Published on Aug 16, 2001
Okay, I can hear people’s eyes rolling on this one. It’s bad
enough those goons at “DV” have reviewed tribute albums two days in
a row, you’re thinking, but a tribute album to
Twisted Sister?!? What are they smoking over there?
Come on, Dee Snider and crew weren’t
that bad… in fact, I kinda liked them as a young lad, and
I still pull their albums out from time to time to blow out the
pipes. Sure, they looked like they had rummaged through the garbage
bins of Jennifer Beals (go ask your parents about
Flashdance if that name means nothing to you), and they got
their make-up tips from Tammy Faye Bakker. But musically, these
guys were no joke;
Stay Hungry is still a powerful album in my eyes.
So
Twisted Forever makes perfect sense. It’s the selection of
some artists that doesn’t.
Actually, I have problems with only two artists. Nine Days’s
version of “The Price” – “weak” isn’t the word for it. This group
is horribly mismatched on this album, and they stick out like
Slayer would covering “Tiptoe Through The Tulips”. I have no
problem with the band, mind you – but they just don’t belong on
this disc.
The other issue isn’t necessarily the artist – Chuck D has
proven to be a friend to the world of heavy metal – but the version
of the song he’s covering. “Wake Up The Sleeping Giant” – geez, if
I didn’t know that came from a Twisted Sister album, I’d never have
recognized it. I like Chuck D, but I just don’t like what he’s done
with this song.
This isn’t to say that
Twisted Forever is a slipshod project. Lit absolutely tears
into “I Wanna Rock,” capturing its nuances almost note-for-note.
The Step Kings impress with “Burn In Hell,” almost giving it a
ska-like quality, while others like Cradle Of Filth (“The Fire
Still Burns”), Sebastian Bach (“You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N Roll”) and
Hammerfall (“We’re Gonna Make It”) do admirable jobs with their
covers.
There are some cuts on
Twisted Forever that will fall under the “personal bias”
category. For myself, I could have lived without the harmony vocals
in the chorus of “We’re Not Gonna Take It” as covered by Joan Jett;
otherwise, she
did do a good job, even capturing a bit of the Snider sneer
in the vocals. Likewise, I do wish that Anthrax had picked a song
with a little more speed than “Destroyer”; the plodding beat of
this one doesn’t seem to fit the band.
Twisted Sister even makes a rare appearance on this disc with…
an AC/DC cover? You got it, pal. “Sin City” blasts forth, and they
prove that Twisted Sister was a capable group of musicians. Snider
sounds a lot like Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. these days, but he
handles this one well. Whether this was another one-off shot for
the band (the other being the
Strangeland soundtrack) or not we don’t know… but this
track proves that the Sister still has the power, and I’d gladly
welcome a reunion.
Twisted Forever might get some interest from fans of today’s
groups, while others will want to hear new versions of some old
favorites. Whatever your reason for checking this one out – and
it’s worth checking out – don’t be surprised if you soon find
yourself dusting off your copy of
Under The Blade or
You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N Roll.