We Are Twisted F'Ing Sister

Anybody see this documentary about the bands first 10 years on Netflix? just finished watching it and thought it was really good. I was never a fan of them, but give them props for how they kept at.

Haven't seen it yet but it's on my watch list. I wasn't a huge fan either but I liked some of their tunes.

MikeInFla wrote:Haven't seen it yet but it's on my watch list. I wasn't a huge fan either but I liked some of their tunes.

It's a neat look into where they came from (70's glam) and how they built themselves up over the years and struggled to get known.

Gave me a lot of respect for how hard they worked and for how long. They were the band that got me into hard rock and heavy metal when Stay Hungry came out.

Erasmus wrote:Gave me a lot of respect for how hard they worked and for how long. They were the band that got me into hard rock and heavy metal when Stay Hungry came out.

It was AC/DC, Twisted Sister, and KISS that got me into hard rock/metal.  Twisted Sister was my favorite band back in the day. I will definitely add this to my Netflix que.

I watched it nearly a year ago.  I had always dug much of their music but wouldn't have considered myself a serious fan.  After watching the documentary and seeing how well the band did financially without a record label (something many popular bands at the time wouldn't have been able to do)....I have to wonder why it took so long for a record label to sign them.  Seems like there had to be some underlying reason that wasn't brought to light....they were nearly guaranteed to be a success by 1981 (even if they weren't a mega success), yet no major label would take them on.

From the music they kept playing from their early days, I really didn't think it was that great. Obviously they transformed their sound as the years went on. Their live show seemed great, but there are a lot of bands that are great live, but don't translate well to album. Maybe that is what label execs felt.

deathisgain wrote:From the music they kept playing from their early days, I really didn't think it was that great. Obviously they transformed their sound as the years went on. Their live show seemed great, but there are a lot of bands that are great live, but don't translate well to album. Maybe that is what label execs felt.

Yeah, that could be.

interesting...besides Netflix, everywhere else that you can watch this doc it is called "We Are Twisted Sister"

Netflix version on left, everywhere else on right

Watched this the other day. Interesting! I really think if they’d dropped the glam and makeup thing, they’d have been bigger sooner. The reaction from the crowd on the British tv show kinda highlights that.

The look held me back to be honest. Found it kind of odd and distracting.

I only have one TS CD. The "Still Hungry" album where they re-recorded "Stay Hungry". Always liked them but was never a huge fan.

I'm on the fence about their look. At the time bands like Motley Crue and such were wearing a lot of makeup, so it didn't seem to out of it. Maybe England was still in the punk movement or glam hadn't hit them yet.

Their look changed back and forth it seems. I remember seeing them here (in this clip) and it is the first time I ever saw them with Denim and no costumes.

I loved their cameo in the Pee Wee movie!  I read Dee's book. It was an interesting read, and I cme away from it realizing that he is a pretty smart guy.

Finally saw this and it was great! I am not a huge fan of the band but really liked the documentary. The band seemed so full of energy and had tons of raw power in the early days. I'd like to hear more from the early stuff after seeing the movie. Amazing they never got a record deal earlier than they did.

After watching I went and looked up some of their later songs and boy, were those BAD. Be Chrool To Your Scuel is terrible, no way Alice could pull this off for them:



I also read that Billy Joel plays piano on it, Brian Setzer plays guitar and Clarence Clemmons plays saxaphone.

It was interesting to watch.  Their tenacity and perseverance is inspiring.

I've watched this twice.  I think it is VERY well done, personally.


Arttie

MikeInFla wrote:Finally saw this and it was great! I am not a huge fan of the band but really liked the documentary. The band seemed so full of energy and had tons of raw power in the early days. I'd like to hear more from the early stuff after seeing the movie. Amazing they never got a record deal earlier than they did.

After watching I went and looked up some of their later songs and boy, were those BAD. Be Chrool To Your Scuel is terrible, no way Alice could pull this off for them:



I also read that Billy Joel plays piano on it, Brian Setzer plays guitar and Clarence Clemmons plays saxaphone.

Sure, that song is cheesy and hokey now, but it was fun back then.  Coming out of high school when this came out, I thought it was a great parody of our school days.  All these years later, I still love it but mostly for nostalgia's sake.  If you were looking at this through the eyes of a 15-18 year old, the target audience back then, this would have been a great song.  Keep that in mind if you watch/listen again, and I think this will grow on you.

Even without that, just look at this as Twisted Sister stretching musically and trying to parody even themselves.

Even Dee acknowledges that album pretty much shot the band in the foot, and they tried to right themselves with "Love Is For Suckers" (which is a great record), but by then it was too late.

But, like Alldat said, you have to look at it through the focus of the time. You also have to consider the band was trying to grow and stretch. They couldn't just keep writing "We're Not Gonna Take It" or "The Kids Are Back" over and over.


Arttie

Even though I enjoy several songs off Come Out and Play (The Fire Still Burns, Out in the Streets,Kill or Be Killed, even Be Cruel) , I do have to admit it was a little too cartoony and kind of killed the goodwill Dee got from outsmarting the PMRC (still a memorable moment).

Actually, "Love Is For Suckers" was recorded as a Dee Snider solo album.  The label insisted on putting the Twisted Sister name on it.  By this time, the band needed a break before continuing and Dee wanted to do a solo project.  Here is what Dee had to say about the album:

There's some great stuff on there man! The thing is, that was supposed to be my first solo album. The thing was the record company and management pressured me into making it a Twisted Sister record. There's some stuff that was in the Twisted Sister vein but it was supposed to be a solo record, that album was meant to give the band the break we needed. I felt that by releasing a solo album I could put that out there, get it out my system, and then after a short break we could regroup and work on a new album. The recording, the promotion and touring of Love Is for Suckers went on to kill the band. Management and the record company in their infinite wisdom know best. Oh let's put five guys who can't stand each other in a studio for three months! wrote:*2009 interview with Dee Snider on SleazeRoxx.com*

alldatndensum wrote:Actually, "Love Is For Suckers" was recorded as a Dee Snider solo album.  The label insisted on putting the Twisted Sister name on it.  By this time, the band needed a break before continuing and Dee wanted to do a solo project.  Here is what Dee had to say about the album:

There's some great stuff on there man! The thing is, that was supposed to be my first solo album. The thing was the record company and management pressured me into making it a Twisted Sister record. There's some stuff that was in the Twisted Sister vein but it was supposed to be a solo record, that album was meant to give the band the break we needed. I felt that by releasing a solo album I could put that out there, get it out my system, and then after a short break we could regroup and work on a new album. The recording, the promotion and touring of Love Is for Suckers went on to kill the band. Management and the record company in their infinite wisdom know best. Oh let's put five guys who can't stand each other in a studio for three months! wrote:*2009 interview with Dee Snider on SleazeRoxx.com*

Yeah, I knew that, but as it is a Twisted record, I treat it as such.  "Wake Up The Sleeping Giant" is one of my favorite songs ever, regardless of band or genre.


Arttie