{"id":1504,"date":"2012-08-01T10:47:58","date_gmt":"2012-08-01T14:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.westwoodvalley.com\/?p=1504"},"modified":"2012-08-01T10:47:58","modified_gmt":"2012-08-01T14:47:58","slug":"my-musical-evolution-part-181-the-metal-years-a-pledge-pin-on-your-uniform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wrharrison.com\/musicalevolution\/2012\/08\/01\/my-musical-evolution-part-181-the-metal-years-a-pledge-pin-on-your-uniform\/","title":{"rendered":"My Musical Evolution – Part 181 The Metal Years A Pledge Pin? On Your Uniform?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Twister<\/a>What do you think the odds are that these guys were KISS fans before they started their own band?\u00a0 The music scene in the 80’s used to be a spectacle. It was larger than life. It was music and performance art. Nirvana<\/em> ruined this be being the poster child for the grunge<\/em> movement. Up to then, acts like Twisted Sister, M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce, <\/em>and the like were just as interesting visually. With the rise of Nirvana,\u00a0<\/em> all that showmanship and spectacle was now ridiculed and all you got from a live show was a couple dozen Par Cans and 5 guys in their dirty laundry.\u00a0 We’ll get into this again when the 90’s come around.<\/p>\n

With all that being said, I did feel that maybe Twisted Sister<\/em> went in perhaps a smidge too deep.\u00a0 Stay Hungry<\/em> became an early staple in The Metal Years<\/em> but they were also one of the first to drop by the wayside. They were perfect for MTV and if I had been 8 or 10 years younger I might have been a bigger fan of Twisted Sister.<\/em><\/p>\n

The songs on this album had the fast beat and distorted guitars with whammy bars. Dee Snider’s voice was perfect for the screaming delivery.\u00a0 Songs like We’re Not Gonna Take It<\/em> and I Wanna Rock <\/em>were probably where a lot of 14 year olds made their way into their own Metal Years.<\/p>\n

I don’t wish to demean Twisted Sister in any way. Listening to this album right now, I still like it. It takes me back in a pleasant way. I just can’t shake the feeling that they belong on Nickelodeon. I know they weren’t going for that, it just seems that way.<\/p>\n

A few years later,\u00a0I saw Dee Snider addressing the government in that whole Tipper Gore PMRC thing. I remember wishing that he had gotten some coaching from Frank Zappa before he went on. Snider was wearing denim, flipping the hair and letting it show that they were getting to him. By contrast, Zappa was in a suit, well manicured, stoic \u00a0and elequent. In the public eye, I felt that Dee Snider was giving ammunition to the PMRC by reinforcing the stereotypes that were being presented.<\/p>\n

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Stay Hungry<\/em>
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