Amidst all the latest talk of a Twisted reunion, it's only fitting that this classic band of outlandish shock-rock kings gets a fitting "makeover" if you will, by way of the reissue route following the tracks of other noteworthy 80's stalwarts Motorhead, Maiden and most recently W.A.S.P. These four releases are representative to the two sides of the coin the band found themselves before and after the pinnacle of their careers, "Stay Hungry". Twisted Sister, led by outspoken frontman Dee Snider plunged a knife in the back of authority way back in the beginning of the heavy metal craze that was polluting the planet-as well as the minds of many of the youth of the time, depending on who you ask. Snider's frequent confrontations with notorious parental groups made headlines while their album sales spoke volumes as to the effect all the negative publicity was having. Here we have Spitfire Records coming through in the clutch, the latest in a growing list of labels recognizing the need to restore heavy rock's long crumbling foundations and with these latest reissues, they're solidifying their reputation as a new force to be reckoned with.

First in line we'll take a quick look at the view from beneath the blade with Twisted's gripping debut that spawned such hard and heavy favorites as "What You Don't Know", "Sin After Sin" the furious title track and one of those anthemic signs of the times, "Tear it Loose". At this point the band had established little more of a cult following as people were still wondering what to make of them, but make no mistake, they were as heavy and loud as any that were bore from that time. "Under the Blade" sliced right to the heart of the matter-nothing fancy, just tough looking band members prepared to make a statement and kick a lot of ass along the way. This is where TS first arrived on the scene and their reputation and popularity would only grow from here.

"You Can't Stop Rock and Roll" hammered its way onto turntables everywhere during 1983, and was easily the best album they've ever produced if not one of the top albums released that year period! This one had all the makings of a winner-a downright nasty attitude, pounding guitar riffs, and a brutally heavy edge to the production that was swept away entirely too quickly by their next release. "The Kids are Back" signified the start of things here and if you wanted to fight, they were ready. Snider's voice was becoming more and more familiar in rock circles, and the anthemic highlight that was the title track would also make a heavy presence felt in metal video rotation, further solidifying the bands' steadily building reputation as trouble making upstarts. This one features three bonus cuts in the form of the forgettable "One Man Woman", the catchy "Four Barrel Heart of Love", and most intense and best of the bunch, "Feel the Power", first heard on ancient 10 inch B-sides, now finally available.

As disturbing as ever before, "Come out and Play" perhaps saw this band at their peak of performance where their live shows became a complete spectacle-reproductions of dark city street blocks, graffiti ridden backdrops and of course Mr. Snider, gang-leader and ever the dominant figure in shock rock culture climbing out of a sewer to take center stage! "Come Out and Play" starts innocently enough with a little synthesizer-based introduction before totally blowing a gasket to rank right near the top as one of the bands' fiercest recordings. This album saw them return somewhat toward the commercial direction that too often graced the preceding "Stay Hungry" release, (not covered here) who's better moments were too often ignored, with the release of the first single and video for the remake of "Leader of the Pack". Whether intentional or not, the bands' reputation was beginning to precede them and though the overblown excessiveness of their three ring past was just that, this album was crucial to where TS would go from there. It did not live up to the hype and in spite of the lukewarm response for "Leader of the Pack" it did not pack the wallop of its earliest predecessors nor the mainstream appeal of "Stay Hungry". "Be Chrool to your Scuel" tried to pick up the pieces by the time it was released as the next single, and not even the aid of the original shock master himself, Alice Cooper could salvage something that really should have gone further than it did. Here, we find one bonus track, "King of the Fools", which did also appear earlier and though it really possesses little in terms of character, it is easy to latch onto and for many of us, something we might too often identify with!

"Love is for Suckers" came out in 1987 and it was to be the last album this once super group would record together. It was apparent that by this time, inner turmoil had set in and the magic was fading. The blatant "pop" design sat well with nobody and suddenly, "Stay Hungry" wasn't quite as bad as it seemed from a perceived sell-out point of view. "Wake up (The Sleeping Giant)" got things off in respectably, heavy yet anthemic to a fault, but had they managed to follow this lead for most of the rest, it might have met with a better fate. It did not, and the album did not. "Hot Love" was the first single and was a true step out of character yet it would've been a good song for anybody else. Representative of the more fashion-crazed glam boys, it was hard to believe this was the same band that only a few years ago fought tooth and nail for what they believed in and carry the torch… rock and roll mercenaries no more! The title track was actually snagged from an obscure girl-group known as the Poison Dollies whose own version ran circles around this one-punked up and ballsy, much the way TS began. It was a good tune but continued a dominant theme that nobody could really have expected-romance, sex… love? After the fifth song "Tonight" returned to "the bad boys are gonna rock you" tradition, the rest of the album with the exception of the fist-raising closer "Yeah Right", falls flat. Luckily, the album gets a reprieve here as three of the four bonus cuts rock better than about half of what originally appeared on the album!