Stay Hungry Manassas VA

Stay Hungry

Twisted Sister

Atlantic Records, 1984

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 11/12/2000

Twisted Sister has often been viewed as the bastard child ofheavy metal, especially in the last few years. They were the clownprinces to some people: grown men dressed up like they went throughMadonna's closets and processed them through a meat grinder,singing songs which gave the finger to parental authority and thestatus quo.

But people have conveniently forgotten something about TwistedSister over the years: these guys were actually pretty damn good.Their third album (and quite possibly their best-known), Stay Hungry, is a prime example of that. Once you drop allthe hype surrounding the band and the controversy over them(especially Dee Snider's testimony in Congress against the PMRC),you're left with a very enjoyable album, even after 16 years on themarket.

Let's get the best-known songs out of the way first. "We're NotGonna Take It" - ah, the '80s update of what The Who sang about in Tommy. Think about it for a minute: both songs rally againstan all-controlling, oppresive authority figure. Both call for theoppressed group to strike out and think for themselves. It's justthat Twisted Sister doesn't give the parents a chance to respond(and at least no one returns to a world of deafness and blindnessas The Who's version does). As a song, it's admittedly a bitfluffish - especially in the guitar solo. As an anthem, it stillrings out, even as I approach the big three-oh.

The follow-up single, "I Wanna Rock," is simply a lot of fun,even today. It's another rebellion against parents who just don'tunderstand, albeit not as revolutionary. It's more explanatory -knowing full well the message will go over the authority figures'heads. (Word of advice: if you remember the video, don't try torepeat the scene where kids are slamming their heads into lockers.My buddy who now lives in Florida and I tried that once, and henearly brained himself doing so. I still have the audio-tape ofthat moment in time, Ryan.)