If you were listening to metal in the 1980s, it’s pretty much a given that you will have heard of Dee Snider. Already widely known as the flamboyant frontman of Twisted Sister, Snider was thrust further into the spotlight in 1985 when he famously spoke before Congress against censorship in music and the infamous PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center).
After Twisted Sister disbanded in 1988, Snider went on to release albums with the relatively short-lived Widowmaker, and the even more short-lived Desperado, as well as four records under his own name. DJ, producer, actor, reality TV star, Broadway performer, autobiographer, scriptwriter, family man, charity supporter, and general all-round good guy, Snider took to the road last year to promote his latest album, and For the Love of Metal – Live (Napalm Records) is the result.
Intercut with interviews and behind the scenes footage, the live material is lifted from several shows across the world, his show-stopping performance at Bloodstock Open Air featuring heavily. Edited to match a single audio source, the live footage is cleverly cut, and the performances themselves are nothing short of sensational.
New tracks like ‘Lies Are a Business’, ‘Tomorrow’s No Concern’, ‘American Made’, ‘Become the Storm’, ‘I Am the Hurricane’ and the title track sit proudly alongside old standards such as ‘You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll’, ‘Under the Blade’, ‘The Kids Are Back’, ‘Burn in Hell’, a rare outing for ‘The Beast’, and of course crowd favourites ‘I Wanna Rock’ and ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’. Bonus material features live versions of ‘Roll Over You’, and ‘The Fire Still Burns’, plus a fantastic cover of AC/DC classic ‘Highway to Hell’, and new song ‘Prove Me Wrong’.
An absolute workhorse on stage, it’s not only tremendous fun but simply staggering to watch the (then) sixty-four-year-old running and jumping around the stage with such attitude, wit, and total authority, putting singers more than half his age to shame in terms of energy, without missing a single cue.
Presented as a three-disc box set, the performance section of the DVD/Blu ray runs for around an hour with a further twenty minutes or so crammed with entertaining interview footage. The bonus material consists of a snappily edited tour video, and more interview footage rounded off by one of Dee’s favourite stories about the late, great Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead.
Pre-order “For The Love of Metal Live” now: https://smarturl.it/FTLOM-Live-NPR
9/10
GARY ALCOCK