Music review: Dee Snider – 鈥楩or the Love of Metal鈥�
鈥淲hat do you want to do with your life?鈥� That鈥檚 the question asked by the strict father to his adolescent son in Twisted Sister鈥檚 classic 1984 video for 鈥淲e鈥檙e Not Gonna Take It.鈥� Of course, the answer is a resounding, 鈥淚 wanna rock!鈥�
As the charismatic frontman for Twisted Sister, Dee Snider has been living his rock 鈥榥鈥� roll dream for over four decades. His band may have called it quits in 2016 after delivering a rowdy 40th anniversary tour, but Snider continues on with a new solo album that is certain to appeal to headbangers everywhere.
After being encouraged to create a new album of metal arrangements, the 63-year-old singer enthusiastically accepted the challenge to rock harder than ever. 鈥淔or the Love of Metal鈥� features Snider鈥檚 iconic voice fueling 12 tracks full of killer guitar riffs, rapid-fire drumming and thunderous bass grooves delivered to please the most skeptical metalhead.
鈥淟ies Are a Business鈥� is an in-your-face opener that examines the turbulent political climate and the amount of misinformation being feed to the masses.
鈥淚 Am the Hurricane鈥� is a pulsating motivational message to continue to fight and preserve when times seem the darkest.
鈥淎merican Made鈥� serves as an anthem of unification, while 鈥淚鈥檓 Ready鈥� finds Snider singing about his mother鈥檚 passing and the memories no one can steal from him.
鈥淭he rain is nothing to fear/When you become the storm,鈥� roars Snider on 鈥淏ecome the Storm,鈥� another moving number about powering through the suffering and becoming stronger as a result.
Following the successful blueprint offered by Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford on 1988鈥檚 鈥淐lose My Eyes Forever,鈥� 鈥淒ead Hearts (Love Thy Enemy)鈥� is a haunting ballad that finds Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy and Snider joining forces for a truly electric performance.
For the new release, Snider clearly has the boys to make the noise with spirited contributions from Howard Jones (ex-Killswitch Engage), Mark Morton (Lamb of God), Joel Grind and Nick Bellmore (Toxic Holocaust) and Charlie Bellmore (Kingdom Of Sorrow).
With his latest effort, Snider has found a comfortable home in the contemporary metal scene by living the words of Quiet Riot that tell us metal health is what we all need.
Feel free to bang your head with Snider when he comes to Pittsburgh at Jergel鈥檚 Rhythm Grille on Aug. 26.
Clint Rhodes is the 缅北禁地 music reviewer. He can be reached at clinton43@me.com.