Customer Reviews

Under the Blade

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was fortunate enough to buy the original Secret Records release on vinyl as an import from Italy back in the 80s and I am so happy that I still have it because I really don't like what was done to this album in the remastering process. All of the raw intensity has been stripped away in favor of way too much reverb on the drums and vocals, ostensibly to "clean up" the sound. UTB was not a clean-sounding album to begin with and that was part of why it succeeded so well. Sadly, this happens with way too many remasters -- reverb effects or drum triggers that did not exist in the original production are added supposedly to modernize the production and, in every case where this is done, it detracts from what made the album so great so many years ago. I don't know if a CD has ever been released with the original mixes of these tunes, so you may have no choice but to hear it only in its remastered form. Fortunately the tunes are great and, if you've never heard what the original mix sounded like, you won't know what you're missing anyway so definitely buy it on the strength of the tunes. Me...I'll stick to my vinyl copy thank you very much.

I probably should have said it in my first review, but I'm really a 14 year old kid using my mom's account.

My older sister had the album Stay Hungry when I was little, and I found myself listening to it quite a bit. Last Christmas I got my own copy of it, and this got me interested to see what other music Dee Snider and the gang had come out with. So, I found this album, Under the Blade. The title track caught my interest the first time I listened to the 30-second preview, and once I got my hands on the CD I found "Under the Blade" to be my all-time favorite Twisted Sister song. My other favorites on this album are "Run for your Life", "Bad Boys (of Rock N Roll)", and "Shoot Em Down".

The one and only thing that disappointed me about this album was the sound (or lack thereof) that the snare drum made. Just imagine if that sound was replaced with the roaring snare sound that they had on Love is for Suckers! It's good regardless of the snare, but I think it might have been better if they got a louder sound for when they remastered it. Everything else, I think, is top notch, except for the lyrics that were included. Like I said in my last review for Love is for Suckers, the lyrics are missing lines, have wrong words etc.

Despite these two points, Twisted Sister's debut album made it to the top of my favorites list. I think Under the Blade far outdoes Stay Hungry, even though that was TS's biggest hit.

Most people today remember Twisted Sister as the spearhead of the Hair Metal movement with there poppy bubble gum Hard Rock anthems all over Rock radio. In truth the band dates back to the 70s and began life, first as a general Hard Rock Glam act before vocalist Dee Snider arrived and introduced the music of Judas Priest, Ac/Dc, Black Sabbath and the NWOBHM.

This debut is far removed from what will follow two albums later with 1983's breakthrough album, "Stay Hungry", containing a sound that was raw and mean, stripped down and primal. The sound was Heavy Metal and if you were there in 1982, you probally would have thought this band to be the next big band in Metal.
Even if they did not rock quite as heavy as here, Twisted Sister still remained one of Metal's best loved bands of the 80s, and this was the masterpiece of there catalouge.

Each track is a classic of it's kind:

What you Don't Know, Sure Can Hurt You-Awesome Cooper inspired Heavy anthem(echoes of his "Hello Hooray!") that welcomes us into there Metal world. Rebellious and insidious, this is a perfect way to set up the heavy album. One of there best tracks.

Bad Boys of Rock and Roll-A more standard Rock and Roll anthem, this feels more akin to there sound of later but still carries the sound of there 70s influence. Good time Hard Rock and likeable enough.

Run For Your Life-Totally bad a s s song with a great melodic spoken intro by Snider that recalls Zeppelin before the song gets heavy and speeds up to the level of Priest brutality. Another all time classic.

Sin After Sin-Terrific OTTer(as in "Over the Top") is clearly titled as a tribute to the Priest masterpiece of 1977 of the same name. And the song very much recalls the same sound from those 70s records, clearly showing the band was capable of such. One of my favorite song sof theres', it's also one of there heaviest and rocks with actual purpose in it's tale of embracing a sin filled life.

Shoot Em Down-Cool song that sort of rocks like heavy Kiss but features a more UFO inspired chorus. Pretty addictive and leagues ahead of there pop hits. Great late night driving song.

Destroyer-The title may recall the Kiss album of 1975, but this track is more at home with Metal monsters like Black Sabbath's Iron Man and Judas Priest's Sinner in it's tale of undying creature poised for destruction of all.The heaviest song on the record and the band's heaviest overall, this features one of Dee's best performances and a good use of the bass as dead weight tp carry the lurching sound of Metallic doom.

Under The Blade-Twisted Sister's best song and my personal favorite, this is the one all Manowar loving metalheads reach for first. Guitarist Jay Jay French's riff is one of his best and the lyrics are among the best the band ever wrote. Not quite the S and M classic the PMRC decreed it(even though you can HEAR where they got that from!) this follows the blade as a metaphor for death, an operation and seeing the band. Of course the way Dee sings it can make one think otherwise....

Tear It Loose-Speed metaller that is inspired by Motorhead and rocks pretty heavy. Motorhead's ace guitarist, Fast Eddie Clark, even contributed a solo to the classic. Another album standout.

Day of the Rocker-Slow and heavy with a definitely Sabbath inspired riff that tells the tale of a Rocker's lifestyle. Perhaps not the Metal maelstorm of many previous tracks, this one still has appeal and fits as a nice closer to a powerful record.

Under the Blade ranks as one of the great debuts of Heavy Metal and one of the best albums of 1982. It's one of my personal favorites, and one that is a must for fans of the NWOBHM and Traditional Metal. An absolute Metal essential that will have the committed headbanger going back for many more trips "under the blade"....

This album is incredible. A masterpiece of the band that is Twisted Sister. Start to finish, every track is great music. And dont forget, as Dee Snider himself would say "PLAY IT LOUD MUTHA!!!"

