Welcome to another edition of From My Collection. Today we’re hopping into the DeLorean and heading back to the summer of 1984. Arguably the greatest summer in metal history, it was a hot one filled with big hair and big guitars. And no band had bigger hair or bigger guitars than Twisted Sister. It’s no wonder they were, albeit briefly, the biggest band in the country. While their fall came a lot faster than their rise, Twisted Sister’s pro-youth message of sticking it to the man has stood the test of time and resonated with multiple generations, as evidenced by this week’s essay.
Fact: The early 2010s was a better time to be alive. As I grew older, I used to think this was nothing more than an opinion I held based on a combination of depression, anxiety, and nostalgia. But after the events that transpired in the last year, I can unequivocally say the early 2010s were indeed a better time to be alive. Back in those days, malls were still a fashionable hangout spot, scene kids were a thing, and the YouTube app icon on my iPhone was an old TV. Meanwhile, my musical diet consisted of whatever bands VH1 Classic chose to treat me with on Metal Mania. Some of these bands included Mötley Crüe, Van Halen, Quiet Riot, and of course, Twisted Sister.
What kid didn’t love Twisted Sister at one point in time or another? As I sat dove-eyed watching my beloved heavy metal drag queens beat the living daylights out of stuffy authority figures, I couldn’t help but fantasize about them paying a visit to my oppressive Catholic middle school and doing the same to my tormentors. Old hags whose names I can’t type out of fear of bodily harm, or even worse, lawsuit…that is assuming they’re still alive. I can almost feel their yellow eyes staring at me in disapproval as I type this.
Anyways, back to the topic at hand. After multiple viewings of the “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock” music videos, I had to pick up the entire album. I wanted to hear the songs that were considered “so extreme”, Dee Snider had to go to the US senate to defend his moral character and singlehandedly hand Al Gore’s ass to him while doing so. What would Al Gore of all people know about “moral character” anyways? The guy is a career politician. I’d trust a snake oil salesman before I trust some D.C. suit, but again, I digress.
For so called OG Twisted Sister fans, Stay Hungry is largely considered to be the “sellout” album. I don’t understand why. Sure “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock” have been played ad nauseam. Sure “The Price”, while an excellent power ballad, is uncharacteristic of their early work. Sure the polished production of Tom Werman added a radio friendly sheen that was previously nonexistent. But if we examine the rest of Stay Hungry, we’ll see yet another shining example of early 80s US metal.
Stay Hungry opens with its blistering title track. If we stripped down the production, it wouldn’t sound out of place on Under the Blade. It’s a take no prisoners anthem, capped off by TS’s signature motivational lyrics:
“Be the hunter and the hunted, keep your target in your sight
Don’t be side tracked or shunted, let pretenders feel your bite
And if you start to slide never show you’re weak
Don’t feel you’ve got to hide
Remember what you’re fighting for, remember what you seek”
As a weirdo 11 year old with no friends, you have no clue how much these lyrics resonated with me. Every time I dropped the needle on Stay Hungry, it felt like Dee Snider was singing to me and me only. Of course he wasn’t. He was singing to every kid in the country that felt the exact same way I did. But it was nice to imagine that he was.
The title track and the aforementioned hits weren’t the only slabs of motivational metal to be found on this classic album. Stay Hungry closed with the courageous, yet controversial “S.M.F.” At 11 years old, I knew what an “S.M.F.” was. Not only that, but I took pride in being one. I just hoped my mom wouldn’t figure out what those three letters stood for. Oh to be young again.
Now there’s one thing that perplexes me the most regarding the Stay Hungry “sellout” argument. If Stay Hungry truly is a “sellout” album, how come it features some of the darkest and heaviest songs of their career? Surely if it was a “sellout” album through and through, there’s no way Atlantic would allow songs about the devil (“The Beast”), the underworld (“Burn in Hell”), and an 8 minute rock opera about a child predator (“Horror-Teria”). Here’s a fun fact for you! Back in middle school, a book report that I completely forgot about snuck up on me, so I freestyled one about “Horror-Teria” (“The book I read was Horror-Teria by Dee Snider”). Needless to say, my decrepit English teacher bought it and gave me an A+.
So what’s the point I’m trying to make of all this? Oh yeah. Stay Hungry is NOT a sellout record, and even if it was, who cares. I’m sure my attitude towards this silly non-issue is the same as Twisted Sister’s. If you love this album as much as I do, come and join the rest of us “S.M.F.”s. If not, feel free to throw yourself down a flight of stairs before Dee does so for you.