Author: Urban Bolta
Artist: Twisted Sister
Label: Atlantic Records
Release: 1983
Running time: 37:53
Rating: 3.5/5
Luck is often a big factor in the music world, sometimes a huge one. For glam metallers Twisted Sister, luck came knocking at the end of 1982, when Atlantic Records reps caught them on the TV show The Tube and took them under their wing. That neatly solved the problem created by the collapse of their previous label, Secret Records, where the Sisters had put out their debut “Under the Blade” just half a year earlier. The label went under because punk, Secret Records’ bread-and-butter genre, was dying out, so an unexpected rescue from a giant like Atlantic came in very handy. Not only did Atlantic Records always know how to promote its acts, working conditions improved big time too, so production-wise “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll” is, understandably, a light year ahead of its predecessor (in its original version).
The band’s second studio album follows the blueprint of the first: it keeps cranking out choruses with revolutionary messages and, maybe a little too forcedly, tries to cook up a mega hit. With their self-appointed role as defenders of the rockers, the Sisters love to strike a pose on this one too, so no wonder the band was embraced first and foremost by rebellious long-haired teenagers, who found a lifestyle according to Twisted Sister rules awfully tempting and well worth the trouble.
“You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll” is still a sharp album, just like “Under the Blade” a year earlier. The avalanche-fast Motörhead tempo in “Ride to Live”, “The Power” or “I’ll Take You” proves the Sisters are still razor-edged and not yet ready to wade into softer waters in exchange for commercial recognition, even though “You’re Not Alone (Suzette’s Song)”, a song dedicated to Snider’s wife, is already pushing that way. A ballad-like heavy metal march with a catchy, lovable chorus, it’s the Sisters’ tenderest song so far, and we can only guess how much lobbying from Atlantic Records, who understandably wanted the album to sell as much as possible, had to do with it. This is where the Sisters’ career started to bend: the track is the first evidence of the pop-metal direction that would later bring them worldwide fame, and also a flirtation with melody, otherwise an atypical trait of the first two albums. The album’s peaks, even if they don’t stand out from the typical Twisted Sister mold, are the opening “The Kids Are Back” and the title track “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll”, where the Sisters’ punch hits in all its glory, with killer guitar riffs to boot, and all the conditions for the album’s flagship tracks are met.
The songs jump from mid-tempo to express-train fast, thanks to A. J. Pero behind the drum kit, while his rhythm section partner, bassist Mark Mendoza, gets pushed into the background by that typical eighties production, where the electric guitar takes up the bulk of the sonic picture. The guitar riffs don’t necessarily lean on breakneck tempos; they carve out their own presence and speed within each song. Compared to the predecessor, the riffs are much more clearly defined. Thanks to the simplicity of the arrangements, there’s no room for experimentation, and guitar solos are missing in action too. Eddie Ojeda does throw in a few across the ten tracks, but they’re definitely not a hallmark of Twisted Sister’s music, so they quickly sink into oblivion. One hallmark that definitely is, though, is Snider’s vocal: sharp and resolute where it matters most, and in the choruses often backed by the rest of the guys, while the layered vocals deepen that “bad boys” feel, the incitement against social norms and the praise of rock ‘n’ roll. Dee Snider shines once again. Author of all the songs, lyricist, vocalist and the one chiefly responsible for the band’s whole image. Dee Snider is basically Twisted Sister in one person. Throughout their career, his charisma was the band’s driving force, and every move the band made bore his stamp.
With “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll”, Twisted Sister proved they were no flash in the pan on the music scene. They slowly began crawling out of the underground and flirting more and more with the cream of the music crop, even their fellow Americans started to discover them, and everything was set for the big boom that followed a year later.
Lineup
Dee Snider – vocals
Eddie “Fingers” Ojeda – lead guitar
Jay Jay French – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Mark “The Animal” Mendoza – bass, backing vocals
A. J. Pero – drums, percussion
Production
Tom Werman
Tracklist
1. The Kids Are Back
2. Like a Knife in the Back
3. Ride to Live, Live to Ride
4. I Am (I’m Me)
5. The Power and the Glory
6. We’re Gonna Make It
7. I’ve Had Enough
8. I’ll Take You Alive
9. You’re Not Alone (Suzette’s Song)
10. You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll
