Retro Spins: Twisted Sister - Come Out And Play

   

Coming off their massive success, Stay Hungry, Twisted Sister was ready to go on to bigger and better things. Sadly, their fanbase wouldn't be onboard with any of it. Upon completion of the 1985 album, Come Out And Play, the band opted to release the Shangri-Las cover of Leader Of The Pack as their lead single. Fans hated it.

This was followed by, Be Chrool To Your Scuel. The song prominently featured Alice Cooper on co-vocals, and the music video was even better, featuring Bobcat Goldthwait, Billy Joel, Brian Setzer, and Clarence Clemons. Unfortunately, the music video would be banned by MTV on the grounds of being offensive.

Things didn't get better for the band when they set out on their promotional tour. With sales significantly lower than their previous album, this translated to even worse ticket sales. Several shows so drastically undersold that they were ultimately cancelled. To try to push the album, Atlantic released a re-mixed release of their 1982 Under The Blade, and in 1986 also released Come Out and Play: The Videos on VHS. None of this seemed to help.

It kicks off with the title track, and has a nod to the 1979 film, The Warriors, with its use of clanking bottles, and Dee Snyder saying, "Come out and play...with Twisted Sister." The song eventually segues into Leader Of The Pack, which, despite fan opinion, remains one of my favorites from the guys.

Be Chrool To Your Scuel, is actually a new one for me. I suppose with my limited exposure to Twisted Sister outside of MTV, this makes sense. I think as a song it's got cheesy lyrics, which would easily make it forgettable. However, coupled with the video, it gets that added charm from not only the theatrical over the top nature of the band, but the cameos and guest appearances. Personally, I'm not sure why MTV banned it. I don't see anything about it that's offensive.

It's followed by, I Believe In You, which is a bit on the ballad side, but somehow resonates with me. However, this was relatively all that stood out for me on the album. As a whole, it was okay. Nothing really specially, and definitely not as strong as the material from 1984's Stay Hungry.

Though it wouldn't happen instantaneously, Come Out And Play would be among the earlier CD's produced to be taken out of print. As a result of this, it commands the highest asking price of all their albums on secondary markets. Also of note is that the cassette and CD releases have a bonus track, King Of The Fools, which was not included on the vinyl for time constraints.

Upon the completion of the tour, A.J. Pero would quit to rejoin Cities. Meanwhile, Snyder would branch off into his own solo project, recording the tracks that would become Twisted Sisters final album, 1987's Love Is For Suckers. Things, however, would come to a head, and the band would ultimately disband after its release. All of that story unfolds tomorrow.

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