Well, we’re into the first week of December. Trees are decorated, snow is on the ground, and I can swear to the heavens above that I hear sleigh bells from time to time. Since I’m wanting to get into the holiday season a little more, why not review some Christmas music? If you know me, however, then you know that this won’t be a normal review of Christmas music. So grab some eggnog, a cookie or two, and enjoy this review of Twisted Sister’s only Christmas album, A Twisted Christmas.
Background
This album was tough to find information on, as there’s no source that’s given me anything clear (Even Twisted Sister’s website doesn’t give up info, but that’s due to the album part of the website is not up yet). The following facts below are scraps that I’ve found, both on Wikipedia, and on other metal sites (Apologies if it seems rather haphazard).
First released in October of 2006 (A little early, don’t you think), A Twisted Christmas was put out because the band considered all of the Christmas music that was coming out at the time was too generic or weak. Bringing in the old Twisted Sister Crew, Dee Snider also brought in iconic female rock/metal singers Lita Ford and Doro Pesch as backup for the vocals. The album itself is also a tribute to past/present rock & metal bands: all throughout A Twisted Christmas, there are riffs in many of the songs that were influenced by bands such as AC/DC & Black Sabbath.
Again, sorry for not putting in as much depth in this department as I normally do, but information on this album was tough to locate.
Songs
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas: For starters, I kinda love the beginning of this. The band seems to parody a lot of the lame sounding Christmas songs sung by B/C grade singers. Once they kick things up a notch, things become a little more intense, and resembles more of the typical Twisted Sister we’ve come to know & love. About halfway through, the songs becomes much faster, and doesn’t lose any Holiday spirit in the process. Overall, it’s a nice song to start off this album.
Oh Come All Ye Faithful: If you listen carefully to this song overall, you’d swear that it sounds an awful lot like another song of theirs, We’re Not Going To Take It (Which is a good song in it’s own right. Click “***” to listen to it). Well, your not wrong with the assumption. This version of Oh Come All Ye Faithful uses the previously mentioned song’s tune as the base, and the band just puts their own spin on things. This song is perhaps my favorite off of the album, as I generally think of We’re Not Going To Take It at the same time I listen to this. Oh, and there’s a rendition of Hava Nagila at the end, and that song is just nuts!
White Christmas: White Christmas is another song that uses a piece of music, only this time it uses a piece of Twisted Sister’s only library. If you listen closely, you can hear that parts of the guitar riff sound like riffs from I Wanna Rock (Again, another good song. Click “***” to listen to it). It’s a little bit harder to discern, since they only use a piece of that guitar riff, and if you’re not familiar with I Wanna Rock, you won’t notice it at all.
I’ll Be Home For Christmas: Now we’ve come across the first song with guest vocals, and in this case it’s iconic female rocker Lita Ford. She really gives it her all when she sings: her voice still sounds good to this day, and it’s very complimentary to Dee Snider’s own singing (Their two voices match up nicely, much like her teamup with Ozzy Osbourne for If I Close My Eyes Forever. Click “***” to listen to that song). The instrumentation goes for a slower pace, but one that doesn’t sound so sluggish, and really hammers home the feelings that the song wants to give away.
Silver Bells: Yet again we come across another song with a piece from another band. This time around, a part of the guitar riff comes from AC DC’s Problem Child (Which is just okay in my opinion. Click “***” to listen to it). The piece of the guitar riff that they use fits surprisingly well, as they only use it during the beginning of Silver Bells, and during the chorus for the most part (There’s only 1 section of the chorus that doesn’t use it, and it’s towards the end). Unlike most renditions of the song, this one opts for a faster pace, and creates a lot of holiday excitement.
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus: Let me just come out and say that I’ve always been a little creeped out by this song. Infidelity & the holidays don’t mix in my book. With that said, only a band like Twisted Sister (Or maybe Weird Al Yankovic) could turn a creepy song into something that’s fun, and possibly a little funny as well. Like Silver Bells, this one opts for a faster rendition, but I don’t quite think it fits. As much as I don’t like the original, I found that the slower pace fits better than a fast pace. Oh, and some of the guitar work in this is very reminiscent of Judas Priest’s You Got Another Thing Coming (Click “***” to listen)
Let It Snow: Once again, another song with a piece from another band. With Let It Snow, many of the guitar riffs are based off of Black Sabbath’s Children of the Grave (Which is a bitchin song, so click “***” to give it a listen to). Unlike White Chirstmas, you’ll notice the guitar riffs that are use much more easily. Not only that, but with how Twisted Sister play thing song, it makes Let It Snow sound like something that you could hear during a holiday blizzard, complete with a hear of wild horses galloping through the weather.
Deck The Halls: We now arrive at the last song to use riffs from another band, but this time the source is a little unexpected. In this case, some of the guitar riffs used are based off of Thin Lizzy’s classic tune, The Boys Are Back In Town (Click “***” to listen). This song is also classic Twisted Sister, in that it harkens back to their early days (Right around the time of Under The Blade to Stay Hungry). It’s very basic, and rather trashy (Due to the Christmas theme, it’s never lewd or crude), yet it has that craftsmanship that only Twisted Sister can provide, and that’s good!
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting): A classic song in it’s own right, Twisted Sister has put it’s hard rock/metal touch on it, and has created it’s own beast of a song. You still have the original message & feelings of the older song, but now you have a 80's/modern spin on the instrumentation. The guitars & drums add a intensity that the original version didn’t have, yet it’s not overpowering. Dee Snider’s singing is still top notch, as he brings a lot of emotion to the holiday table.
Heavy Metal Christmas: A fitting tribute/parody/remix of heavy metal and the holidays, Heavy Metal Christmas is a fun spin on the iconic 12 Day of Christmas. The instrumentation is strong but simple, yet that’s not what makes this song a treat. As per the name of the song, Heavy Metal Christmas offers you new Yuletide gifts & goodies. Instead of a partridge in a pear tree or any of the other old-school gifts, you’re now given a tattoo of Ozzy Osbourne, cans of hairspray, black mascaras, and all other items that belong in any metal head’s closet.
We Wish You A Twisted Christmas: A nice & quick way to end A Twisted Christmas, We Wish You A Twisted Christmas is a quick 36 seconds of singing by the band, along with a choir used as back up. I should quickly point out to you that I didn’t hear Doro Pesch singing at any other point in the album, so I can only assume that she sang in this little jingle. Disappointing really, since she has a pretty good voice.
Overall Impression & Rating
Twisted Sister hits the ball out of the park with this album. If there was any problem with A Twisted Christmas, it would be the goofy/corny nature of Twisted Sister, mixed with the wholesome nature of Christmas music. Apart from that, the band put their twisted (Pun totally intended) spin on all of the songs, and created something that’s actually very fun to listen to, or maybe even sing along with! If you like Holiday music that’s different, then give A Twisted Christmas a go.
Twisted Sister: A Twisted Christmas gets a 8.5 out of 10.
See you all next time, when we’ll visit our old pal Duke Nukem one last time. Until then, stay Otaku!
No comments:
Post a Comment