Unitron Twisted Sister are one of those big 80's metal bands that are unfortunately mostly only remembered today for one or two songs, in their case, the hit punk metal anthem that was We're Not Gonna Take It. While a decent enough song if you like that kind of thing (I don't), it doesn't reflect the rest of this album or the majority of Twisted Sister's sound as a whole.

Stay Hungry is a great combination of energetic classic heavy metal and dark yet melodic doom metal. The title track, I Wanna Rock, and S.M.F. belong to the former, while Burn in Hell, Horror-Teria, and The Beast are the latter. I think it hits a perfect balance, makes for a great album of two sides.

My favorites though are the three darker songs, mainly for how great the hooks and melodies are. Burn in Hell has always sounded like it really influenced Anthrax, especially in Dee Snider's vocal performance in the catchy refrain of the 'Hear no evil, see no evil' section. Horror-Teria is one of the most intimidating and disturbing doom metal songs I've heard, but it's got such a great riff, chorus, and powerful ending, that it keeps you listening. Finally, The Beast simply just has such a killer riff, and might be my favorite on the album.

One of 80's heavy metal's great classics.

Vim Fuego Many a metal fan in the 1980s would tell anyone who would listen that all glam metal was for poseurs and any one of hundreds of different synonyms for homosexual. Glam metal was for poodle haired cross dressers more interested in make-up and picking up chicks than making music with any redeeming value whatsoever. By and large, this was true. Witness for example the excesses of Motley Crüe, the effete foppery of Poison, the commercialised pop/rock of Bon Jovi, and the failings of any one of a number of other bands, like Faster Pussycat, Tiger Tailz, LA Guns, Bang Tango, Great White, Ratt, ad infinitum.

Occasionally though, a glam metal band managed to produce an album masculine enough to appeal to true metal fans. W.A.S.P. managed it with two or three albums, and Motley Crüe almost achieved it with the rough and ready "Girls Girls Girls". "Stay Hungry" by Twisted Sister was another of these albums, and by far and away the most successful.

Pre-dating the decadence of the LA glam metal scene by a good few years, Twisted Sister moulded the hard rocking theatrics of Kiss and Alice Cooper to their own shape. While many bands forgot to learn the basics, like playing instruments and writing songs, with Twisted Sister, the music always came first. The outrageous image was merely a marketing tool. Iron Maiden were also wearing multi-coloured spandex in 1984, and no one was questioning their musical validity.

"Stay Hungry" will always be best remembered for the two huge singles it spawned, and their hilarious accompanying videos. `We're Not Gonna Take It' and `I Wanna Rock' are both lowest common denominator shout along anthems of simplistic teen rebellion at its basest level, but damn it, they are just so addictive, and the fun factor negates their obvious commercial intentions.

If you look past the singles though, the rest of the album is reasonably dark. You thought glam metal was all about partying and chicks and lightweight throwaway rock n’ roll? Think again. Some of the riffs would have done Judas Priest proud at the time. And while some blame glam metal for the eventual decline of the solo because the guitar players were not technically proficient enough, don't point fingers at Twisted Sister- try Mick Mars and CC De Ville.

The most obvious starting point to illustrate the dark side is the creepy double shot of `Horror-Teria'. First up, `Captain Howdy' explores the psyche of a deranged child killer, not unlike Freddy Krueger. "You think you're going home to your own little bed/ But that's impossible, you can't sleep when you're dead". Captain Howdy was caught and tried for his crimes, but wasn't convicted, so a lynch mob formed and meted out `Street Justice'. "Now before you shake your head/ Think if it was your child instead". While not the deepest, most meaningful pair of songs ever, would any of Twisted Sister's contemporaries have stopped thinking about their dicks long enough to produce songs like these? `Burn In Hell', `The Beast', `Don't Let Me Down' and `The Price also have negative lyrical themes, exploring where things and people fit in the world. `Burn In Hell' and `The Beast' would not seem out of place on a traditional Metal album, while `The Price' is an Ozzy-esque power ballad.

Although not the heaviest album ever, look carefully in the hidden corners of many a metal fan's collection and you might just find the familiar picture of Dee Snider feasting on a bone. "Stay Hungry" was perhaps the greatest entry-level metal album of the early 1980s, and deservedly so.

Stephen If there's something bad in the mind of TWISTED SISTER's fans regarding this album is that apart from a difference in style compared to their earlier albums, two days after its release date, Dee Snider announced that he's no longer a part of the band. Beau Hill was behind the production desk and at first, 'Love Is For Suckers' was intended to be Dee's solo album but the label scrap the idea and asked them to release under TWISTED SISTER brand.

Considering that 1986 is a year full of commercial hits from the fellow glam bands, this album tried to adapt with the climate, producing several songs that are potential for airplay such as 'Hot Love', the title track, 'Tonight', and the ballad, 'You're All That I Need'. I understand if some fans didn't like this at all, because they expect the band to keep playing the raw and wicked hard rock like the old days, but I'm one of the few who enjoyed it a lot.

'Me And The Boys' is another fun track, sounds anthemic and even though slightly sloppy at chorus, this is truly a strong track. 'One Bad Habit' is addictive and as great as 'Hot Love', these two are the best on this album. 'Yeah Right' is probably the worst filler, if only they replace it with a better song. Having the remastered version is nice, especially for the four bonus tracks alone.

Beware that if you prefer the olden days, this might not suitable for you, otherwise, it's a solid underrated album and I think deserved to have around 80%.

topofsm In the wake of Christmas season you are sure to see plenty of artists and their Christmas albums: Mariah Carey, Jethro Tull, Twisted Sister. What? Ok, scratch the last one. You are likely not going to see Twisted Sister on any Christmas lists. However, in 2006 the SMFs released a Christmas album filled with heavy metal riffs and old-school pounding drums.

Sure, you'd be hard pressed to call this album a masterpiece. The riffs aren't anything beyond a standard heavy metal band from the 80s, and the melodies, being Christmas tunes are of course straightforward. But the album is fun, and the simple power chords playing on amps turned to eleven gives exactly the refresher these kinds of songs need.

All a person would need convincing for them to get this album is to listen to "We're not Gonna Take it", which begins with a familiar beat: the same intro to their hit, "We're not Going to Take It". The heavy riffs make the song fun, and the chord progressions between the tunes match up perfectly. An outro of "Hava Nagila" in slow, heavy time finishes it up nicely.

The rest of the tracks are pretty good. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", "Let it Snow" and the ballad "I'll be Home for Christmas" featuring Lita Ford all breathe some new life into the songs most people become sick of during the winter season. However, after a while it just seems like the band needed a few more songs to fill the album. Filler of course happens, and this album is no different. It does end on a high note "The Twelve Days of Christmas" where the band asks for heavy metal gifts and their true love gives them among other things, 3 studded belts, 2 pairs of spandex pants, and a tattoo of Ozzy.

Overall, this is never going to be a Christmas classic. There is plenty of boring filler that gets the songs to sound older than they already are playing on the radio by themselves. However, for metal fans looking for some Christmas tunes heavier than the standard Trans Siberian Orchestra, A Twisted Christmas is a good one.