The-Mad-Dog - 2006-09-16 9:34 AM

Hey everyone,
It's been a long time since I've posted here, and I've never posted on this new board. I'm a HUGE Twisted Sister fan, and I've driven from Boston to see 4 shows (2 Bent Brother, 2 Twisted Sister) since April 2003. Twisted is simply my favorite band. They are the first heavy metal band I ever got into, and I've been listening to them since I was 14 in 1997, which any SMF can remind you was a rather stagnent time for the band. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for this band: I own every album, two picture interview discs, posters, anything I can ever get my hands on. The pinnacle of all this was being spellbound at meeting JJ after a show BB show at the Station.

But, I have to express my discontent over this Christmas album. I already had reservations about the re-recording of Stay Hungry, but I really believe this Christmas album is going too far. If this is to be the band's last ever release... I don't know, it just leaves me disappointed. It seems like kind of a funny end, seemingly a way to fizzle out. If this Christmas album is actually meant to serve as a penultimate release, and if we perhaps have one final album or DVD to expect, then maybe they're setting us up for that. I just think this Christmas album is an incredibly cheasy end to a band that has tried to dodge being called cheasy throughout a greater part of its career.

Perhaps my disappointment goes too far; I mean no disrespect to the band, nor its fans. If this is the band's wish, all I can do is respect that and be thankful for the shows I've been able to see and the albums that I cherish. Maybe the album will be a lot more fun than I'm anticipating. Either way, being the ardent fan that I am, I'm still likely to buy it at some point. I understand what it's like being in a band, you really have to satisfy what you want to do before you can even come close to making the fans happy, otherwise things will just never work out. This band has been extroadinarily great to its fans, and they literally owe us NOTHING.

In my personal opinion, the greatest album Twisted Sister ever released was Live at Hammersmith. The band has always performed and sounded better live than in any studio setting. In the studio, the rawer the production, the better the band has sounded, which is probably why I like the original pressing of Under the Blade best in terms of a studio album. Second to Live at Hammersmith would be the live tracks on Big Hits, Nasty Cuts. Although these tracks have some live concert sound issues, the energy, force, and performance from the band is all there. (As an aside, I would like to say that I was excited to find that alternate takes from this concert at the Marque Club recorded on another date are on the B-side of some of the Secret Record singles. That was a neat, unexpected bonus when I happened on one of them.)

I express all of these feelings to show that I truly am a HUGE fan of this band and that I want them to succeed in every way. I just didn't think it was a good idea to record a Christmas album from the beginning, and these feelings have since been compounded upon hearing the "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" clip.

-MD