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Eagle Rock Entertainment has remastered and re-released Twisted Sister’s 1982 debut album, Under The Blade, along with a DVD from 1982’s prestigious Reading Festival in England. It also contains four tracks from their 1982 Ruff Cuts EP, including their odd choice of a cover song in “Leader of the Pack” by The Shangri-Las. It also includes a live version of “Shoot ‘Em Down” from the Reading Festival.

The EP tracks have never before appeared on a CD

Under The Blade includes anthems such as “Destroyer,” Shoot ‘Em Down,” “Tear It Loose” and “Under The Blade.” Dee Snider’s commanding vocals, the twin guitar licks of Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda, the monstrous bass runs of Mark Animal Mendoza and the thunderous drumming of AJ Pero were unstoppable on this album. Their transvestite look combined with their melodious hooks and crushing rhythm section really set them apart from the other bands at the time.

The DVD concert performance is a rousing daylight display in which the band tried their best to win the fickle Brits over, and they pretty much succeeded. The Reading crowd didn’t really know what to think of the band, but by the end of the set, they were quite pleased.

The set list includes songs from Under The Blade, as well as a jaw-dropping rendition of The Rolling Stones’ “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll” with guests Pete Way, Lemmy and Fast Eddie Clarke from Mötörhead. Dee and Co. can actually be credited for reuniting Fast Eddie and Lemmy for the first time on stage since Eddie split from the band.

With three bassists and three guitarists on stage and once, it gets a bit crowded, and a bit sloppy, but the crowd loved it.

Highlights of the show are when Dee challenges the crowd, who were throwing stuff at the band, to meet them after the show — even calling the British crowd pussies and wimps. That scene alone almost converted the crowd. In the interview segment of the DVD, the band talks about how they had to constantly duck and dodge fruit, veggies, bottles of piss, crap and eggs hurled from the crowd.

The DVD also includes 40 minutes of newly shot interviews with the band discussing the recording of Under The Blade as well as the Reading Festival performance.

The concert was shot with only three cameras; center stage, stage right and stage left. But this raw, unpolished cinematic attempt gives the DVD its flavor and character. Being that it was Twisted Sister’s coming out party, so to speak, the performance was an exciting time for the band. They finally broke out of the club circuit and was playing in front of 20 to 30,000 people.

Under The Blade set the tone for what was to come in the band’s somewhat turbulent career. The album was a milestone in heavy rock at the time. The CD still holds up today, and the DVD alone is worth the price of the two-disc set.

(Released May 31, 2011 on Armoury Records)



Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.