Customer Reviews

Big Hits & Nasty Cuts: Best of

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

People, the name of the CD is "big Hits and Nasty Cuts", not "Twisted Sister's Greatest Hits and Nothing else." As a loooooong time Ts fan, I love the fact that this CD represents the full picture of the band. Sure, they had some huge hits in the hayday of hair metal, but in the late 70s and early 80s, they were one of the most vicious live acts around in terms of their intensity. the live tracks recorded at the Marquee Club in London show just how intense they were before their radio-friendly hits were recorded. I think the name of the CD says it all and no one should be surprised at what they are getting when they buy it. The Cd has equal helpings of their most well-known hits, as well as just enough early live stuff to show you what they sounded like before they were the darlings of MTV.

I know that TS was generally embarrased by both the quality and the sales performance of their last two albums ("Come Out And Play" and "Love Is For Suckers") and therefore chose not to have them represented on this compilation, but there were at least three tracks worthy for inclusion - "Leader Of The Pack", "Be Chrool To Your Scuel" and "Hot Love". Yeah, "Leader Of The Pack" is kinda cheesy (watch their "Behind The Music" episode to see how well that song is regarded by those associated with the band), but wasn't Twisted Sister pretty cheesy to begin with? And isn't that what we loved about them? I mean, any of those three songs would've definitely fit better here than the pathetic live tracks at the end of this disc. Their version of the Stones' "It's Only Rock & Roll (But I Like It)" may be the worst cover version ever recorded.

As it is, this record pretends that Twisted Sister ceased to exist after 1984, which is sad. Still, if all you know is "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", there's some hidden gems here. "The Kids Are Back" is my all-time favorite TS song, and "Shoot 'Em Down", "I'll Never Grow Up Now", "The Price", "You Can't Stop Rock & Roll" and "I Am (I'm Me)" are all classic as well.

Two stars, count them 2. It's not even worth that much,I'm being generous.Too many live cuts,if you want live music then buy a live album.What I wanted was a greatest hits cd and I didn't get one.I can think of better songs that could have been put on this disk.Two stars... one for each good song on this so called "GREATEST HITS" cd.

Wow, this is a great cd for anyone who wants a Twisted Sister greatest hits package. Some "best of" cd's have remixes and edited tracks, well this one doesn't which makes it a good choice to buy. Plus you get 5 live tracks which lets you hear Twisted Sister live in their glory days. There isn't a lot of offical live Twisted Sister songs availabe also, plus the choice of live songs are excellent eg: Rolling Stones: It's only rock n' roll. Plus the compilation was produced by TS member Jay Jay French who also provides liner notes.

This is one of the best compilations out there for a band. I picked this CD up back in 1993 when every CD was already out of print (except Stay Hungry). This collection has a great balance of the "hits" and the "nasty cuts" such as Shoot 'Em Down and the live tracks. The compilation starts with the MTV hits and just keeps going from there. All the songs are memorable and catchy. This highlights quite a bit from their 2 best albums "Under the Blade" & "You Can't Stop Rock N'Roll" such as the title tracks from both as well as the anthemic "Shoot 'Em Down" & "I'll Never Grow Up Now!" The live tracks makes you feel like you were there at the show with crushing renditions of "What You Don't Know..." and "Destroyer". If you are just a casual fan or looking to get introduced to T.S. then you need to start here. Make sure you play loud and enjoy!

I guess TS is a guilty pleasure. I've been around metal since about 1980 so I was there when they broke it big. Therefore I like the older stuff on this disc a lot more than the newer stuff. Recommended are: 'We're Not Gonna Take It', 'I Wanna Rock', 'You Can't Stop Rock and Roll', 'Shoot 'em Down' and especially 'Under The Blade'. TS was never a "total" metal band, not like Venom or Mercyful Fate or even Sabbath or Priest, they just happened to be rockin' at the right place and right time. But when they got fully wound up they could blast it out "fast and loud" with the best of them. There's a few missing cuts on this disc; like 'SMF', a few stinkers, and the live stuff is not really eye-opening. But this is a good buy for those who need a dose of a heavy metal, New York City, in-your-friggin'-face attitude. Crack a cold beer, hop in the car and crank it high! Unless you're a corpse you're gonna be groovin'. And that, after all, is the whole idea.

Of course the greatest hits has "I Wanna Rock" and "We're Not Gonna Take It", the two most popular songs. But how could they ignore "Burn In Hell" which was featured in the movie Pee Wee's Big Adventure? You can't ignore the "pop rock" songs no matter how bubble gum they may sound to hard rock fans.

This is a great collection of Twisted Sister. I definitely would recommend this to any fan of Twisted Sister. You can't find this type of good rock n' roll anymore!

Two decent songs doesn't qualify for a greatest hits cd, does it??? Too many live tracks, and just not enough good songs. Stick with "STAY HUNGRY".

Twisted Sister is my favorite band of all time. So, it would stand to reason that 'Big Hits' would be one of my favorite albums of all time, right? Wrong. Don't get me wrong, the songs are great. Unfortunately, this is not the best sample of studio tracks, and we'd be better off without the live tracks (except for 'Only Rock N' Roll', which is the most inspired live performance I have ever heard). I have four other Twisted Sister records, and I have seen Dee Snider's SMF's live, and believe me, this collection does not do those guys justice. So do yourself a favour and hunt down the original five albums.