also makes me think it's shame the band couldn't have gotten signed sooner than they did. This album has plenty of early band pictures in the booklet plus noted from Dee and Jay Jay about their influences and ideas behind the songs on this collection. Twisted Sister fans are sure to be pleased by this one.

Twisted Sister-You can't stop rock and roll

Armoury
1983/1999/2011

Like many people I didn't get into Twisted Sister until Stay Hungry in 1984. I loved that album so much and played it over and over. Of course I wanted more so I sought out their two previous albums "Under the blade" and "You can't stop rock and roll. The debut "Under the blade" was a raw slab of hard rock with plenty of attitude. Their major label debut "You can't stop rock and roll" was a bit more polished, but also saw the band growing some as songwriters yet they still maintained their edge. One of the major type of songs that Twisted Sister would become know for is of course their anthems. There are some prime examples on this album with the stomping opener "The kids are back". The us against them attitude shows up in "I am, I'm me". The believe in yourself thinking dominates "We're gonna make it" and at this point in the band's career this song may have been a personal anthem for the band as they had been at it for years trying to get to "make it" in the music world. Other songs like "Ride to live, live to ride" and the mighty title track will have you singing along in no time. Originally released in 1983 by Atlantic this disc received a re-issue in 1999 on Spitfire records. That re-issue included three bonus tracks with the simple "One man woman", the fist pumping "Four barrel heart of love" and the adrenaline fueled "Feel the power". The problem with the re-issue was that it had the same production of the 1983 version. Although not bad it was shocking to put in the CD and still hear hissing at the beginning of "The kids are back" and the album as a whole didn't sound any better quality wise than the cassette version I was listening to some 15 years earlier. That was a shame because it deserved better. Fortunately someone else agreed as now Armoury has released a re-mastered version of the album with the same bonus tracks as the 1999 version. Now we can heard the classics in a much sharper version. Not all re-mastered versions improve the sound of an album as some show very little change and others strip the sound too much. On "You can't stop rock and roll" it's done right because the sound is clear, but the heaviness and the power is kept intact. A fine re-issue indeed.

Battle of the bands

East coast against West coast. It is


Ratt

vs.


Twisted Sister

***Which band do you prefer?

Twisted Sister-Stay Hungry 25th anniversary edition

Rhino/Atlantic
2009



To say that this album had a major impact on me would be a gross understatement. Back in those early days I was eagerly absorbing any hard rock or metal that I get my hands on. Twisted Sister along with the likes of Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Judas Priest and others were some of the first bands that I was exposed to. I don't know if it was the raw sound or the silly anti-authority lyrics, the drag queens gone wrong look or a combination of all of those, but Twisted Sister just struck a nerve with me.Their first three albums are fine examples of edgy hard rock done with a lot enthusiasm and fire. "Stay Hungry" was the one that really sucked me in. I wore out at least two cassette copies of this back in the mid-1980's. I had a Twisted Sister poster taped to my wall and of course I scribbled TS symbols all over my book covers. My love for the band tapered off on the albums after this as the band failed to deliver a good follow-up. Now twenty-five years later we get this two disc anniversary edition of "Stay Hungry" which also comes just a few years after the band re-recorded the album as "Still Hungry". The first disc is a remastered version of the classic album. Truthfully I don't hear a great deal of difference in the sound, but that's okay because the material still holds up well. "We're not going to take it" is a fantastic anthem that has never gotten old to my ears. Songs like "S.M.F' and the title track still have that powerful bite that they always possessed. Tracks like the two part "Horror-Teria" and the always fantastic "Burn in hell" have a dark side to them and they work even today. "Don't let me down" would be my choice for most underrated song on this album. "The Price" really should have been a bigger hit than it was as it's a slow song done right with feeling rather than the kind of whiny sap that made up many of the hard rock ballads of the day. Now I do have to admit that "I wanna rock" doesn't sound as good to me as it did back then. I still like it, but it's merely decent. That leaves "The Beast" and it is the one song on this album that I have never cared for. It's rather dull, but the rest of the album makes up for it. A great album, but that's not all because we still have disc two which is full of demos and previously unreleased tracks. There are demos for five of the songs on "Stay Hungry" and they vary in quality. The one for the title track is solid and not far off from the final version while "We're not going to take it" sounds very rough and the band has yet to figure out the groove that really drives the completed version. Interesting to hear these tracks in their early stages. Then there are ten older unreleased songs that recorded while the band was making "Stay Hungry" back in late 1983. For whatever reason they were not picked for that album, but at least we get to hear them now. There are some real gems like "What's love without you" and "We're coming on". Actually most of these songs are good although some sound like they could have been fleshed out a little more. In hearing these it's a shame that Twisted Sister went so far off the mark on 1985's "Come out and play" when they had some fine material like these songs already done. The first of the last two entries is a "KMET radio spot" which is brief, but slightly amusing. The other is "30" which is the band's first new track in a long time. It has a bit of an older drive to it, but definitely the kind of simple gritty sound that helped define Twisted Sister back in their prime. Surprisingly better than I was expecting. It's not like I needed an excuse to listen to "Stay Hungry" again, but this is a great album and the second disc is sure to please fans of the band as well.

Clash of the album covers

Sometimes a band just uses a simple logo on their cover and that's what we have this week. So it is...

Twisted Sister-You can't stop rock n' roll (1983)

vs.


Whitesnake-s/t (1987)

***So which one do you prefer?