UTB
George
Posted 2011-08-25 9:13 AM (#28550)
Subject: UTB
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Nearly A Band Member

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http://metalodyssey.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/twisted-sister-my-favorite-album-from-this-legendary-heavy-metal-band-is/

Read the reply section, some interetsing comments

« Five METAL Songs and Albums From 2011 You Must Check Out!TWISTED SISTER – My Favorite Album From This Legendary Heavy Metal Band Is…


TWISTED SISTER – I’m sure many of you by now are wondering which Twisted Sister album is Stone’s favorite? Then again, countless numbers of you aren’t wondering about this at all. Well, my favorite Twisted Sister album of my entire Metal lovin’ life is… well, um, it’s a tie. You see, there is no other way around it. That’s it. My decision on this Metal matter was made many years ago. Make that many decades ago. Under The Blade from 1982 and You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll from 1983 are IT when it comes to Twisted Sister for me.

I embraced Twisted Sister before MTV finally realized they really did Rock. I felt like I was missing out on the band that pummeled my eardrums into Metal bliss with their raw and muscular East Coast Metal that I listened to on their first two albums, once Stay Hungry and Come Out And Play pushed Twisted Sister to the forefront as MTV and chart favorites. Maybe it was the non-commercial mystique of the first two Twisted Sister albums that won me over from the onset. Sure, You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll was released on Atlantic Records, still, that wasn’t an instant recipe for a commercial Metal album. Don’t get me wrong, I was as pumped up as any Metalhead on the planet when Twisted Sister became a household name and Dee Snider stood up to the venomous dictatorship known as the PMRC.



It’s the raw power and back alley vibe that these first two Twisted Sister albums scream with, an almost underground feel swirls about the songs on both. This was Twisted Sister the Metal band that I’d crank up psychotically loud in my parent’s basement while the lyrics of We’re Gonna Make It, I Am (I’m Me), You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll and Day of the Rocker gave me super teenage powers. I would take those same super teenage powers and use them to get through a typical high school day of having my self-esteem receive its daily beating. My self-esteem during those teen years fought back and remained intact, courtesy of Twisted F’n Sister.

When I listened to the songs Under The Blade and Shoot ‘Em Down, I felt as if I was listening to the ultimate bad-ass band in the land. These two songs alone had me feeling like Twisted Sister could kick the shit out of my high school antagonists that picked on me, a fantasy back then that was beneficial Metal therapy for my mind. Twisted Sister was my friend all those years ago, (like so many bands I listened to), protecting me from self implosion while I struggled through those early teen growing pains.

Personal memories can become attached to any album. Regardless of how silly it may seem now, in reflecting on how Twisted Sister made an impact on me, it was those first two albums from this influential Metal band that moved me most. Only now I don’t need Twisted Sister to kick the shit out of anyone. Yes, Twisted F’n Sister and their first two studio albums were an integral part of making me the SMF that I am today. Metal be thy name.



* For more info on TWISTED SISTER, click on the links below:

TWISTED SISTER – Official Website

THE PINKBURST PROJECT


LONG LIVE TWISTED SISTER.

Stone.

6 Responses to “TWISTED SISTER – My Favorite Album From This Legendary Heavy Metal Band Is…”
Coverdale Says:

August 24, 2011 at 7:58 am
Under The Blade is my favorite also. As a matter of fact reading your post put me in the mood for some classic Sister that I had to put it on my iTunes and reread your post over. My favorite tune is Run for your Life. Then you throw in the rest for a close Second! S.M.F.

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metalodyssey Says:

August 24, 2011 at 3:10 pm
Thanks Coverdale for reading this TS post more than once! You’re under the blade, whoaaaaaooo, you’re UN-DER the blade! \m/

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manny Says:

August 24, 2011 at 2:07 pm
My favorite Twisted Sister was and remains ‘You Can’t Stop Rock n Roll’ and reading your post, it reminds me that this music along with other artist, in no small way saved my life, gave me hope for the future, and reminds me that nobody listens to metal to not be empowered, it is music for those will remain forever young.

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metalodyssey Says:

August 24, 2011 at 3:08 pm
Right on Manny! Forever Young. Hey… Rod Stewart wrote that song! All kidding aside… Right On Again! \m/

Although, I still get super powers from listening to Halford – “Thunder And Lightning”!

