Various Artists
Twisted Forever-A Tribute to the Legendary TWISTED SISTER

August 2001
Released: 2001, Koch Records
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: EvilG

A diverse and interesting assortment of bands has been assembled to pay tribute to one of the biggest metal bands from the 80’s, Twisted Sister. The diversity of the bands paying homage attests to their encompassing appeal and importance in the annals of hard rock / heavy metal history. We have everything from rock bands like Nine Days, Lit, The Step Kings and Joan Jett; thrashy bands like Anthrax and Overkill; traditional metal sounding bands like HammerFall and Sebastian Bach; stoner metallers Fu Manchu; black metallers Cradle of Filth….etc. Twisted Sister themselves close off the CD with a tribute of their own to AC/DC. They got together to cover “Sin City” and they still have it. Dee’s voice is as powerful as ever. Makes you wonder if a reunion will ever be possible?



Instead of giving a run down on every cover song on here I’ll break this into two sections – the good and the bad.



The Good:

Motorhead covering “Shoot ‘Em Down”. Lemmy owns you! What can you say? The fact that Motorhead, legends themselves, would pay tribute to Twisted Sister speaks volumes to me. They make this song sound like it was written especially for them. Anthrax, Overkill and Cradle of Filth provide excellent covers, CoF of course making “The Fire Still Burns” sound like their own with intense drumming and Dani’s satanic screech. Sebastian Bach takes the cake for me with his cover of “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n Roll” - one of my favorite Twisted Sister songs. His vocals on this are as always, fucking godly! He needs to put out more albums and material damn it!!! HammerFall’s cover of “We’re Gonna Make It” is also a nice treat and a different cover for the band.



The Bad:

I don’t like weak rock music. Therefore why would I like these bands covering good metal? Nine Days, Lit and the Step Kings suck all the life out of some classic songs making them sound weak and very un-metal. The only thing I can say good is that it’s very cool Twisted Sister has influenced bands from beyond the realm of metal. The one song on here that REALLY stood out like a sore thumb was Chuck D’s version of “Wake Up The Sleeping Giant.” What he does to this song is blasphemous and un-natural. Twisted Sister is NOT meant to be rapped, thank you very much.



More information on this band can be found at: twistedsister.com

For information on this release check out kochentertainment.com





Here’s the full track listing for the tribute:



Lit: "I Wanna Rock"

Joan Jett: "We're Not Gonna Take It"

Motorhead: "Shoot 'Em Down"

Nashville Pussy: "The Kids Are Back"

Nine Days: "The Price"

Chuck D: "Wake Up The Sleeping Giant"

Anthrax: "Destroyer"

Overkill: "Under The Blade"

Cradle Of Filth: "The Fire Still Burns"

Vision Of Disorder: "Don't Let Me Down"

The Step Kings: "Burn In Hell"

Fu Manchu: "Ride To Live (Live To Ride)"

Sebastian Bach: "You Can't Stop Rock 'N Roll"

Hammerfall: "We're Gonna Make It"

Sevendust: "I Am (I'm Me)"

Twisted Sister: "Sin City" (AC/DC cover)