Review by Daniel for Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry (1984)

I had a fair bit of time for Twisted Sister’s 1982 debut album “Under The Blade” & 1983 follow-up “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll”. Both releases were based just as much on hard rock & 70’s glam rock as they were on heavy metal but their penchant for simple anthemic song-writing & no-holds-barred delivery saw them receiving more than a little interest from the metal audience. There's very little question that their third album “Stay Hungry” created a general feeling of skepticism amongst that audience though; mainly due to its two hugely successful hard rock anthems “We’re Not Gonna Take It” & “I Wanna Rock”. Although “Stay Hungry” saw Twisted Sister reaching worldwide success for the first time, it’s developed a bit of a bad reputation with some metal purists due to it's unapologetically commercial edge but I think this is pretty unfair to be honest. I don’t consider “Stay Hungry” to take a vastly different direction to Twisted Sister’s previous material. They’ve always had those more commercially focused rock anthems on every album. It’s just that this time they’re a little more effective & that’s led to the sort of fandom that has scared off those more underground fans that weren’t comfortable with admitting they enjoy commercially successful music.

I’d suggest that there’s probably about the same sort of 50/50 ratio of rock & metal here as there was on Twisted Sister’s first two records. Only this time there’s a little more consistency in the song-writing. There are a couple of flat tracks but no real shockers like we’ve seen from them before. Unfortunately, the production isn’t too great though as the guitar sound is particularly thin & sounds like it'd be much better suited to a rock band than a metal one. Some songs are affected by it much more than others but it’s not all that noticeable on the hit singles to be honest. Possibly because we all tend to turn them up a bit louder. Dee Snider’s vocal performance is top notch as usual though & the rest of the band tend to play mainly supportive roles with the only weak point being my long-standing issues with their guitar solos. They sound particularly pedestrian on this occasion & they’re not helped by the fact that the average level of musicianship metal musicians were capable of had increased considerably in the two years since “Under The Blade”.

Interestingly enough, I actually think that some of the metal songs on “Stay Hungry” are amongst Twisted Sister’s heaviest material to date with a stronger Black Sabbath influence being brought to the fore in the shape of a few slower-paced doomy numbers with chunky Tony Iommi style riffs. Closer “S.M.F.” is pure AC/DC worship but it does it really well too. Ultimately though, Twisted Sister albums will always live & die by the quality of their anthemic choruses & there are plenty here to enjoy. I challenge anyone raised in the 80’s to tell me they don’t have any time for “We’re Not Gonna Take It” & “I Wanna Rock” whose hilariously over-the-top video clips must surely have left a permanent imprint on your impressionable young minds.

Overall, “Stay Hungry” sees Twisted Sister producing their best album to date. It’s exciting. It’s catchy. But most of all.. it’s a really fun listen.