Dee Snider is one of the hardest working artists in metal. Not content with fronting one of the most legendary names in the business, he has also turned his hand to acting and become a hugely successful radio personality. Certainly, a part of the reason for Dee’s success is the ferocious intellect that so horrified Congress during the ill-fated Tipper Gore hearings. However, whilst intelligence serves you well in business, it is Dee’s integrity and unfailing passion for metal that has seen him endure the vagaries of fashion to emerge as an elder statesmen of a genre in which he has been so successful. This is nowhere more evident than on Twitter, where Dee spends a considerable degree of time espousing the importance of supporting the young blood. Few artists of such stature are so vocal about supporting the scene that spawned them, and it is that passion for metal that underpinned Dee’s solo outing, For The Love Of Metal. That passion is fully evident on For The Love Of Metal Live, a blistering record of Dee’s 2019 Bloodstock performance. Quite simply one of the most authentic live performances captured on record, Dee may know how to work a crowd, but it’s the overwhelming love that he has for his art that rings out the loudest, making this a compelling album that will have you headbanging until you puke.
Holy shit! As the pummelling drums and razor-sharp riffing of Lies Are A Business detonate, it’s clear that Dee and his band are out to absolutely savage the audience. Dee’s delivery, brutally clipped and staccato, has all the confidence and power we’ve come to expect from the man, and the overall impact is one of shock and awe. A brief intro notwithstanding, the band plough headlong into the no-less exciting Tomorrow’s No Concern, the sweat and adrenalin flying as the riffs pile up in a monumental, bullet-belted assault that leaves you slightly punch-drunk. With the audience screaming and the band firing on all cylinders, a gargantuan You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll provides a taut reminder of Twisted Sister’s strengths, whilst Dee’s [ahem] twisted sense of humour is on full display as he exhorts the audience not to go to the bathroom during his solo material. Not that Twisted Sister is ever too far away, and the cheer that greets the aptly-named The Beast shows just how beloved that band remains in the hearts of metal fans everywhere.
Dee may joke about fans vanishing during less familiar material, but he needn’t have worried. Having already demonstrated just how damn good the new material is with the opening salvo, American Made offers another example of the album’s strengths and it’s clear from the chants captured by the pit mics that everyone is along for the ride. The fact that the track sits so comfortably amidst the classics says much of the passion that Dee and his band poured into For The Love Of Metal, and there’s a freshness to the delivery that sets the blood pumping through the veins. That said, a pair of Twisted tracks (Under The Blade and The Kids Are Back) are delivered with no less panache and you can sense that Dee and his band are having the time of their lives as the pit explodes around them. No metal cliché is left unused on Become The Storm, which feels like Dee attempted to combine every power ballad in the world into four, leather’n’denim-clad minutes with chugging riffs, layered harmonies, gang chants and finger-wrecking solos all present and correct. In many ways it provides the perfect gateway to the ever-green anthem of rebellion, We’re Not Going To Take It, which remains one of the greatest live rock tracks of all time. As is Dees wont, the track doubles in length in its live incarnation, the audience becoming the band during an extended sing-along that is as irresistible as it is inevitable. With the audience close to peaking, I Am The Hurricane offers one of Dee’s most powerful vocals, the band stepping back to allow the veteran vocalist to demonstrate his chops and when Dee declares “I am a force of nature”, you don’t doubt it for a second.
With the show reaching its end, Dee ups the ante, delivering two of Twisted’s greatest moments. The first of these, Burn In Hell is impossibly good, the potent delivery of both band and Dee matching the song’s malevolent intent. It leaves I Wanna Rock to round out the Twisted hits with considerable style. However, Dee is not there to trade on his legacy and, nestled among these long-standing hits, is the title track itself. A heartfelt tribute to the genre to which Dee has dedicated his life (the lyrics tip the hat to numerous classic records), For The Love Of Metal is surely set to become Bloodstock’s unofficial anthem in years to come, and the track is every bit as exciting as any song to which Twisted gave their name. With only a short lesson on how to give the metal horns (hint, Dee sides with Dio over Simmons), Dee leads his band into a glorious take on AC/DC’s Highway To Hell, before leaving the audience to pick themselves up from the floor.
The Bloodstock set might be over, but the package generously offers a number of bonus tracks. From Widowmaker comes a potent Ready To Fall, which Dee dedicates to his longstanding fans. However, it’s a tough-as-nails take on Sister’s The Fire Still Burns, which serves to remind the listener of Twisted Sister’s monstrous influence on all things metal. A bonus track from For The Love Of Metal, Roll Over You is also most welcome, as the album is phenomenal and it’s fantastic to hear another track in the flesh. It caps off the live material, but Dee’s not quite done yet and a brand new studio track, Prove Me Wrong, rounds out the package, proving that there’s plenty of life yet left in this beast.
From start to finish, For The Love Of Metal Live is a love letter from an artist to the genre that gave him life. A passionate, powerful performance that is also an immense amount of fun, For The Love Of Metal will leave anyone who’s ever played air guitar with a giant, shit-eating grin on their face. Put simply, For The Love Of Metal Live successfully captures the spirit of metal and is a glorious, life affirming experience that is essential for any metal fan – Dee, I salute you. 9.5
