Customer Reviews

Twisted Sister: The Video Years

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me preface this by saying I love Twisted Sister. I've been a fan since 'You Can't Stop Rock-N-Roll', so I'm no Johnny-come-lately. I was so pumped when I heard about this DVD. I would finally get the entire Twisted Sister video collection, and I got it today. The interviews are great, very informative with alot of stories from the old days. The videos are great too, and they're all here. Not to mention the MTV Stay Hungry concert that I'm pretty sure I watched every time it originally aired. It was pretty cool feeling 14 again. The video and sound quality are excellent. This brings me to my one and only complaint about the DVD and the only reason I didn't give this thing 5 stars. EDITS!! I was so happy that I would finally get to see the FULL opening of 'We're Not Going To Take It' that I had only seen once or twice. The version that starts at the dinner table and not in the kids room. Here was the bands chance to finally put it back together for the fans that had never seen it. And if that wasn't bad enough they edit Neidermeyer's (the dad) rant. Gone is the "Twisted Sister? What is that?" part of his tirade. Actually it seems like a good 2/3rds of this scene was cut. Why? I'd think the band would want every thing restored to their former glory. (On a side note, Neidermeyer's rant is on the video when it's played durring the concert, but the dinner table scene still isn't present). If that isn't bad enough, the entire opening of 'Leader Of The Pack' is nowhere to be found. The video starts with the music and the guys on their bikes, not in the store where the girl is trying to buy the poster from Bobcat Goldthwait. Again, why? The entire openings for 'I Wanna Rock' and 'Be Chrool To Your Scuel' are there, why cut the other two? I just don't understand the reasoning behind it. In closing, would I recommend the DVD? Hell yes I would in a heart beat. The songs are blasting, fast and loud, and it looks and sounds great. Just buy knowing there is a cut here and there.
Play It Loud Mutha

I just cracked this one open.I basically got it for The Price and You Can Stop Rock'n'roll.I wasn't disappointed at all with those.The quality was a lot better than the priginals and you simply never see the Price anywhere.Yes,the cover of the Stones 'It's Only Rock'n'Roll' was cool seeing Lemmy and Robbo was cool as can be.But the one that made me take out the disc and hate it was the live concert.I have seen it on vhs a few times so I knew where things went.But no,it's CENSORED that's fine if you have kids but there was no uncensored option.I thought only WalMart did stuff like that.Especially since I didn't get it there.If you have wee ones,fine.They don't need to here this.But I don't and I'd say a lot of fans don't.The swearing was part of it.Dee admittied that when he was with friends he cursed.He considerd the audience to be friends.Wann support censorship? But it.Don't wanna? I'm sorry to say it but avoid it.

As somewhat of a completist, I too, was taken back at the unnecessary edits on this DVD. This should have been the motherlode, but it leaves us short changed.

What we have here is simply amazing for what it is. It is nice to see everything in such clarity. But oh how sweet it would have been to have it not so butchered.

I'm gutted! When I first read that this DVD was about to be released I nearly peed my pants with excitement! What? The Stay Hungry gig? PLUS all the videos? AND the performance on The Tube??? All on one DVD??? Fantastic!!!! I'd been waiting years for a decent copy of The Tube gig!!
Needless to say, I'm bitterly disappointed by the end product. The Stay Hungry gig is edited beyond recognition (all swearing has been removed - isn't pushing the boundaries what Twisted Sister is all about?) In short, I just can't enjoy watching it knowing that this version of the gig is not going to culminate in Dee asking "How the f*ck an I supposed to sing with a mongoloid on my back?" after a fan jumps up on stage and knocks him off his stride! That's one of the best bits! And it's gone!
Elsewhere, as others have already mentioned, some of the videos are cut. Why?????
For me though, the biggest disappointment of all was the omission of the other tracks performed on The Tube. Why not include What You Don't Know, Destroyer and Shoot'em Down (the latter track was played after the programme had gone of the air but was filmed and aired on a later episode, so it should still exist somewhere in the vaults)? This appearance on British TV was a huge landmark in the band's history and we only get the one (albeit classic) track!!
This DVD could have been fantastic, but for me it represents a huge wasted opportunity. Like I said at the beginning of this moan....I'm gutted!