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80smetalman Says:

August 24, 2011 at 2:59 pm
A case of deja vu all around here. I was just listening to some Twisted Sister on the mp3 on the train. I said it before, these guys are icons of metal. I saw them live before I bought any of their albums, they played the 1983 Donnington Festival and I was hooked. When I returned to the states after that, I raved about this great band and got lots of funny looks.
Stone, my story isn’t too disimilar from yours. After four years of being a number in the marines, I longed to be an individual again and when facing the intolerance of people for doing so, (remember it was 80s Reagan America) it was their songs like “I Am, I’m Me” and “Looking Out for Number 1″ which got me through it. Having said all that, my favourite Sister album is definitely “You Can’t Stop Rock And Roll.”

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metalodyssey Says:

August 24, 2011 at 3:14 pm
You just can’t say enough about how inspiring the lyrics are to so many of these Twisted Sister songs. These guys were and always will be blue collar and street… that’s why their lyrics resonate to us in such a positive and reinforcing way.

Gee Metal whiz… that sounded semi-sappy of me!.

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Captain Howdy
Posted 2011-08-26 8:43 AM (#28559 - in reply to #28550)
Subject: RE: UTB
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Thanks for the post. Lots of similar stories out there thanks to the boys of TS!!!
George
Posted 2011-09-08 9:15 PM (#28659 - in reply to #28559)
Subject: RE: UTB
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http://www.rocktopia.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1559:twisted-sister-under-the-blade-special-edition&catid=910:cd-reviews&Itemid=121

Welcome to the Rocktopia Reviews Section

Twisted Sister - 'Under The Blade' (Special Edition) New

Added by Central Electronic Brain September 07, 2011 Hits: 77 Favorites0 Add to favorites

Twisted Sister - 'Under The Blade' (Special Edition)
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Artist
Artist Twisted Sister
Title
Title Under The Blade (Special Edition)
Label
Label Armoury Records

By far the best and most essential Twisted Sister release.

I am always cynical with the batches of poor reissues offering little extras for your money, with nothing more than a poorly produced demo or booklet, the Ozzy era Sabbath and Rainbow releases being a good example. So well done Twisted Sister for giving us the full monty for this release!! Not only do we get a remixed 'Under The Blade' and the original 'Ruff Cutts' ep, but a dvd of the band's legendary performance at the 1982 Reading Festival and extensive interviews, but more about that later.

These days Twisted Sister must seem pretty tame, but in 1982 the band was like a hurricane hitting the metal community. Looking and sounding like a hybrid of Kiss, Judas Priest and the New York Dolls, the band did not so much play, but kill live on stage.

So how does Under the Blade stand up today I hear you ask? The new mix gives a lot more punch to the music and the staccato intro to 'What You Don't know' benefits from this, the band are giving you the perfect introduction to the world of Twisted Sister and shoving it right in your face! The song still has all its charms some 30 years on, as does the likes the Judas Priest styled 'Sin After Sin'. Though 'Bad Boys Of Rock n Roll' and 'Destoyer' lack musical finesse, they more than make up for it in attitude.

'Tear It Loose', 'Under The Blade' and the classic 'Shoot Em Down' are as potent as ever, but it was the live environment where the band came into there own.



The 'Ruff Cutts' ep is nice to have for your collection and I have fond memories of heading of to Shades record shop in London to get my copy.

So on to the DVD, which is where this release really comes into it own. I can still remember the amount of gob smacked faces as the band hit the stage at the Reading festival and won the crowd over, through sheer stage craft and ability to dodge the bottles! Having never known this performance was filmed this really is a wonderful bonus for anyone who remembers being there. The highlights are Dee Snider, a true rock n roll ape of a man, offering the audience a fight if they kept throwing bottles, and Lemmy, Fast Eddie and Pete Way jamming on the Stones 'It's Only Rock n Roll'.

It's nice to capture an important moment in rock n roll history and see the band firing on all cylinders. You have to remember that the days of embracing the whole glam metal scene were in its infancy and i can remember a lot of die hard rockers being very sceptical regarding this band. So it really was a pivotal moment in Twisted Sister's history and the band elaborate in amusing detail their thoughts on the show and what it meant to them then and now. We also have a detailed warts and all interview regarding the making of the 'Under The Blade' record, which believe it or not was recorded in a barn of all places!

In all this is by far the best and most essential Twisted Sister release, period, a wonderful introduction to the band for the novice or a trip down memory lane for anyone old enough to remember.

Ray Paul