By 1986, drummer A.J. Pero had departed the band, and by 1987, Dee Snyder was focusing his attention on solo projects. He'd ultimately record the tracks which would become Love Is For Suckers. However, when presented to Atlantic Records, they refused to release it unless it was under the moniker of a Twisted Sister album. While Snyder would relent to this request, and the band credited (with exception of Pero), outside of the singer, none of the other members contributed to the album.
Snyder focused on a glam metal sound for the album, which resonated with critics at the time, but only served to cause a rift with remaining members, Eddie Ojeda, Jay Jay French, Mark Mendoza, and new drummer, Joey Franco. Having had enough, Dee would quit the band just two months after the album's release, and Atlantic would cancel their contract.
Love Is For Suckers was the very last Twisted Sister album I acquired in my collection, and it was simply for completion's sake. Leading up to today's listening session, I had heard nothing from it before. It features the single, Hot Love, which is also the only track from the record to have a music video. It's a decent track.
The "protest" song, Wake Up (The Sleeping Giants), is also relatively okay. Fun fact, for the longest time, Twisted Sister refused to incorporate any tracks from this album into their live shows. Snyder stated that he felt doing so would potentially cultivate bad memories for the other band members who weren't involved in its recording. However, as of 2012, this track has been added to shows, based on fan requests for their concerts to include material from every album.
It's a solid album, but definitely weaker than what has been delivered in the past. Especially in terms of catch hits. Among the two songs noted above, standout tracks included the title track, Tonight, I Want This Night (To Last Forever), You Are All That I Need, and Yeah Right. That's certainly a lot more than I expected.
The name Twisted Sister would fizzle out of relevance as the years went by until 1998 when something unique happened in Hollywood. Snyder would write, produce, and star in the film, Dee Snyder's StrangeLand. The movie was a based on the song, Horror-Teria (The Beginning): A) Captain Howdy B) Street Justice, from 1984's Stay Hungry, and follows the same premise of sadistic child murderer, Captain Howdy, who ultimately gets set free, only to face street justice, and return to his murderous roots as a result.
While the film would flop at the box office, it would become a cult classic. Further, it would rekindle interest in Twisted Sister, and the classic lineup (Snyder, French, Ojeda, Mendoza, and Pero) would reunite to record tracks for the film's soundtrack, Heroes Are Hard To Find. to capitalize, Spitfire Records re-released the bands entire back catalog with bonus tracks.
This would eventually be followed by a re-recording and re-release of Stay Hungry, now titled, Still Hungry. The schtick was that the band would promote it as the way the album was intended to sound, and to ice the cake, added seven bonus tracks. This was followed by the 2006 farce, A Twisted Christmas.
Throughout all of this, the guys would continue to tour and appear at one-off events. However, when drummer A.J. Pero passed away in 2015, the band would announce a farewell tour, Forty And F**k It, which they embarked on the following year. Their final show would take place on November 12, 2016. The band would reunite again in January 2023 for their induction into the Metal Hall Of Fame, and in 2026 announced a fiftieth anniversary tour. However, this would be without Mark Mendoza, based on "irreconcilable differences."
During all of this, Dee has continued to enjoy a solo career, releasing five studio albums between 2000, and 2021. However, none of his solo efforts have reached the success once had with Twisted Sister. Further, no album by Twisted Sister has come close to topping the massive popularity and sales of 1984's Stay Hungry.
With all that said, it's time for me to find something else to listen to. Tune in tomorrow to see where we land.
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