Like the others I was quite disappointed with all of the edits on this DVD. The "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "Leader of the Pack" edits were surprising, and make this release far less than it could/should have been. It makes no sense. The edits to the Stay Hungry concert however at least can be explained. It appears that this 45 minute concert is the edited (for time and content) version that was broadcast on MTV, not the full 60 minute version that was available on the VHS tape. The most jarring edits to the concert are Dee's between song comments which really helped define the aggression that was Twisted Sister in the early/mid 80s. It is nice however to have the full version of the "You Can't Stop Rock N Roll" video and the "Hot Love" and "The Price" videos for the first time on video/DVD.

It appears I'll have to hold onto my DVD bootleg of the Stay Hungry VHS for now. This could have been THE Twisted Sister video document. Unfortunately, like the CD "remasters" that they put out several years ago, this DVD leaves me disappointed and wanting more.

If you are a casual fan, the above negatives probably won't bother you, and you likely wouldn't have even noticed them. If you're a real SMF and started salivating when they announced this release you might be somewhat let-down by this DVD. Of course if that were the case you probably would already own the DVD and wouldn't be reading this :)

This is a very good compilation. But what could have made it excellent is THE FULL VERSION OF THE "WE'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT" MUSIC VIDEO !

That's right. They used the MTV edit instead of the full video, dropping the intro entirely. AND Dee Snider actually complains about MTV's editing right before the edited video plays !

The end of that video was also edited out so this is no video archive.

It fells like one of those cheap metal compilation DVDs where music videos and grainy live footage are simply thrown together.

Yes, the interviews are great but the live footage was only o.k. They could definitely have done more with this compilation.

Twisted Sister, like many bands from the mid-80s through the mid-90s, was catapulted even higher into the public consciousness by the Music Video. While MTV eventually dropped videos for many years (or seemed to), many of us had to queue up degrading VHS tapes to relive our teen years.

While there are edits of the videos, it was wonderful to have quality music videos...many of which, I'd never seen.

Twisted Forever, Forever Twisted.

I first heard TS when I saw & bought
Under the Blade in 1980. Nobody I knew
ever heard of them & all said they
sucked! But I loved that album still do.
It's almost as good as Can't Stop Rock
& Roll which is the best TS album! I
know Stay Hungry was the hit & it is
a great metal album & overlooked also.
I like most was not happy with the
remaining albums & videos but now I
finally got this for the live DVD
which is awesome as I remembered!
It's worth the price. The videos are
actually better than I thought & was
great to see again. I highly recommend
this dvd to start & then from 1st to
3rd album any metal fan should have.
I see rave reviews for the last few
albums but I can't give it. They aren't
horrible like Winger! or Warrant or the
other hair metal crap but not great.
Twisted Sister had success but they
couldn't keep a loyal fan base. Ashame.

If you're into the videos that were aired on MTV, you know back when they actually showed (music) videos that rocked, you'll love this one. It's got all of 'em and a bunch more really cool footage. If you're a Twisted Sister fan, it's an absolute must! Rock on.

I was a huge fan of Twisted Sister in the 80's.I remember seeing the Stay Hungry concert on video and I thought it was awesome.I have always hoped that it would be eventually released on DVD but I didnt think that it ever would be.This is one DVD release that is long overdue.I havent seen some of those video clips for years.Watching those old video clips took me back years to my high school days.This is a great DVD with all the bands videos plus the 1984 Stay Hungry MTV concert.The only thing that I noticed about the live concert is that it has been censored.All the swearing has been cut from it for some reason most notably during S.M.F.Anyone who has seen the original VHS version will know what I am referring to.But still its a great DVD and a must have for any die hard Twisted Sister fan or for anyone who is maybe just discovering them for the first time.