Twisted sister's best album. I grew up watching them in the bars in the NY Tri-State area. They were clearly the best bar band of the late 70's and 80's. This album is a culmination of all their hard work. You won't be disappointed!

The original 1982 "Secret Records" mix of Under the Blade was Twisted Sister's best record. This one, the 1985 "Atlantic Records Remaster," is the worst.

I am not a snob--I really feel that the new mix detracts just that much from the songs and the overall quality of the album.

1982 Original Mix: Drum-and Bass-oriented. A very heavy, punky, fast metal pop album

1985 Mix: Guitar and Vocal-oriented, "glammy" mix. Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a glammy mix as long as this is how an album was recorded. However, Under the Blade was a punk attitude album. With the guitar and vocals levels increased to biblical proprtions, and drums and bass whittled down in the mix, the guitar sounds crappy, the vocals weak, etc.

Avoid this one and seek out the original, from 1982, either on Secret or Roadrunner records. Avoid the Atlantic / Spitfire re-release. Even the cover is different, "glammy" on this one.

This 2011 release of the Twisted Sister debut album "Under the blade" contains the original mix from the original 1982 Secret Records album. Not to be confused with the earlier CD-versions containing the 1985 remix of the album.

This album is full of raw energy, and killer songs, which instantly made me a fan of Twisted Sister back in the 80's. Here's everything from the slow, heavy Destroyer, via mid-tempo rockers like Sin after sin and Bad boys (Of rock n' roll), and the fast and furious Tear it loose, featuring a twin-solo by Jay Jay French and "Fast" Eddie Clarke of Motorhead.

Some people might not like the production, which can be described as raw and dirty sounding, yet powerful.
Still, I love the songs and the vibe and energy on this recording. A killer debut, and among my all-time favorite albums.

As a bonus on this CD, you get the "Ruff cutts" EP, a compilation of 4 demo-songs, and also a live version of the song "Shoot'em down".

As for the bonus DVD, it contains a recording of the band's performance at the 1982 Reading Festival, in England.
I was especially looking forward to this, but I was a bit disappointed.
The audio is full of overdubs, and most of the rhythm guitars is obviously re-recorded. I also suspect that the bass parts and some solos are newly added overdubs.
So I didn't get the "live" experience I was hoping for. Why not release the video/DVD with the original audio?
But it is great fun to watch the band in the days just before the rollercoaster-ride to stardom started.
Also, there are new interviews with the band members, telling stories from the Reading Festival and the recording of "Under the blade".

This remix is terrible sounding, what you need is the original disc, I have the original 1985 roadrunner disc which is made in japan, it sounds waaaaaayyyyyyy better then the remix. I think there is also 2 other versions which came out in 1985, get one of those 3 and not the remix which is one of the worst remasters I've ever heard. It will cost you a pretty penny (50-100$) but its well worth it. I would give that version 5 stars but amazon doesn't have either of the 3, probably due to the rarity of them.

Twisted Sister, after nine years of scratching and clawing their way to stardom, finally achieved a record deal in the UK of all places where the band had temporarily relocated after slugging through most of their career in obscurity outside of the greater New York area. `Under the Blade' is an underrated metal masterpiece (yes I said masterpiece and Twisted Sister in the same review) which not only took almost a decade to create (many of the songs had been in the band's club sets for many moons) but also it was their best and most consistently hard hitting record (including the band's multi-platinum breakthrough `Stay Hungry'). Secret Records, a short-lived indie label and UFO legend Pete Way put the Sisters' dreams to vinyl in the late summer of 1982 after a preview EP (`Ruff Cuts') had given the Dee Snider and has glam mongrels some new life earlier in the year. The band had been started by guitarist Jay Jay French in 1973 as a New York Dolls clone glam band. When Dee Snider joined mid-decade, Twisted Sister's music became more metallic as Snider brought his heavy Sabbath and Priest influences which the group combined with their Dolls/Alice Cooper musings. It took the NWOBHM to break the band naturally and the band's breakthrough recordings reflected their origins. `Under the Blade' provided any devotee of classic metal with heaping portions of said entrée. "What You Don't Know" (opener), "Shoot `Em Down" and the title track which had all previously been on the EP are as good as it gets and would stand up to much of this era's best loved head bangers. "Run for Your Life", "Bad Boys" and the super heavy "Destroyer" continued the onslaught. When the LP was remixed and reissued after the band's mega stardom in 1985; early indie single "I Never Grow Up Now!" made the cut which show's some of Twisted Sister's early glam/punk influence. Again, for metal fans who think Dee Snider is a joke and are put off by the `Bette Midler on acid' look, then you should check out the band's early albums and there is no better place to start then to accept the Blade!

"Under the Blade" features a "different" sound than what most SMF's might expect from Twisted Sister. The songs are at times very similar to early Black Sabbath. Plodding, dirge-like tunes with only flashes of the hair-metal like guitar riffs they would popularize with "Stay Hungry". Tunes like "Destoryer" and "Sin after Sin" emphasize this. Both feature a slower, plodding pace that emphasize A.J. Pero's drumwork and Mark Mendoza's bass. The screaming guitars take a backseat on these songs, and they aren't bad, just not what you would expect. On the other hand, tunes like "Under the Blade", "I'll Never Grow Up" and "What You Don't Know" are all shaded with what would become Twisted Sister's signature sound on "Stay Hungry" and "Come Out and Play". If you are a fan of the band, then this is a must own, but if your only interested in the hits...stick with "Stay Hungry" and download the title song from this disk.