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17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bit cheesy to just re-record your old stuff for a reunion CD, October 25, 2004
I've been a Twisted Sister fan since their first album (Under the Blade). I even followed 'em through Love is for Suckers, which most Twisted Sister fans tended to hate, so I would like to think I'd like pretty much everything Twisted Sister put out. I, along with most of the SMF's have waited for a really long time for Twisted Sister to get back together and record a new album.
Well, 2004 finally brought us a "new" Twisted Sister album. Well, not really. What they did was re-record their most popular album, Stay Hungry (now titled "Still Hungry"). In interviews, they claimed they were never happy with the sound of the original, bla, bla, bla. I disagree with that. The original was fine. The original is still good. This new version has (as I read in another review) "meatier" bass, bla, bla, bla.. It does sound heavier, but to be honest, I'm not terribly sure if I like it better.
I'm still a fan of the original, so the fact that after all these years Twisted Sister just chose to re-record their most popular record as their big reunion strikes me as a cash grab. There's nothing fundamentally WRONG with this album. It's not like the re-recordings sound horrible. They just sound different. The songs aren't radically different, they're still good songs. It's just feels "odd" to me as a long time Twisted Sister fan.
The music itself is fine, but I prefer the 1983 version. That's why I gave this three stars. It's lessened in my eyes due to the unoriginality factor of re-recording an album. It's worth a purchase, but it feels "wrong" buying it, because I've already bought this album before.
Oh yeah - there are some new songs, but they all are rather weak compared to the existing songs on this album (either the original or the re-recorded versions), I can't really bring myself to listen to 'em very much.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Still Hungry Left Me Just That, January 20, 2005
As a long time Twisted Sister fan I had very high hopes when I heard that a re-issue of the classic "Stay Hungry" album would be hitting the stands. However, it soon became official word that instead of this edition the CD would be re-recording of every single track from the classic we all know and love. Vocalist Dee Snider explained that this was done to capture the "original vision" of the band and this release. I had some reservations with this for it made me think of when George Lucas added all the footage to Star Wars some 20 years later and told us that this is the way he had meant for us to see it when it was originally released. The criticism that Dee Snider seemed to have was that the album did not receive the proper production level. Honestly I thought it sounded fine. It was heavy, and it was enjoyable to see a heavy record receive some acclaim on radio stations of the time. Whether you loved them or hates them, you could ignore the catchy riffs and vocal lines of those songs. This release is entitled "Still Hungry" and it begins as you expect with the thundering opener. However, once the CD begins you can immediately notice a difference. The clearest fact is the feeling that it is not produced enough and come off more as rough mixes rather than finished and edited songs. I felt I was listening to rough demos of some of my favorite songs rather than a new and more exciting view of them. I have to admit that I expected a lot more from this portion of the CD, as with todays technology and the fact that the players are ever more seasoned it gave me that expectation. I enjoyed it enough, but not feeling that these should have been tampered with.
The main tracks that I felt suffered the most in the redo, was ones that most Sister fans have so embedded in their minds that it is hard to swallow a new version. In particular "We're Not Gonna Take It" (with an extended guitar solo) and "Burn In Hell" (just lacking the anger and motivation that I felt made the original so special in the first place). When "Stay Hungry" was released, the band was still a hungry entity fighting its way in the music industry, you can't simply go in and re-record these songs and expect them to be the same. It just cannot happen. Maybe Rush could pull it off, or Dream Theater, but not so much Twisted Sister.
The real highlight for me was the inclusion of some of the really old classic Twisted Sister numbers that were never placed on an official release before now. Many of the fans have had bootlegs of these tunes or live tapes that were taken from radio shows that were done very early in the bands career. Rough versions of these tracks are featured on the "Club Daze" V1 and V2, but this rendition holds them cleaner and with better production (well, they were just done so that makes sense). The placement of these songs on the redo just shine through the whole piece, especially "Come Back" and "You Know I Cry" (my favorites for almost XX years). These are killer tunes that fans of the group in the later years should certainly be exposed to. I know they have been featured in the touring set once again, and it's nice to have a professionally recorded version of them to enjoy.
There is not much in the way of photographs on the piece, just the front and back cover. The front pic shows the band in makeup and without which is pretty cool. The booklet also includes lyrics to every song on the piece. This is similar to the original however it also includes the new bonus tracks. As my opinion was skewed on this release, I can only offer the following suggestion. If you purchase it (and you should based on the unreleased tracks) don't discard your original "Stay Hungry" and instead use this as a measure against it. You decide if this way sounds better or not, and if you think not, as least you have some excellent bonus tracks that you would not hear anywhere else.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
What a Mess!, October 24, 2007
I thought the original version of "Stay Hungry" was fine. When I heard that they were going to re-record it to make it so called "Heavier" I had mixed emotions. When I finally got my hands on this I was extremly disappointed. Its funny because I have the orginal version, unremastered. This version sounds worse, both sound wise and song wise then the original version recorded twenty three years ago. there has been a huge leap in recording technology since 1984, and I was expecting this to be beefed up more, sound cleaner, just be meanier. What we really get here is what sounds more like a pratice session recorded in someones Basement. The instruments sound muddy and Dee's vocal sounds horrid. I understand they wanted it more raw, but was it really neccessary to dumb down the entire album. I dont think that Twisted was looking to get richer from this, as it is released on an independent label, and from what I hear Dee and crew are pretty cool guys. I see what they were trying to do, but it just fails. Sometimes it just well off to leave what is good, ALONE.
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