Eagle Rock Entertainment has re-released this DVD with the addition of the previously unreleased bonus CD for all those that as they put it have stayed hungry for Twisted Sister all these years. It is a pair of disc that does capture the most recent reunion of the original band at its best and it also is a purchase that has a lot of good material besides the concert itself.
First off let me tell you that the DVD I received is recorded at such a low level that even though I had it cranked to max volume I had some trouble at times hearing what they said in the interview portions. This is not how you want to listen to Twisted Sister. I hope that it was just a problem with my copy and not something that everyone will have to endure.
Might as well get all the bad out first, the CD that is packaged with the DVD is 4 songs recorded in 1980 that are of very dubious quality, one song from 1982 and 6 that are from the same set at Wacken as the DVD. It pulls one song from the Wacken show that is not on the DVD. Think that the movie is the complete concert and you will be totally wrong. After seeing this I did a little investigation and found out it is missing a few songs. Well the CD at least shows the band in different stages and has them doing a monster version of "Born To Be Wild". It does make this album at least different enough to be worthwhile and a must have for the avid collector.
Now for the DVD. I had a lot of fun with this one. Twisted Sister is not one of my favorites but this disc showed them in all their glory and is much better than last years Live at the Astoria. That show which was filmed a year later in 2004 shows a tired looking band. At Wacken they still seem hungry and tear it up as few metal acts can. Even though the set list are almost identical the fierceness of their German concert just blows away the offering from the later concert.
The most interesting thing about the movie is the interview sections that are interwoven throughout. In them you get the history of the band since their initial break up through the time they take the stage to fill in for Iced Earth at Wacken. It is a pretty wild story and hearing it from the band itself is worth the price of the disc itself.
As you can imagine, the music is a headbanger's dream with Twisted Sister playing a full range of stuff from their first album to their last and all the hits in between. Dee Snyder knows how to whip an audience into a frenzy and he does so often when they pull out such hits as "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock". The group is expanded by about 40,000 vocalists during these massive sing-a-longs and if you don't remember the days when you were caught up in this type of hysteria at a concert than here is something to refresh you.
Twisted Sister has a place in the history of rock and roll and this package helps to point out why. It is five guys that live and breathe heavy metal and at were at one of their peaks when this was filmed. They might be campy, they might be over the top but one thing they most certainly are is fun and so is this package.
Track listing:
1. What You Don't Know (Sure Can't Hurt You)
2. In The Beginning (Interview)
3. The Final Show…1987 (Interview)
4. The Kids Are Back
5. Stay Hungry
6. The Speaks Reunion (Interview)
7. A Night For Jason (Interview)
8. Destroyer
9. Like A Knife In The Back
10. TS on TV (Interview)
11. The New York Steel Benefit (Interview)
12. Under The Blade
13. Old School Returns (Interview)
14. You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll
15. The Fire Still Burns
16. South Korea April 2003 (Interview)
17. Shoot 'Em Down
18. We're Not Gonna Take It
19. Festivals (Interview)
20. The Price
21. Reflections (Interview)
22. Burn In Hell
23. I Wanna Rock
24. Band Intro
25. S.M.F.
CD
1. Bad Boys Of Rock 'N' Roll
2. Born To Be Wild
3. I'll Never Grow Up. Now!
4. Yo Know I Cry
5. You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll
6. What You Don't Know (Sure Can't Hurt You)
7. The Kids Are Back
8. Stay Hungry
9. Like A Knife In The Back
10. I Am, I'm Me
11. The Fire Still Burns