On July 31, 2020, legendary rocker, Dee Snider released For the Love of Metal – LIVE via Napalm Records. The collection includes both an audio CD and a Blu-Ray/DVD of performances captured all in the United States, Europe, Australia, and all over the world.
The track listing on FTLOM Live is quite impressive. If you are fan of Dee Snider and his catalog, you will most definitely be getting your money’s worth.
Opening up with a double dose of solo tracks, the band tears through “Lies are a Business” and “Tomorrow’s No Concern.” At the age of 65, Dee is at the top of his game, and has never sounded better. He commands the stage and the audience’s attention and delivers one hell of a show.
Without missing a beat, they launch into a pair of Twisted Sister classics. First is one of my personal favorites, “You Can’t Stop Rock and Roll.” It still sounds as great, if not even better now in 2020. So much attitude and fire in the heart of this man and this band. Before launching into the second TS song “The Beast”, Dee has this great moment with the crowd where he explicitly tells the crowd they cannot go to the bathroom while he plays material from his new album. I thought it was a really cool moment as he connected with his fans.
One of the great things that I really admire about Dee is his ability to adapt to modern metal, especially with this latest studio release, For the Love of Metal. In between songs, Dee takes a moment to intro the title track by sharing a quick story of how Jamey Jasta from Hatebreed challenged him to make a real metal record, and the various artists that wanted to contribute to this record. The track is super heavy and stands up against any modern metal track out there today.
An unexpected and really cool surprise is when Dee pays homage to Ronnie James Dio when tells the crowd that RJD is the one that gave us the metal horns. He calls for the fans to raise them high in the air just before launching into AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.”
All of the great Twisted Sister classics are included like “Kids Are Back”, “Burn in Hell”, and the anthems of an early MTV generation, “I Wanna Rock” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” Listening to them in 2020 as a middle-aged man, still brings a smile to my face.
Closing out the audio portion of this collection, is a brand new studio track called “Prove Me Wrong.” Be sure to turn the volume up on this one. Those monster riffs will get your blood and fists pumping and you will be singing that empowering chorus instantly.
I have nothing but mad respect for Dee Snider and his contributions to the hard rock and metal music world. His work ethic is second to none, and you can see and hear that with this new release. He is still able to give new life to his older material as well as continuing to create music that is both heavy and still relevant. Do yourself a favor and go pick up this release. It is worth every single penny that you spend on it.
Rating: 9/10 Stars
I’m Music Magazine Writer Jason “Supes” Mesa
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