As the years go by, some things just get better with age.  Others just seem to age.  While there are many albums that can transport one back to a specific time and place in one’s life, not all of them hold up as well after time.  This remastered debut of Twisted Sister’s Under the Blade is one of the latter type.  It’s produced by UFO bassist Pete Way, an early convert to the cause.  While there are a lot of good time rockers here, there aren’t any songs that stand solidly next to TS hits like “I Wanna Rock” or “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”  The sound has improved somewhat with the remastering, but Twisted Sister was never really about the dynamics anyway.  Their outrageous stage costumes, makeup and frontman Dee Snider’s brazen stance on stage (and more importantly, on video), were admittedly what set them apart from so many average metal bands of the 1980s.  Fortunately for the dedicated Twisted Sister fan, the bonus material makes this a worthy collection.

Before these New Yorkers made their mark in their homeland, they had a degree of success among headbangers in Europe – particularly in the UK.  They had been well-known regionally and sold out many a venue on the Eastern seaboard of America, but what first got them noticed was their debut EP, Ruff Cutts.  That four-song disc is included here, as well as a live version of “Shoot ‘Em Down” from Reading.  A DVD of that 1982 Reading appearance is the frosting on the cake, though.  They hit the stage in broad daylight with “What You Don’t Know,” dodging the typical barrage of rotten fruit and sundry garbage in the Reading tradition, but win the crowd over before the end of the set.  Snider has the moxie to scold the crowd for throwing things and calls them out to meet the band after the show to tell them, “How much we suck,” to their faces.  Guest appearances by Lemmy, Fast Eddie Clark and Pete Way on the closing version of the Stones’ “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll” is all the anointing these finicky punters needed to embrace the “Bad Boys of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”  (This was after Clark had left Motorhead, so it was a real treat for fans of that pairing.)  There is also a good deal of interview material that provides a lot of insight into the music and the era during which it was made.  The continual contrast of the band members as they appear today with the metal drag monsters on stage over a quarter of a century earlier makes for very entertaining viewing.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2011  Volume 4 at lulu.com/strangesound.

This is a powerful opening track that was also a perfect set opener.  Snider’s delivery evokes Alice Cooper a time or two; a nod to one of their influences.  “Ain’t we a pretty picture? / Ain’t we a lot of fun?”

The lead melody line sounds like a preview of things to come.  Every time I hear it, it makes me think of “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”  Snider’s philosophy is summed up with, “How bad can a bad boy be if he sets you free?”

Like a lot of Twisted Sister’s song titles, this one has been used several times before.  It has a similar theme to the Beatles’ song by the same name, albeit a little bit more misogynistic.

The theme here is similar to Iron Maiden’s “Killers,” with a few allusions to the victim being at the show.

This song may have been the precursor of speed metal.  Thematically, it is similar to “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”  Fast Eddie Clark lays down a mean solo on this one.

This is a great closing track that practically demands one to pump a fist – or metal horns – in the air.  It’s a perfect choice for the album closer.

The Ruff Cutts version from earlier that year is also the lead track on the album and the concert.

This is the Ruff Cutts version of the title track.

I always thought this was a peculiar choice for a cover song, but they make it work.

This is a good choice for the live cut, although Snider’s Uzi firing off doesn’t sound as terrifying as it looks on the DVD.